Hi John,
I never have had issues with the 880s in the wet. I really wanted an Avon for the rear but as luck would have it none were available locally. So I
settled for an 880. Didn't want a dunlop 404 for the rear. I asked the various shops about formula changes for the 880s and all told me no changes in formula. As usual I had to inform one shop that the upgraded dunlop (from the 404) they showed me had a manufacture date of 2006. And the other one still bound to two other tires had a 2005 date! They were shocked to say the least. At least the metz I got from em had a decent date. Like April of 09. Funny how tire specific shops can still learn something. Like metz are made in brazil. "oh no they are from the fatherland" Well then what does this say right ...
...here? "Oh okay I see it now. "
As usual the buyer has to be fully cognizant and shop way before beer thirty.
Speaking of buying locally, EVERY shop wanted to match the lowest price I got off the www. The beauty of them matching price is I gets to look at the DOT stamp.
Re tire pressure, I run 38/36 on my 880 although that is a bit low for yanks but not for us Floridians where the average ambient temps are something ridiculous like 90 degrees.
One thing about the 880s v the venoms is that the 880s have a much friendly sidewall profile for direction change. At least that has been my experience having both brands mounted on Americas simultaneously.
An inverse relationship exist between tire tread life and tire handling (grippyness). Which is another reason I wasn't too bummed out with no venoms being available.
Speaking directly to the wet handling of the 880s, if you are coming from a high tread life tire, the 880s are grand. However if ya are coming from a tacky tire the wet handling will cause a buttocks pinch or two until you have several under your belt. Gosh, was I to reside in a location that had lots of twisties I sure would be going through a lot of venoms.
But I don't so the 880 is an excellent trade off for me.
