I know I'm going to open up a can of worms but here goes.
I need real experience with track day tires. DOT slicks. Not street tires. I plan on running 245/40/17 or 255/40/17 on stock wheels at VIR. I don't want to break the bank and I'm not ready for Hoosiers yet. I have had enough track days on street tires that I am out driving them quickly. I know some of you out there have good experience with different brands and compounds so lets here it. The good and bad, price per tire and where you purchased them from.
Cheers!

 

When you say DOT slick, do you mean like any R-Compound tire?

For the price, Nitto NT01's are great. good grip, last long, and cheap price.

its going to be hard to answer this as its more of a tradeoff kind of thing. Grip comes at a price.

 

I've used Toyo R888s and RA1's with good results.
The 888s are good from the get go . You'll want to shave the RA1s IMHO.
255's are wide for the stock rim. I know some run them any way. Just saying.

 

I also vote for NT01's. Reasonable price and very nice stepping stone between something like Star-Specs and Hoosiers.

 

I'm in the same boat as the OP, moving from a street tire to an R-compound, and I'm planning to run NT01s this season.

 

I like R.888

 

I am also looking for a dot slick to fit the stock tire size

 

NT01, good grip, last long and fairly cheap. NT01 is none directional, so you can rotate left to right.

 

RA1's bout the same as the 888 and last I checked a bit cheaper. very good proven tire. RA1's 255 will fit on stock rims with no issues where I've found on my set up the 888 rubbed.

 

Agreed.

 

I too have been having this conversation.. in my head

/\ is this not typical for this class of tire? ....because that's a solid selling point.

 

The RA1's are great rain-race tires.

NT01's just have an inside/outside.

 

The Nt-01s sound like what I'm after. Those of you who run them, do you get them shaved and heat cycled or do you run them as is?

 

throw them on and run them. no need to shave or heat cycle.

 

the R1R's are the rain tires.

RA1's are the older design for the R888's.

They still making them because some kind of rules or what not and for the Miata clubs preffering them over the R888"s.

For us a heavier car different drive train , chassis etc etc the R888's are the better tires, by far. Both RA1 R888 are not rain tyres and they do well for what they are in the rain , but you can hydro plain them very easy. Mean while the R1R is a beast on wet.


here is some more if you guys like to read :

"

Ok, here's the deal on the R-888's.

I'd advise you one and all to TRY the suggestions I will make and
then make a decision as to the speed and durabilty of the R-888 Vs
the Ra-1 AFTER you try these new ideas.

But only AFTER you try the new settings.

A bit of History:
I first experienced excessive wear and bad handling of the R888 at
the 2007 NASA 25 hour race on Mike Quan's Honda Civic with Roger Foo
at the wheel.

Great team, excellent drivers. They came down in the middle of the
night to ask if I could look at a tire issue they were having.
Seems that TOYO had given them some new 888's to 'try' in the 25
hour race. First off, during a race is the WRONG time to try
anything NEW.
Let alone sort out a new tire. But, it was what it was and these
things happen.

The issue was the car was pushing (front wheel drive car) and was
wearing out the centers of the tires at an alarming rate.
Well, one look at the worn centers and I suggested LOWERING the
pressure. We did.
And they began to wear out QUICKER and the handling became worse! It
made no sense to me whatsoever.

Fortunately the team had enough RA-1's to complete the race and
never put the R-888's back on the car.
But, that adjustment in air pressure SHOULD HAVE worked. It had for
years on all types of tires. But it didn't and it stuck in my mind
over the winter.

The start of the 2008 season:
In the NASA races the BMW E-30 class cars were allowed to run either
the RA-1 or the R-888 until June of 2008. Most jumped to the R-888
right away.

But that deal about the tire wearing out quickly in the middle still
bugged me. So, I kept an eye on them.

Early on I asked Donny Edwards to allow us to 'try' something on his
E-30. At Thunderhill we sent Donny out at 40 lbs STARTING pressure!
He had already raced on them with the normal RA-1 starting pressure
of 32 lbs, ending at 40lbs hot and was doing well. But, now I was
asking him to START at 40 lbs.

His comment after coming off the track was that the car felt more
stable and quicker. His times proved that he was correct.
We kept an eye on Donny's car during the year and asked if he was
getting any excessive wear. Donny's comment was that the car was
used not only for the E-30 practice, qualifying and races but for
every available session during the weekend. And no, they didn't wear
quicker.

With this knowledge I then asked a HPDE driver, another trusted
friend, if he would go out at 40lbs cold in his Porsche All wheel
drive 911 Turbo. The thing weights a ton! He had already been out
for 2 sessions at the lower RA-1 pressure setting on his new R-888's
and LOVED the tires. Now, I was asking him to go out at a starting
pressure of 40lbs. "Are you crazy" he asked. Maybe, but just try it
for me.

His comment in coming off of the track was "I thought they were
hooked up this morning with the lower pressure, but now they're
REALLY hooked up." He loves the R-888 tires.

I'm relating these stories to help you all understand that I didn't
come by these very unusual pressure settings without some
forethought, testing on various cars
with different drives and then analyzing the results.

Last story. At the NASA banquet one of the E-30 competitors came up
and said that he finally put the pressure up to where I suggested at
the last race.
I asked how it worked for him. He said that he had turned a lap only
1/10th of a second off of Donny Edwards fastest lap. I asked why he
had not done that earlier in the year and he stated that he just
couldn't believe that pressures that high would work. Even though HE
had maintained Donny's car all year and knew exactly what we were
using for starting pressure!

Asked how high the air pressure was that he used before, he said
that he had started them at 38 and they went to about 42-44 hot.
But, that the hot pressure Donny ran was 45-47. He stated that he
could not believe the difference that 45-47 hot pressure made on his
car. That it just came alive. 2-4 lbs in hot pressure does make a
difference.

E-30's wear? Even across the tire! Heat cycle 0. Wear rate: same as
or better than the RA-1. How long do they wear? Down to the cords,
just as the RA-1s did.

We've used these same pressure settings for a Porsche 996 Cup full
race car that normally races on Michelin or Yokohama slick tires and
with the same results. No heat cycling, no excessive wear and
totally fun and drivable.

SM competitors, the R-888 has a different construction. A huge
change in the design of the tire. You must make some changes to:
1) Your driving style
2) Your air pressure settings
3) Your chassis setup
To get the most out the new R-888's.

Staying with the same old setup, same old pressure and same driving
style will not prove beneficial.

My suggestions:
1) Start with the exact chassis setup you have with the RA-1
2) Start the R-888 with 40 to 42 lbs of pressure.
3) Look for 45-47 as your hot pressure goal.
4) Lower the rear of your car to allow the car to run FLAT, no rake!
5) Drive the car as you would a real race tire with as little
sliding as possible but concentrate on using the additional side
grip and better braking advantage the R-888 has over the RA-1.
That's just to start with. Ultimately, a change in sway bar settings
may be beneficial.

If you can't get the tire up to 45-47 lbs, start with a HIGHER
pressure.

Ultimately, I believe that you will find that about 3 to 3.5 degrees
of negative camber will do the trick and with little or no toe out
in the front and little or no
toe in for the rear.

This should to the trick. Let me know if I can help you.

Thanks,
Ron Cortez "


PS: IMPORTANT!! the set ups NOT for the EVO!!! this post is here to back up my point from a third person nothing more or less. Just because latelly i have to do that. Maybe my english makes people think when i say something i just dreaming it up or i have no clue. Sometimes it does bothers me to tell you the truth , specially when it comes from people who has nothing to show up/back up to proove they point. Sorry for the rent. LOL
Also this is not aimed to the quoted person , just i had to say.

Thanks

Rob