BigMonkey73

I'm intermediate solo level and have been running street tires so far. I definitely don't think it's time for me to go slicks yet, but I do want my next tire choice to be stickier.

Right now I have Continental Extreme DWs. Tire Rack had a great sale and I picked up a couple of sets..but they're just about done.

The next set I was looking to get was the Michelin PS4S. I'd like to get a tire that has good grip and decent life. But more importantly, I am hoping that the grip doesn't fall off a cliff after a few heat cycles. At the same time, I don't want to go through anything more than 2 sets in a year ( a single set would be awesome)

I plan to do maybe ~14-20 track days in 2018.

What would you guys recommend?

moose.b3

Toyo R888R

Dan H.

I'm a similar experience and skill level to what you stated. I really like the Nitto NT-01. Not sure if you are running 18" square or if you are using the 17" front. I have square 18's myself so I'm not sure if the NT-01 has a size for the 17" wheel, you'd need to check.

These tires have great lateral grip and would be a noticeable step up from the Conti's you are using. I have the same conti's as a rain tire in the event of wet conditions. The conti's feel like your driving on beachballs when compared to a 100TW tire like an NT-01. The Nittos are a much firmer ride. This tire is not recommended for wet conditions, they have tread yes but they don't grip in damp or rain conditions.

I've run one full summer on a new set of tires. For me that is 7 events or 13 track days. The tread is now gone except for the rings around the tire. They aren't toast yet as they have good tread left. Grip is still good and doesn't seem to be trailing off yet from heat cycling. Not sure how age and winter storage will effect this or not. I drive almost zero street miles. My car is titled and tagged, but I drive it only to my track inspections and that's about it.

My camber is -2.5 front and -1.5 rear. Zero toe front and 1/16 toe in rear. I've flipped the tires on the rim once to even out wear. At the point now where the tread is gone, the wear is even.

All that said I'm not at the limit of the tire yet. I intend to buy another set of these when its time. I want to know I'm getting the most out of the Nittos before I move up to Ho Hos. Hope this helps

BigMonkey73

I have a 2012 base model..running stock sizes still 245/40/18 up front and 285/35/19 out back

Alignment is Pfadt street/track combo

Thanks for the suggestions guys! More are welcome

Nowanker

NT01s... Grippy, stable, predictable, long-lived, 'reasonably' priced.
And you can still drive them on street if you don't want to trailer.
Haven't tried the r888r yet. My Porsche friends had issues with them so I wasn't brave enough to buy a set

Joshboody

I'm loving the RS-RR 275 square... 4 days so far, so still TBD on life. 1/2 the $$ of others.

I've run below but still newbie-ish so getting faster.
NT01 275/17 (11 days) Good until they corded... last day weren't as grippy
NT05 275/17 (7 days) Felt good in beginning but really seemed to fall off by day 6
R888R 295/18 (10 days) Great until the last 2 days, which I was considerably slower but still had tread.
RS-RR 275/18 (4 days so far) I'm loving them for the $$... I think part of it is the slight stretch on the 10.5 rim giving more responsiveness.

MX621

My vote is R888R. I had mine heat cycled by tire rack. 33 sessions they are at the wear bars. My last session of my last day this year I turned my fastest lap of the season. I ran a session in steady rain at around 50% tread and i feel they did rather well in the wet. Once around 50% tread the nt01 is almost a slick and not good for wet. If you don’t plan on ever driving in the wet maybe NT01 wins by a small margin over the R888R.

TKOGTO

None of the r-compound tires will last 14 days let alone 20 so if you want a single set for the year, you will need to stick with an UHP or summer tire. Even these won't come close to 20 days of good use but you will be able to get 10+ from each to keep within your set limit.

I get 14 days out of 2 sets of r-compounds driving on very smooth tracks. A day to a day and half less if a more normal surfaced tracks are sprinkled in.

The MPSS' I have used were fantastic street/summer tires. Excellent grip and wear. An r-compound however takes the grip level to a completely different level. The tires are not comparable in grip or wear. Pick your preference, you can't get both.

My 2 cents: R-compound: R888Rs; Street: PS4s.
My 2 1/2 cents: go with the PS4s, once you go to r-compounds, you will never go back.

Good luck either way.

mp4659

14-20 days on one set of anything is a tall order, the only thing I can think of with any sort of grip that can do that is bfg rivals (reg. Rivals
, not rival s)

Racingswh

This was on Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Not sure if they would last 4-6 three day track events? I like them for a street tire that you can use on the track.

Stock Grand Sport.

BigMonkey73

Thanks everyone! Really good feedback.

SunnydayDILYSI

R-Comp tires are not safe on the highway in a hard rain with standing water, but the R888s are a lot better in the wet on track than the NT-01 (at least while they still have tread). They have similar grip in the dry. I go with the R888s when not running slicks for the wet weather benefits.

Quickshift_C5

i was curious about this when I was comparing the two tread designs. I'm currently using the new R888R and haven't had problems in the rain. But, when comparing them to the Nitto NT01, the Nitto looks to be much better for rain given the extra channeling inherent in the design.

​​​​​​​The regular R888 are much better than both, as you mentioned. Im using those on my other C5Z and never had an issue in rain until they started getting down to the wear bars. Then very heavy rain where the streets/highways don't drain the water fast enough becomes a problem above 50mph.

bj1888

Going from a 300+ treadwear tire to a 100 will be a huge upgrade. As many have said, NT01s are great on track, but really sketchy in the rain.

You could also go to an intermediate step with something in the 180-200 treadwear range (Kumho XS or Nitto NT05). I've actually been running the NT05s because I don't trailer and it's 120 miles each way to the track.

ncstingray

Are you going to daily drive the car between your HPDE sessions?

BigMonkey73

Ya I've thought about that. That is something I'll need to consider when I'm closer to actually pulling the trigger.

I have a second set of wheels that I use for the track...so the track tires don't see daily use. I'm also going to buy a tire trailer...already have the hitch installed.

Nowanker

Had a set of NT05s on my C5. Very sticky for a 200ish TW tire when new, but cycled out quickly with some time. Did one track day after a year (low miles) of street use. They were good in the AM but by the afternoon they were greasy after 2 laps.
And even brand new they would hydroplane at 55 in the rain on a grooved freeway!

moose.b3

I think the Nitto 05 is a great tire for someone who's just beginning to do track days because they talk to you. The closer you bring them to their maximum grip level, the louder they are. Just before the tire is ready to start sliding, they're really making a lot of noise. When they do start to slide it seemed very controllable and you can play around learning the limits of your car with those tire. After going through a set of 05's I was a better driver and was ready for a stickier tire, the R888.

bj1888

The NT05 is much more talkative than the NT01. Going from the XS to NT01s was actually weird the first few sessions because of how much quieter they were.

Dan H.

I had the exact same experience. I was ready to try the NT-01's after a set of 05's. I'm going to run another set of NT-01's because the tire is still better than I am, not ready to move up yet.