I am kind of excited about RS4s...while using RS3s, I like the way the car was...still feels in some way they were faster than RE71s...

It sucks that Dunlop doesn't offer any contingency though since they look pretty good on paper...

Rivals situation is still unchanged, since for my car it is either 245 or 275 and I don't think smaller one will be faster than the wider one...unless that new compound (or whatever else is new in there) has some fairy dust in them

 

The 255/17 Rival might be a good option for the STI/Evo 8/9 guys.

 

What are these new Dunlops that you speak of? I'll be in the market for a new set of 285/30-18's and it seems the only options are Zii SS, which I currently have, Re71s which I'll probably end up with and AD08R which I don't have any interest in.

What other new contenders will there be? I wouldn't mind some Rival S's however their sizing is limited and the RS3's and new RS4's look like they'll have limited sizing in the 285+ range that works with our cars.

 

I find it really hard to believe any tire is going to be significantly faster than the re71r... but I may just be being an old man. in '12, '13, I was still thinking street tires suck. I feel like the re71r is the height of grip before we start more severely compromising tread life.

looking forward to the new crop but I will probably get re71rs in the spring for the new wheels.

eric what ab nittos? I'd probably get the grippiest you're willing to street since you're in SM. AD08R is nice too I hear.

 

People used to say that about NT05'sand Z1 starspec. Then the RS3 came out. Than the Z2 starspec. Then the Rival. Then the RE71r and Rival S. Technology is amazing.

 

I never thought any street tire was good until the re71r, except for maybe the toyo proxes r1r & the kumho ecsta xs lol maybe just me though

 

Info on ZIIIs

They are claiming 1.6% improvement over the ZIIs...that would be well in the RE71s territory!

 

I guess you never drove on a Rival S...cause its better lol

 

RE71 is "only" worth 1 second on a 60 second course over the Z2ss?

 

Which Nittos do you speak of? NT05 of some sort? Assuming they have a newer one by now since that's been around forever now. IDK man. Wont do NT01's need to keep em above 160TW for my local classing. Ive heard good things about the AD08R but as far as Im concerned what fast autocrossers have them? I bet I'd like them though, I hear they have a very stiff sidewall which is my favorite.

As you know I was planning on just getting the RE71's now that they have them in a 285/30 but hey with these new Dunlops coming out I might have to stick with my Dunlops.

Awesome!!! very exciting stuff. So whats the expected release date in the US? And they have a 295/30 as well hmmm tempting...would love to see the tech specs as something tells me theyre prob very similiar in size to the 285, just simply a little taller. But hey even then I wouldnt mind the extra gearing that'd provide.

As far as this 1.6% improvement, do we have any more info on that? Assuming the Re71 and Rival S is good for over a second on a 60 second course according to my math 1.6% improvement on 60 seconds is good for just shy of 1 second which wouldnt make them any better than the Re71's. I know this is very crude math and bench racing at best but still something to think about. It might be wise to wait for the other guinea pigs to sort that out before I buy them.

 

1.6% is from that article in the link...their claim...for whatever is worth!

They do look a lot more like RE71s with similarly curved edge, so camber challenged cars will benefit as well. No idea when they will be over here.

 

ohh I forgot you ran in a street tire class.

yeah RE71Rs. proven, and other tires are just catching up. added benefit, RE71R is fast all the way to the wear bars.

I have driven on Rival S, not on my car, but I didn't like them. Two different locals have done back to backs and left with the RE71Rs being faster right off the bat.

 

Yeah well I too saw the 1.6% but of course the thing was in Japanese and the google translation wasn't ideal at spelling that out. Like I said the true test will be once folks here actually start racing on them and reporting back. Personally, I don't care to be the early adopter. Plus my current tires still have about 4-5/32 left so Ive got some time to decide.

And its funny when the Re71's came out were all like man those things look just like the Zii's or Zii* and now with these ziii's they're twins! Everyone else has unique designs like the Rivals for example and then there are these two who apparently keep looking over eachother's shoulders during test time hoping the person in the seat next to them studied.

 

Still street tires for this guy but I should know in the next couple of days if I'll be in the market for a truck. Assuming things pan out I might consider making the plunge into the sticky icky but at the same time arriving and racing in street trim kinda has a cool appeal to me. Around here people also seemed to love the hoosierstones but there was also some quick people on the Rival S's. From when I've heard the Rivals prefer a heavier car so I was considering going with Rival S's but their sizing is so limited so it wasnt even feasible unless I tried to fit a 315 which isn't exactly in my deck of cards right now...

 

In my experience, the RE71Rs aren't good down to the wear bars if you put a decent amount of street miles on them...my set of 255/40/17 RE71Rs were done before the 80-run mark (had maybe 3-4/32 left) with several thousand miles (maybe 5k) of street driving on them. Other locals have had the same issue (primarily on DD/autox Street-classed cars). My second set of Rival S (245/40/17) had ~115 runs on them with about 4k miles before I took them off (tread was below wear bars, no cords showing), they were still fast at the time. Current set of 265/35/18 RE71Rs has 85 runs on them with less than 2k miles of street driving, should last awhile longer.