dhowdy

What do you think the best valued r compound tires are for autocross? Looking at price vs. durability vs. grip. I know the hoosier A6 seems to be the most popular, but it also wears quickly. Options include:

Hoosier A6 (~$1390 on tirerack plus shipping)
Toyo R888 (~$1330)
Kumho V710 (~$1380)
BFG gForce R1 (~$1380, can you fit a 335 size tire on the rear?)
Michelin Pilot Sport Cups (~$1530, also requires 18" fronts...which means not SCCA legal?)
Nitto NT01 (~$1050 on tirebuyer, out of stock)

I'd be running these on stock C5 Z06 speedlines.

Curious as to people's experience with these and if I'm missing any other viable options. Thanks.

skxf430

NT01's will be you best bang for the buck. Not the fastest tire but will last you right down to the cords.

dhowdy

The price is definitely very attractive. How much time do you think I'd be giving up on a 40-60 second course? I'm still probably going to run AS primarily, but want to play around with r comps in SSR a bit too.

derekdj87

Not to go far off the original question, but are racing scrubs a good option for this? I believe one of the forum supporters sells these at a good price.

brenb

IMO, if this is for SCCA classing (you didn't mention what car you have) you'll want the A6 or possibly the v710 for SSR, anything else you might as well just run in a 'street' class on 200TW tires.

You're going to have a nearly impossible time getting enough heat in a 'track' tire to have it work properly.

gunluvS14

You can't run R-compound on A-street/stock anymore. So if you are aiming for SSR you probably have 1 choice if you are serious about the result.

To be really honest, R888 and R1 are not autocross tires. they will never get hot enough in autocross speed to turn on.

LateBreak

I don't run autocross, but the 200tw performance tire selection is pretty awesome these days and hard to beat for performance value per dollar.

Bill Dearborn

The Kumho V710 isn't quite as quick as the A6 at the beginning. After a few heat cycles that situation reverses. It will hold its performance level longer and can be quicker than a similarly worn A6. If you are going to run the tires till they are close to cording the Kumho's may be a better long term choice but new Vs new be ready to lose to a guy A6s. Of course the biggest difference will still be the driver.

Bill

Han Solo

In the R comp category you are looking at the A6 and V710 as already mentioned.

The A6 would be faster than the V710 for about 4 events and will drop off exponentially after that. If you are running neck and neck with another competitor and you have V710s and he has A6s you will catch up by event 4 and probably pass him till he buys new tires.

Han Solo

Looks like we were saying the same thing at the same time.

ratt_finkel

For outright speed. A6's are the fastest. Though they will start to degrade after 10 runs. And then again after 30 runs. Assuming an average surface and proper tire management. You should be able to get 70-100 runs on them before they heat cycle out or cord.

Kumho V710. Actually put down power better than A6's. They don't work as good cold. In some temps, you may need one or two runs before they are up to temp. They do handle heat better than A6's. They also wear much better too. Expect up to 150 runs on them. They will also be more consistent across their life span.

BFG R1-S. Very similar to the V710. More lateral grip than the A6's. Much stiffer sidewall. They also run significantly wider than their size indicates. A 285 is over a 295 width. They need serious heat to work. And the more the better. Excellent choice for a two driver car or in hot climates. Absolutely horrible below about 60 degrees. These too wear very well. Probably about like the kumho. These tires are much more surface dependent. And on concrete, A6's have shown to be faster. Though not by much.

The other options are more road race compound. And will require more heat to begin working. But will last significantly longer. I would expect that you could probably get 200 runs out of a set of some of those options. They will be an honest second slower on a 40 second course.

Bang for the buck, I would go Kumho's. Only because I prefer their driving characteristics over the BFG's. But the R1-S is a good alternative. Save the A6's for National Events (tours, pros, etc.)

dhowdy

There's a lot more driver improvement to be had before I want to worry about the difference between A6 and V710. And if you're not at least running the pack on 710s regionally, I think it'd be hard to blame just the tires.

R1-S also sounds good since I'm in Phoenix, but with one driver there can be quite a bit of down time between runs. Looks like I'll start shopping for the 710s based on feedback. Thanks guys

With that said, a 40 second course driven by an SSR is equivalent to 41.296 second (40*.86/.833) course driven by an equivalent AS car. It's hard for me to believe there could be a second difference between any of those tires when that means the tire is literally performing closer to my current R-S3s than an A6... unless it's just a matter of not generating enough heat to let them work near peak grip.

dhowdy

Is tirerack heat cycling worth it at 15/tire?

ratt_finkel

Typically, you are looking at about 2 seconds between an R-comp and a street tire. That is a GROSS generalization. And there are numerous factors that play into it.

0philstireservice

Our heat cycling is $10 per tire, along with some significant price differences on BFG's and R888's.

tytek

Phil's Tire had the best price on R888 shipped with heat cycling included. Fast shipping too!

dhowdy

Already ordered Kumhos but I will keep the BFGs in mind for next time depending what I decide to try

strano@stranoparts.com

Looks like you already got tires coming.

Just be aware that the V710's are not up to the speed of the Hoosier's except on certain surfaces (And the only one I know if is the very coarse concrete @ Crow's Landing in CA).

Really of the ones on the list, the Hoosier is the only game in town for speed, then the V710's some distance behind.

The V710's don't put power down better than A6's. They were way better than previous Hoosier's, but one of the reasons I went back to Hoosier's in 2006 (A6's) from V710's on my 2001 Camaro was how much more straight line bite they had. Having been contracted to Kumho and been through some "changes" in tires that looked the same I actually think Kumho messed with the V710, maybe unintentionally, and caused it to lose speed vs. the Hoosier. MHO.

The BFG R1/S is terrible at power down. It's way way too stiff on construction. The things like NT01's, R888, etc. are more what I'd call track day tires.

Since you live in Arizona a compromise might be R6's. They are much harder and more durable but will last a lot longer than A6's for that reason. And at least on the last couple runs be better than the V710's.... and use tire blankets otherwise.

mountainbiker2

I couldn't have said it better. If you look at the cost per event, there's not much difference in the big picture. Cancel your order and buy Hoosiers.

Steve

dhowdy

Thanks for the reply, Sam. I recognize that the V710s will be slower, but at this point seat time will help more than tire compound, so I'm willing to give up some speed for extra runs since I don't have immediate plans to replace these once they are finished. And most of the surfaces we run on are concrete, so who knows, maybe I'll get lucky there! Again, I'll probably still run AS primarily, I just want a taste of that r compound life everyone raves on

Maybe in a few years when I'm looking to dethrone you in SSR, I'll be sure I'm on Hoosiers