theseal

The tires available don't seem to be widely made in vette sizes. So what will work best?

BF Goodrich g-Force Rival
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11/RE-11A
Dunlop Direzza ZII 200
Hankook Ventus R-S3
Kumho Ecsta XS
Toyo Proxes R1R
Yokohama Advan Neova AD08R
Mich pss

I understand different temps and surfaces may change things but I guess

1) for rain
2) hot dry concrete
3) hot dry asphalt track days
4) cold dry concrete

Are the relative parameters.

C5z sizes and 335+ 18 or 19 sizes

I'll try to post notes as I get or make them but would love any input here from others.

BrianCunningham

What class are you running in?

My Rivals stuck prettyb good once the mold release was off

tricky in the rain

Bill's delaminated

troyguitar

Last I knew the Rival is the only 200 utqg tire available in 335 wide, period.

FAUEE

Nobody has any love for the Nitto NT05?

troyguitar

I have not used it myself but I have never read an account of anyone saying it's even close to competitive against the current 200 utqg autox tires - it is actually available in 335/30/19 though.

Michelin PSS is available in 345 but also is supposed to be slower than the Rival (except in rain).

Asking for 335+ basically means the Rival is the only real option to be competitive. That's the tire that every serious Optima car is running, for example.

klodkrawler05

I ran the NT05 on stock c5 z06 wheels in the 275 front/295 rear configuration for 2 auto-x events since that was what came on the car. After that I switched to narrower BFG rivals in 255 front/275 rear setup and grip was much improved despite being a narrower size. after that I stepped up to 275 front/295 rear rivals and the grip was far better than the NT01's. I'd only run them as a last resort or if you get a screaming deal and don't care about running at the pointy end of the spear

That said I don't think the current rivals are even the best thing out there but can't speak to that for sure without doing my own testing.

flash911

I've AutoX'ed the NT05 and then the Mich PSS in vette sizes and JMHO the Nittos suck. Period. They're nice as a street tire but that's about it.

I spoke to Falken and Toyo at SEMA and they both are coming out with a new 200 TW in the near future. Not sure about sizes yet. I've also heard BFG has a new compound coming out for the Rivals.

I have a feeling the 200 TW tire rankings will change in the next year or so.

strano@stranoparts.com

Isn't this easy?????? No? Yeah, well no surprise there.

BFG will have a new compound out, there are other new tires coming. There is no "answer" to your question that is 100% without any doubt perfect. Sorry.

Of all those, the most common thing are Hankook RS3's. They were the tires on the top 3 cars @ Nationals in A-Street last year. Are they they best option given all the things you could do with rim sizes and such in addition to the new things coming? Remains to be seen.

If you held a gun to my head, I'd have to say Hankook over the others. But we've not tested ZII Star Specs, nobody knows how the new Rival compound will be (the old one sucked on certain surfaces). Some folks don't like certain things about certain tires.

strano@stranoparts.com

AD08R's are not 200 TW, they are 180. At least as of right now.

theseal

It certainly is more of a challenge than 'buy Hoosiers'



I still think scca and nasa should have gotten together with all the majors and bid for a spec tire based on certain longevity and performance parameters. Still could.

Till then, any idea when the new bfg's come out?

Hardrvin

Eh, I like the competition between brands plus it seems to allow some filling out for various sizes.

RS3's seem to be the "hot ticket" at the moment, Rivals were in the spot light for a bit. I agree w/ Sam, the Rivals were hot and cold for me based on location (ie; surface).

talon95

Right now the RS3V2 is the tire to run if the 285/18 or 305/19 is wide enough (although that may not be true later in the year with all the new tires coming out).

Tirerack shows the 335 Rival back ordered. Don't know if you can get those anyway. Hopefully BFG is gearing up to produce the updated Rival. My biggest concern is they will be slow (again) to produce the 315/335 sizes this year.

strano@stranoparts.com

Not going to get into the like/dislike thing. Frankly it's a nightmare for me because it's impossible to give anyone a solid answer, and setups wont' be as standard as you move to tires with varying constructions and compounds (and sizes too).

I'd guess March for the Rival "s" (what I've heard it might be called). No idea on when the new Bridgestone is coming. Toyo's are now 200, I suspect haven't changed either but if I go far with my FRC in STU trim you can count on me trying a very, very shaved set of those.

chetly

The other issue with the c6z is lack of rear tire availability on stock size rims. Looks like the 305 hankook measurements are pretty damn close to my current 325 bridgestones. I'm hoping for more rear tire options without having to change rim size when these new tires come out.

troyguitar

It's a nightmare because the picked 200 instead of 100 UTQG. If they went with 100 we could all run R888's which come in as many sizes as Hoosiers and be done.

200 UTQG has terrible availability in almost all cars that don't run 18" wheels and will probably continue to be that way even with all this new stuff "coming soon" - my guess is we'll see more 19 and 20 inch sizes and still nothing beyond 255 for 17" and smaller.

Soloontario

Best tire depends a bit on what you want to do with it. I have run square setup hankooks in both 285-18s and 275 -18s. In a time-attack event, they are consistently fastest on the first lap and seem to not be happy with too much heat. The harder, I drove, the more the car slid and the slower I went. I don't think I am overly "ham fisted"

BFG Rivals certainly were more consistent for longer for me but could occasionally surprise me. No issues with delamination in my experience.

OTOH, if you are running AutoX then the Hankook would be a good bet.

None of them, other than the Michelin, will be good in the wet.

BrianCunningham

for what it`s worth

Traction Test - The Best 200-Treadwear Tires
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/wheels-...ar-tires-test/

SteveC68

The February 2015 issue of Sports Car has a short 200tw tire review. 4 tires tested on a 30 second course. Hankook R-S3 version 2 was the quickest tire by almost 3/10. 2nd place tire was the Bridgestone RE-11 followed very closely by the BFG Rival with the Dunlop bringing up the rear.

BrianCunningham

Great article

Just wish they had more sizes available

93Rubie

Hoosier Tire Company to SCCA, "Are we having fun yet kids?"

Don't get me wrong I "get" the street tire thing but dang. I didn't think it would be this bad. Time to go auto-x the Miata in C Street, cheap and cheery.