I agree and will remain on my Rivals, but wonder if the 'lops just seem to jive better with Lincoln's surface.

 

That being said, Jocelin did win a tire in contingency at Spring Nats so we may just stick with Rivals...

But I do have a set of Z2s that are scrubbed in and waiting...

 

Andrew Pallotta's STX FRS was flyin' on RS3s at Lincoln, that's for sure.

 

For day 2 at the Lincoln Spring National Tour, we ran the Rivals on Ricky Crow's B-Stock CR in RTR trim (225/255 on OEM wheels). I immediately noticed the delayed response and massive forgiveness at the edge. I was able to play with the throttle and counter-steer with ease. Compared to the Hankook RS3s, these actually have more turn-in and more available grip when powering out of a turn. Still not as sharp as the Z1SS and Z2s I have driven on, but with the contingency, I would have no issues running these Nationally. When my BSP car broke down, we ran this for Day 2 at the Lincoln tour. My best time was 0.590 off the leader in STR in an RTR car (plenty of variables to consider), who was also running the same heat. I have no doubt these are a top choice tire. So are the Z2s. I also had zero trouble getting the car to turn in with the 225s up front. The biggest downer is the numb feel, look kinda ugly from the side, and they smell like cat piss (no, really, they do)!

-Marc

 

Thanks for the review Marc

 

Truth!!

Umm... except I really haven't noticed the stinkiness of the tire. I bet if we had 255's up front, we could have closed in even more on the STR times, but it was just asking a lot from the 225's as we got push on a few key elements. And we know how f'ing slow push is. LOL

 

One more additional datapoint:

I am an OK local driver, usually top 15 PAX, getting beat by National-level drivers/Champions in Central NC (although by a shrinking margin) and just bought a set of 255/40/17s to replace my Z1*. First event was at an unsealed asphalt coliseum course, mostly sweepers with about 6 feet of elevation change on several corners in the offcamber direction. Air temps 82-85F, surface temps 118-122F. Five runs first heat starting at 1030, finished by 1130. Each run was successively faster than the last, and even on the final run I felt there was more time to be gained. (FWIW, I won my class and had a top-10 PAX finish among 80+ drivers)Couple of spots where I was fully expecting breakaway to occur (from either front or rear end of the car) on the old StarSpecs didn't occur on the Rivals, which was hugely confidence-inspiring. The broader plateau of peak grip was beneficial to me, IMO.

Durometer reading before event: 68. After final runs, 53. (I know, shocking that a hot tire is softer than a cold one, but thought I'd put it out there)

Quick setup note: my car runs -3 front camber and -2.5 rear. Tire temps were within 7 degrees oustide->inside edge, slightly higher on the inside edge (edit: I run a little rear toe-in, which could explain this). After the fourth run tire temps were registering 120-130*F, but were not greasy. Had a little tackiness to them. I elected not to spray them down, and went 0.4 secs faster on my final run on a 40 sec course. Not greasy after that run, either, but I did spray them (force of habit, I guess)

edit: my nose must be insensitive to the weird smell, as I can't confirm the above cat urine comment

I ran 32 psi cold, and by run 4 they were up to 35. I bled it back to 34 psi before my fastest run. There was no evidence of scuffing over the shoulder of the treadblocks, and the little triangles remain easily legible and unharmed. Obviously, I need to drive harder next time!

 

Before I sold my 2nd set of Rivals and in transport to the buyer, I noticed these tires had a very odd smell. In hindsight I wish I hadn't sold them but I can always source another set. I think the biggest difference between these and D2's is going to be driving style relative to car setup. Rivals will tolerate a more aggressive style and higher spring rate setup than the D2's will but the D2's may reward the driver who can keep the car on the edge without tipping but being tight and tighty, and will need softer spring/bar rates.

 

I'm still new to tracking but at what range are springs considered stiff?

 

The softer end of the range for STR (auto-x, most guys here using these) seems to be in the 6-800 front and 4-600 range rear. I ran 700f and 500r which turned out to be a bit too soft for my setup/driving needs. Track cars will be much different. I ran these on an RTR (mostly stock) prepped S2000 CR and they felt just fine.

-Marc