Tried a search but too much too look through.

Was wondering about opinions on an R compound tire for track use 18" that will get me through as much of the season as possible with 2 drivers.

My wife is in her second year of DE and we ran PS2's last year to get her accustomed to track driving. They did surprisingly well and will start the season using the rest of them up. Good feedback and grip quite well. Got about 3k miles of track use and still have 35% tread left.

I on the other hand need a bit more grip and have used the RA-1's for autocross and find them to be OK although they do get greasy after a while. I need to stay away from hosiers and other tires that will give me limited heat cycles. One thought was MPSC's which I have mixed opinions about and take forever to warm up. Which isn't a problem if she is my tire warmer but it usually works the other way around.

Toyo makes a 225 275 RA-1 that seems like they would be best suited for my needs.

Opinions, pros cons etc. Other options and education greatly appreciated.

PS: I do understand this is a compromise approach.

 

just a few quesitons:

do you drive or trailer the car to the track?
do you have adequate camber? if not, you'll burn the outside edges of the tires
how long is it taking you to warm up MPSC's? I've found them to be good after the first lap or so of the day.


Steve

 

Toyo has always been considered the longest lasting R-compound (and thus one of the slowest as well).

 

RA-1s are probably your best bet IMHO.

 

RA-1

 

The new Toyo may be a consideration as well...I've heard reports that it lasts as long but has better feel.

 

Steve,

Car is trailered, running about 2 degrees - camber. Car is lowered. Haven't run MPSC's in a few years and only on cold events so they took several laps to warm up. Find the RA-1's don't require much warming in comparison have a bit more grip but get hot fast and then loose traction although seem to stay consistent throughout their life.

Still better than street tires don't need to be the fastest not racing.

That is what i was thinking lets see what the others say.

 

Sorry haven't been keeping up with the times I guess. What tire is this?

 

Toyo R888

http://www.toyo.com/docs/tires/tires...category=sport

 

Thanks

Comes in a 225/265 size which would work better for me than the 225/275 i would have to run with the RA-1's will do more research.

I knew this was the place to ask.

 

Ditto on the RA-1s. I shared a car with my son (different run groups) for 2/3 of last season. Got +50 heat cycles and have some life left. As stated not the fastest at that age but still OK for a slow guy like me. YMMV.

 

NT-01

 

My wife Margo and I share our car, we are both instructors, and we run Hoosier R6s. We both drive pretty hard and the R6s last us a long time, just about as long as MPSC did. Our car is pretty light and we usually drive back to back ( maybe it only counts as 1 heat cycle). We do alot of track days and go through 1 to 1 and 1/2 set of tires a year.

Looks like you have a heavy car so your tire wear could be a lot different than ours.

 

I'm onto my 3rd set of R888's and I think they have just started to bring them into the US by now. They are seen as a superior tyre to the RA1 and I've found they get up to heat quickly but also offer a long life. When they have a bit of tread they're actually not bad in the wet either.

 

50 heat cycles sounds good to me

Nitto's parent company of toyo?

964 C2 weighs in at a hefty 2995 with 3/4 tank add me and forgetaboutit.

I was told to expect 10 heat cycles most from the R6's so driving back to back at 8-10 events that sounds like ouch. I had also heard they have a peak life and the last 1/3rd of them is worthless. Is this true. You seem to be saying differently.