Umrswimr

Took them out for a heat cycle... Outside temp is about 50. My first impression is that these guys are not very happy because they're A) New or B) Cold. I couldn't get ANY traction in the beginning. Even half throttle in first gear resulted in huge tirespin. It surprised the poopie out of me because I was still letting the engine warm up!
After about three miles they seemed to loosen up a little and gained some traction, but I still spun them when I hammered the top of first pulling onto the highway. I just hope to hell they don't do this on the track or I'm gonna be in the dirt for sure...
After about a 15 minute jaunt down the road at speeds varying from 10 MPH to 90 MPH, I came home and removed the tires... Very little wear, and very little heat in the tires. They were warm, but not really "hot". Perhaps I didn't flog 'em enough. Either way, I threw everything these local roads had to offer at 'em...
The good news is, I now feel pretty confident that I can drive on them to the local autoX events (about 5 minutes away) without having to change tires AT the event....
We'll see how they do on the track, but my first impression is not real positive.

They're currently mounted on a set of Grand Sport wheels (17x9.5" and 17x11"). They're 275 and 315 versus the stock 245 and 275 sizes...



They stick out a little in the back...

tpdrx7

Don't give up yet!

Last year I did an Evo school and couldn't get a launch with my first few runs, let some pressure out and they were fine. I usually run high 30's in the rears but I went down to 32 that cold morning.

Tomas

peejay

Probably the cold temps. There is a point where rubber "glasses", that is, it stops conforming to the texture of the road and just starts riding on top of it. Performance street tires can glass over at temps as high as 45 degrees. Part of the reason to use snow tires in the winter is simply that the rubber compound used will stay flexible under cold conditions. I'd hate to think about what a *race* compound would do, but apparently you're doing the testing for us

Carl Byck

Most likely you did not get enough heat in them. They don't work at all til ~130*, and there actual optimum temp is around 210* I doubt you can get them near temp on the street, Try doing a 60mph figure 8 in a parking lot for a minute or two. You need to be right at the limit(ie, if you lifted throttle, you would swap ends), V700s are consistent, but they are road race tires, not really autocross, with that in mind it take me ~a lap and a half at Sears Point raceway(~4 miles at the limit) to get the tires working well. When autocrossing, I do a 5 second burnout at the line so the rears will stick. If you are serious about autocross, you have to come out hot, and stay at the limit the whole tiime, or these tires will not work. The new 710s are alot stickier as I mentioned to you in a previous post. Anyway, don't worry, in race conditions these tires will do you well. Carl

DamonB

Victoracers don't like the cold and you didn't heat them enough. Heating the rears is easy: lightly spin them. Heating the fronts is easy too: hard panic stops from 40 mph or so. This is the way to get tires temps up on "real roads" without having to drive crazy and attract attention.

Umrswimr

How do you guys heat them at events? When you only get one run an hour, it's pretty much impossible to keep them warm between runs... Burnouts tend to catch the ire of the Safety crew (Jim Hollinsworth scolded Eric out at Mineral Wells for doing it). Fast 40-0 stops aren't really possible at places like Pennington... So how do you heat them? Or do you even bother?

DamonB

When its chilly out I spin the tires more off the starting line to heat the rears. This does not mean smokey burn out, I just carry some wheelspin for the first 5 feet or so before letting it hook up (the turbo car accelerates fastest from the line with some wheelspin anyway). Don't sweat it too much; when track temps are low for you they're low for everyone else too.

redrotorR1

I think you may have gotten the wrong impression from your first heat cycle. The tires are still outgassing when brand new at full tread. Hence, they're a little slick at first. All tires are like this .... ever notice how your street tires don't really get grippy until after the first couple hundred miles? .... same thing. After the first heat cycle, the Victoracers will start to get tacky. That stickiness will increase as the first layers of rubber are worn away.

Victoracers are much better compounds for lower temps. Hoosiers really need heat in them to get working. And you'll never get enough heat into a road race tire at an auto-x. When it's cold out or if it's raining, it will take until your third run or so to get the tires up to temp. When you start getting to national level of competition, you'll see competitors with tire covers to retain the heat at colder temp events. If nothing else, two-driver cars are great for keeping your tires at temp .... a strategy that has been in use for years at Nationals.

in2twins

I sure do miss BFG R1s, I have two sets of 700s to burn through before I get my V710s, I may not be able to wait, Maybe I'll go to a burn-out contest . Has anyone tried the A032R(SOFT) ? Anyone ever notice what laquer thinner does to tires? I wiped some paint overspray off my sons Go kart tires, and WOW they are sticky. I bet they harden up quick too though. Carl

Umrswimr

Hehe... Coincidence since my last set of tires ALSO were BFG R1A's...

Carl Byck

That was one hell of a good tire, oh well

redrotorR1

A032 Soft is slightly faster than the Toyo RA1, but not near the grip quality of a Kumho or Hoosier. Grassroots Motorsports did a writeup on the A032's vs. RA1's vs. Hankook's awhile back. For auto-x, you can't beat the value of a Kumho .... whether it's a Victoracer, Ecsta V700, or the V710.

As far as tire treatment, I have used the Formula V traction treatment on hardened, old race rubber. It does work ... but you have to put like 4-5 coats on (takes a good week). And once softened, boy .. does that rubber burn off quick! Good for getting 1-2 events out of a heat-hardened set of rubber.

Off-topic ..... Damon, check out my sig.

DamonB

Need a tire warmer for the weekend of April 4-5?

Rx7carl

Were these tires heat cycled before you flogged them on the road? You need to "scuff" them/ put one heat cycle into your tires. That allows the rubber molecules to rebond into their permanent state. Out of the mold, tires arent ready for the track. And theres also mold release compound still on the outside of the tire. Hint: mold release= slippery.

Umrswimr

No- that's what I was doing. It took them out to heat cycle them and my review is based on my 10 minute jaunt around town...

Rx7carl

Cool, so any update?

in2twins

FWIW, I ran V700s at my last event, They were working perfectly, of course the tread temps were 175-190 on the surface with an IR meter. I think I see ~145 on the AX course on a warm day(60 sec. course). Carl

jtrump

Those babies need heat. The hotter, the stickier. They'll have zero grip the first 10 mn on the street. Like another poster said, they need at least 130F to do well. They remain happy through 200F

The V700's are an awesome tire, especially for the money. They are tough, durable, and stick like gum.

Funny, I hated the BFGs for road racing. Not vey sticky, overheated, and gave no warning at the limit.

That was on my RX-7.

I switched to Victos when I still had that car and went on running them on my Vettes.

rx7gslse

pssst, Dave, if you're gonna title your thread, at least get the tire model right... Kuhmo Ecsta V700's are NOT Victoracers...

and I'm going to agree, 50 deg on the street probably wouldn't give it enough heat to get up & sticky yet.. BUT it should let those rubber bonds settle in so they'll be sticky in teh future...

I like my V700s..

BTW, nice shoes

(hosted on my website.. I wonder how many Megs I have on that.. I'd bet at least 2-3x my 30 meg "limit")

edit: any closeups of the powdercoated ZR1 wheels?

cruiser

Little off-topic, but are these V700's also usable on the street & commuting ? Can someone put them on and head for the track located 100miles away ? Or would that put too much stress on them ?

in2twins

You can, but it's heat cycles, not wear that will kill them. If you are looking for a dual use R compound RA1s are your only choice IMHO. Carl

Umrswimr

Pssst, Eric... Those ARE the V700 Vicroracers, NOT the Ecsta's.

rx7gslse

eh? I guess I didn't realize V700's could be victos too..

Thought it was just the Rally & Road tires...

DamonB

Which is not to be confused with the new V710!

rx7gslse

yes.. which ar esupposed to be be very cool...

but they don't make small enough for me to use