ShelleE55

I am finally in need of new tires and wanted to get some opinions on tire options. PS2's were my original choice but I am considering an R compound tire since I plan on tracking the car as much as I can this year so here are my questions:

1. Feedback on the RA1's or the Michelin Sport Cup.
2. Any other R compound tire that someone has had experience with
3. How long have they lasted and how much track usage with them if any

jangy

I love the Pilot Sport Cups. i haven't tried others, but I think the R rating is nice in general. You do get less miles out of them. For me, it was about 75% of the life I get from PS2s. Other brands may be different.

Trackwise, they definitely make a difference. Tires are the #1 mod for most cars anyway.

housclass

bridgestone re-01r's are the best tires i've used...i can get 6k miles out of them and they are much better than the goodyears gs-d3's (handling, noise, straight line) i use to run...and they're not bad in the rain...even when the tires are low on tread...just my $.02 cents worth!

john

StealthAuto

+1.. The Pilot Sport Cups are an EXCELLENT tire!! Though more expensive than many other R tires I think they're worth it.

rsr911

Pilot Sport Cups - all the way.

AMG_55

i do not reccomend r compound tires for every day. i had them (a032r) on my e36 m3, much lighter car w/ much less tq, they lasted me less than 3000mi. i never took the car to a track, only street driving

go w/ ps2's or toyo ra-1(they arent that bad on wear)

jangy

Is wear the only reason? If not, i was planning on getting them next. I have PS2s now, but they are low on tread. I don't mind getting new tires with each oil change.

AMG_55

they were ****in LOUD too , i didnt mind that though

otherwise

jangy

I don't care about loud, either. I want nice and sticky.

Rafal

Get a second set of rims, genuine take offs or AMG replicas and buy a set of
R compound tires for track use only. Don't even think that you can get "one size fits all" solution when it comes to tires.
Your street needs will not be met by racing (circuit or drag?) tires and vice versa.
I use Dunlop Direzza DZ02G which work extremely well around the circuit, allowing me to outcorner even M3's and Porsches on Pilot Cups and street tires. They have a high grip as they get very sticky when hot. Most importantly, they have a high heat cycle tolerance (hot and cold cycles every 30 minutes, all day over 10 or more track days) which would destroy
PS2's or Conti 2's in a single track day.

jangy

Why not run them on the street?

Rafal

Here is a list:
1. Hard as rock side walls, so they feel like 21" rims with 20 series tires
2. Big shallow grooves wear out after 4-5 track events and you start skating in the rain. They are street legal when new only. The more worn out/slick they get, the grippier they are until they run out of heat cycles.
3. Very noisy, you will need to turn up the volume on the stereo.
4. The biggest size in H-compound is 235/40/18 and 265/35/18 so they look a little small on the car.
5. You will get 10-12 track days 160mi each out of them, which would double on the street. That is only 2000mi on track or 4-5000 mi on the street.
I dont's see the point in using them on the streets. They cost as much Pilot Cups but have won 90% of tarmac rallys in Australia compered to only 5% for Pilot Cup.
6. E55 on Dunlop DZ02G beats an M3 on Pilot Cups around the circuit.

regor60

RA1s are R compound

eLTURCOamg

ps2's are amazing, dont waste your money on anything else

ShelleE55

I do plan on having two sets of tires evantually but for now I want to get something that will hold up on the track as well as on the street even if I will need to replace them sooner than most expect. That was my reasoning for looking at R compounds. From what I can see by design of tread and what I have read the Sport Cup might be the best but the RA1's are little less expensive.

I am curious about the comment of not driving R compound on the street. I am in SoCal where it almost never rains and I would have them replaced before the tires would be considered "slicks", also isn't that why these type of R compounds are DOT approved

AMG_55

they need high temps to work properly, i wouldnt be surprised if on an everyday regular temp the ps2 is better than a r compound tire. they really need to be warmed up but after they get into that range

AMG_55

i know that

they just have better wear characteristics than most r compound tires

Rafal

+1

blackbenzz

I have PS2's sitting in the basement. WHat kind of track events do you plan on doing? I put some RA1's on the rear of my CLK55 and it made a HUGE difference over the PS2's at the track and no noticeable ride difference (I still have PS2's in the front). I highly recommend the toyo RA1's. I drive them on the street and the track (Although I rarely drive the 55). When its very cold out, like today, traction is horrible with the RA1's though. They have to be warm to get the uber traction! Good luck

CynCarvin32

People with semi track cars use the RA-1 as a combo street tire and track tire. If you dont go for shaved tires the tire is molded at 8/32nd's and that is almost the same as most street tires. They do not wear out in 2k miles like a set of corsa's or sport cups so they are a good combo tire.

With that said the new NT-01 from NITTO is the american successor to the RA-1. It has a newer structure so it has better steering feel and better control at the limit. The NT-01 and the RA-01 share a similar tread compound but the NT-01 is molded at 6/32nd's. For straight track use that does not matter as you will want to shave the tires down th 4/32nds for better tire wear.

But having 2 sets of wheels really is the ideal solution. There is no reason to run aroun no these tires all day when you could have a second set of wheels for what 1200 bucks off e-bay?

ShelleE55

Here is what I am thinking. I have two track days coming up very quickly one in two weeks and one on March 10th and I am not sure if I will have picked out/purchased a second set of wheels, so I wanted some tires that would be good track/street tires for a couple of months. I am considering using my stock for track since I have some curb rash on them and getting some HRE's or BBB's as the every day good looking wheels. The other option is getting the stock wheels cleaned up and powder coated/painted (the right way) and then buying some 2 or 3 piece wheels for track as cheap as I can get them.

Thoughts???