Street/track tire for 16 x 9's

[sbmackie]

I posted this on the technical board as well.

To cut to the quick: I like my 9's on my SC. I am seeking input from those who DON'T want to change wheels for AX/DE/Track.

Need 245/45/16's.

Considering Hankook z212/s (200 TW, a true street tire that is kinda soft), Continental Sport Contact (160 TW), Sumitomo HTRZ (160 TW, very cheap, must be a reason), and Toyo Ra1's.

Seek reasonable stickiness with reasonable wear. I currently have Kumho Ecsta 212's. 280 TW. Very slippery. Don't like 'em.

Does anybody have any feedback? Would like to get a year and 5000 miles out of these tires. I do 12-14 AX's, 4 DE days, and 4 track days a year, the remainder being pleasure driving with OCCASIONAL wet roads/track.

Thanks. My head hurts from all the thread sifting.

Scott

[earlyapex]

The RA-1 will give you much better track and autocross performance than any true street tire. Get them full tread depth and they make a great rain tire. Hurry up as they will soon be replaced by the R888, which has a much different tread pattern and doesn't look as friendly to wet roads.

[nostatic]

RA-1 is a great tire, but not sure it is the best for your application. It is debatable, but more than one person has indicated that it is better to shave RA-1s, as full tread gets too hot and you chuck rubber off. They also get better as they go along, and when they hit full slick status they are fast. But NOT what you want on a damp street. I've run them on a damp track and they're not too bad, but nothing like a street tire will be.

I used to run 245/45/16 on the back, now run 255/40/17. I drive to and from the track, and also every weekend around town. Only use RA-1s. But very little rain here. I don't autoX so I can't give you input on that. I am wearing my tires a lot more quickly than I used to, but that's becuase I'm driving more aggressively. I think I can get about 7 or 8 weekends out of a set. Give or take.

[ttweed]

Originally posted by nostatic
It is debatable, but more than one person has indicated that it is better to shave RA-1s, as full tread gets too hot and you chuck rubber off.

Is this true? I have heard people complain of tread squirm and being slower by a second or three on full-tread RA-1s, but I have never heard of them chunking, even in the hottest conditions. Has this happened a lot and I just missed the reports of it?

TT

[Rough_Rider]

I've been running VictoRacer v700 on a 16x9 in exactly that size.

Good for Track & AX work with some ability to drive on streets without to much worry. Not anywhere near as bad as driving a Hoosier A6/R6 or Kumho v710 on the street.

However someone tells me the victoracer is being phased out & there by no means the fastest DOT AX tire. TBO its all a compromise.

[Dave Nordhoff]

I did not shave mine. Yes they are a little squirmy for the first few sessions. I ran them at 38/39 PSI hot for the first day and 35/36 hot since. They have 1060 track and 2800 street miles. I think they are good for another 4/500 track miles. If you are racing shave. If you are lapping unshaved. Mine have not chunked and are wearing well.
I love these tires.
Dave

[PatrickB]

Scott~
I doubt you'll find a better stickier tire than the RA1, but you might be hard pressed to get all those above mentioned events and 5k miles out of 1 set... Just a guess...

I'm kind of at the opposite end. I needed a tire for my daily driver that could also stand up to the heat cycles of 6-7 DE days a year... Street tires weren't able to hold up to the abuse of the track. I went with the Hankook's, and have been VERY happy with them so far. I've run 2 DE's and have about 6k miles on them so far. I'm about half way through the tread life on this set. They really hold up well on the track, and have very good grip. Good on the wet streets too. No way do they have the grip of the RA1, but for $90 a tire, I don't think you'll get better grip for the buck! I would expect to be able to get 2-3 more DE days and ~4k miles before replacing them...

[sbmackie]

Patrick,
You're running the Ventus r2 Z212's?

Scott

[Driver Ed]

For what it's worth, I've been using Bridgestone Potenza RE750's which I like a lot for both track and street, but I haven't got much comparison experience. Anybody have experience with both the Bridgestone and also one or more of the others mentioned? If so, I'd like to konw how you think they compare.

[PatrickB]

Originally posted by sbmackie
Patrick,
You're running the Ventus r2 Z212's?

Scott

Yes... And I love them!

[nostatic]

Originally posted by ttweed
Is this true? I have heard people complain of tread squirm and being slower by a second or three on full-tread RA-1s, but I have never heard of them chunking, even in the hottest conditions. Has this happened a lot and I just missed the reports of it?

TT

I have to admit that I've run mostly full tread, and I end up having a fair amount of rubber being shed. I'm now on a set of shaved rears, and it seems that it shed a bit less. Not enough personal data, but like I said, I've talked to a couple of people who claimed that not only were shaved faster out of the box, but also lasted longer because they didn't heat up as much as full tread blocks. I don't think it is night and day though...