Dell, please remind me of the sizes you were running. OEM wheels?

 

OEM wheels

245/40/18 F
315/30/18 R

 

After I use up my RA-1s I'll give them a try! Thanks, Dell.

 

Very welcome. From what I heard, the NT01 is the same "rubber" as the RA-1 but under Toyo's Nitto line in GT3 friendly sizes and a more slick oriented tread.

 

anyone know a source that has the 275/35/18? No one seems to have any left.. argh. The 315s seem too big to run on a 10" rim.

 

Get an 11" rim

Kidding. Have you called the usual suspects? Discount Tire, etc?

 

That would be the answer.. Anyone here have a set of GTE take offs for 1500 or so? Worth a shot.

I tried the usuals and even a few ebay folks and tirevan. No one can get the 275.

BTW: I just have to say that I love the title of this thread...

 

Yeah the title is great. Gotta hand it to Chris and his "panties in a wad" attitude

For crying out loud I have only been home for 24 hours since running the NT01's.

 

I used the Nittos this weekend in Vegas. But only the front tires. I have a set of Cups on the rear that still have life and will be replaced with Nittos when I burn through those.

Ambient temperatures were 90-95, sunny skies. On the warm up lap, I took the first turn a little faster and washed out a little. As I did so, the front Nittos squealed a little, so that was good in that they're talking to me. The Cups were silent.

By lap 2 they were good. By lap 3 and on, over a 30 minute session, they were great and never got really greasy until the very end.

After coming in, the pressures went up 10 PSI on the left side and 9 PSI on the right (clockwise track direction). It's more than I thought, so I put the hot pressures down to 36 and they worked great all weekend. Great tire so far.

I drove to and from the track on these tires (750 miles Round Trip, not including track mileage). The wear appears to be minimal at this point.

I'll try the Nittos out on an autocross course later this month and see how they perform there. I know they're not designed for that, but what the hell?

 

Personally I wouldn't mix cups and nitto's but hey, maybe you just "created" your own set of comps

 

I tend to go through tires very quickly. The autocross course is extremely abrasive and these things go before they are heat cycled to death. You should see my garage and storage shed. Full of tires with a full set of Nittos on the way.

 

Dell, if you can drop 8 secs at VIR switching from PS2 to NT01, I bet you that there is more than tires on that gap.

 

Rad, you are 100% correct. What I should have added was that I was able to be more confident in the car in places I wouldn't have pushed before. So, yes, the 8 seconds, was tires AND increased confidence.

 

Plus it didn't hurt that we were running the North course all weekend. Just kiddding!

Actually that is a marked increase in performance my friend. For whatever reason I don't think our paths ever crossed on the track...but then with a black flag every other lap or so what should I have expected.

 

However, I must also state that I have no idea what a driver of my ability in a car like the GT3 "should" be running. I know I have more skill than my times show but I do NOT get hung up on comparing lap times. I check my ego at the door and if Todd in his 944 pass me then so be it (not that that will ever happen ).

I assume the target time for a street GT3 on R-comps should be in the 210-212 range? I knew I wasn't far off when I was running 2:20-2:21's in December. But this past weekend being only my 2nd time at VIR with the GT3 I would say, as Rad highlighted, that my drop in times was not just the tires but increased confidence and learning more about the car. Bettering your lap times by 5-8 seconds is alot. Also, watching the video, my best times were ones that I was constantly dealing with traffic. I don't doubt that 210-212 in May is very realistic. As for those sub 2:10 times, I am suspension upgrades and slicks away from that. And that is a long time away. I really want to learn this car in small steps.