J Ritt

Hi Guys,
I'm finally getting off of my **** and back out on the track this year! As such, I felt it my duty to contribute with the one billionth 'which tires?' thread on the forums.

I'll be running 18x10.5 wheels at all four corners on my C5 Z06. I used to run Hoosier VRL 305/30's at all four corners for track days. My car was slightly lowered, but never had any rubbing or issues with those VRL's.
The more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that I really don't want to bother swapping wheels/tires at the track this season. I'm not looking to set any track records...just want to go have some fun lapping, meet some local track/vette people, etc.

Therefore, I'm shopping for tires that I can drive to HPDE's in the area, participate, and then drive home. Most of the time I wouldn't be driving more than 2-3 hours to a track...Charlotte to CMP, VIR, Road Atlanta, etc. In between events I'll drive my car on the streets occasionally, but not that often. I have a few sets of wheels with pure street tires, so I could always swap if I need to take a long trip, etc. (highly doubtful).

I want something that is fairly sticky, but definitely a tire that wears well (having first child very soon, and diaper fund will be bleeding me). It would be nice to be able to swap tires from front to back and/or rotate on the wheels as they wear. I just don't want to be constantly buying tires. If I was going to do that, I'd just get Hoosiers, a tire trailer, etc.

I haven't shopped for 'track day' type tires in a long, long time, so I'm a bit out of the loop on what's available. I did some digging this weekend, and came up with a few potentials. I wanted to get some feedback on these options:

Falken Azenis RT-615
From what I've read on here, it looks like the 315/30/18's should fit fine at all four corners on a 10.5" on a C5Z. I'm assuming these are the most 'street tire-like' out of these choices, and would probably give me the least grip and the most wear. I ran the original Azenis way back in 1999 on my Integra, and I thought they gave a great blend of longevity and grip. I know they've been developed quite a bit since then.

Toyo R888
It looks like the 295/30ZR18 at all four corners would be the best size choice??? They offer a 305, but it's a 35 aspect ratio, which could probably be a bit tall? I'm assuming these would have substantially more grip than the Falkens, but also wear significantly faster. I've never run the R888's, but I did run through a set of RA1's on my old 350Z. I remember liking the RA1's, and they seemed to wear very well.

Nitto?
I'm a little unsure on the Nitto offerings. I've never run any of their tires. I know the NT01's have been popular for a number of years at track days, and they offer them in a 315/30/18. My assumption is that these will be similar to the R888 in grip and wear, and would behave more like a pure race tire than the Falkens.
The NT555RII seems to be a revised version of the drag tires with stiffer sidewalls, offered in a 305/35/18 size. Other than that, I have no concept of how they would perform vs. the NT01's.

I'd really appreciate any guidance on how these tires stack up vs. each other in terms of grip and wear. Road noise, comfort, etc. don't really matter to me. I'm sure there is some variability in cost, but I'm guessing not that much. Thanks guys!

gkmccready

I find the R888s are a great tire for driving to/from events... they're a good every day tire, too, if you can put up with the road noise. They are a considerably different tire than the RA1. They like [a lot] more air pressure... I start somewhere around 36/34 and try to land in the low- to mid-40s hot. They wear great, and the grip is good. I'm currently running 275/35r18+305/35r18 on 18x10+18x11 on my C6. Let's me forget to turn off AH/TC when I drive them on the street -- or when the wife wants to drive the car somewhere. :-) In the past I had 295/30r18+305/35r18 on 18x11+18x11. I used to say they wouldn't fit without rubbing the fender but I think I just had the lower control arm pushed too far out...

All that said, the RA1s I had on other cars felt like they offered as good grip, without all the road noise. And I've always heard the NT555RII is just a rebranded RA1 with a slightly different tread pattern.

All in all, I don't think you can go wrong with the Toyos to get to and from events...

-- PS: I'm a C6 Z51.

m3to335

I've run 2 of those you mentioned. The Falkens are a decent all around tire and are good to run back and forth to the track on. One complaint is that after 20-25min they become pretty greasy. They weren't too loud either on the street.

The R888's are great on the track all the way down to the threads. Ive run for 45min+ at a clip without them greasing up. You can pick up a set of scubs for pretty cheap as well. I've only driven on the street with these after they were down to almost no tread so thats a bad example. In that condition any tire is going to suck for road noise and wet weather traction. Regardless, the R888s are most likely the way to go!

AU N EGL

Nittos.

drivinhard

555RII's are a pretty decent arrive and drive tire.

ryan0

learn on 615s and work your way up the ladder.

J Ritt

Thanks for the input guys. I expected to see varied responses...but you guys are going to make this tough!

Read my original post...I'm coming from Hoosier VRL slicks.

ryan0

oops..

run the cheapest, longest wearing tire you can find.

your question is about budget.

if you have unlimited budget... run hoosiers on the drive up.
if you have no budget... run sears 100k specials.

if youre in between, pick a price point and go from there...

joemoia

I've run Nitto R2 and 01's w/-2.5, -1.5 camber full time (approx 30K total mi) since 2005, including several trips to Monterey for the Historics/ALMS races. When I was doing 12-15 trackdays/yr a set would last 4-5 trackdays. The current set 01's was installed in mid 2008 and have 1 trackday and approx 3K mi. on them. Except for the uneven wear due to camber tires look like they still have full tread left.

ssdeuce

Great thread I've thought a lot about the 615's because the price and tread wear rating driving to and from the track. Has anyone used the Kuhmo Ecsta XS?

ryan0

i like the XS. Seemed comparable to the 615s.

MySR71

I've run Falken 615's on my car, 275R18 front and 315R18 on the rear. I would agree with the above. They do pretty good but if you really push them they become greasy. With the 275's up front, the car would understeer when pushed hard going into a turn. I ran mine on CCW's and I'm not sure if 315's on the front without a lot of camber would rub bad or not. I believe I had 1.5 deg of camber up front and around 0.75 to 1 deg on the rear. I have poly bushings through and got pretty good wear across the tire.

AU N EGL

Then you want the Nittos.

Toyos are too hard, ask any SWGT driver and Falkens, well they just suck on road course

Falken tired to sponsor several teams to no avail. Each of the teams RETURNED the sponsorship money and tires. Falken was unwilling to change the rubber compound to be competitive.

a few guys in NASA tried the Falkens, again, that did not last long at all. Might be a good street tire, but not for the track.

Lots of NASA CMC guys use the Toyo ( class sponsor) and they do like them very much. Most say they have the most grip right before they cord.

63Corvette

No one has mentioned NT-05s, SO........how do NT-05s stack up against NT-01s (both street and track)?

ryan0

the 615 is a 220 treadware rated street tire.

ssdeuce

Everyone I've asked that has them really likes them but they don't make a 315 in 18".

63Corvette

OK but how do they compare to the NT-01?

argonaut

I've used the 615, NT-01 and 555RII. I agree completely with previous posts regarding the 615 - its a decent, casual track day tire that you can get a lot of miles out of but gets greesy at the 20-25 min mark. The RII's are a great combo tire. The NT-01 is a little more serious track tire, more grip, wears faster. For stated purpose - of the three I'd take the RII's.

gkmccready

Uh, last I knew the Nitto 555RII and the RA-1 were the same compound and even the same construction, just different tread pattern. I had *assumed* the NT-01 and R888 were similar in compound and construction, but have zero proof of it...

And I've certainly seen no indication that the Nittos are any better/different than the Toyo offerings. If you want a tire you can drive to and from events, get good wear and reasonable stick, it really is hard to beat the Toyos.

KBRVETTE93