Pirelli Trofeo R on '15 TTS: Road and Track
12-16-2014, 10:47 PM
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Pirelli Trofeo R on '15 TTS: Road and Track
After 3000 miles on my OEM tires, I decided to switch to Pirelli Trofeo R tires just for last weekend. I put 1700 miles on them driving from Dallas to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and did a PCA event there. My thoughts:
Road:
- the Trofeo R tires are louder than the OEM P zero tires, but not excessively loud if someone wanted to live with them every day. I felt I had to turn up the Burmester stereo a little louder than normal to hear clearly
- I got caught in 2 downpours to and from the track both times in Louisiana and Texas. On the way there, the tires were pretty new and I had no issues in the wet. On the way back, even with used tires the traction was good even at 65-75 mph. There was some hydroplaning above 80 mph.
- the turn-in and steering response is brisk and touchy, which I like. The steering felt very much like the Ferrari 458 steering. The rear wheel steering is SO noticeable with these tires compared to the OEM tires. It takes some time to get used to it.
Track:
- the tires are very sticky! I am used to using Hoosiers on a GT3 RS, and I can say, these are very close to Hoosiers in performance. My best time at Barber was 1:38.6 and that was trying to take care of the tires since I had to drive home. That was the same time as my friend with a heavily modified 997.1 RS on Pirelli slick tires.
- the rear wheel steering is not noticeable at all on the track. Car is very responsive for a big heavy car.
- the wear on the Trofeos is much better than expected. With stock alignment, only the outside of the front tires shows some wear. The rest look great. I bet I can get at least 4 hard 2 day events out of these tires...or more. My Hoosiers only lasted me 12-15 heat cycles.
- optimum pressures on the track were 30-32 hot. This means that I usually started them at 24-26 cold depending on outside temp and how hard I was driving.
Overall, I am very impressed with the tires. If they indeed last as long as I think, they are a better bang for your buck than Hoosiers (Trofeo R, $2400; Hoosier R6 or R7; $1600). With all that being said, the TTS is not the ideal track car. It understeers (stock alignment) more than I like, the entry speeds into turns has to be slower than I am used to because the car is too heavy to turn appropriately, and it is harder on brakes and tires than I am used to. However, I did not have to trailer to the track...I haven't done that in a while!
There are not many cars that you can daily drive in pure comfort with an awesome stereo and then drive to the track and post pretty good times. I put my OEM tires back on and will be putting the Trofeos on for my next track day at COTA next month. When my GT3 gets here, my TTS will no longer see any track duty.
Overall, Trofeo R is a great tire for those who want performance with daily drive ability.
Road:
- the Trofeo R tires are louder than the OEM P zero tires, but not excessively loud if someone wanted to live with them every day. I felt I had to turn up the Burmester stereo a little louder than normal to hear clearly
- I got caught in 2 downpours to and from the track both times in Louisiana and Texas. On the way there, the tires were pretty new and I had no issues in the wet. On the way back, even with used tires the traction was good even at 65-75 mph. There was some hydroplaning above 80 mph.
- the turn-in and steering response is brisk and touchy, which I like. The steering felt very much like the Ferrari 458 steering. The rear wheel steering is SO noticeable with these tires compared to the OEM tires. It takes some time to get used to it.
Track:
- the tires are very sticky! I am used to using Hoosiers on a GT3 RS, and I can say, these are very close to Hoosiers in performance. My best time at Barber was 1:38.6 and that was trying to take care of the tires since I had to drive home. That was the same time as my friend with a heavily modified 997.1 RS on Pirelli slick tires.
- the rear wheel steering is not noticeable at all on the track. Car is very responsive for a big heavy car.
- the wear on the Trofeos is much better than expected. With stock alignment, only the outside of the front tires shows some wear. The rest look great. I bet I can get at least 4 hard 2 day events out of these tires...or more. My Hoosiers only lasted me 12-15 heat cycles.
- optimum pressures on the track were 30-32 hot. This means that I usually started them at 24-26 cold depending on outside temp and how hard I was driving.
Overall, I am very impressed with the tires. If they indeed last as long as I think, they are a better bang for your buck than Hoosiers (Trofeo R, $2400; Hoosier R6 or R7; $1600). With all that being said, the TTS is not the ideal track car. It understeers (stock alignment) more than I like, the entry speeds into turns has to be slower than I am used to because the car is too heavy to turn appropriately, and it is harder on brakes and tires than I am used to. However, I did not have to trailer to the track...I haven't done that in a while!
There are not many cars that you can daily drive in pure comfort with an awesome stereo and then drive to the track and post pretty good times. I put my OEM tires back on and will be putting the Trofeos on for my next track day at COTA next month. When my GT3 gets here, my TTS will no longer see any track duty.
Overall, Trofeo R is a great tire for those who want performance with daily drive ability.
12-17-2014, 10:47 AM
#3
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Yes, 245/305 in 20s. I purchased from Bob Woodman. Make sure they don't send you McLaren tires in that size! They accidentally sent one rear (MC) to me but they promptly took care of it.
