s03 or r compounds?

[Bryantch]

Ok, so the DE bug bit...I am seting up one of my cars for DE and maybe some autocross. I live in northern michigan so the weather is really never that hot and is usually relatively cool (except maybe a couple of days in august). there is always a good chance of rain on one of the days of a de and at this point i can only justify one set of tires for the track.

the question is...Sport cups appear to take a while to get up to temp and may not on a cool spring, fall day. I have read that they are not good in the rain. Victoracers appear to get warm quicker, even on colder days but I have read that they dont do well in the rain either. s03 arent r compounds, but they do pretty well in the rain or dry. Of course there are others i havent mentioned.

Are sport cups as sticky or stickier than an s03 even when they are cold. how about cold and wet? Are DOT r compound tires superior to a straight street tire like the s03 rain or shine?

your opinions are welcomed

ian

[89911]

If you are just starting out, stick to the street tires. The S03 is a great high performance tire that will give you plenty of wet traction also. This is important if you have the chance of rainy weather. The S03 also will give you some feedback in noise of limits of adhesion that R compound don't, at least not as early. If you can swing it, get a set of track rims and tires,( and a trailer, and a tow vehicle, and harness's ..............) best of luck.

[RallyJon]

You might consider having the S-03s lightly shaved. It eliminates the new tire squishyness to which S-03s are particularly susceptible. I used new S-03s in a DE on my other car and they screamed for mercy and squirmed all over.

[PeteBrown]

I face the same debate with my '87 with 7&9's for the street and a set of 6&7's for the track. I have decided to go with a set of SO3's sizes 225/45 and 245/45 on the 7&9's and see how they feel. I've only participated in about 7 DE's and my suspension is completely stock, therefore r-compound tires may not be best for me or the car for now.

[Dave Ploss]

I just got S-03's for my 87 911 and was interested in one comment. It is the new tire squishiness. I've noticed that the 03's seem soft and tend to wander a bit. Is this the squishiness that you are talking about? and will it go away after they are broken in?

Thanks.

Dave

[eyue]

There is a new tire from Bridgestone---S02A, anybody knew about, I think is a N4 tire made for Porsche, there is some comment at Tire rack, check it out......

[Wil Ferch]

General comment...

Good street tires are , I think, the smart set up for those of us who are honest about our level of track *experience* ( not necessarily track *knowledge*).
R type tires have more ultimate grip but let go more like breaking glass....suddenly. You want a good street rire with plenty of traction but also with a very wide break-away characterisitic that shouts and telegraphs its intentions to you....

IMHO.....

---Wil Ferch

[IROC]

To expand on Wil's comment a little, I think that people are too quick these days to slap R-compound tires on their cars for DEs. I saw a guy show up for his *first* DE once with BFG R1s on his car! (OK, that was a few years ago)

IMHO, it is much better to learn on street tires than on R-compound tires. DEs are all about learning car control. I think that R-compound tires actually impede that learning sometimes.

Street tires are alot better than they used to be - I'd not worry about R-compuund tires until you've gotten quite a few DEs under your belt.

Mike

[RallyJon]

Dave, if you look at the tread blocks on a new S-03, they're seperated at the surface, but connected just below the surface. After a few thousand miles, the tread surface will look like larger blocks with thick webs of rubber connecting those blocks. When they wear to that point the handling feel really improves a lot.

This is what an S-03 looks like with 7/32nds tread instead of the original 10/32nds: