CRex

Same here. The marketing from Pirelli seems to suggest it's actually a grippier tire in the dry...

savyboy

SCCA PDX/TT/CT at RFR on June 30/July 1st. Super stoked to try them out and I have previous lap times to compare against. Will post up some observations then. No way to form any opinions street driving them as you would expect.

Likely the few sets that just came in are gone now but message me for USA sourcing info. Next batch in Sept.

Oh- I have a set of new Trofeo 325/19" rears and 50% 245/19" fronts (not "R", but still faster than any other streetable tire) available for sale $1100 shipped anywhere in US. Email me: pete@trackrat.com

BBMGT3

If the above is true, then we may have our very first street tire with Hoosier grip...

savyboy

On a 2:00 minute track my experience has been they are within approx 1-2 secs of Hoosiers. The Trofeos (regular and R) are quite good on wet tracks as well.

Nizer

So I guess the answer to my question was yes...

NJ-GT

More dry grip and longer lasting is feasible with the same compound due to the change in construction compared to the standard Trofeo. But I would not expect the Trofeo R to be that much faster than the standard Trofeo, unless Pirelli changed the compound, but stickier compounds don't last longer.

Pirelli just removed the channel on the outside edges (same difference between MPSC and MPSC N-Spec). Eliminating this channel will reduce chunking (which I experienced in a brand new set of Trofeos) and improve dry grip due to less flexing on the thread blocks, it would also improve longevity as less chunking means less rubber lost.

This tire doesn't match and cannot match Hoosier R6 performance. The Hoosier has a slick construction and a soft compound.

Trofeo are the fastest tire that can be driven to/from the racetrack, but Hoosier are faster. My g-forces at Sebring last month showed much lower numbers than R6/A6/slicks, and higher numbers than MPSC and RE-11. My car on MPSC is faster than my car on R888. The Trofeo feels grippy, it is likely faster than shaved RA1.

I'm buying a 2nd set to do more testing (R6 vs Trofeo in Coxster, Slicks vs. Trofeo in Fiat).

mdrums

NJ-GT...MPSC N-Spec is not faster than R888...at least to me....maybe regular MPSC, correct?

NJ-GT

Mike, I don't use the N-Spec MPSC because I know they are slower. There was a magazine (Motor Trend or Car and Driver) that replaced the tires in their Long Term E92 M3 (Michelin PS2) with MPSC N-Spec, and a track test proved the MPSC N-Spec a little faster.

In my 996 GT3 I ran 235/40R18 and 295/30R18 MPSC, later 265/35R18 and 315/30R18 MPSC.

In my 997.1 GT3 RS I ran 265/30R19 and 345/30R19 MPSC.

In the Fiat I ran 265/30R19 and 345/30R19 MPSC.

All these tires are race-spec MPSC, and they are faster than R888 on the same track where I ran both tires.

I have not done R888 testing since 2010, as I gave up on those tires after much testing (the Fiat went through 5 sets of them in one year).

At Daytona, on my first ever event there, the MPSC were giving me consistent 2:01 lap times, with more confidence in the infield and carrying more speed, I could have dropped 4 secs from my laps (TBL showed 1:59 despite of heavy braking at the kink and early braking before the start/finish line).

At Homestead Grand-Am, I ran 1:30.249 on MPSC (265/345), and the day after I ran 1:26.705 on Hoosier A6 (295/345). This was at the NASA Time Trials March 2012, so I get to run the A6 in their ideal temperatures, on R6 I would probably run high 1:27s to low 1:28s.

The race spec MPSC are fast. These are the same tires Dodge ran with the Viper ACR at the Nurburgring and set the street car record of 7:12.

MPSC: good
MPSC N-spec: not good
Trofeo: better

BBMGT3

Ive been running N-spec rears with non-N front. Wonder how much of a diff that makes.

fc-racer

I have reams of data supporting N-Spec MPSC being 1.5-2 seconds slower on a ~1.5 minute lap than R888's and RA1's. Most of the time lost is under braking, which makes sense because the front tires give up a lot of rubber to accommodate the wider grooves of the N-Spec tires. From a "feel" perspective, I actually like the Michelins better, but who cares how they feel if the lap times are slow.

mdrums

I totally agree...I've had both MPSC N-Spec and R888 on my car and MPSC is much slower...more abs in braking zones, slower corning speeds. Also they do not last any longer than R888 which is on average $700 less per set of R888's!

montoya

Have a set of Trofeo R's inbound from Bob Woodman tires.

What's the feedback on these, Savyboy?

If you don't have feedback, I'll post up mine after my next track day August 2nd at the Ridge.

Edit July 2nd, sorry- so feedback in about a week...

savyboy

Only street driving so far which doesn't tell us anything. Track event next weekend if the car is not sold first. I have several previous times on that course so a good comparison.

PS I have a set of Trofeo (non-R) for sale at a very good price: https://rennlist.com/forums/for-sale...-325-19-a.html

GuyR

I never understood why they stopped the Pirelli Corsa R (proper track tyre), or updated that design. I ran them a lot on my GT2 and they were great, having no longitudal grooves at all they were great on the road with no tram-lining at all and also the tread never 'chunked' as the whole tyre was basically one tread block, just with the 's-squiggles' cut in.

All the track tires today still seem to be made with too much bias towards compromise for wet-street use IMHO.

C.J. Ichiban

the only thing I liked about the toyos was the cost- for me at my local track (low grip circuit) the Michelins were about 1 second a lap faster than the r888s. of course once I discovered that hoosiers are actually cheaper (and faster) than MPSC tires I just went that route.

and like GuyR said- I feel like too many of these "track" tires are too tall, too heavy, too treaded.