Tires - R compound or Street?
#1
Weird Cat Man
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Tires - R compound or Street?
Hello all... Got a question.
I run my car in 1 or 2 high speed events per summer and I drive it VERY hard on the street if I do take it out (most of the time it sits in the garage).
For the last few years I've been running Toyo RA-01 as my only tire, but I'm getting ready to buy a new set and I have a question.
Taking into account that I do not daily drive this car, should I go with R compound tires again or go with a top of the line street tire? I don't care about treadwear or noise or wet traction or stiff ride at all. I want the maximum response and maximum grip.
My only concern is if I can get most of the life out of the R compounds before they get hard from heat cycling. I also have over 400 rwhp I need to hold on the road.... my thoughts here are that R compounds have more stick per unit of width, so I can run a smaller rear tire and still make it stick if it's R compound compared to street compounds.
Is it even POSSIBLE to keep R compounds close-to-warm-enough on the street given that you can't always be cornering hard no matter how hard you might try?
I run my car in 1 or 2 high speed events per summer and I drive it VERY hard on the street if I do take it out (most of the time it sits in the garage).
For the last few years I've been running Toyo RA-01 as my only tire, but I'm getting ready to buy a new set and I have a question.
Taking into account that I do not daily drive this car, should I go with R compound tires again or go with a top of the line street tire? I don't care about treadwear or noise or wet traction or stiff ride at all. I want the maximum response and maximum grip.
My only concern is if I can get most of the life out of the R compounds before they get hard from heat cycling. I also have over 400 rwhp I need to hold on the road.... my thoughts here are that R compounds have more stick per unit of width, so I can run a smaller rear tire and still make it stick if it's R compound compared to street compounds.
Is it even POSSIBLE to keep R compounds close-to-warm-enough on the street given that you can't always be cornering hard no matter how hard you might try?
#2
Lives on the Forum
Re: Tires - R compound or Street?
Originally posted by Wargasm
Is it even POSSIBLE to keep R compounds close-to-warm-enough on the street given that you can't always be cornering hard no matter how hard you might try?
Is it even POSSIBLE to keep R compounds close-to-warm-enough on the street given that you can't always be cornering hard no matter how hard you might try?
I think that is the simplest answer to your question and why R tires don't pay off for street duty: you can't get them hot. Cold R tires are only marginally better than good street tires (even worse than streets if it's cold out) and are pretty useless if it does rain on you.
I'd stick with a really good street tire in your case.
#3
The most important thing to keep in mind is that most new R-compound tires are already shaved to 4/32nds of an inch! 1ST that makes them totally non street legal and I bet your local law would agree. 2nd most tire companies tell you not to drive them as a street tire for safety reasons. Hoosier even posts that in there website! I think that good street tires are the best way to go
#5
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I called Kumho a few years ago and asked them about driving on the street with Victoracers and they said that their tire was much more suited to doing this than that other company (starts with an "H" and ends with "oosier" was how he put it!). The "other" company only uses fiberglass belts to keep the weight down, but the Kumhos still had a steel belt in them.
I ran the Victoracers for one year before they got too hard (lots of auto-x and about 3-4kmiles on the street).
Now I have V-700's, but only a few auto-x's, a track day and not many street miles on them before I bagged them for storage. They seemed to work much better in the rain (I did't listen to the weather).
One nice thing is that Kumho's are cheap enough to buy 2 sets a year.
I ran the Victoracers for one year before they got too hard (lots of auto-x and about 3-4kmiles on the street).
Now I have V-700's, but only a few auto-x's, a track day and not many street miles on them before I bagged them for storage. They seemed to work much better in the rain (I did't listen to the weather).
One nice thing is that Kumho's are cheap enough to buy 2 sets a year.
#6
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Re: Tires - R compound or Street?
Originally posted by Wargasm
My only concern is if I can get most of the life out of the R compounds before they get hard from heat cycling.
My only concern is if I can get most of the life out of the R compounds before they get hard from heat cycling.
There are quite a few street tires that do a commendable job in terms of grip and are available in sizes that should help with your lack of grip issues. Kumho MX's, Bridgestone RE750's, Goodyear F1 SC's ... to name a few.
Edit: On a further note, my brand new Victoracers lasted me about 6 months. They were trailered everywhere and saw a combined total of .. maybe 200 miles before they got hard and basically unuseable.
Last edited by redrotorR1; 03-04-04 at 03:15 PM.
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Redrotor, that's kinda misleading cause those were 200 TRACK miles, not 200 street miles
I agree about the age thing, which leads me to agree with the street tire recommendation for a track/street tire.
However, as a dry street only tire, I'd go with Toyo RA-1s. Running Toyos on my TA, I had enough traction to kill my clutch before killing the tires Phew, what a smell that was..
PaulC
I agree about the age thing, which leads me to agree with the street tire recommendation for a track/street tire.
However, as a dry street only tire, I'd go with Toyo RA-1s. Running Toyos on my TA, I had enough traction to kill my clutch before killing the tires Phew, what a smell that was..
PaulC
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#10
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Originally posted by Silkworm
Redrotor, that's kinda misleading cause those were 200 TRACK miles, not 200 street miles
I agree about the age thing, which leads me to agree with the street tire recommendation for a track/street tire.
However, as a dry street only tire, I'd go with Toyo RA-1s. Running Toyos on my TA, I had enough traction to kill my clutch before killing the tires Phew, what a smell that was..
PaulC
Redrotor, that's kinda misleading cause those were 200 TRACK miles, not 200 street miles
I agree about the age thing, which leads me to agree with the street tire recommendation for a track/street tire.
However, as a dry street only tire, I'd go with Toyo RA-1s. Running Toyos on my TA, I had enough traction to kill my clutch before killing the tires Phew, what a smell that was..
PaulC
One last thing to note ... R-compound tires are nail/screw magnets! And boy are you gonna be pissed when you find a hole in your big $$$ race tires!
#11
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Gennimens,
I recently spoke w/ Paul Marconnes @ radial tire (THE local shop for serious autox and track guys from porsche club etc.) about this. Paul is an SCCA racer himself.
Paul heavily recommended the Toyo RA-1 as the best street/track tire... even over the KDs, which he could sell me for more money.
It is his opinion that, in unshaved form, the RA-1 has the fewest tradeoffs (little tramlining, noise, etc.) and is perfectly streetable in decent conditions. He even believes you'd get more actual miles out of em than the KDs.
Just thought i'd offer someone elses educated opinion. :-)
I recently spoke w/ Paul Marconnes @ radial tire (THE local shop for serious autox and track guys from porsche club etc.) about this. Paul is an SCCA racer himself.
Paul heavily recommended the Toyo RA-1 as the best street/track tire... even over the KDs, which he could sell me for more money.
It is his opinion that, in unshaved form, the RA-1 has the fewest tradeoffs (little tramlining, noise, etc.) and is perfectly streetable in decent conditions. He even believes you'd get more actual miles out of em than the KDs.
Just thought i'd offer someone elses educated opinion. :-)
#12
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Originally posted by Cheers!
the Toyo RA1 has a stamp that says for competition use only on the side walls.
Anyhow... i think u need to drive your car more.
the Toyo RA1 has a stamp that says for competition use only on the side walls.
Anyhow... i think u need to drive your car more.
I missed the race last weekend, so next race isn't til April.
PaulC
#13
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Originally posted by Silkworm
LOL, helps if I don't have trailer mishaps on the way to the track
I missed the race last weekend, so next race isn't til April.
PaulC
LOL, helps if I don't have trailer mishaps on the way to the track
I missed the race last weekend, so next race isn't til April.
PaulC
#14
2/4 wheel cornering fiend
Originally posted by ptrhahn
Gennimens,
I recently spoke w/ Paul Marconnes @ radial tire (THE local shop for serious autox and track guys from porsche club etc.) about this. Paul is an SCCA racer himself.
Paul heavily recommended the Toyo RA-1 as the best street/track tire... even over the KDs, which he could sell me for more money.
It is his opinion that, in unshaved form, the RA-1 has the fewest tradeoffs (little tramlining, noise, etc.) and is perfectly streetable in decent conditions. He even believes you'd get more actual miles out of em than the KDs.
Just thought i'd offer someone elses educated opinion. :-)
Gennimens,
I recently spoke w/ Paul Marconnes @ radial tire (THE local shop for serious autox and track guys from porsche club etc.) about this. Paul is an SCCA racer himself.
Paul heavily recommended the Toyo RA-1 as the best street/track tire... even over the KDs, which he could sell me for more money.
It is his opinion that, in unshaved form, the RA-1 has the fewest tradeoffs (little tramlining, noise, etc.) and is perfectly streetable in decent conditions. He even believes you'd get more actual miles out of em than the KDs.
Just thought i'd offer someone elses educated opinion. :-)
That said, as soon as I get an extra set of rims, I'll be getting a good set of street skins.
#15
~17 MPG
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How do the Toyo's compare vs. Falken Azenis in terms of grip?
Lots of the autocrossers in my region run Falkens because they're legal for ST classes. BFG's are also used by some, but they're more expensive than the Falkens, so most people will buy two sets of Falkens vs one set of KDs.
-s-
Lots of the autocrossers in my region run Falkens because they're legal for ST classes. BFG's are also used by some, but they're more expensive than the Falkens, so most people will buy two sets of Falkens vs one set of KDs.
-s-