fizzledorf

I've been on a few spirited canyon runs in the new Pirelli Trofeo R and holy ****e they are the real deal.

First of all - when you start driving on them about 5 minutes into the drive you can HEAR them warm up. They start to get so sticky that you can feel them pulling every rock and pebble off the road.

They get up to heat pretty quickly and with minimal effort, once warmed up though is where the magic begins.

I'm not a "street racer" and I really only drive my car on empty canyon roads, though I have many track days in my future. This weekend I was able to get up real early and drive up a local canyon road before the crowds.

I ran them pretty hard on a hot day didn't notice them breaking down or getting greasy... just really good grip and lots of feel.

I'm starting to understand that chassis engineering involves more than just slapping stiff suspension, anti-roll bars and tires on a car. It's matching up the right components for the right driving conditions on the right track / course / canyon etc. It finally felt like it was harmonious... I'm running KW club sport, RS sway bars, solid engine mounts, Fikse wheels and now with some proper tires the stars aligned.

For the first time I felt like the chassis was really happy... the car would take a hard set and then you could really throttle on corner exit. It also felt super balanced, because a canyon isn't a race track I didn't really push it too hard, definitely got all my braking done in a straight line, etc.

Anyways - I'm a big fan of these, though I don't have many other tire choices to compare against.