rbahr

I have been running them this summer: 245/315 size. I like them better that the NT01's in the dry. Wear is not quite as good, but better than R6/R7, and a lot cheaper...

Ray

powdrhound

Good to know. Thx.

rbahr

Couple of other thoughts:

The factory recommends a high operating pressure: 36 - 45PSI (or so). I was running ~43psi, and I think that is to high in our cars - I blistered one rear and one front. BUT this only happened after ~ 700-1000 track miles. Car and tire is newer to me and I am not as fast as Andy, but I am not the slowest as well...

Next summer, I will try a lower pressure and see how that works. It is also usual for me to get between 150-200 miles a day on the track, I have reasonable rear areo, so these do take a beating.

Ray

powdrhound

I just spoke with a guy at the BFg motorsport division regarding the R1S tires. I asked him about pressures and for the 265/335s he recommended a target hot of 34/36 with a min cold of 25/25. This is very close to what I use for NT01s where I start at 25/26 and shoot for 32/33 hot. I anticipate a max of 175-200 track miles on the R1S tires based on getting 8 cycles. On NT01s I get 275-300 miles.

rbahr

Interesting. From their documentation:




and




I am not surprised with your tire life, you and your car are quite capable...

Ray

powdrhound

Interesting but sure seems to contradict what Paul at BFg Motorsports told me. We discussed the type of car specifically a 6GT2 and he seemed very knowledgeable. Mid you that the 245/295 sizes have slightly lower load ratings that the 265/335s and as such might need the higher pressures. I just can't imagine running any tire in the 40s. Just seems awfully high. If I end up trying these tires I'll report the outcome.

rbahr

One thing is that this is just a tire store: https://www.jacksonmotorsportsgroup.com

Not BFG.

Ray

powdrhound

When I talked to the guy at BF goodrich he was pretty clueless when it came to any technical question about the BFG race tires, i.e. the R1 and R1S. He transferred me directly to Paul at "BFG Motorsport" as he termed it. The number is 1-800-RACE-BFG. Paul seemed very knowledgeable about the R1s but don't know anything else beside that. I didn't realize they were some tire store. Sorry... It does look like they are an arm of BFG when it comes to the race tires though. This is their FB link:

https://www.facebook.com/JacksonMotorsportsGroup/

philstireservice

If we are talking about BFG R1S's here, remember these are the autocross compound. The difference with this model over the BFG R1 is they get to operating temperature much sooner. Which means they have grip sooner, which also means they can loose grip sooner. What you have to be aware of is overheating the tire. This is easier to do with the R1S because the operating temps are in the 140-150 degree range as opposed to a R1 in which operating temps are 180-200 degree range. One reason for higher pressure readings are because the tire is being overheated, thus raising the hot pressures. With that said, it not a bad thing to have higher hot pressures within reason. The higher the hot tire pressure the faster you will be (less rolling resistance), but you will also be looser. Loose is fast fast as long as your reactions are still keeping up with the handling of the car. Here is where most think or feel that the higher hot tire pressures are not good, or should I say comfortable. I am not advocating being uncomfortable on the track, but I'm just trying to demonstrate there are a myriad of items which would correlate to higher pressures and over driving a tire such as the R1S can be one of them. Now I am not condemning this, many many MANY drivers do this at the pro and the amateur levels, but again like I said there are various reasons that can cause higher than "comfortable at a certain skill level" tire pressures. The major point I'm trying to make here is, there is not one perfect hot pressure for a tire, but there is one perfect hot pressure for a driver of a certain skill level. So, if Bob is running 38 hot, and Bill is running 40 hot and Jose says he likes 42, no one is wrong. The driver or drivers who are correct are the ones who are definitely have the most fun because they drive the smoothest, get the best tire wear, take the time to set the car up correctly for each track and run the fastest lap times (just to mention a few reasons). Hope this helps.....

452gt3

A few years ago I used the BFG's for AX and then used them at Willowsprings with temps in the 90's and the tires worked very well. They did not heat cycle out like the R6 and lasted much longer than I expected and I did push the car hard.

KOAN

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. I've used a few sets of them and like them very much in the early Spring or late Fall. They get greasy for me over 75 degrees, but are good down to 40 degrees. I can only fit 225 in the front, but the nominal sizes are not accurate, as I can get 245/35/18 R6. I run them at 34 degrees hot. I get very good times on them, but that may be due to the low ambient temps. I usually get 20 heat cycles before they get too hard. I haven't corded one yet