I was going to start a thread on just this topic, so thanks.
I won't go into race reports as that will be a separate thread accompanied by entertaining video
but here is my .02:
I love these tires. Enterprises absolutely nailed it this time. Well done, Erik and team (and Goodyear)!
Now let me provide some supporting data ...
For those who are like me and will compare these tires to any rain tire we had pre-GY, I would be shocked if you are not pleased with them. To be fair, I don't consider myself a top flight rain driver as I just avoided rain races for years due to the incredible unpredictability (my perception) of all of our previous rain offerings. In fast, this is the first ever set of rain tires that I have bought new and I am quite pleased with my purchase.
On the other hand, if you plan to compare them to the outgoing Goodyears, prepare to be sorely disappointed. Hopefully you have all been conditioned NOT to pass judgement based on that comparison. IMO, the previous gen GY rains were what would I could call "hero class" tires. They were ridiculously good. So much so that I think they actually leveled the playing field for everyone to an extent (I heard a bit of this as well from the Miata crowd this past weekend who I think were 8-10 seconds faster than us on their rains). Empirical data suggests that the last gen GY rains would have been 10-12 seconds per lap faster than the new ones in the hands of a good driver.
All that being said, I like these tires just as much as the previous gen GY's, and not simply because THEY WILL LAST ON A DRYING TRACK (we proved that on Sunday).
These tires do exactly what I think we need:
1) they are predicatable and very, very driveable at and over the edge (when you see my video, you won't believe how far you can rotate the car and still save it... impossible on previous rains other than most recent ones).
2) they are excellent at moving standing water. I had utter confidence leaving the banking at 110+ and hitting the brakes while splashing through not insignificant puddles.
3) they are going to last. Unless you flog them in a national on a near dry track, you will see minimal wear, if any.
4) not everyone will agree with this, but I like them because they reward you for good rain driving and punish you for poor driving (not "put you in the wall" punish, but "slither you off to the edge of the track" punish). As such, there was a very large disparity in times this past weekend, even amongst drivers who I consider very good in the rain.
Check, check, check, and check.
So my opinion: Rain tire issues - solved. Consider me a very satisfied customer.
Feel free to flame away or agree!
Denny