mr.t0fu

TL;DR - I like them in that order.

Long version: I've had the opportunity, over this HPDE season, to try the three above mentioned tires and wanted to share some of my impressions. I haven't been able to run all three back to back, however, I have been able to run the SC3 back to back with the RT660 and the RT660 back to back with the RE-71RS so I do have a good impression of how they all compare. A few disclaimers/notes; your mileage WILL vary, car setup, driving style, skill, cost, etc. will make your impressions different from my impressions.

On the subject of car and setup, my car is a 718 Cayman GTS (4.0 cylinder ) stock power but enough suspension bits to make the car feel very setup. I run a full track alignment, specs are as follows: Camber: -3F/-3R Toe: -1.2mm F/+2.2mm R, I need caster to make it all work but don't remember what degree I run. I don't think it should have a big impact on the tires though. The SC3 and 71RS are run on 19x9(F) and 19x10.5(R) wheels. The RT660 are run on 19x9 and 19x11 wheels (I was not comfortable running a 295 on a 10.5 wide wheel). All the tires had an initial heat cycle where I ran them from about 5/10ths to 9/10ths in a 20-ish minute session, they were then immediately taken off and let sit for about a day before they were driven on again. Ok, onto the good stuff, the tires:

Goodyear Super Car 3 (265/35r19 and 285/35r19)
Cost: $1456.28 (at time of purchase)
Hot/Cold Pressures: 32/33 Hot (both front and rear) 24 Cold (both front and rear)
Tracks Run On (4): Summit Point Main, Summit Point Shenandoah, VIR, Pittrace
Impressions: First off I prefer the 30mm width difference between the front and rear tire ie 255/285 or 265/295. I find the 20mm difference to induce a bit more oversteer all things being equal (obvious, yes I know), this did force me to change my driving habits slightly. That having been said, I found the SC3 to have the most outright grip of the three tires. The data appeared to support this with the SC3 achieving an average max G-Sum of 1.5 (again, for me). I also found the SC3 to have the widest operating range in terms of tire pressures. I did feel roll over at 24 cold, so the first lap or so was certainly taken fairly gingerly, but one-ish lap was sufficient to get enough heat in the tires to put down some decent times. I found low 30s to be the sweet spot of the tire but even with pressures as high as 35 the tire still retained good grip and did not feel too greasy. Tire life is where this tire truly excelled. I got 22 days, yes, DAYS. Most of these days were your typical DE where you get 4-20 minute sessions, but I did also do member days where I spent much longer than 80-minutes on track and I also did a few events where I drove with another person - so I easily put over 100-20 minute sessions on these tires AND it was heat cycles, not tread life that prompted me to swap them out. For me, these tires wore like iron. The SC3 gives good feedback, these tires are very talkative at the the limit, lots of feel, best feedback overall. Finally, times; these tires were the fastest of the bunch going about .3s faster on Summit Point Main.
First HC/Oddities: I thought I would hate this tire based on the first heat cycle. During my first run on this tire, the tire made no noise, gave no feeback (felt like I was driving on glass even though it was grippy), and I honestly thought these were the worst tires ever. That completely changed after the first day/heat cycle. It was weird, but I understand that this is not uncommon. These tires also NEED camber.

Bridgestone RE-71RS (255/35r19 and 285/35r19)
Cost: $1430.94 (at time of purchase)
Hot/Cold Pressures: 32/33 Hot (both front and rear) 24 Cold (both front and rear)
Tracks Run On (1): Summit Point Main
Impressions: I found the 71RS to have near identical grip to the SC3s (maybe even more). The data appeared to support this with the RE-71RS achieving an average max G-Sum of 1.44 (although on a single occasion 1.7). The RE-71RS didn't have the greatest operating range though, they come on instantly but quickly overheat. I found low 30s to be the sweat spot of the tire, get up to 35 and the tire is pretty greasy if you don't watch it they will be at 38 before you know it. I can't quite yet speak to tire life as I haven't had enough time on this tire as of yet. The RE-71RS gives feedback, meh audible feedback but it's easy to feel the grip through the steering wheel. These tires were .3s slower than the SC3 but it took zero effort to get there. Another weekend or two, these may be faster than the SC3s.
First HC/Oddities: As I said before, these tires are instant "on". An initial heat cycle didn't seem to make a difference as opposed to the SC3s. The audible feedback on these tires is weird, it's more of a low rumble vs the typical high pitched screech.

Falken RT660 (265/35r19 and 295/35r19)
Cost: $1476.50 (at time of purchase)
Hot/Cold Pressures: 34/35 Hot (both front and rear) 26 Cold (both front and rear)
Tracks Run On (3): Summit Point Main, Summit Point Shenandoah, Pittrace
Impressions: I found the RT660 to have the least grip. The data appeared to support this with the RE-71RS achieving an average max G-Sum of 1.40. The RT660 seems to have a decent operating range coming on fairly quickly and keeping good grip even into some higher pressures. I found mid 30s to be the sweat spot of the tire, 37/38 the tire will get greasy. Tire wear is ok, I have 11 days on the tires and 3 still look good, but the front left shoulder is showing some significant wear and I don't think it will survive much longer. Feedback is the worst of the bunch, clearly the tire is grippy - it's max G's are nearly identical to the 71RS but they feel numb and it therefore makes it hard (or uncomfortable, take your pick) to push these tires to the limit. These tires were .7s slower than the SC3. I think this more of a product of my discomfort with the tire, given the lack of feedback. I'm sure they CAN be as fast as the SC3 I just can't do it.
First HC/Oddities: Feedback on these tires is weird, I feel like it just doesn't provide a whole lot of it (I've heard this anecdotally from others as well). The stories are true, these tires run large.

In short, here is how I would rank the tires (Best to Worst):
Cost: SC3 (due to it's life), 71RS, RT660
Grip: SC3 and 71RS (tie for 1st), RT660 (3rd)
Feedback, SC3, 71RS, RT660
Operating Range: RT660, SC3, 71RS
Lap Times: SC3 (so far), 71RS (close second), RT660

Pics:

SC3 after 22 days


RT660 with some shoulder wear (3rd from left)

Thanks for reading if you made it all the way to the end, hopefully this is helpful!

85Gold

You are the 1st person I have heard of that says the SC3 is faster than the RT660. The SC3 must fit your driving style Having run the SC3 and RT660 on my 2010 Cayman S TT car the Falken was not only faster but didn't feel sloppy like the SC3.

Peter

mr.t0fu

Haha, this is why I led with your mileage will vary ! What camber do you run? Do you run similar pressures?

KNSBrakes

Thanks for the write up.

I'd like to try some of these myself on our Champcar.

We ran the Hankook RS-4's for the 24 hour race at VIR in August. They wear like iron and lasted the entire race with good enough tread left to go at LEAST another 8 hours (not sure on heat cycles)- but according to friends and an article I read in Grassroots Motorsports magazine they're about a second or so off pace (depending on car, track etc).

I have a set of Dunlop Direzza's mounted up ready to go for testing and our race at VIR in December.

I wanted to try the RE-71R's, but the consensus in Champcar is they shine bright but don't last more than 6-8 hours (not good in a 24 hour race!).. Maybe the SC3's might be next after I burn off these two sets I have.

--Aaron

Slow RSA

I've done a few enduros on the RS's and as mentioned above, wear will vary greatly based on set-up. As mentioned above, be careful setting cold pressures and don't overheat them, it will negatively affect lap times (last week the tires were +4-5 psi hot at Laguna Seca, yielded +3 seconds/lap). Ironically enough, we also did the VIR 24H but on the RS's, and if I recall correctly, we changed out front tires only once, and only preventatively as the car was already behind the wall for 'maintenance'. The wear was WAY better than some of the testing stories we heard about short longevity. One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the RS's performance in the rain. We did the WRL race at Road Atlanta this year on the RS's and when it rained, our little FWD cars came to life compared to the other cars on other tires. I think it's safe to say RE71RS is a high grip tire, sensitive to setup for longevity, and great in the rain. I'm a big fan so far from the few races I've done on them, so just chiming in with another $0.02.

moto_geek

I looked into the Hankook RS-4's. I see they are all "W" rated and my GT4 needs a "Y". Any concerns on this if my top speed on the straight at High Plains Colorado is around 140 mph?

Reference:
W 168 mph 270 km/h Exotic Sports Cars
Y 186 mph 300 km/h Exotic Sports Cars

Olemiss540

No issue IMO

WillyDaP

This is an older thread, but interesting info from Mr. T0fu, though I would like to verify one thing in the analysis of the three tires. Is the Goodyear F1 Supercar 3 actually the 3 model or could it be the 3R? I am assuming it is the 3 due to the length of track time you got out of the tire , but it does not hurt to just ask in case it was the 3 R, and your suspension and alignment specs worked well with that tire? I have heard very similar results on wear ( with the GYS 3 ) from a good friend who is the Tire Guru for a couple or Pro Teams and he is high on the tire. On the other hand the 3R seems to be even faster and should outrun both the RE71RS or Falken on a road course without the loss of grip in just a few laps. Put on an autocross course this would likely all change , with the RE71RS first, Falken RT660 second and either Goodyear F1 SC model in third, imho.

Note; If one is a USAA member you can still get great pricing on Goodyears, go to Perks and the price will include shipping to a Goodyear Dealer near you, all taxes , mounting , balancing , tire disposal ,etc. and it save you around 25%.

mr.t0fu

Yup, this was the regular SC3. I have a set of 3Rs (took 8 months to get them ...), just haven't mounted them yet. The 3Rs should definitely be faster than the other 200TW tires as it's a 100TW (I know TW is not the end all be all, but I think there are enough 3R users out there that have confirmed this). My thoughts on the tires have changed a bit since I initially made this post. I still like the SC3 and RE71RS more than the RT660. The RE71RS has yielded the best lap times for me. The RT660 is definitely a fast tire, it just doesn't give the same feedback that the other two tires do (IMHO). With so many good tires options out there now (and the increased price of the RT660 in my preferred sizes), the RT660 has dropped out of my rotation of tires.

WillyDaP

Good luck with the 3Rs, they should be the hot ticket at close to R7 grip , but a ton less money.

subawang

Can you provide an update regarding wear with the RE71RS (how many track days, ok to wear to cords) and if heat cycles were an issue?

Zhao

I always found bridgestones the best with heat cycling of the 200tw tires. I had a set of old RE71R's that I let sit out over a couple winters and were street driven. I set my fastest lap in that car with those tires, even faster than when I put maxxis RC-1 dot slicks on it. Your mileage is really going to very on track life though.

A hankook RS4 can get 24 hours of driving on it generally no issue for endurance racing. A bridgestone more like a 3rd of that life in constant use. But as far as HPDE's go it's not really the same. I get 2 events out of a set of michelin cup2s realistically, not because they're bald, but because the grip becomes garbage after that. Comparatively I can drive RE71s to cords and still find lap times are pretty good. However, I have to treat RE71R/RS's more like a Rcomp, because IMO they are a mislabeled Rcomp. I found it possible to delaminate re71s going to hard to fast (my theory is I heated up the tread too fast without heating up the carcass and compounded with not running ideal camber and that caused them to delaminate from eachother on the outside 1/4th of the tire). Re71s also pick up a lot of rubber if you are not driving on the limits, so I found drivers who are fast enough to make them sticky, but are too slow to keep them clean have problems with them.

I have also found RE71R/RS's faster than many rcomps.