Yargk

I don't think it's 2 seconds, maybe a half second at most or just even, best time vs. best time.. I think they are more drivable than Cup2, they keep up their speed better through the session than Cup2, and they work better over their useful life than cup 2. But I think the reason most people set the personal best in RE71R is just that their performance window is wider, not that they are faster than Cup2 when Cup2 is at it's best. RE71R is about exactly as fast as NT01 (tested back to back with pro driver).

orthojoe

+1.

2 seconds faster than cup2 is absurd. That is the driver and not the tire. The 2 tires are roughly equivalent grip

Inrev

Always depends on the days, I'm talking 6 to 7 30-min sessions per day. They seem to be wearing out fairly evenly, though they do get greasy at the end of those sessions. My best times are usually 4-5 laps into the session.

orthojoe

Sounds about right to me.
Mine are lasting 4-5 days, but that is 5 20 minute sessions.

drwuss

How come no one talks about the extra 10 lbs the Michelin saves?

Yargk

Probably just because the benefit doesn't outweigh negatives.

orthojoe

+1 again. Lol. 10 pounds vs more consistent tire that is much cheaper. No brainer

Yargk

drwuss

So should we not worry about wheel weight either? It has to matter on some level. I know I am not at that level but I see people get all fired up about saving 2 pounds per wheel, but no one seems to mention tire weight ever. It just seems odd to me because the tire weight has to affect the equation more than the wheel. I also wonder if tire weights have a large enough margin of error to make the point moot.

Yargk

You're right to wonder, there are a few things going on here. Weight does matter and unsprung weight matters more than sprung weight. Some drivers will tell you they can even feel the difference. So if there are two sets of wheels, the lighter one is "better," all else being equal. With wheels the "all else being equal" is an easier requirement to satisfy. Are they strong and come in the correct widths and offsets? Boom, all else is equal. And if one set is more expensive, some will eat the cost difference because heck, it's a one time cost. The other thing about weight is that if you're serious about it, you try to look for 10 pounds here, there, everywhere and hope you can make it add up. Unfortunately it's usually only after you've accumulated 50-100 pounds of savings that you can tell.

With tires the "all else equal" is much harder. Consistency with temperature and over the tire's lifetime is a big deal and much more important than 2 pounds per tire. It's not that 2 pounds lighter wouldn't be great, it's just that one quality of a tire is much more important than the other. Also, a set of RE-71R is about $800 cheaper than Cup2s, and that's not a one time cost.

So weight matters, but is higher on the list for wheels than tires, just because the list is longer for tires.

gtreddy

Cost is a factor. Sure if you're racing the 2 lbs per wheel might make sense. But if you're doing track days and saving $500 a set and going through tires at the rate of a set per 4 days, it means (very roughly) for every 2 track weekends you could afford another 1.5 track weekends by choosing the cheaper tires that perform about the same (unless you're doing COTA where $500 is about a day).

You'll probably become faster and learn more with the extra 1.5 track weekends than if you decided to save the weight.

Possibly the only argument I could see for the weight savings being worth it is the correlation of unsprung weight with respect to brake pad wear. I wonder if there is a significant increase of pad wear with increased unsprung weight.

orthojoe

I challenge anyone to prove they are any faster on track by losing 10 pounds anywhere. I gained 37pounds switching from pccb to iron rotors on my spyder and and ended up faster because I could run better track pads.

owenpruden

I've decided to go with the RE71Rs on my 981 Boxster S for track use. Will be on 19" OEM wheels. What cold tire pressures do you use? Also, how much warming up do they need before pushing them on the track?
Thanks for the help!

tstafford

Why not just buy a set of them, try them out for yourself and see what you think? They are a consumable item - not like you're marrying the damn things.

Bill Lehman

I start @ 25# F and 26# R Cold, Goes to about 34# F and 35# R depending on temperature. I always run the first lap easy.