How much of a difference do tires make on a high HP car?
01-02-2009, 02:38 AM
#82
Ed, can you expand on your experience with the R6 vs A6 running on the street?
To answer your question directly - buy the A6 over the R6 if you can afford new to replace tires every 2K miles. The A6 is a great daily driver (in the city) and will really surprise you as far as traction.
The A6 really only needs to be spun over enough to free the gravel from it whereas the R6 actually needs a good heating before it gets sticky. However, the R6 still offers a great deal more traction than any other tire in it's class (in my opinion) [with exception to the A6].
I'd advise you to buy the tires from Roger Kraus Racing in Nor Cal - and have them cut rain grooves in the tires at the time of purchase. It's about $70 bucks per tire. I advise this only because I've done a lot of business with them and they are very stand up folks.
01-02-2009, 09:23 AM
#83
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I'd advise you to buy the tires from Roger Kraus Racing in Nor Cal - and have them cut rain grooves in the tires at the time of purchase. It's about $70 bucks per tire. I advise this only because I've done a lot of business with them and they are very stand up folks.
01-02-2009, 12:20 PM
#84
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aTX427,
To answer your question directly - buy the A6 over the R6 if you can afford new to replace tires every 2K miles. The A6 is a great daily driver (in the city) and will really surprise you as far as traction.
The A6 really only needs to be spun over enough to free the gravel from it whereas the R6 actually needs a good heating before it gets sticky. However, the R6 still offers a great deal more traction than any other tire in it's class (in my opinion) [with exception to the A6].
I'd advise you to buy the tires from Roger Kraus Racing in Nor Cal - and have them cut rain grooves in the tires at the time of purchase. It's about $70 bucks per tire. I advise this only because I've done a lot of business with them and they are very stand up folks.
To answer your question directly - buy the A6 over the R6 if you can afford new to replace tires every 2K miles. The A6 is a great daily driver (in the city) and will really surprise you as far as traction.
The A6 really only needs to be spun over enough to free the gravel from it whereas the R6 actually needs a good heating before it gets sticky. However, the R6 still offers a great deal more traction than any other tire in it's class (in my opinion) [with exception to the A6].
I'd advise you to buy the tires from Roger Kraus Racing in Nor Cal - and have them cut rain grooves in the tires at the time of purchase. It's about $70 bucks per tire. I advise this only because I've done a lot of business with them and they are very stand up folks.
Thanks Ed, when you say that the A6 needs to be spun over, what exactly does that mean...a couple good side to side sways to shake the surface grit off and with the R6 what is a good heating? On the street today I typically watch my air pressure sensors on the dash to know when the tires are heated, as they will increase in pressure by about 3psi after I drive around a while. Would the R6 be the same and if the A6 gets 2,000 miles, what would the R6 get?
01-02-2009, 02:06 PM
#85
Jeremy and John,
Great questions! I'm glad I can help to answer them!
The R6 will typically last around 5,000 miles - this is with some pretty spirited driving at times (and a few trips down the 1/4 mile).
The A6 will typically last about half that (again with spirited driving).
However, I've had a set of R6's last me 6,200 miles and I've had a set of A6's last 3,500 miles. Results may vary!
When I say the A6 must be "spun over," I mean just a blip of the throttle in a gear like first or second - just enough to heat it slightly and sling off any road crud that has built up on the tire.
When I say the R6 really needs to be heated, I mean that you should do a 2-3 second (rolling or stopped) burnout to really heat the exterior of the tire up. If you've been driving for a while, then this is certainly minimized - but still necessary to plant 700ish RWHP in 2nd, 800ish RWHP in 3rd, and then 900ish in 4th.
I run the 345/30/19 on the stock Z06 wheels with ZERO problems. On my old road race car I even ran A6 295's on the OEM front Z06 wheels with great results!
I do not recommend purchasing the "heat cycling" option when you purchase these tires when using them for Drag Radial type purposes.
Great questions! I'm glad I can help to answer them!
The R6 will typically last around 5,000 miles - this is with some pretty spirited driving at times (and a few trips down the 1/4 mile).
The A6 will typically last about half that (again with spirited driving).
However, I've had a set of R6's last me 6,200 miles and I've had a set of A6's last 3,500 miles. Results may vary!
When I say the A6 must be "spun over," I mean just a blip of the throttle in a gear like first or second - just enough to heat it slightly and sling off any road crud that has built up on the tire.
When I say the R6 really needs to be heated, I mean that you should do a 2-3 second (rolling or stopped) burnout to really heat the exterior of the tire up. If you've been driving for a while, then this is certainly minimized - but still necessary to plant 700ish RWHP in 2nd, 800ish RWHP in 3rd, and then 900ish in 4th.
I run the 345/30/19 on the stock Z06 wheels with ZERO problems. On my old road race car I even ran A6 295's on the OEM front Z06 wheels with great results!
I do not recommend purchasing the "heat cycling" option when you purchase these tires when using them for Drag Radial type purposes.
01-02-2009, 04:19 PM
#86
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Edward,
I have to get tires very soon. i'm driving a 600+whp car on stock runflats and it's basically dangerous.
I was thinking around Feb but i am having a very hard time deciding on what tires to go with. Until you got involved in this thread i was set on getting the new Nitto NT-05s. They have a 200 treadwear rating and seem to be somewhat promising.
I have been saying to myself constantly that i am going to pick up those tires all the way around and if they dont work out traction wise, i will get a set of R6's for the rear only.
My problem is that i've read countless times not to do different tires in the front and the rear. I've read that it throws off the handling of the car horribly in most situations.
You said that with Hoosiers in the rear it won't matter whats in the front as long as it's a quality street tire.
Can you elaborate on this a little more? Tell me why?
The big reason i'm asking is because if in fact it's not a big deal to mix and the car will still handle properly i'm not going to waste the $800 on the nitto's for the rear and i'll go straight to nitto's in the front and Hoosiers in the rear.......rather than buy nittos all the way around and replacing the rears in a month or two after i realized i made a mistake.
thanks very much for your help and time.
-Rez
I have to get tires very soon. i'm driving a 600+whp car on stock runflats and it's basically dangerous.
I was thinking around Feb but i am having a very hard time deciding on what tires to go with. Until you got involved in this thread i was set on getting the new Nitto NT-05s. They have a 200 treadwear rating and seem to be somewhat promising.
I have been saying to myself constantly that i am going to pick up those tires all the way around and if they dont work out traction wise, i will get a set of R6's for the rear only.
My problem is that i've read countless times not to do different tires in the front and the rear. I've read that it throws off the handling of the car horribly in most situations.
You said that with Hoosiers in the rear it won't matter whats in the front as long as it's a quality street tire.
Can you elaborate on this a little more? Tell me why?
The big reason i'm asking is because if in fact it's not a big deal to mix and the car will still handle properly i'm not going to waste the $800 on the nitto's for the rear and i'll go straight to nitto's in the front and Hoosiers in the rear.......rather than buy nittos all the way around and replacing the rears in a month or two after i realized i made a mistake.
thanks very much for your help and time.
-Rez
01-03-2009, 01:35 AM
#87
Rez,
You definitely don't need Nittos (or Hoosiers) all the way around!
As long as your front and rear tire's speed rating match (IE: Z rated or V rated, etc...) and they are DOT approved, then you shouldn't have any problems with regards to a normal street car. Obviously this isn't the best combination for a road race or autocross type car.
Oscillation can occur and offset the front rear balance - but I haven't ever seen this with comparably rated high quality tires.
You definitely don't need Nittos (or Hoosiers) all the way around!
As long as your front and rear tire's speed rating match (IE: Z rated or V rated, etc...) and they are DOT approved, then you shouldn't have any problems with regards to a normal street car. Obviously this isn't the best combination for a road race or autocross type car.
Oscillation can occur and offset the front rear balance - but I haven't ever seen this with comparably rated high quality tires.
01-03-2009, 12:55 PM
#89
John,
I'm saying not to get it done at all. The argument for it is that it will make the rubber in the tire more uniform and ultimately the tire will last longer.
It might just make the tire last longer (I fully understanding the physics behind this - it's kind of like vulcanization) but it damn sure will make the tire less sticky. I do not recommend this option AT ALL.
I'm saying not to get it done at all. The argument for it is that it will make the rubber in the tire more uniform and ultimately the tire will last longer.
It might just make the tire last longer (I fully understanding the physics behind this - it's kind of like vulcanization) but it damn sure will make the tire less sticky. I do not recommend this option AT ALL.
01-03-2009, 01:33 PM
#91
Spin's one sharp/smart cookie, but I'm on my 16th set of Hoosiers - I'd argue the point with him.
I bought my first few sets with the "heat cycle" option and I never will again because of my bad experiences with the first few heat cycled sets.
After about 1,000 miles the heat cycled tires were harder than usual. I have no scientific data to back this up - just my personal experience.
My driving habits were the same on each set!
Heck, maybe the guy doing the heating on the sets of tires I ordered didn't know what he was doing and cycled them twice as long as he should have resulting in premature hardening of the compound. Who knows - but I can tell you I have had bad experiences with this option and I've purchased more Hoosiers than most on this forum (probably by a factor of 2) in the last 3 or so years.
I bought my first few sets with the "heat cycle" option and I never will again because of my bad experiences with the first few heat cycled sets.
After about 1,000 miles the heat cycled tires were harder than usual. I have no scientific data to back this up - just my personal experience.
My driving habits were the same on each set!
Heck, maybe the guy doing the heating on the sets of tires I ordered didn't know what he was doing and cycled them twice as long as he should have resulting in premature hardening of the compound. Who knows - but I can tell you I have had bad experiences with this option and I've purchased more Hoosiers than most on this forum (probably by a factor of 2) in the last 3 or so years.
01-13-2009, 06:48 PM
#93
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Hey Ed, installed the new A6's this weekend. Huge difference. I can still spin them at will in first and second, but third hooked pretty good. Keep in mind the outside temp was only 55*. Question - how much pressure should I run on the streets? I started with 31/30 front/ rear and dropped down to 30/28 to maximize the footprint. These are 345/30/19 rear on 19/12 wheels and 275/35/18 on 18x9.5 fronts.
