Car is a 98ex coupe. I have a few hpde's under my belt and I have been using toyo t1-s' in a 205/50r15 . On my last outing to road atlanta, the tires pretty much gave up on me.

I'm going to pick up a spare set of 15x7" wheels. I don't want to go to race rubber yet because i think that I still have room to improve on street tires. I'm concerned that race rubber won't give me much warning before it lets go and also that it will cover up some of my mistakes.

Anyone have any input? potenza s-03's? Toyo t1-r's? falken azenis?

Thanks in advance. Hoping to purchase in the next few weeks so I can get a few miles on them before hitting the track.

also anyone have a recommendation for an inexpensive 15x7"?

 

S-03's are out of production. A cheap tire that we've been using is the Fuzion ZRI. It's actually surprising what that tire can handle. That and the BFG G-Force Sport. They're affordable tires that give pretty good grip.

 

azenis....

and you can never go wrong w/ a cheap set of rota slips....

 

While I wouldn't recommend Hoosiers quite yet (like you said), if these will be a spare set of rims for the track Toyo RA-1s would be worth considering.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cmdr430 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">azenis....

and you can never go wrong w/ a cheap set of rota slips....</TD></TR></TABLE>

will the slips hold up to the gators ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by granracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">While I wouldn't recommend Hoosiers quite yet (like you said), if these will be a spare set of rims for the track Toyo RA-1s would be worth considering.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wouldn't the ra-1's put me into the race rubber category? Although I know have a little scratch in them to pass as a rain groove for dot approval

 

Falkens grease up after a bit of track abuse. Given I'm sure its not TOO bad but I like consistency.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kommon_sense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a few hpde's under my belt and I have been using toyo t1-s' in a 205/50r15 . On my last outing to road atlanta, the tires pretty much gave up on me.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I ran T1s's on my car for years before it became a race car and really liked them. Maybe not the fastest, but I experienced no problems using them for HPDE...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm going to pick up a spare set of 15x7" wheels. I don't want to go to race rubber yet because i think that I still have room to improve on street tires. I'm concerned that race rubber won't give me much warning before it lets go and also that it will cover up some of my mistakes.</TD></TR></TABLE>
RA-1s are a great "intro" tire, give plenty of warning and are easy to feel. Don't bother shaving them for HPDE on a light car. I don't always shave them for racing. The Nitto NT01 is the same tire with a different tread. I would get whichever of those two is cheapest...

Reasonable minds may differ.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wouldn't the ra-1's put me into the race rubber category?</TD></TR></TABLE>

They are still very forgiving, they don't just drop off like Hoosiers or other "slick like" track tires and will hold up to track abuse. The other problem with many tires is their tendency to chunk, where the Toyo RA1s are more resistant to that.

 

Sounds good. I'll put the RA-1's back on the list. anyone know of a good source for them? Probably going to end up with a set of rotas or kosei k-1's . Whichever I can find cheaper and have it survive a gator.


Modified by kommon_sense at 12:06 PM 8/23/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kommon_sense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

will the slips hold up to the gators ? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I ran HPDE for 2 years with 16" Rota Slipstreams and RA-1s on a 3200 lb. car.
Never bent a wheel on the curbing.

 

What about those new potenzas? Priced a little higher than azenis but how are they as far as wear and heat?

 

You talking about the potenza RE-01R's? They look nice, but are only available in a 195/50r15. Everything else is 16/17/18.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thawley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


RA-1s are a great "intro" tire, give plenty of warning and are easy to feel. Don't bother shaving them for HPDE on a light car. I don't always shave them for racing. The Nitto NT01 is the same tire with a different tread. I would get whichever of those two is cheapest...

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not to thread jack, but I was wondering about running RA1s without shaving them, to hopefully make them last longer. I just use them for HPDE, so I dont need ultimate performance. How light of a car would you recommend to be able to get away with this?

 

I've had pretty good on track luck with Kumho MXs. They got better as they got hotter, rather than grease up and die. They do have a heat limit, but lasted a lot longer than the Azenis would.
The sidewalls are a little softer, but they'd scream when they became unhappy... a good tire for learning.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kommon_sense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You talking about the potenza RE-01R's? They look nice, but are only available in a 195/50r15. Everything else is 16/17/18.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Potenza RE-O1R in a 195/50/15 is tire that is as wide as most 205s, maybe not the azenis but Grass Roots Magazine Definitely likes the 195 RE-01R better than the Azenis and proved the RE-01r is faster for Auto X.. .

The RE-01R will mop the floor with the Azenis no boubt about it in my mind. The technology in the tire is lightyears ahead of the Azenis. I have a friend that works for Bridgestone and actually test drives cars and tires and does advertising. All good things coming from him of course.. .

IMO, the Hankook RS2 Z212 in a 225/45/15 is a better tire to run on and to and fro the track than the Azenis as well. Better wet and last longer on the track and doesn't get as greasy. It will tramline more than the Azenis though.


ME, 6 HPDEs under my belt, I just went with a 225/45/15 Toyo RA1 on the 6th HPDE. writeup here: I'm BERNY2435 on that board.
http://www.nasaforums.com/view...rt=40
&lt;&lt;this is a thread about HPDE 1 and 2 guys using R comps&gt;&gt;

Overal I like Toyo RA1s a TON better than street tires. If you have already done some HPDEs on street tires and feel comfortable out there. I highly reccomend them for learning on now that I have tried them out at full tread. The $ is worth the smile on my face.

Kudos to you if you still go with street tires, but I'm a little tired of being slow.. .

I ran 5 laps within .7 seconds of eachother and accomplished my a personal best on the track 2.5 seconds faster than my fastest street tire time. That was just on my 3rd time out on R comps. My 4th and 5th were not timed unfortunetely but I know I was faster. I bet I picked up 5 seconds in one day.. .

the car actually handles the way it is suppose to handle now.. .

 

Good info. I'm running a k20 as well with an lsd. Just installed a set of PIC's, so looking forward to seeing what they can do. I was debating going 225/45/15 or 205/50/15. What offset are you running on your wheels? I was pushing the t1-s's too hard with my old d16 lol...

Looks like I'm pretty much set on the ra-1. Sounds like it will still give me feedback so I will know when I screwed up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kommon_sense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good info. I'm running a k20 as well with an lsd. Just installed a set of PIC's, so looking forward to seeing what they can do. I was debating going 225/45/15 or 205/50/15. What offset are you running on your wheels? I was pushing the t1-s's too hard with my old d16 lol...

Looks like I'm pretty much set on the ra-1. Sounds like it will still give me feedback so I will know when I screwed up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have no LSD, lucky you

The RA1s gave me plenty of feedback. Nothing a driver that has "some" experience and good technique isn't going to be able to catch most of the time.

I have 15x7.5 Rota Slips with a 40 offset. I went with them b/c I can still fit a 205 tire on them if necessary and I have no suspension hangups without use of a spacer.. . I rolled the front and the rear fenders though. I actually cut the rears and doctored them up.. .

I went with a 225/45/15 cuzzzz.. . Why the hell not?? Sure a 205 would probably give less grip and be another stepping stone for learning but I'm also going to try and use these for Autocrossing as well. A 205 tire on a K20 isn't enough tire in any compound for Autocrossing IMO.. .

If I run accross a super cheap set of 205/50s, I'd still be willing to track them in the future.. . I don't hear of guys with BMWs & EVOs saying "I'm staying with stock size tires so I can learn more, they all go 255s or bigger.. . "

I think the 225s are needed when you are runnin 2500lbs with driver and then adding a 200lb passenger everyonce in a while too.. .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by racinjason &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was wondering about running RA1s without shaving them, to hopefully make them last longer. I just use them for HPDE, so I dont need ultimate performance. How light of a car would you recommend to be able to get away with this?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Its sort of a combination of factors. How heavy the car, how hot the track and how hard you push them. I have only actually seen unshaved RA1s give problems (on a Civic) at our hotests track during the summer OR with a pro-level driver under race conditions.

For HPDE on a Civic, I seriously doubt you'll ever have a problem.

 

Anyone have any experience with the falken hanabi wheels? Looks like they are 15x7 and weigh in at 11lbs with a 42mm offset. Anyone know if there will be any rubbing problems with a 205/50/15 wheel with that offset?

 

With just a few HPDEs, I would advise waiting, and not getting R compounds (like the RA-1) yet. I think you'll learn more by doing another half dozen events on street tires before switching to the R comps. Maybe try the Azenis.

But I'll answer the other questions anyway.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kommon_sense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'll put the RA-1's back on the list. anyone know of a good source for them?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Click here.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by racinjason &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was wondering about running RA1s without shaving them, to hopefully make them last longer. I just use them for HPDE, so I dont need ultimate performance. How light of a car would you recommend to be able to get away with this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's what I do, on my 2639-pound ITR (205/50-15 on the stock 15x6 wheels) and my 3010-pound NSX (205/50-15 and 225/50-16 on the stock wheels). They work great, with no problems whatsoever.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 6spdKEG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Grass Roots Magazine Definitely likes the 195 RE-01R better than the Azenis and proved the RE-01r is faster for Auto X.. . </TD></TR></TABLE>

What issue was that in? I heard about that, picked up the current (October) issue, and it only had a review of R comps, not street tires. (The BFG R1 won, and the Hoosier came in fourth out of four tires - go figure.)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">With just a few HPDEs, I would advise waiting, and not getting R compounds (like the RA-1) yet. I think you'll learn more by doing another half dozen events on street tires before switching to the R comps. Maybe try the Azenis.

But I'll answer the other questions anyway.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm definately open to staying with street tires. My concern is that my Toyo T1-S's started getting greasy in my last few sessions. They got bad enough that I actually had to slow down. I was considering a set of Azenis, but pretty much everything that I've read stated that they get greasy as well.

Ok. just did some reading... Looks like one possible source of greasy tires is tire pressure getting too high when the tire gets hot. That would make some sense. Thanks for the input. Going to do more reading on the azenis, but leaning more towards them than the ra-1's. Also the money saved could go towards getting this thing cornerweighted

 

If you decide to go with the Azenis after all, here are some places where you can pick them up:

Vulcan Tire
Discount Tire
Edge Racing

When comparing prices, keep in mind that Discount Tire offers free shipping, while the others are typically an extra $9-12 per tire for shipping.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">With just a few HPDEs, I would advise waiting, and not getting R compounds (like the RA-1) yet. I think you'll learn more by doing another half dozen events on street tires before switching to the R comps. Maybe try the Azenis.

What issue was that in? I heard about that, picked up the current (October) issue, and it only had a review of R comps, not street tires. (The BFG R1 won, and the Hoosier came in fourth out of four tires - go figure.)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Some good reads here: GRM likes them better than RT 615s and they prove it too.. .
http://grassrootsmotorsports.c...n.php


For those looking for sticky street tires but not wanting to go R compound, Bridgestone Potenza RE-01Rs are a great way to go.

More sizes are now offered for us Honda and Miata guys now too.
195/50/15
205/45/16

These are a far better Road Race / HPDE tires than the Falken RT615 or Hankook RS2 or most other tires in 15" sizes especially. Advan AD07s are good ones too for people runnin 17s but they are pricey. RE01Rs are cheaper thant he Advans and are just as good.

I have a friend that works for Bridgestone Firestone and does testing and advertising. He can't say enough about these RE-o1r tires. They are going to the new Azenis, meaning they will probably be the new NORM for AutoX and HPDE.. .

I told my friend a long time ago they needed to get this tire in smaller sizes. Before all they had was 225/50/16 for their smallest. Now I'm yelling at him to get a 225/45/15 rollin

 

just some background info on the new sizes of RE-o1r tires for those of you that want the quick and dirty info

GRM article date
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 6spdKEG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Posted in 1992 Miata STS2 Project by Andy Hollis (April 23rd, 2007)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

quote from GRM in Article

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 6spdKEG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Most importantly, they are bringing two new sizes of their proven RE-01R tire to the states that will fit our STS2 Miata. These are 205/45-16 and 195/50-15. These two sizes are equal in external dimensions to the 205/40-16 and 205/50-15 Falken Azenis that we currently run. While retail sale of these new sizes is imminent, we were able to obtain early samples to do some testing.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

available now at Tirerack.com and other sources.. .