Glad to see the NT05's are sticky. I plan on replacing my RS3's with them.

 

Not on the street they shouldn’t. Like an R comp you need to get them up to temp to be effective (burn out) but regardless they handle like total shit. I would never put these on an S and definitely not run it on the street.

RA1 unlike the R888 is considered a wet R compound tire choice for competition when unshaved. Most guys I have talked to which have run these at the track prefer the overall performance vs the R888. Personally I’ve only run the RA1 so I couldn’t say the differences between the two first hand. But just examining the tread design of the Ra1, it looks way more conducive for wet traction on the track.

 

You realize they got rid of the RA1 completely right? Then brought it back in just a few specific sizes such as miata spec class and about 4 or so other classes for a total of about 10 sizes! It started with just 4 or so sizes I was told but it's expanded as people still demand the RA1. The R888 comes in twice or triple that many sizes as it's a replacement tire to the R888.


We could see the RA1 completely disappear here soon though, I wouldn't be surprised, probably not economical to supply it against the R888 in short runs. The main point is it's been replaced for the most part.

 

Totally agree on the drag radials, unless I'm on the strip in a Cobra Mustang that's a pointless tire in my mind.

I've got a set of both right now RA1 and R888 in 255 all around. EXACTLY what you said is correct. The R888 is a better tire if setup perfectly but it seems that's a challenge, it demands very aggressive camber for example, to the point that an S can barely provide the minimum. There's some other issues with it to, I find it very challenging to make it work well but once setup it's great.

For wet, don't even consider the R888 but then again don't consider the RA1 either, it's much better than the R888 but that doesn't say much. A NT05 in the wet would destroy it. Wet makes it very difficult to get a R compound up to temp as one might imagine.

 

I've never owned a set of RS3s but I've driven a S with a set, I like them, good bang for the buck but the NT01 is supperior and the NT05 is about as good in dry and far better in wet so I see it as a better overall. Plus it'll cycle better too.

 

All of the autocross guys love the RS3's.

 

^ They function fairly well when cold, I'd assume that's why they like em. Auto-X doesn't give much time to get tire temp up.

 

I don't know if anyone mentioned these, but I love the Bridgestone RE-11's, once they are warmed up the are killer

 

Has anyone tried g-Force T/A KDW 2?



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That's my experience with the Kuhmo XS I run as well. Not good for the wet, its an even more focused dry tire and has a narrower temp range it operates well in, compared to most other Extreme summers I've run, but through half the year out here in fair weather it dominates. Cali guys would love them.