C5Dobie

Ticked off, having to treat my Z as a DD while my '14 Sierra gets a repaint on the bumper (GM's footing the bill - I have an all terrain model w/ painted bumpers that seem to chip if you look them funny) and it was supposed to be nice and sunny all week but today is rain all day long.

For a near 12 year old car that only has 14,000 on it now and until today had never seen rain I feel pretty bad about it, I'm just telling myself its like a really long wash lol!

Looks like I'll be spending some time in the driveway this weekend cleaning it up - black too!

Even w/ the original goodyears it doesn't seem bad in the rain as long as you're easy on it. In the dry I have crap for traction under hard acceleration in 1st or 2nd gear, but once they heat up they still hold corners pretty damn well so I'm keeping them on until they really need replacement.

usgecko

If they are the original tires I wouldn't be comfortable keeping them on. I got my 03Z 2 years ago with 8,000 miles and original tires. The difference when I changed them for Pirellis was huge. There's a lot of articles out there indicating tires that old are not really very safe.

MotoJB

Noooooo! I too hate getting mine wet, because I simply don't have to with 2 other cars. Once I was caught up in a quick light downpour, my wife laughed at me because I was acting like the car would melt. First and hopefully last time in the rain.

C5Dobie

Update - even worse, on the way from one of my regional offices to the next somebody swerved into my lane and came within inches of side swiping me - combo of the rain plus not seeing my tiny vette from the seat of their SUV. Well turns out they DID hit me - just nicked my side mirror enough to turn it up and scuff it a little bit, nothing major but sucks nonetheless, I do have Xpel film on the mirror but the mark appears to be just below it.

MAN - I'm really doing a number on this baby today haha, I spent a good 2 hours saturday cleaning it up too, looks like it'll be more like 3+ this weekend to get it back in tip top shine!

C5Dobie

Oh I am not arguing that, but they do seem to be working out OK and I was surprised how they've been in the rain. I am fully aware a new set would be MUCH better, but I just got the car and will worry about new tires next season - already spent money on the car itself + some mods.

What size Pirellis did you get? I'm thinking about getting the Bridgestones or the Nitto NT05...not sure, I may even go w/ a Y rated tire since I won't (knock on wood) be driving it in the rain.

Socko

I only drive mine in the rain to get to track days. I realized last year that cars only get dirty when you are driving in the rain. I threw away the bottom half mitt, and demoted the top half mitt after i washed my car with last year after a wet track day 120 miles away.

rjwz28

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport is Y-rated and DESTROYS the W-rated NT05 in the wet... speed rating has nothing to do with wet performance

Tell that to my car... it's been parked in the garage since I bought it and it only rains here maybe once a month, and she's FILTHY right now

envyz06

Yeah on Easter I got stuck in the rain on the way home, first time it has seen rain but it isnt going to melt. I just don't like it!

C5Dobie

Yeah its not just the exterior but the engine bay really gets messed up along w/ the undercarriage, although since I don't go through drive thru washes and can only barely get the undercarriage w/ my hose driving it in the rain in late April will wash off any residual salt that may have gotten underneath there when I first brought it out this spring....so there's a silver lining I guess.

GeorgeZNJ

If its raining while I'm on track, the car gets wet, then when I get it home it gets cleaned. I ran on track on the stock supercar tires in the rain back in 03-04 all the time. Once while at Watkins Glen I spun off the track at the chicane, spinning into the gravel pit and the dust storm created from that incident covered the car. The black stripes looked gray, I took it to the local car wash and cleaned off the interior and a few of the guys with me helped wipe the interior down with handi wipes and armor all. The car is fine but I did get to realize that the supercar tires suck in a monsoon downpour at 140-160 mph. My avatar pic is from WGI in the rain.

JETninja

You guys are just plain silly. Rain doesn't hurt it at all. Yeah, I'd rather not, but the M3 is down (almost ready) and one son had to fix his car before I could work on the M3 (took weeks) so I've been driving the Z06 in the Wettest Seattle March on record. Everyday when I come home, I let it dry some in the Garage, then using a 100% cotton towel I wipe it off, then use Quick detailer and micro-fibers. Once every few weeks I wax it. It ALWAYS leaves the house in the morning clean as ever. Corvette ownership means holding to standards, but water wont hurt it unless you have cabin leaks.

Shad

My car was sitting for 5 months over the winter and to complete some small modifications that I never did get around to finish. I had completed a complete detail on it two days before. I watched the weather like a hawk the first day, and decided I wasn't going to drive it to work because it was a bit cloudy and a 20% chance of rain (It didn't rain that day). Got up the next day, forecasted 0% chance of rain, and not a cloud in the sky. Supposed to have been 75 degrees that day (and it was). Drove the first 30 miles without a problem..... but I noticed it had clouded up as I got closer to the office. The last 5 miles was in a MONSOON!
A 750+ rwhp vehicle on drag radials is NOT FUN in a downpour. Needless to say... I made it to work eventually. LOL

LT1driver

it is just a car, wash it. mine has seen many a rainy day and big deal, my car when I bought it had never seen rain, it was better how??? my 2 cents, you will be better off not letting it bug you. doesn't devalue it either.

rjwz28

Shad

Mine has seen rain plenty of times when I had less horsepower and street tires. Rain really doesn't bother me as I keep a good coat of wax on it and these cars are super easy to wash. However, drag radials in downpours do bother me, lol. Cleaning CCW's is a pain, but I've gotten used to it by now, haha.

I will say that it raining two days after a complete detail pisses me off, but oh well.... that's mother nature, lol.

C5Dobie

Took me 3 hours to clean it up. I forgot to add a caveat - I work in the scrap metal recycling industry, you don't really get much worse than that when it comes to getting your vehicles dirty. I get a coating of yard and irony dust all over it that you better not rub up against while its dry or it'll scratch the clear coat. That coupled w/ the rain made for a dirty vette.

Looks great now though again! Rims are a PITA to keep clean.