Tire tests from this summer

[jsceash]

This is not exactly what it implies. This season I was not able to get the Hankook Ventus Z214. So after I finished the first DE at WGI they were toasted. I did some research and found a similarly priced set of slick Dot 40-BA tires to run In the BF Goodrich R1S. They come in my normal size 225 40ZR 18 and a 265 35ZR 18. The set ran $1212 On Tire rack.

These had a good feel but the -.5 degree Chamber I normally run on the rear was touchy in the first lap. After that I was bale to get laps in the 2:15.5 range. This is a second slower than the Hankook. Once they warmed up they were consistent and in June at the Niagara Advanced DE I ran a 25 lap stint they showed no fall off. The second session I turned the rear toe links 2 flats to get rid of some of the negative chamber.

This past Tuesday after a spin I had to swap out to my alternate tire. Another tire I have not heard a lot of talk about on this forum, but on BMW and Celica forum they have been talked up. The Federal FZ-201 they come in the same sizes 225 40ZR 18 and a 265 35ZR 18. This is a For track treaded tire Dot 100-AA. Tread similar to the Toyo R888 and half the price. After 4 sessions I was able to get 3 laps at 2:15.6, 2:16.8, and 2:16.9. Cost was a cheap $580 on Ebay

It would be nice to hear any tire experiences you may have had this season.
6
Thank you in advance Jesse

[steved0x]

I've been running the last 5 track days on the Maxcis RC-1 100 TW tire, "designed to the weekend warrior", have taken 1.5 seconds off my best at road Atlanta and around .75 second at Roebling. The tire is now down to just a fraction below 5/32 (new 6/32). Similar to the NT-01 but less "slidy" in the rear. Priced similar to the nt-01. I attribute the time shaved due to experience and not magical qualities of the tire. I do like them though and they are consistent, a little slower at the end of the day when the track heats up and it gets hotter outside.

However that federal 100tw sounds very interesting for the price, how did they wear? Sounds like they dropped off quickly.

[AZ986S]

I just received my Federal 595 RS-R tires from Federal on Amazon.
I'll have them installed on my track wheels this week.
These are 225/45R17 and 255/40R17 and 140 TW.
$440 delivered. Can't beat that!
I'll post some feedback after next Sunday's DE at AMP.

Was out yesterday at Wild Horse Pass west track with my 1 year old Hanklook R-S3s and I was sliding all over the place. They are toast even though they have some treadwear left. New engine did phenomenal!

[AZ986S]

Was at AMP last Saturday for the first PCA DE event of the season.
I'm very happy with my setup (for now).

This was the first 5 real heat cycles on these Federal 595 RSR tires, and so I did some experimenting on tire pressures to try to find the optimal, considering the tires are fresh. Here's my data. No pyrometer data unfortunately.

Session Air Temp Start tire pressure End tire pressure Comment

# deg F LF RF LR RR LF RF LR RR

1 82 30 30 31 31 34 34 35 35 First session on new tires

2 85 31 31 32 32 35 35 36 36 Not pushing too hard

3 90 28.5 28.5 30 30 34 34.5 35.5 35.5 Best grip yet

I also chalked all 4 tires and after the first 2 sessions, the tires had not rolled much, and so bled some pressure and lowered the starting pressures. Felt like much better grip and the chalk marks were finally starting to roll over the shoulder, but I was surprised at just how little!

All in all, these R-Comps felt sooooo much better than my worn out RS3s. I'm just getting used to the much lower audible feedback from these tires. They do talk to you, but not as much and you have to pay attention. Only once in session 3 did I even get it loose in a turn The IPhone lateral G force data showed that I was maxing out at about 1.09 Gs, so there is more grip still!

Oh and the Accusump did its job, but looking at the video footage, it only activated during the 2nd half of the 20 minute sessions (hotter oil), and then even in very short bursts. If anyone is interested, I can post a youtube video.

Best time of the day was 1:59 on the last session (#5).

[jsceash]

Here are the laps from WGI two sessions after I had a spin. these were on the Federal FZ-201

https://youtu.be/Ez9_HPN31VI

[thstone]

Originally Posted by AZ986S

$440 delivered. Can't beat that!

Wow, that is insanely affordable!

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jsceash

Here are the laps from WGI two sessions after I had a spin. these were on the Federal FZ-201

https://youtu.be/Ez9_HPN31VI

Wow, that is a lot of guardrail and not much run-off room! I saw some very good mid-corner correction as the car started to slide a bit. Nicely done!

[jsceash]

Originally Posted by thstone

Wow, that is a lot of guardrail and not much run-off room! I saw some very good mid-corner correction as the car started to slide a bit. Nicely done!

Ya I guess that's why I left the track that day with some blue stripes on my rear bumper but in seven year that was my first mishap there. I got back on the track and nailed a couple more laps

I appreciate the compliment on my driving from you that means a lot.
Jesse

[Topless]

A few data points from the left coast:

My brother and I ran 8 weekends at the track this year with a few AX days sprinkled-in. I down-classed running narrower tires in 200 TW and he up-classed running Z214 (40TW) for timed runs. We both run street/rain tires for most practice laps to save $$ but they need to stand up to the abuse of continuous lapping.

My setup is stock struts, lowering springs, GT3 arms with -2.6 F and -2.0 R camber. Car is otherwise stock at a portly 3150 lbs.

RE-11 (no longer available) was my practice/rain tire this year. They are only 1/2 gone after a full season and maintained their composure well even in very hot days. A worthy DE tire that was easy to live with if not the fastest.

RE-71R was my comp TT tire this year and I like it a lot. As fast as NT-01 and an excellent rain tire. They feel great on track but wear quickly. I only get about 25-30 HC before they are corded compared with 40-50 HC for NT-01. Often 2 seconds faster than my RE-11 but on hot days they looked like I hit them with a cheese grater as the tread granulated quickly. Good enough for another PCA Z8 Championship so I will probably run them again next year.

Danny has a lot more car with 3.8L Vision motor, JRZ, GT3 A arms and more camber so he is better suited for sticky rubber. He ran Hankook RS-4 as a practice/rain tire and Z214 for comp TT sessions. The RS-4 is very similar to the RE-11 in being a good DE tire that holds up well to continuous lapping. The Z214 were 5 seconds faster under ideal conditions but are only really good for about 15 HC before they turn to stone. He was plagued with car troubles this year so in spite of a couple class wins he missed 1st place in the series. Hopefully the car is sorted now so better luck in 2018.