multi21

UPDATE

Well my rear R888's are nearly slicks now and I can say that I'm not going to buy 888s again. Although the 888s are better than MPSC, I personally like the Nittos WAY better. This coming from someone who gets $200 off a full set of R888s, but no discount on Nittos.

I drive to and from the track on the tires, I do autocrosses, time trials and instruct at DE's so they go through every type of driving except rallying. The following are my impressions:

* They took a little too long to scrub in before they were fast.

* When they were scrubbed in, they have a nice sweet spot, but they got very slippery as they wore and did not have the consistancy in grip I expected to the cords as we've experienced in the RA-1's. My times increased slightly, but I was finding myself working harder to manage grip/slip angle as they wore.

* The great thing is that they warm up quickly, but get greasy after about 15 minutes on track and you have to back off and have them cool down a bit before you can push hard again. And this is in relatively cool (for Southern California) winter temps. I image the heat in SoCal for summer are not ideal for these tires.

* Just like brake pads, as the tread is worn away and they become thinner, they heat up very fast and get greasy even faster. This is especially important as the heat generated from a rear engine car onto the rear tires compounds the situation.

mooty

good data points, pete.

here are my experiences based 255/315 on 6gt3 and 245/305 on 7gt3RS.

with full tread, it takes about 200 trackmiles to scrub them in to get the speed/grip i like. takes me about 300 track miles on RA1 to scrub them down. of course, you can shave both tires.

888 heats up quick, i can go 8.5/10 right out from the hot pit after just two hard brakes to heat them up.

what i differe from pete's finding is that my 888 does't get greasy and i tend to slide the rear a lot. but i am in NoCal, so temp is 10 deg or so lower than pete's native SoCal.

never tried NT01 on my cars yet.
i hate mpsc.
R888 is EXTREMELY noisy on the street.

one thing i have noticed on my first set of R888 is that they are more sensitive to heat cycle than RA1 ( i guess this is similar to what pete found, but slightly different). wiht RA1, i get great performance until they cord. on R888, i feel diminished grip as they worn on. i chucked my rears before they corded (it will cord in another 100 track miles or so).

but at their best, R888 is better than RA1.

i dont find the turn in of 888 better than RA1, but then i never had prob with RA1's turn in response. i also dont find mpsc any superior in turn in. but then my car is 3200 lbs and i have toe out up front.

i will run either tire, whichever is cheaper. they feel the same to ME, with very little difference.

multi21

To clarify some points. I have 295/30/18 in the rear. If I were to buy another set of rears, I would go to a 305. I go with the 315 on the rear in Nittos.

Confirming what Mooty said, the R888 is a bit faster than RA1 when they get to their sweet spot, but drop off more than RA1 as they wear... not unlike MPSC, but the Michelins REALLY drop off in grip and performance where they are like rocks expect for the 103 degree temperatures at Willow Springs last summer where they came back from being rocks only due to the high ambient temps and unbelievable high temps on tarmac. They actually stuck really well, but that is the exception, not the rule.

Mooty, you should really try a set of Nittos. As much as you track, I'd like to hear what you think. I believe you'll be impressed. BTW, price point is lower than R888's.

171mph

i'm on my second set of 888s and have reservations about them. compared to mpsc they (for me) tend to degrade materially w.r.t performance whereas mpsc may not last as long but stay fast to the end. so here are my data points:

mpsc: i set my fastest time at thunderhill raceway (2:04.3 bypass) with these on the last day i was able to use them - the right rear corded after 5 track days, 4000 miles about 600 of which on track. bear in mind i only used them in 80+ degree heat.

888s 1st set: i set my fastest time at infineon (1:55.2) on the first track day shaved to 4/32 and my fastest time at laguna (1:43.7) on the second track day . after that performance dropped materially. on the 6th and 7th day respectively i was only running around 1:46 at laguna and 1:57.5 at infineon. the rears didn't cord but i replaced them anyway since slick and i was uncomfotable with them at that stage. lasted 7 track days around 3000 miles of which 750 track.

888 2nd set: these i just got and kept them unshaved. I just got back from thunderhill for their first track day and struggled with a best of 2:05.9 on bypass. maybe as others have said they need more miles to be scrubbed in.

i am by no means experienced or skillfull enough to attribute fractions of sections to the tires but think it's important to go with what gives you the most confidence. for me that's mpsc.

so i'm thinking maybe nittos for spring and fall/winter and definitely mpsc for the hot summers. then at least i won't be able to blame the tires for crap lap times.

DanH

How can you make the rears on 888s last 7-8 days? I only get about 5 days unless its wet or something.

171mph

i drive a cayman s!
actually though 1.5 of those 7 days were wet.

datax

I'm using R888s on the street right now and noticed that it take longer to get the heat up compare to when they were new. It has been on for a month and about 1000 miles, 3 trackdays. Wet grip is pretty decent compare to MPSC. I drove around in the rain the other night. Outside temp was around 10'c.

iLLM3

As my tires are wearing in a bit more, they are getting better and better. I did VIR 3-4 weeks ago on them unshaved, took me the first day to scrub in and get use to them, since then one other 1 day and an auto x and I am loving them even more. Today on the street got caught on a little run in the wet and they were surprisingly decent, and for the most part I have full traction with the 335's on my GT2, with street tires and PSC's I spun a lot under acceleration :|

andy tims

I'm running R888's having (foolishly so it would seem) soldiered on with Dunlop SSR's until recently. Done 3 t/day's so far & I'm over the moon, not to mention quite a bit quicker.
Can't comment on the longer term wear / performance yet, but I'd I reckon I'll easily get another 2 days from the rears.
Whether I'd notice, or make use of that extra 1-2% of performance that MPSC's can offer I'm not so sure - I would notice the extra £500 or so for a set though.

They are a bit noisy on the road at certain speeds, but wet grip levels pretty good.

mooty

it depends on how hard you drive and also your definition of ONE day.
i get about 125-140 miles per track day. at that rate, they are done in 6 days.

BUT, i do use them on the street, so i "waste" some rubber in the inside. presumably if i am not so lazy and flipped the tires on the rim at 1/2 life, i should get 7 days out of them.

iLLM3

So flip tires half way through, not just as they start to wear ?? I was going to do this but didn't know when to check or do it.

mooty

yes, 1/2 way you have to flip.
if you wait to see the actual wear, it's too late.
say inside worn, you flip them, now the outside is worn. but you you need the outside for hard cornering on track.

u can try it, but it MAY not be worth your while. i get 1 extra day out of it if i flip. it's $120 or so to flip the 4 tires and you waste a few hours of your time.

rmag

I just flip wheels from side to side and run them backwards. Although it's a directional tire, it only matters if your running in the rain (So I was told by the race shop)). After swapping sides, it was a bit lumpy for a lap or 2 as the melted rubber got pushed the other way. Otherwise car felt the same and ran similar lap times. Just my $.02 and experience ... I am sure there are others who will disagree.

iLLM3

Oops Mooty I said that the wrong way. I meant shouldn't you see wear much sooner then half way through the life of the tire? So I meant when you start seeing wear, maybe 1/4 wear into the tire? Guess it's not necessary till' half way through!

Thanks

mooty

ok, i understand now.
when i say 1/2 life, what I REALLY mean is you have to waste the first set so you know what is the 1/2 life of that tire for YOU. you cannot depend on wear by appearance, but after one set, you should know when you need to flip based on when the first set dies out.

i used to do that, but now i just dont have the time anymore.