Rokket

I have ran on all of the Hoosiers, Hankook, Toyo, etc. Won several races at Sebring/Homestead on Hoosiers & Han kooks (PCA/PBOC/NASA) in the SP3, R5, and GTS-3 Race series.

Although I have won the races on Hoosiers R6, I have just about had it with them & am going to try to BFG R1. The problem with the R6 is that when you run them REALLY hard, the tread distorts and on occasion will separate the tread & a great big wart will appear in the middle of your tread. This mostly happens in the front on 245/35-18. So far, the Hoosiers have cost me 2-wheels. The first was a BBS E-30 Magnesium Cup Car wheel that cracked from the intense out of round vibrations, and the 2nd was a BBS Motorsport wheel (inner barrel) from a tire blow out on the sidewall. The Hoosiers had MAYBE 5-heat cycles total.

My BEST lap time at Sebring (2:27.003) was set on an old ratty set of Hankook C-51's on 275/40-17 & 245/40-17. The problem with Hankook though is that they go out of stock & are a bitch to find. Also, you need about 2-3 full laps before they start to get sticky.

Woe to he who tries to set a lap record on the second lap with Kooks...You will spin.

SO...I am going to try to BFG R1 for the next NASA Race at Sebring in September. BFG's contingency plan is excellent! 4-New tires with 5-6 starters.

This will be interesting because I have a BRAND new set of R6, C51, and R1. I will try them ALL that weekend & record the data on my Traqmate for each set.

One last thought on Racing Lap times vs DE. I have NEVER ran my fastest lap at ANY track during an actual race. In fact, the last Sebring event my best RACE lap time was a 2:31 on the R6's. That is a full 4-seconds slower than my personal best. Rarely in racing do you get to drive the ideal line.

So my reasoning is, if the BFG's are more reliable & little bit slower 1/2 second per lap (heard arguments contrary) to that of the R6 ..does it REALLY make that big of a difference in a 35-45 minute sprint race with 70-cars on the track??

Hopefully, I can report back with all of the Lap time on ALL of the tires used on the same day on the same track. I do have an opportunity to run them at PBIR DE in July, but as an instructor I doubt I will have the time to mess around with tire changes between sessions.

BTW, my car is an 89 944TS (2,978 lbs with driver-NASA/PBOC and 3200 lbs with driver PCA)

DOES ANYBODY HAVE SOME GOOD INITIAL TIRE PRESSURE SETTINGS FOR THE R1'S????

Cheers! [/B]

Rokket

Veloce Raptor

Hankooks are fantastic, and really only take about a lap and a quarter, but they do not fall off like other tires. But yes, supply seems to be a problem. I guess they send them over from South Korea via carrier pigeon or something.

GuyIncognito

I only have had 1 set of R1s, about 15 heat cycles thus far and I've been starting out with 25-26 psi cold depending on ambient temp. ending up 30-32 hot.

IcemanG17

try Pirelli slicks...even scrubs.... I run my 928 with 275/645-18 all around DH compound....work GREAT in heat...I also think you could benefit from more tire up front....a 245 front tire is gonna get worked HARD in a front heavy vehicle like yours and mine....

TRT41

I target my BFG R1s 35 hot. Race them 15-18 HC's, practice to 35-40 HC's then toss. I have to mark them for the HC's since they don't show wear.

GuyIncognito

I found that ~35 hot made the tires feel really greasy. of course that's in my limited experience, and all of that experience was with ambient temps in the high eighties to mid nineties with track temps over the century mark...

sparks259

38 hot, of course my car only weighs 2400#

Bill Lehman

3024# Cayman S w/o driver. Sweet spot 37 H F & R. 32 HC on current set which is about to be replaced. DE, not race.

ShakeNBake

R6s fall off pretty quickly after 5 hard heat cycles, and maybe are usable till 10. My confidence is still a little low in this car, so the loss in grip has a bigger impact on my times than it should.

R1s fall off more gently, but don't last as long as a RA1/NT01. I have 15 cycles on a current set (though from COTA which is gentle on tires) and they still seem to be within a 2-3 sec of new. A slight adjustment to pressure seems to have more impact from session to session than the loss in grip from another heat cycle. The R1 is heavier than the R6 by a few lbs (22 vs 29lbs in 335/18)

I start at 30 cold, and they hit ~40 during the session. Wear is very even, temp gradient across the tire face is linear at COTA and TWS with these pressures.

MoD

Ive already decided from experience that Hankooks are quicker than the R6s, but as all of you mentioned the issue with the Hankooks is availability. I will be running a set of Hankooks and a set of Hoosier A6s back to back at Road America to test the A6s and see if they really do give a large enough advantage to offset the costs.

Ive been trying to find a set of Hankooks 245/35/18 and 275/35/18. If someone has an extra set, id be happy to pay north of sticker for them. I need another set to use later this year at the Labor Day Road America club race.

jerome951

I found that ~38psi hot gave me good temps across the tread. My car is same (stock) weight as yours.

However, I tried a set of the R1s last year and dislike them compared to the R6s. When I ran the R1s, their ultimate lap time was similar to the R6 (I didn't run them back-to-back, though), but I found that after ~7-8 laps of hard driving, the R1s would get greasy and lose ~4-5 tenths. Babying them for a couple laps wouldn't bring the grip back. Heck, even a few laps of safety car wouldn't get grip back. They had to cool down completely to regain grip. I've found that when R6s get greasy, a couple 8/10 laps brings the grip back.

dave968M3

Any concern with using 245/35/18 front and 275/35/18 rear since front diameter is 24.7 in and rear is 25.5 in, would the 0.8 in difference effect the ABS at all?
Or the taller rear 275/35/18 at 25.5 in compared to a Hoosier 285/30/18 at 24.9 in would this effect gearing/acceleration due to the taller rear wheel?
Other advantage with Hoosier is the availability of the 255/35/18 for the front, with diameter 24.8 in maintains front and rear diameter.

Dave
94 968 PCA E Class

JustinL

I run a similar spread in diameter on my 944 TS and had no ill effects from the ABS.

dave968M3

Or if I go with Hankooks, rear 275/35/18 at 25.5 in diameter, should I choose fronts 245/40/18 at 25.5 in diameter or the 245/35/18 at 24.7 in diameter? Would the shorter sidewall on the 35 series front be any advantage?

JustinL

I think the bigger change comes from the change in rake angle. You may want to play around with your ride height after you decide on a tire to bring it to an angle you like.