I have a 2011 RWD and put a set of 20" staggered wheels on it in July.
Fronts 20x9 245/30/20 Hankook Ventus V12
Rear 20x10.5 285/30/20 Hankook Ventus V12
Tires are nearly new, maybe 6,000 miles on them.

I like the handling on dry pavement and have had no issues except for now.

Today I was on the expressway. It was raining but not torrential. At about 70MPH, traffic was running about 75 +, I could feel the front start to hydroplane and the car would slip sideways a bit. I have never had a vehicle do that before. I have had them hydroplane but not slip, slide and grab. Of course, I slowed to 60 and no more problems.

It was not raining that hard and I am now wondering if I may have gone too wide with the tires. I don't feel like I was going too fast. Under similar conditions and higher speeds with the OEM 19's I had no problem ever with hydroplaning.

Anyone thoughts?

 

Mine has started to do that as well on my stock 18's. It started to happen once new tires were put on. I thought it was because i bought cheap tires. I have had the hankooks on 22's without any issues. The whole issue has made me not want to drive the car in the rain. In my case, i think it could be a combination of things. My rotors are warped so it gives death wobble when braking at higher speed, wheels were not balanced, and my control arm bushings are shot. I'm have all of those taken care of this weekend and we will see if that does the trick.

 

Let me know how that works out for you.

My rotors, bushings and tie rods are fine, 55k on the vehicle.
Yeah, I am re-thinking the staggered setup as the side slip business scared me, did not expect it at all.
This is my daily driver so it has to be able to handle rainy days.

Stock 19" OEM's and new tires handled the snow last winter better than these wheels/tires in the rain

 

I think the rear "steamroller" tires you have is the issue.

 

Yeah, those are pretty wide tires, plus they're summer tires. I think it's just due to the tires being fairly wide and not being able to dissipate the water fast enough at that speed. I don't think it would be anything to do with your wheel size or the front being different from the back. It would be an issue if your car was AWD, but since you have the RWD model, it's not a problem. Just make sure your tires are inflated to the recommended pressure. Underinflated tires can cause hydroplaning.

 

I had the same setup (different tires), and never had an issue. I had my setup for nearly 3 years. It also rains a LOT up here. Maybe it;s the tires?

 

Interesting..had numerous staggered setups and alot of rain and never a problem. I've used Continental DWS06 and now Nexen NFera's. No problems ever

 

Check out the reviews for "wet weather performance" on these tires like www.tirerack.com has....... I think it is the tire tread pattern and NOT the width.

 

Double-check that the tires are on the right way (if directional). Backwards rotation direction will cause hydroplaning.

 

Tires are properly inflated and rotating in the correct direction.

 

Hmmm... the tread looks like there is nowhere for water to escape out the sides of the tread patch, since the edge block grooves/sipes don't connect to the outer tread grooves: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPi...wall=Blackwall

 

Someone on Amazon says it hydroplanes in heavy rain...

 

Front 245/30/20
Rear 285/30/20

Is this a typo? The front and rear are 2 mph difference which can affect too.

 

Those are the tire sizes, no typo. This is a RWD so I do not think running a slightly different diameter on the front vs the rear will affect hydroplaning.

It may be the tread pattern.
I will swap these tires out to a different brand after I get some more miles out of them. In the meantime, I will take it very cautiously in rain conditions.

 

Had the same tires and smaller sizes (245F, 275R), only mine were on 21's and stretched MORE 21x10F, 21x11R and never had any issues. They actually worked well in the rain.