It's not really the weight of the engine that will make the front tires more resistant to hydroplaning, but the deeper treads on the tires will help evacuate the water. You cannot compress water. So no matter how heavy the engine is, if the tires don't have deep enough treads, there will be no way to quickly evacuate water and so the tire will hydroplane. If the front and rear have equal tread, the rear would hydroplane later considering the front tires are sweeping the water out of the way. Same thing would happen with equally worn tires as all tires would have the same tread depth.Appreciate the friendly discussion(hi). But to further refute the tire manufacturers example of the dangers of losing traction and oversteer on wet roads:
In a scenario where you purchase 4 new tires, surely the weight of the engine (rear/mid engine excluded) would force the front tires to be more resistant to hydroplaning. If the front and rear have equal tread, the rear would hydroplane first in these wet weather turns, which defeats the whole idea of noticing the front hydroplaning first and letting off the gas to correct the problem before the rear hydroplanes. In this situation, equally worn tires (from regular tire rotations) also would not be safe.
But all tire manufacturers recommend for "optimal vehicle performance" all 4 tires should be replaced. Are they messing with our safety? Maybe they should shave down the new front tires a predetermined amount to make sure the best tires are on the rear, lol. Or only sell 2 tires at a time, always on the rear and never allow rotations. New cars ship with used tires on the front.
So far in rain the Toyo on our '17 do seem pretty good. I'll probably replace with 4 Michelin Premier once they're worn though.
It's not really the weight of the engine that will make the front tires more resistant to hydroplaning, but the deeper treads on the tires will help evacuate the water. You cannot compress water. So no matter how heavy the engine is, if the tires don't have deep enough treads, there will be no way to quickly evacuate water and so the tire will hydroplane. If the front and rear have equal tread, the rear would hydroplane later considering the front tires are sweeping the water out of the way. Same thing would happen with equally worn tires as all tires would have the same tread depth.
More weight on properly inflated tires will increase the contact patch and will help prevent hydroplaning. Most of the weight is on the front tires, and much more so when braking (although that doesn't seem to matter near as much to some). A RWD pickup and a FWD car both trying to accelerate quickly in standing water will spin their tires, but the pickup will spin much worse because there is little weight on the rear tires. Deeper tread wouldn't help, but a bed full of firewood would.
From Tirerack:
Hydroplaning: the Role Tires Play. The speed at which a tire hydroplanes is a function of water depth, vehicle speed, vehicle weight, tire width, tread depth and tread design. It depends on how much water has to be removed, how much weight is pressing down on the tires and how efficient the tread design is at evacuating water. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=16
From Smart Motorist:
Hydroplaning (called aquaplaning in Europe and Asia) occurs when water on the roadway accumulates in front of your vehicle's tires faster that the weight of your vehicle can push it out of the way. The water pressure can cause your car to rise up and slide on top of a thin layer of water between your tires and the road.
http://www.smartmotorist.com/driving-guideline/hydroplaning-aquaplaning.html
Same with snow a narrow tire is actually better. It's always a compromise with tire design/specs.
I have a FWD 2012 RAV4 and am about to buy a new CX-5. When accelerating from a dead stop into a corner with the RAV, the front end does some extreme wheel hopping . . . this is downright scary! Will the new FWD CX-5 do the same? Will a CX-5 with AWD eliminate the problem?