get a cheap set of wheels, and throw full tread nt-01's on them. 255's if you can, but stock size will give you good wear and at least 7-8 events on them (and i mean fast events).

I punish the crap outta my tires, i throw the car around/slide it around, and I still got 7 events with high miles on them before i corded one.

I HIGHLY recommend doing the 6 tire thing if you're going to be doing any decent amount of events. 6 tires = 8 tires worth of wear, if you keep rotating them around, which is critical to the life of the tire.

 

thats actually a brilliant idea...i dunno how i didnt think of that lol.

 

haha. I have 6 wheels/tires, i've done it twice now. helps a ton in the long run, not so much if you're just doing 2-3 days a year though.

 

9 events is what we would get on NT-01's but that was on a TTA E-36. I have not run that many events In my EVO with them yet to see how long they will last on this platform.

 

I tried all of these:

• Bridgestone: Potenza RE050A Pole Position
• Dunlop: whatever their max summer tire was called back in 2004-2005
• Continental: ContiSportContact2
• Goodyear: Eagle F1 GS-D3

The Bridgestones, Dunlops, and Goodyears were bought new and run full tread. I also got used, worn sets of some of the same Goodyears and the Contintentals from a used tire place.

Never had chunking. They just wore fast. Especially the fronts. Especially the outside front. If I went for a 2-day event, the outside front would not make it through a weekend without being rotated.

My car was stock, except for Ferodo brake pads and DOT 4 fluid. Stock alignment. My driving style was probably a factor; I tended to go into corners too hot and scrub off speed mid-corner.

I wasn't setting the world on fire, but I wasn't parking it out there either. I was down to 2:07.2 on the 2.9-mile counterclockwise at Texas World Speedway.


Thank you for the actual data on expected wear.

And thanks for the 6-tire info. That's definitely something to think about.

 

I have good friends that have run Dunlop Starspecs and recently went to the Hankook R-S3's. Pretty much any tire will get hot and geasy eventually if you overdrive them every corner, but the starspecs tend to overheat a bit sooner. Really any of the tires that will have longer treadlife will have a lower temp threshold of where they start to chunk and fall apart. If it forces you to drive the car on the friendly side of the traction curve where you are just barely making them squeal, you'll preserve your equipment and actually run better lap times at the end of the day.

I've found the R-S3's are the best tire combo for me and seem to last between 5-10k of street driving along with 10-15 track days per year if your alignment is setup balanced and you rotate your tires. Their only weekness seems to be standing water and hydroplaning resistance but usually I don't drive the Evo X in heavy rain if I can avoid it. When water pools on the road I just bring speeds down but I've actually driven them at Watkins Glen on a wet course and besides a few wobbles where water was flowing like a stream over the track they actually had good traction.

The starspecs will offer better wet traction especially when it comes to hydroplaning. Another tire to look at but they cost a bit more are the Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Many cars run those tires in the One Lap of America events because they are decent in the dry and can handle wet weather as well. If driven kindly they will probably also last quite a bit longer as their treadwear rating is quite a bit higher. For me I enjoy the Hankooks day to day since their somewhat softer sidewall makes for a reasonable ride and as long as your suspension is sorted with good coilovers and alignment you can still setup the car to handle on rails.

 

Ok, bumping this up as my Star Specs are going to be about done at the end of the season and it's time to start thinking of replacements. Here are the facts: Evo 8 track (HPDE only) car that's still street driven but not daily'd. 255/40/17 on MR BBS at the moment. Tire wear is not an issue. I currently "arrive and drive" and would prefer to continue this for cost reasons. That said, I really don't drive the car much on the street. I like the Star Specs but they are the weak part of my setup. I can outbrake them and they get greasy quickly.

What do you guys suggest? Are NT01s out with the "arrive and drive"? Or should I accept the compromise of "arrive and drive" with RS3s/StarSpecs again?

 

This is basically my exact set-up. I'm switching to NT01 tires after this. Some BMW race guys I know say they're a great track tire that's very streetable, communicates well at the limit, doesn't get greasy once heated and tolerates heat cycling quite well.

So, take that for what it's worth. A lot of people have preferences, as you've probably seen in this thread alone.

 

After some searching, those do sound ideal for my application. That is, slotting in between Star Specs and Hoosiers that you can still drive to the track on.

 

i have been more than impressed with my rs3's...and have run within 1 second of somewhat equivalent cars on hoosiers.

 

Any opinions on the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G2 Run Flats?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....LROF&tab=Sizes

 

^ Is that a joke?

 

No.

After talking to Ryan (hamflex), he had nothing but good things to say about that tire. Maybe he'll pop in here to give his opinion, but I wanted to hear what others had to say.

 

you can buy 3 sets of RS3's for that kind of money.

 

LOL, I know, the price is ridiculous. Especially for 275's.

I was just wondering the opinion on these because I was given 3 new ones, and I can't decide if I want to buy a 4th or just sell the 3. If they're worth it to run then I'll keep them, if not, then I'll pick up some A6's.