Looking to buy my first set of track tires. I have done many time trials on street tires and two days w/ my stock S02's.

The A032R's and Victoracer's are similarly priced. The Sport cups seem to be 30%+ more than those. What is the best bang for the buck? I would prefer something that I could drive to and from the track since none of my friends support my habit enough to haul tires up for me

Also, heat cycled? shaved? er??

And why aren't RA-1's listed in that go-fast tires thread?

 

I have used the A032R's and the Victoracers and like the Kumhos better (although one NSX driver told me he prefers the 032 to the Kumho). You will get a lot of opinions but generally the RA1 is ranked below the Kumho in grip.

I have also found that track tires last 25% longer if they are properly heat-cycled. Highway heating is not very effective (nor is machine heating) but slow figure eights until they are 140F followed by two or three days of cooling makes a real difference.

 

how do i measure tire temp?

 

Pyrometer

 

RA1's aren't listed b/c Tire Rack doesn't sell them. The best source for RA1's is Vilven Tire, who caters to racers and track whores (they are also the mandated supplier to Speevision WC cars which run Toyos street treads).

RA1's are handicapped in comparisons generally b/c they are molded to 8/32's, whereas Victo's are 6/32's, Hoosiers 4/32's. In other words, they need to be shaven for dry track use.

I have a set of RA1's 255/40-17 coming in for my M3, all shaved to 4/32's. From the fastest club racers in the country who have used everything available, the RA1's max out the bang for the buck meter since they last considerably longer than the Victos, and hold up better to overdriving (which I tend to do). In August with cdelena, I turned my Kumhos into a greasy mess from getting a bit to aggressive with some throttle steer and trailbraking.

Shaven, they are on par with the Victos for lap times and have a stiffer sidewall for better turn in. They do take a bit more heat to get them into their sweet spot, much like the Michelins.

Jeff

 

Ditto to what frayed said. Another big plus to the RA1's is you can get 8k street miles on them too.

RA-1's are my street tire and previous track tire when I only had 1 set of wheels.

 

As krazik found out, they make a reasonable street tire. For some reason, they can handle lots of heat cycling unlike the rest of the R comp family (well, maybe A032R's, but I really, really don't like these tires).

 

on a side note... very soon I'll be carrying Toyo Tires. =D
I wouldnt' want to compete with Tire Rack's items, because they sell lots of great products. But Toyos... I dig them, because they do not seem to be harmed by prolonged street driving. The Victo Racers - stickier than RA1's, but they also will suffer from excess heat cycling if you drive them on the street.

 

I've had the pleasure of having gone through a set or two of all the tires you've mentioned in the last 6 months.

If you're just doing track days, the RA1s are probably the best bang/$. If you're going to autocross, get the Kumhos - none of the others will heat up quickly enough to be useful. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Michelins are probably a teeny-weeny bit faster than the Toyos or Kumhos on track (by virtue of their lighter weight, if not compound), but not nearly enough to justify the price premium. At least in my mind. The Michelins certainly have panache.

If you're going to do much street driving in addtion to getting to the track, the Yokohamas will best stand up to the heat cycling, but are quite a bit slower than the others. I won't ever be using those tires again.

I've got 4000+ miles on my latest set of Victoracers, including a couple weeks of street driving, a trip to Kansas and back, several local autocrosses, day at the drag strip, and they're still okay. The rears are probably getting close to being done - more due to heat cycles than actual wear. You can tell by how sensitive they become to overheating as the result of overdriving, as frayed mentioned. They're just over a month old.

If you get Kumhos, I recommend getting them heat cycled.

 

The Kumho's have alot more grip then the A032's. But you'll get more life out of the A032's. And the A032's are a little better for slide recovery. But the kumho's are great and will keep you out of trouble just as well. Why didn't you mention the Hoosier road race tires?