R Compounds

[986chris]

anyone ever use r compounds for everyday use. i'm thinking of getting r888s. also thoughts on largest size tire for 17" turbo twist's. currently have 255-40 & 205-50.

Illegal.
Expen$ive.
Rain.

[Sammy]

I'm not sure they are illegal as they are DOT approved and do have some level of wet traction (hence why they put in the "rain" grooves)? If you were running slicks than yes, those are definitely illegal.

Regardless, R-compounds are expensive and less puncture resistant than your typical tire. I am constantly picking large rocks out of the soft rubber of the tires.

Also, R-compounds are stickier and will fling up more road debris which will cause damage to your paint in the wheel area. I haven't noticed that much with mine but I only use R-compounds for autocrossing.

Sammy

[944boy]

Actually I got stuck out in some light snow with RA-1s, did fine (not great, but survivable)

If you don't drive much, R888's would do just fine, but you will heat cycle them really quickly and they would be toast as far as competitive racing goes.

If your not racing and just want sticky tires I would go with Falken Azenis 615's. 75% of the stick, cheaper, and last MUCH longer than you would expect them too. (longer than the MX's did) I loved them.

[j.fro]

I wouldn't expect more than about 5000 miles on a set of R-comp tires driven on the street.
To need R-comps on the street, you've got to be driving seriously outside the limits of the law...and when those babies lose traction, you're going to do some major damage to something.

[mdex]

I tend to leave my MPSC's on most of the summer as I get too lazy to swap tires between track events (I try to get out a few times a month).

Unless you are going to be at the track and want the "R" compounds for that use there is no reason to have them as a street tire. They wear out quickly (both tread wear and more importantly heat cycles), aren't great in the rain (to put it mildly) and since you can't get them up to temp with street driving they will actually perform worse then a high performance street tire.

So it is possible to use them on the street but unless you are at the track all the time it isn't a great option imho.

Marc

[JMP]

Dear Sir, Take a look at the Nexen 3000 tires on the internet. They are very cheap, have tremendous gip, low road noise and ride very smooth. They are made for the "Drifters" and that is why they are so inexpensive so they can be replaced frequently. Beat of both worlds - far better in my opinion that the Pirelli's P-Zero's I used to have on the car and for the cost of one Pirelli - you can almost buy a complete set of the Nexens. Just my opinion, Jerry Peterson