When do RA1s clock out?
11-11-2009, 12:28 AM
#16
Drifting
Join Date: May 2003
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11-11-2009, 12:40 AM
#17
Rennlist Member
Not sure how much quicker *I* would go with even fresh, shaved tires. Not to mention some of us pay for everything.............and it would keep me from attending 2/3-3/4 of the events I do if optimal tires were required for participation.
Specifically, the 235/275-17 set that was passed around between the yellow car to the RSA netted sub-2:02 at Thunderhill (full) on the yellow car (staying ahead of Mooty in his GT3RS, he can verify) and ~1:53 on the stock RSA at Sears for their finale earlier this year (with RSA #1 on Pilot Sport Cups in club racing I could only do about 1 sec/lap quicker).
In any case, "new" was/is kind of like chasing a unicorn for certain RA1 sizes.
And the SM down at 2:10 at Thunderhill is leaps and bounds ahead of what I had been capable of. If new ones are such a huge step forward then I'd be at/near the leaders. Which is laughable for me in that car.
Specifically, the 235/275-17 set that was passed around between the yellow car to the RSA netted sub-2:02 at Thunderhill (full) on the yellow car (staying ahead of Mooty in his GT3RS, he can verify) and ~1:53 on the stock RSA at Sears for their finale earlier this year (with RSA #1 on Pilot Sport Cups in club racing I could only do about 1 sec/lap quicker).
In any case, "new" was/is kind of like chasing a unicorn for certain RA1 sizes.
And the SM down at 2:10 at Thunderhill is leaps and bounds ahead of what I had been capable of. If new ones are such a huge step forward then I'd be at/near the leaders. Which is laughable for me in that car.
11-11-2009, 10:23 AM
#18
Race Director
... I switched to the much better condition R888's the next day, instantly felt their lack of grip, and was consistently a second slower per lap on this small 1.3 mile track. The R888 wheels & tires were noticeably lighter, and the alignment was setup more for R888's too, but the old dead RA-1's still kicked their *** big time.
Weston,
The problem is not the R888 are junk. The problem is that the R888 turn to junk much sooner than the RA-1. So a "good looking R888" with rubber can be junk where as a 2 year old bald RA-1 can still have life left. That was the primary problem at nationals. Running 20 heat cycle R888 was pointless as the tires were junk. 25 heat cycle RA-1 were still good. Now try to run 50 heat cycle RA-1 and they would be junk too (at least for my car and the way I drive). Even I don't consider the R888 a slow tire. It just wears out (cycles out) twice as fast. The prime of life of the R888 is early and a narrow window. The prime of the RA-1 is a much long time. Both tires in the their prime are similar in speed. Of course this goes to show how much better the RA-1 is for our class and for most drivers. Why buy the R888 when you don't gain speed, but lose alot of life?
11-11-2009, 01:53 PM
#19
Racer
Join Date: Nov 2006
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That's why they are garbage tires. Sure, they can be just as fast as RA-1's, for a brief period of time and with the right car setup, but you have to work so much harder and you get so much less use out of them. They're not sticky enough to be good for much more than a spec tire, but their performance is so hit-or-miss and short-lived that they have no business being a spec tire. I could buy Kumho V710's, have a hell of a lot more grip, a similar life span, and spend right around the same amount of money.
I'm glad we're back on RA-1's, where our biggest debate is if they're fastest new or when they're almost on the cords.
I'm glad we're back on RA-1's, where our biggest debate is if they're fastest new or when they're almost on the cords.
