ASTERiSK

Mine was lol. It was raining one day and I was going up this ramp to the freeway and my traction control just started going crazy and I did nearly a 180 spin out. Luckily there were no cars around and the light was red across the road I was on. It was probably because I was doing 40 up the ramp and one of my rear tires were pretty bald, but now I'm pretty paranoid about that despite the fact that I have brand new tires :3

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

The SC is better than most RWD large cars in the rain that don't have trac (if you have trac you wouldn't be asking this question). As has been said proper tires and good shocks make it a very easy to drive car in the rain.... and even snow.

JPKeiichi

iTrader: (2)

^^^what he said! just gotta be careful and look out for puddles

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

SC is great in the rain...In fact, I believe it to be one of the better cars on the road for wet weather handling. You gotta make sure your tires are in excellent condition, as well as made for both wet and dry pavement. Assure that the suspension is intact, and that the alignment is within spec. Most importantly, drive more slowly on the road when wet, allow more distance between you and the other cars, and keep traction control on. Remember, the weight distribution is near 50/50 front to rear.

SC400TT

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

Until I was used to my SC I was concerned about driving it in the rain. It's my DD so I had to just deal with it. The OP has a legitimate concern.

I think it's more delicate than FWD and especially AWD cars but almost all RWD cars without modern traction control are to be respected in the rain. This is even more pronounced in a turbocharged SC where boost can kick in at the wrong time and cause a loss of traction.

I feel safe in my car as long as I drive with caution. Steep downhill roads make me nervous but I am used to them. I've driven in the rain on a mountain road and my SC does tend to slide around a bit. (COMMENT ABOUT LSD REMOVED FOR INACCURACY). Just carefully drive the speed limit or less in the rain. No harm in that.

Stock, I didn't have much confidence from the car's lack of feedback. I have BFGoodrich T/A KDW tires with 275's in the rear, a Bilstein suspension with stiff springs and a Torsen LSD. I've replaced all the bushings except the lower control arms. Engine is NA so the power is always linear but it can sneak up on you if the tires break loose even with stock power (5-speed) so you avoid this by driving calmly and with great respect.

I haven't had experience in snow. It's a safe car in the rain if driven with respect. Just slow down when necessary. That is a very important point.

EDIT 3/21/2012:

Recently a few weeks ago I did have a very scary loss of traction in a low speed corner in when the roads were still wet. Luckily I recovered and both myself and the car were perfectly fine but the experience scared the crap out of me. The dreaded sidestep to the left that Supra TT owners have talked about on SF was, I believe, a factor. It is supposedly a characteristic of the Torsen T-1's and not the later T-2 designs. TRD 2-way LSDs supposedly don't have this issue. This won't matter if you're on a stock open diff. Anyway, I learned my lesson but I was not pushing the car hard when it happened. Very mild power application in 2nd just out of a turn was all it took. See below...

I'll say this: in an SC like mine with no factory Trac system and an aggressive suspension/drivetrain setup (5-speed, Gixxer_Drew Bilsteins, Supra TT rear sway bar, 4.27 gears, Torsen T-1 LSD) you really have to be aware that it is a slightly tail-happy car in low traction road conditions when applying moderate or aggressive power. On the highway in the rain I drive like an old man. Peace of mind. Now if we're talking the same no-driver-nanny setup but with a GTE or NA-T engine... I'm not sure rain driving is a good idea unless you're sure you can stay out of boost. YMMV.

All said, I do feel safe in the car in the rain. I just drive it VERY calmly, conservatively and at a moderate pace with no quick steering or throttle input.

My feeling is that a much more stock SC300/400 Auto with Trac is not going to present nearly the same rain safety concerns as an SC with a highly modified suspension and/or drivetrain but almost any FWD or AWD car will always have an advantage in such conditions.

SQ400

I totally agree.

I bought my car last year in the hills of Kentucky in the middle of a hard down fall of snow and had to drive it back to Georgia. I was a little worried about it going up and down all the hills as my thoughts where - O Lord it is a rear wheel driver in the hills with all this snow on the ground, but she was solid all the way around. Much much better then my 96 Z28 and 96 Mustang GT I had, man these cars just had no control in the rain or snow. You had to have some driveing skills to control them. Hmmmm they didn't even feel as solid when it was dry out. Way to much body roll compare to my SC, just not as solid.

I driven some nice rear wheel driver cars in my time and my 93 SC400 with Trac control is one of the most solid feeling ones i have driven. I will drive it anytime in rain or snow.

Here in Georgia when it snows all goes to S*** and people just can't and don't know how to drive in the snow. Last year was one of the worst for us here and i drove my SC everywhere. Seemed like it was me and the guys with the 4x4's and some AWD guys out and not once did she loose her footing and that was with the stock 225-55-16 on her. Now that she has new rims and tires she is even better.

But i don't do 90mph in the rain either like this fool in this Nissan mini that passed me a few days about in pour down.

My SC has only felt scary once in the rain to me and that is when the rack bushing basically had rotted away and she was swaying do to play in the steering. But once I replace the bushing with the all metal units, WoW she feels even more solid.

Driver error, low to no maintenance, and just being plan reckless seems to be the cause these issues!!!!

Cranbery

As the above poster said with the Z28, I drive my buddies all the time and it skids at the lightest press of the accelerator, it's almost impossible to drive it without having a couple of problems in the rain. My 99 sc300 is stock with good tires, proper alignment and things like that - haven't run into a problem yet and it rains in Miami like nobody's business. Compared to other RWD's, mine handles fine over corners in the rain as long as I'm not driving like an idiot... can't drive the same way in the rain that you do on a dry street no matter what car, lol.

TougeSC3

iTrader: (2)

Some of these posts are just funny.I've been driving SC's for quite some time and on my 4th one. This car is totally controllable in the rain, sleet, snow, ice, even I-95 flooded in South Florida. Even with a heavily modded suspension.

ecstaticSC

iTrader: (3)

VC455

Thanks for all the replies. You have confirmed what I thought. That the car is fine and most likley better than most leaf spring RWD cars. The car has 55k on the clock and the bushings all look good but I will take a second look at them. The car seems to drive fine at this point. I'm not too worried about my girlfirends skills. She's owned 2 1970 Javelins with 401's and has taken to the bad weather driving school at PIR as part ot her training to be a drivers ed instructor.
Thanks VC

TomTooFast

my sc400 is lowered on stance GR+ coilovers with work vxx staggered rims runnin hankook v12 evos.... I have NEVER had issues in the rain that another car wouldnt experience. Also, living in chicago, my sc is still drivable in the snow too, even when lowered (with stock wheels, of course). Further more, it is built with quality, and is a heavier car (for a coupe) your gf will be fine, just tell her to drive normal

VC455

u cant drive just that simple trade it in for a buick[/QUOTE]

Would you be willing to share how you came to this elequent conclusion with the rest of us?

Bertman

iTrader: (1)

Rain will completely amplify whatever is wrong with your steering/suspension setup. When I inherited my 95 Camry it had worn out steering/suspension components and it was extremely scary to drive in the rain. I spent the money on new struts, OEM Tie Rod Ends & Lower Control Arms along with new tires. It made a world of difference.

My SC is a different story though. I've heard the same thing about how these cars handling behavior really changes in wet weather. And since I have known bad Front Driver Side LCA bushings, I didn't risk driving it this weekend when we had rain here in LA. After totaling my camry two months ago, I'm not ready for a repeat performance . But even though I do have new tires, defective suspension components can stress out all tires due to bad alignment geometry. I believe Proper SAI & Thrust angle alignment is extremely more important on these cars, more so than other cars.

Joey-E

iTrader: (1)

JZBrian

SC's drive fine in the rain it's mostly the driver who sucks.Some cars are harder than others to drive like a 5.0 mustang if you are on the gas hard with summer tires but again if you know how to drive you should have no problem with a sc300/400