Martin S.

Hankook Z 214: I have had 2 sets, first one was unremarkable but cheap. 2nd set, corded the rears after 4 (possibly fewer) cycles. Put the Nittos back on; they wore like iron. I wasn't running excessive negative camber, maybe -2 at the most, probably - 1/1/2.

Possible tire strategy. Get a set of Hoosiers A7s for qualifying, then race on Nitto NT-01s. They are good for 15 to 20 heat cycles in my experience, 20 is closer to reality. Have yet to wear out a set of fronts.

Slakker

Sounds like you had toe issues with your z214s. I got 27 heat cycles out of the last set I had. By 18 they had lost the magic but were still fun to drive.

NT01s are a solid 2+ seconds slower than an A7/R7/z214 etc. There is no way I would ever run them for competition. But they are great tires if all you ever plan to do is DE.

Slakker

FYI, here is a great comparison between the NT01s and RE-71s that Fabspeed posted over in the 996 forum. Although I had heard really good things about the RE-71s it was still pretty surprising.

http://www.prima-racing.com/bridgest...king-part-two/

Spyerx

While NT01 have great grip and do work until they cord, by the time they are basically slicks there is so little rubber left on the tire I get 1-2 hot laps after warmup laps and the tires are WAY off and sliding everywhere. I don't experience when the tires have the grooves in the middle.

They last a LONG time. Even at pretty fast pace on my gt3.

mglobe

I'll preface these comments by noting that while I've driven all of these tires, I have not driven all of them on the same car. Keep that in mind. I added the RA1 to the mix.

In order from best to worst in terms of lap times:

BFG R1
Toyo RR
Toyo RA1 -- Shaved
Nitto NT01 = RE71R -- I think. Still evaluating RE71
Toyo R888

Something to note about heat cycles: Not all heat cycles are created equal. When I was just starting out on R-comps, I could get 30hc's out of the BFG's. I was slow, not using all the grip the tires had, and not getting them up to temp. As I got quicker, the tire's lives shortened considerably. A 30hc BFG is good for nothing except sliding around at this point. I think this one of the reasons you tend to get a fairly wide range of answers from people on tire life.

Martin S.

I am doing an alignment next week...I will check the toe, thanks for the tip...but as I said, I only had weird inside rear tire wear...and when I went back to NT-01s, inside rear wear was negligible. So we'll see what the alignment rack states.

BTW, what alignment specs do you recommend with Z 214 tires? 993 RS alignment specs from the 1996 Service Training booklet, WKD 499 620 are:
FRONT AXLE:
Toe, total +5' +/- 5' <<<This is out of the 993 Spec Book, doesn't make sense to me.
Camber: -1 +/- 10'
Caster 5 Degrees 20' +15' - 30'
Toe difference angle 1 Degree27' +/-30'
REAR AXLE:
Toe, per wheel + 15' + - 5'
Camber -1 Degree 20' +/- 10

Slakker

In a dedicated 996 track car that is ~2700lbs with driver I'm running the following:

Caster: 8 degree
F Camber: -3.7 degrees
F Toe : +1mm total (.5/side)
R Camber: -3.0 degrees
R Toe: -3mm total

Warning, the slight front toe out makes it not want to track straight, especially in the brake zones. But the extra turning ability you get from it is well worth it to me.

Ultimately, you will want to get a pyrometer to determine proper Camber. And it will very based on track and direction. But until then, this one seems to work for me pretty well.

One other thing, the ' denotes minutes. You can type in "5 minutes in degrees" in google to convert to degree decimal.

Martin S.

Great information...thank you very much. I am aware of the effects of toe out and its benefits....not for the street, but for the track, very productive. And thanks for the tip on minutes...I was simply parroting what I read in the 993 RS Tech bulletin...can't seem to import degree symbols into Rennlist, the least of my worries.

My car is heavier, 3,200 Lbs, that's pretty much the weight I am stuck running.

Martin S.

I didn't mention K toe. 993 Specs:
"Kinematic toe in change, max. difference 1.5 scale units
To measure kinematic toe-in change, the vehicle may be lifted until special tools 9549 and 9550 (levels) are within their measurement ranges."

Plavan

We use 235/40 R17 Toyo RR's on our Spec NP01 Prototypes. A spec NP01 finished 6th overall at the 25hr running the Toyo RR's- They only had to change tires every 11.5 HOURS! They could of finished the race on 2 sets, but wanted to keep the crew awake the last couple hours.

Let that sink in.

Slakker

So you are saying you were only getting 1 HC out of them? :P

Plavan

HAHAHA- Yes just one.

pu911rsr

I've not run that many R compounds tires in the last few years but I did have a set of RR's on my 944 and I thought they were great tires.

Phil

johneecatt

I run NT01s, and at a very quick pace pace, I can get maybe 20 (and the last couple are pretty hairy), swapping L/R between days.

TXE36

Mike,

Did you get a chance to try the RE71R in the wet at COTA a few weeks ago? If the RE71R can match the NT01 in the dry and be competent in the wet that would be very interesting to me. In my experience, NT01s are worthless in the wet, even when brand new. For DE, it would be nice to not have to deal with a set of rain tires.

-Mike