what's your experience with RA1 tires ON THE STREET
04-15-2010, 01:13 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
what's your experience with RA1 tires ON THE STREET
since my track wheel set now has hoosiers, which are no good for anything except the dry track, I am contemplating putting a "conservative" r-compounds on my street set to drive to the track and to serve as a backup/rain tire, at least for the summer months.
after looking at several options, it looks like RA1 will give me most tread depth and longevity at the expense of optimal dry traction - which is fine.
if anyone has experience with driving RA1s on the street or as a dual use tire, please share.
I used R888 and am not a big fan of those - very sharp and unpredictable traction drop off once you go over the heat cycle "Allowance" and not very good in the rain after you do a few track days on them. I read a review that claimed RA1 does not do that and it fact, the traction improves as you wear them down. I find that hard to believe - heat cycles are heat cycles, no?
Another candidate is 555R2, but they have 2/32 less depth which means they will become useless as a rain tire sooner.
I would love to get PS Cups for this but they do not appear to come in C5Z sizes...
Another tire I considered was the yokohama r-compound ones, don't remember the name. But then I remembered that out turbo came with those and they were junk in the rain (they were down to 3/32nds though).
after looking at several options, it looks like RA1 will give me most tread depth and longevity at the expense of optimal dry traction - which is fine.
if anyone has experience with driving RA1s on the street or as a dual use tire, please share.
I used R888 and am not a big fan of those - very sharp and unpredictable traction drop off once you go over the heat cycle "Allowance" and not very good in the rain after you do a few track days on them. I read a review that claimed RA1 does not do that and it fact, the traction improves as you wear them down. I find that hard to believe - heat cycles are heat cycles, no?
Another candidate is 555R2, but they have 2/32 less depth which means they will become useless as a rain tire sooner.
I would love to get PS Cups for this but they do not appear to come in C5Z sizes...
Another tire I considered was the yokohama r-compound ones, don't remember the name. But then I remembered that out turbo came with those and they were junk in the rain (they were down to 3/32nds though).
04-15-2010, 07:22 AM
#2
Melting Slicks
since my track wheel set now has hoosiers, which are no good for anything except the dry track, I am contemplating putting a "conservative" r-compounds on my street set to drive to the track and to serve as a backup/rain tire, at least for the summer months.
after looking at several options, it looks like RA1 will give me most tread depth and longevity at the expense of optimal dry traction - which is fine.
if anyone has experience with driving RA1s on the street or as a dual use tire, please share.
I used R888 and am not a big fan of those - very sharp and unpredictable traction drop off once you go over the heat cycle "Allowance" and not very good in the rain after you do a few track days on them. I read a review that claimed RA1 does not do that and it fact, the traction improves as you wear them down. I find that hard to believe - heat cycles are heat cycles, no?
Another candidate is 555R2, but they have 2/32 less depth which means they will become useless as a rain tire sooner.
I would love to get PS Cups for this but they do not appear to come in C5Z sizes...
Another tire I considered was the yokohama r-compound ones, don't remember the name. But then I remembered that out turbo came with those and they were junk in the rain (they were down to 3/32nds though).
after looking at several options, it looks like RA1 will give me most tread depth and longevity at the expense of optimal dry traction - which is fine.
if anyone has experience with driving RA1s on the street or as a dual use tire, please share.
I used R888 and am not a big fan of those - very sharp and unpredictable traction drop off once you go over the heat cycle "Allowance" and not very good in the rain after you do a few track days on them. I read a review that claimed RA1 does not do that and it fact, the traction improves as you wear them down. I find that hard to believe - heat cycles are heat cycles, no?
Another candidate is 555R2, but they have 2/32 less depth which means they will become useless as a rain tire sooner.
I would love to get PS Cups for this but they do not appear to come in C5Z sizes...
Another tire I considered was the yokohama r-compound ones, don't remember the name. But then I remembered that out turbo came with those and they were junk in the rain (they were down to 3/32nds though).
They are great tires on the street. The ones I have on my car I get used, they are shaved and heat cycled. The fronts were raced in some capacity (I forget where I got 'em), the rears actually came off a World Challenge GT Viper (team Naykid Racing) ~3 years ago (they were fronts on the Viper).
I've put about 500 miles on these in the rain, even being shaved. I just got my LS7-based 427 done and needed break-in miles, being that I was leaving for Afghanistan I wasn't going to wait for clear days. They actually did just fine in the rain. Obviously I could spin them at will under-throttle but they really surprised me with doing 65-70 no problem in heavy rain on the freeway. They'd hydroplane just a bit in big-puddles... but just about any tire would.
I really, really like these RA-1s. Before the 427 the car was running a built 348 with about 440RWHP. The RA-1s hooked it up amazingly. Once I got the 427 broken in the car put down 600RWHP, and the RA-1s will actually hook it in 2nd. As far as handling, they blow away any other 'street' tire I've ever had on the car. They are very linear near the limit, and communicate well. I feel more confident with what the car is doing on the RA-1s than any of the street tires I've used, even the really nice ones like PZero Rosso and PS2s. It's getting really hard for me to find replacement fronts (275-295/40-17) now that everybody runs at least 18s. I've never run them at full tread-depth though.
-TJ
Last edited by tjZ06; 04-15-2010 at 07:28 AM.
04-15-2010, 02:21 PM
#4
Terminal Vette Addict
ra-1 a great tire, wet friendly. not a wet tire. the nitto have bigger groves in them for wet weather all around safty. nt-05 is a great all around street tire (not R) that is wet and dry friendly. cheap too
goto the tire section for a nice write up on these.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...e-learned.html
goto the tire section for a nice write up on these.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...e-learned.html
04-16-2010, 04:10 AM
#5
Drifting
Thread Starter
i am having trouble finding anyone who has this tire in stock in c5z sizes... looking for full tread, no scrubs/pre-enjoyed tires. any suggestions?
otherwise i would probably go with 555r2
otherwise i would probably go with 555r2
04-16-2010, 04:12 AM
#6
Drifting
Thread Starter
i drove NT01 on the street for a few months out of neccesity. not something i care to do again. they get half worn, you get caught in the downpour = free skidpad time on a public road
04-16-2010, 01:34 PM
#9
Le Mans Master
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If you want a street tire that can act as a rain tire and still provide good dry traction I would look into the Goodyear GS-D3. I have them on my C4 and both dry and wet traction will surprise you. When pushing them in the dry they are easy to approach the limit and stay there. Granted they will not be as good in the dry as an intermediate R-compound like the RA-1, but they will be a lot better in the wet.
