RS4 vs RE71s
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Joined: Sep 2008
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RS4 vs RE71s
So after using both:
1) RE71s are for sure offer more grip and are faster, throughout the entirety of a 20-30min session. I honestly felt zero greasiness from RE71s. I would put them at 1sec on a 1:45-2min track.
2.) RS4s have more feel, the RE71s are a bit numb in comparison. Possibly not as stiff sidewalls? The RE71s provide feedback, but it is more in terms of how it slides through the range of the slip angle.
3)RE71s are very much like a R-comp in terms of grip and progressiveness, to me they like a bit more slip angle than RS4s
4) R71s easily wear 3x faster, no shit 3x! I have around 4-5hrs on them now and I doubt I make it through the season (3 weekends left).
Overall if if you are running for time in a street tire class and you are not on RE71s you are giving up time, no question. If you just HPDE for fun it really comes down to what you enjoy, faster times and massive grip or $$ in your wallet. TBH I may give the RE71s another go, just because I am changing things and trying to chase PRs
1) RE71s are for sure offer more grip and are faster, throughout the entirety of a 20-30min session. I honestly felt zero greasiness from RE71s. I would put them at 1sec on a 1:45-2min track.
2.) RS4s have more feel, the RE71s are a bit numb in comparison. Possibly not as stiff sidewalls? The RE71s provide feedback, but it is more in terms of how it slides through the range of the slip angle.
3)RE71s are very much like a R-comp in terms of grip and progressiveness, to me they like a bit more slip angle than RS4s
4) R71s easily wear 3x faster, no shit 3x! I have around 4-5hrs on them now and I doubt I make it through the season (3 weekends left).
Overall if if you are running for time in a street tire class and you are not on RE71s you are giving up time, no question. If you just HPDE for fun it really comes down to what you enjoy, faster times and massive grip or $$ in your wallet. TBH I may give the RE71s another go, just because I am changing things and trying to chase PRs
Joined: May 2008
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Is number 4 a typo? Rs4's wearing faster than re71r's goes against everyone's experience that I've talked to about track use with these tires. including my own on rs4's comparing to a lighter car on re71r's. same size tire and wheel, NC Miata on rs4's vs ND Miata on re71r's
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Joined: Sep 2008
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Is number 4 a typo? Rs4's wearing faster than re71r's goes against everyone's experience that I've talked to about track use with these tires. including my own on rs4's comparing to a lighter car on re71r's. same size tire and wheel, NC Miata on rs4's vs ND Miata on re71r's
Joined: Nov 2011
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You're spot on. with exactly how much faster the RE71R is than the RS4, and yes the wear as well.
I haven't purchased a set of RS4's, so didn't drive them to cord but I have driven on them, and they are dead on 1sec slower than RE71R.
RE71R are basically gone in 3 days for me. While fast its an incredibly poor value tire to drive on.
If you need a 200tw street tire, this is the one to be on.
If you want a tire that gives you a lot of consistent life for HPDE, RC1 or NT01 is still your answer.
If you want to go fast, you will spend less money running a BFG R1 or toyo Proxies RR than a RE71R and go much faster and can be driven to the track if needed.
Its a cheater tire that exists only to be the fastest thing with a 200tw stamp.
I haven't purchased a set of RS4's, so didn't drive them to cord but I have driven on them, and they are dead on 1sec slower than RE71R.
RE71R are basically gone in 3 days for me. While fast its an incredibly poor value tire to drive on.
If you need a 200tw street tire, this is the one to be on.
If you want a tire that gives you a lot of consistent life for HPDE, RC1 or NT01 is still your answer.
If you want to go fast, you will spend less money running a BFG R1 or toyo Proxies RR than a RE71R and go much faster and can be driven to the track if needed.
Its a cheater tire that exists only to be the fastest thing with a 200tw stamp.
Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Orlando
I think RE71R depends on surface. I feel like on Asphalt they they give great feed back. On concrete I felt like they were a guessing game and at any moment might go from a lot of grip to ice skates.
As far as the RS4. It was more "fun" to drive on. It was more Vague and it enjoyed sliding. My limited time on them I stopped trying to produce a lap time and just started drifting them as they seemed to like it and were really easy to do that with. But they were miles off the RE71R for out right lap time.
As far as the RS4. It was more "fun" to drive on. It was more Vague and it enjoyed sliding. My limited time on them I stopped trying to produce a lap time and just started drifting them as they seemed to like it and were really easy to do that with. But they were miles off the RE71R for out right lap time.
Last edited by Mrsideways; Aug 20, 2018 at 07:30 AM.
Joined: Jun 2017
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You're spot on. with exactly how much faster the RE71R is than the RS4, and yes the wear as well.
I haven't purchased a set of RS4's, so didn't drive them to cord but I have driven on them, and they are dead on 1sec slower than RE71R.
RE71R are basically gone in 3 days for me. While fast its an incredibly poor value tire to drive on.
If you need a 200tw street tire, this is the one to be on.
If you want a tire that gives you a lot of consistent life for HPDE, RC1 or NT01 is still your answer.
If you want to go fast, you will spend less money running a BFG R1 or toyo Proxies RR than a RE71R and go much faster and can be driven to the track if needed.
Its a cheater tire that exists only to be the fastest thing with a 200tw stamp.
I haven't purchased a set of RS4's, so didn't drive them to cord but I have driven on them, and they are dead on 1sec slower than RE71R.
RE71R are basically gone in 3 days for me. While fast its an incredibly poor value tire to drive on.
If you need a 200tw street tire, this is the one to be on.
If you want a tire that gives you a lot of consistent life for HPDE, RC1 or NT01 is still your answer.
If you want to go fast, you will spend less money running a BFG R1 or toyo Proxies RR than a RE71R and go much faster and can be driven to the track if needed.
Its a cheater tire that exists only to be the fastest thing with a 200tw stamp.
Joined: Jun 2017
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Also, how are those R Comps as far as heat cycles? Do you need to try and keep them warm between sessions in a track day to avoid going through a cycle each session, or is it really only when they cool all the way down to ambient that it's an issue? With RE-71Rs I find I wear out the tread before I notice any major difference in grip.
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I drove to and from buttonwillow on BFG-R1 without issues (120miles each way).
If your alignment is straight without any toe issues the heating on this is pretty minimal. I know plenty of guys that drive to the track on R1, Toyo RR or hankook Z214.
Not advised obviously if you're driving through rain etc, even going over the grapevine on Maxxis RC1 once I hit snow and it was an extremely sketchy drive.
All of those tires bear a DOT stamp. Perfectly legal, and to some degree the NHTSA agrees its safe to drive from/to the track (in the dry)
If your alignment is straight without any toe issues the heating on this is pretty minimal. I know plenty of guys that drive to the track on R1, Toyo RR or hankook Z214.
Not advised obviously if you're driving through rain etc, even going over the grapevine on Maxxis RC1 once I hit snow and it was an extremely sketchy drive.
All of those tires bear a DOT stamp. Perfectly legal, and to some degree the NHTSA agrees its safe to drive from/to the track (in the dry)
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You're spot on. with exactly how much faster the RE71R is than the RS4, and yes the wear as well.
I haven't purchased a set of RS4's, so didn't drive them to cord but I have driven on them, and they are dead on 1sec slower than RE71R.
RE71R are basically gone in 3 days for me. While fast its an incredibly poor value tire to drive on.
If you need a 200tw street tire, this is the one to be on.
If you want a tire that gives you a lot of consistent life for HPDE, RC1 or NT01 is still your answer.
If you want to go fast, you will spend less money running a BFG R1 or toyo Proxies RR than a RE71R and go much faster and can be driven to the track if needed.
Its a cheater tire that exists only to be the fastest thing with a 200tw stamp.
I haven't purchased a set of RS4's, so didn't drive them to cord but I have driven on them, and they are dead on 1sec slower than RE71R.
RE71R are basically gone in 3 days for me. While fast its an incredibly poor value tire to drive on.
If you need a 200tw street tire, this is the one to be on.
If you want a tire that gives you a lot of consistent life for HPDE, RC1 or NT01 is still your answer.
If you want to go fast, you will spend less money running a BFG R1 or toyo Proxies RR than a RE71R and go much faster and can be driven to the track if needed.
Its a cheater tire that exists only to be the fastest thing with a 200tw stamp.
I am actually surprised the RE-71R is that good on track based upon its wear. I put my current set on my S this spring. Have driven a few thousand miles and run 7 autox events plus a couple of practice events and they are dead .. new tires going on this week. But, they are amazing in terms of grip.
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I just switched from RE-71s to RS4's but haven't had a chance to run them yet so happy to find this and pretty much what I was hoping to read. I will say the RE-71's grip dropped off noticeably after 3-4 days for me and I only got 9 days out of them before the change (maybe could have gotten 2 more); I'm not a particularly fast driver either so I'm sure they lasted me longer than most.