latest choices?

[southwind25]

Just curious,,,with spring on the way, we might actually brreak down and buy some tires this year.

Whats the latest and greatest 15" for a mostly dr,y occasionally wet, street friendly tire that will serve us best for blating around? We Plan on going to the Gap this summer...and want to enjoy it instead of feeling like a putz on the old rubber. We also know it's gonna rain along the way.

Robert

[supersportsp]

If you aren't looking for DOT R compounds, I would recommend the Toyo Proxes T1-R. It is the lightest 15" tire for our cars that I could find after a good deal of research. Quite sticky, but good wet traction as well.

[TLRracer]

Find a nice restaurant or mall when it is wet.

Put on some Nitto NT-01's - they are soft and great.

If you have to ride in the rain then just go s-l-o-w-l-y.

Which in these super light cars I would think you would want to do anyway, if it was wet, regardless of tire choice.

[slngsht]

I bought the last of the Toyo RA-1's at our local tire place. Been happy with them. The replacement R888's tread pattern looks much less rain friendly - not sure if it actually is or not.

[ricko32]

I am also about to purchase tires. For me it's a toss between CR500's and R1R's.

 

Opinions please.

 

Rick

[blubarisax]

Check out the Avon ZZRs, you can order them from Caterham, but the shipping may be more than the tires. Great looking tire, nice and sticky.

 

You can get Avon CR500s in the USA at http://www.rogerkrausracing.com/

[rnr]

Toyo RA1 is an excellent long-lived tire and has pretty good grip in the rain when running full tread.

[southwind25]

Thanks everyone, we will look into these, and the associated prices.

[southwind25]

i just looked at the price of the Avon's.

thats a bit much for our budget..

[southwind25]

The Toyo ra1's seem to be a good price. they are deffinitly in the running.. they seem to be more aggresive than the t1-r?

[turboeric]

The RA1 is an R compound tire, the T1R is a street tire. Quite different.

[athens7]

I have been very happy with my Toyo R1Rs. Great grip with some ability to progressively rotate in the dry, will go through standing water without loss of traction, and after 1 season of autocross, only 2/32nds gone from tread (6/32nds vs. 8/32nds when new). 9 class wins in 10 season points events against non-LSIS with A06s and V710s-not bad for a street tire! The tires were heat cycled out by the end of the season and needed to be replaced (11 events and 1 school).

[rnr]

The Toyo ra1's seem to be a good price. they are deffinitly in the running.. they seem to be more aggresive than the t1-r?

 

RA1s are much grippier and can be run to the cords without heatcycling out.

[southwind25]

Hmmmm...

So it looks like the Toyo's are well represented here. Ra's a little stickier dry and slippery wet than the R1r's eh? i am liking the RA's.

 

anyone have experience with the bridgestone potenza re-11's?

just curious..

[rnr]

So it looks like the Toyo's are well represented here. Ra's a little stickier dry and slippery wet than the R1r's eh? i am liking the RA's.

.

 

RA1 are R-compounds and are a lot stickier than the TR1s - multiple seconds worth on the track.

[Kitcat]

And RA1's w/o tread are seconds better than treaded RA1's. (Mechanically or naturally shaved). Unless it is wet(:.

[athens7]

RE-11s are comparable to R1Rs (UTQG 140-minimum street tire rating) and both are common ST Class autocross tires. The consensus around the Atlanta Region is that R1Rs are better on lighter weight cars, while RE-11s are better on heavier cars. Also a popular choice is the Dunlop Direzza Star Spec, if you want to stay on (barely) street tires.

[HOTTTCAR]

Got used to Ra1s...... then tried a set Nittos......scary... tire spin in 4th gear. Once you get used to Ra1 traction, going to a harder tire really changes the way you can drive. Went back to Ra1s. Have been told by two friends that are on 888s that they are as good as Ra1s so will try them next time.

[turboeric]

Just to clear up some potential confusion here, there are 2 similarly named Toyos being discussed here: the T1R and the R1R. The T1R is a genuine high performance street tire, with a comfortable ride, decent wet performance and some semblance of tire life. The R1R is a max performance tire aimed at the street tire autocross classes that is much stickier, stiffer and shorter lived. The R1R on the track on heavier cars will blister fairly easily, as it is designed to get heat into it in the short time of an autocross run. I suspect, but don't know, that it would be OK on a 7.

[supersportsp]

Another thing to consider is the weight. Everyone here is talking about the grip levels, with some talk of wet traction issues, but there is a significant difference in tire weight.

 

A R1R is about 2.5 pounds heavier than the same sized T1R. It affects handling significantly, especially on cars as light as ours. The Avon CR500s are the lightest tires for our cars. The T1R is the next lightest for a street tire.

 

Also, a big difference can be in sidewall stiffness. Typically, the R compound tires have a significantly stiffer sidewalls which often accounts for the extra weight. Some believe that the uber stiff sidewalls are detrimental to the handling on ultra light cars like ours.

 

The ZZRs that were mentioned earlier (I also just bought these) are a Caterham specific version that are lighter with a less stiff sidewall that you would get in a standard ZZR that you bought for an M3 or 911.