Summer tires are great in the rain. Michelin Pilot PS2's, Dunlop Sport Maxx's, Goodyear Eagles, Pirelli P-Zeros... any of those are going to be outstanding at high speed wet weather driving.
Owner reviews for tires
A large part of the noise is indeed the tires. They are the OEM contintental touring 235/45-17 and they were inflated to 38lbs. I dropped them to the recommended 35 and the noise and ride improved. I am now realizing that 50% of the sound I'm hearing that is objectionable is indeed these tires.
Seconding BF Goodrich G-force T/A KDW2s water doesn't phase them.
I run Dunlop SP Sport Maxx and they are excellent in the rain.
Like Tim said above, it depends on the tire. Some are more dedicated to pure dry weather grip, some have a better rain compound and tread. Like poster #2 above, I have Goodyear F1's. The reason I chose those is because they are just about unbeatable in the rain, it's like driving on a dry road. They can stand the car on it's nose under braking, and grip harder when turning. They give up very little in dry ultimate grip, too.
I have BF Goodrich G-force T/A KDW2 on my GTI... They are FANTASTIC in the rain. I've gone miles and miles at sustained speeds of over 100mph in the rain with no problems whatsoever.
It depends on the tire. My Eagle F1 GSD-3's are *awesome* in the rain.
Ride is better than the Michelins they replaced, and traction seems to be excellent, but at 50 lbs. inflation there was a little sidewall flex on fast cornering. Noise is roughly the same as the Michelins; maybe a little quieter. Gas mileage on the trip was 20.2
It's possible the tire company is doing a great job of balancing your tires, only to have the tires spin on the rims while you're driving. I had this problem on the 19\" Atheos with Toyo Proxes ST's mounted.
Each of our TRegs have these Goodyear Wrangler HP tires: the 06 v8's became "cupped on the inside" with nil tread-wear ( see this http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3316272 ), despite the dealer checking and rotating each 5k miles -- had to be replaced at 12k miles.
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