I need help on the next tire choice for the GT3. This past weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, the Michelin PS2 tires worked like crap. That track has a lot of lateral load especially on the banked NASCAR 4 turn and in the infield it was hard to get to where I needed to be as the tires had a sweet spot for a very short period of time.

I rode with another guy in his GT3 with Sport Cups and the difference was night and day. Is the difference that huge? I had the alignment done before the weekend, the other guy didn't even know his alignment settings. The only difference was the tires.

I drive the car on weekends occasionally, do appx. 5-6 autocrosses a year and appx. 10 track days a year. I drive to and from the track which can be 200-360 miles each way to each track event excluding the autocrosses which are close.
Which R compound tires do you think is best for this combination?

Sport Cups: Correct sizes, but heat cycle to death early.

Toyo RA-1: My obvious choice, but the rear sizes are 305 35 18 and I don't want to roll the fenders to fit this tire. Anyone out there using RA-1's without rolling the fenders? 2 deg. neg on the fronts, 1.5 deg. on the rears.

Yokohama A048: Come on Lotus as stock, don't know much about

Pirelli PZero Corsa System: Seems to be a new tire listed on Tirerack, but too new for reviews.

Nitto NT01: Saw a few of these tires on some of the club race cars in the paddock at PIR, but their relatively new and I don't think they have the rear sizes at this time.

Thanks in Advance as I want to get rid of these tires ASAP.

 

with only 10 track days, if you only got one set of rims you will waste your cups on street use very soon, as you need a bit of camber to optimize those tires. 2-2.5 at the very least. i would get two sets of wheels, ps2 for street and cup for track.

RA1 and Nitto have off sizes for GT3 street cars. NJGT was able to get them to work well. i use these tires a lot on my other cars but never on GT3.

yoko is not in the same league as cup in terms of grip.

pzero corse is better then mpsc when temp is low. at high temps (ambiernt and track temp), they blister. i prefer cups over corsa.

 

The Pirelli Corsa was Factory on the Euro GT3 RS it great,even in the rain and they last longer the Michelin Cup's.
I have the yokohama A048 and they look like the Corsa's with less groove but they're very noise.

 

Mooty,

I don't know how long I'll have this car, so I'm leaning on not getting a second set of rims. I hear what your saying about wearing the Cups down on street driving, but in the past, I've heat cycled them to death before they were down to their wear bars, and had to throw them out. I really would like to go the Toyo route as they have a long life and tend to still hold their level of grip even when almost bald, but I'm not rolling the fenders. If NJGT is out there, did you roll the fenders? As stated before, I don't have as an aggressive alignment as I could have had (2 deg. front, 1.5 deg. rear)

Thanks for the heads up on the Corsas. Most of the tracks I drive are in the Southwest (Buttonwillow, Willow Springs, LV, PIR, Cal Speedway) so the temperatures get pretty warm with minimal rain.

 

Have you considered a roof rack or a trailer to haul a set of dedicated wheels & tires??

It's really not a bad option....

 

mooty is right on

 

I agree: there is a night and day difference between the PS2s and Cups, and if you drive your GT3 on the street any significant amount you really want two sets of wheels.

The Yokos work great on the Lotus (and I suspect other lighter cars) but they heat cycle terribly - I understand worse than the Cups. I wouldn't recommend them for this car, as they aren't better than the Cups in any way.

I've got no direct experience with the RA-1, but they seem to last longer (can be turned inside out, don't heat cycle badly) and are cheap. Seems like there are two good options, and you get to keep your PS2s.

 

hoosiers are a great tire and with no rain would work out well. How far to the track? I drive to the track with mine on. About 20 miles

 

I've got the Corsa System tires right now, they came on a used set of rims I bought. They suck. Only slightly faster than street tires, but don't get greasy like a street tire after a few laps. With all the grooves, they seem to be designed as a rain tire. When braking or going thru turns, they make a strange scuffing noise and break loose very easily. Not very confidence inspiring. I would never buy these.

I had MPSC's before the Corsa Systems and was in your situation with only one set of rims, so they were also used for daily street driving. The grip is way better with the MPSC's at the track. IMO, they don't get heat cycled on the street as they don't get hot enough (YMMV). They lasted me 6 track days and then were worse than street tires as performance dropped off a cliff.

I e-mailed Nitto and they tell me that they're about to release a 305/30-18 size which should work for us. I made the case for a 295/30-18 and they said they'd look into it.

Toyo tells me that they are coming out with a replacement next year for the RA-1. I suggested they make them also in our sizes. A few more e-mails with the same request probably wouldn't hurt.

Mooty is right about more camber and another set of wheels (see if you can find some used, that's what I did) if you're going to run r-compounds.

 

you are 20 miles from your local track?
do do you go take a few laps before and after work every day.....
if i am that close to a track, i think i may have to quit my real job.

 

What "real job"?

 

+1. If the track was 20 min. away, I'd be divorced . The closest track is Willow Springs about 200 miles away, the furthest, LV about, 360 miles. I'm shooting for Laguna Seca next year and Sears point which is about 500 so I can't go with a slick. Cups, Corsas, RA-1 and Nitto's were my choice.

There was a gentleman from London a few months ago that didn't know what Toyo RA-1's were. He indicated that Toyo released a new tire called 888 in Europe which may be what Holger was talking about when Toyo releases this new tire next year. I think with a 305 30 18 it may be okay on the rear, but 305 35 18 will make the sidewalls too tall for the fenders. 2nd set of wheels may be the way to go.

 

FYI, Pirelli makes the Corsa, and the Corsa System. The Corsa is a good R-compound, almost as good as the MPSC, slightly better in the rain. The Corsa System is a hybrid that is still a street tire, it's not very good on the track, although it is good in the rain.

There's no great answer to what tire does street and track well, all the R's are OK on the street, but you wear or cycle them out very quickly. Second set of rims, even if you just change them for the trip to the track, is a better solution.

Bruce

 

I agree with Mooty and Bruce,
I have two sets of rims.. its the the only way to get the best of two worlds. Street tires are just that and R comps are wasted on the street.
Get your self a second set of rims and mount the cups on them.
The yoko R comp A048 tires are OK, not as good as Cups and very noisy when new and cost almost as much as Cups.

K1

 

mooty, sounds like you need a job like me. College professor and doctor's wife

And it doesn't hurt the track budget to be a DINK.