I run 17x10 ET+25 5Zigen all around, w/ 275-40-17s on all 4

 

Ok so from what I have read and understand, Redline Time Attack only allows certain tires in there modified class. I currently run a Kumho V710 but they have to low of rating at 30. The rules state the tires must have a rating of 50 or higher. The only exclusion is the BFG R1. Unfortanately I'm not rich so I am trying to find a grippy tire that doesn't have the price tag of the BFG but has a rating higher then 50. I have come up with a few but I keep falling back to the Nitto NT-01's. They are relatively inexpensive but from what I have read seem to be a good tire. New they are a 6/32nd tire but can be shaved to 3/32nd to become a slick. Looking for opinions on this tire shaved and not shaved. Also any other tire that has the same performance for about the same price.

Thanks!

 

The NT01 is very similar to an RA1 but with less voids in the tread design and supposedly a stiffer sidewall / construction. I have run them not-shaved in a buddy's EVO at several events, and also once they were worn down to what "shaved" levels would be (I know, not the same re: heat cycling). I'd say they really don't NEED to be shaved as they don't exhibit much squirm (at least not compared to a lot of more-full-depth tires) but then my experience on them was limited to a car I wasn't 100% familiar with (and AWD which I hate lol).

 

Hoosier R6 from Frisby Tire (www.FrisbyRaceTrire.com).

Feff

 

ive been considering the NT01's too. 275 front 315 rear for autox. would Hoosiers/Kumhos be worth the extra money grip wise? or would it just be a couple tenths of a second for an extra 400 dollars?

 

a lot of people doing time attack are running the nitto's. i'm sure there are other companies out there that sell good tires for use on the track. i might look at tire sponsors for the time attack events, they might be able to get you a deal if you tell them what you want to do. Maybe they might get you a deal? Let us know how it goes

 

BFG R1s..265 35 and 275 35

 

I've read some good reviews on the BFG R1's also, pretty stiff sidewall.

 

I have run the NT-01 at time attacks in rwd modified class and like them. Very stiff sidewall with good modulus, lots of grip. Some HPDE groups have alliances with Nitto and will give you $80 off coupon for a set if you run a day with them (Speedventures in Calif does that, for example).

 

You can run the A6s on track (most guys at the Runoffs on Hoosiers were on A6s), just watch the tire pressures and the temps.

 

Hankook Z214s. Good contingency money and they are a 50 treadwear.

 

I will definatley be checking into contigency money and sponsorship. I have some small sponsors that help with fee's and travel but man what a tire sponsor would do to help.

going now to check out the Hankooks.

Shave the Nitto's or Hankooks or leave them full tread depth???

 

I run The Toyo Proxes R888 275/35/18 and 305/35/18. I love them.

 

Have you tried the Toyo R888's? Treadwear of 100, but they grip quite well, in my opinion, as good as the BFG R1's I had previously. They are also supposed to have good grip throughout their lifespan, until they are corded. Can be shaved, but apparently don't need to be.

All in all, I'm happy with mine. Don't know if they are allowed in the Redline TA Modified class, though; is it tire specific, or just treadwear based?

 

so I'm in Japan right now and in the magazines I've seen here Bridgestone has a tire called the RE11. From the pictures it looks like a more aggressive street tire than the RE050A PP's. But of course I could be wrong cuz everything is in japanese.

Anybody know anything about it?

 

The RE-11 is the replacement for the RE-01R which is already an excellent dry tire (and one of the hottest autox tires out right now). The RE-11 is supposedly a bit better so I can't wait til they make their way over here.

 

I see Hankook has a program for Redline Time Attacks, does anyone know if Nitto offers anything?

 

Toyo, Kumho, and Hankook are the only companies that offer contingency for Redline events and all are awarded in the form of gift certificates towards their products. I for one, am a fan of the Toyo R888. I have not had much experience with the NTO1 though, and no experience with the Hankook tire. The Hankook tire seems to come in a maximum width of 275 though. The majority of the tire choices in the Modified class are either the R888s or the NT01s. Like I said, I personally love the R888 and loved the RA1 which is why I chose to go after Toyo as a sponsor for this year, not to mention they are a contingency sponsor of the series.

 

Gentlemen:
We should keep in mind that the "specifications" on tires are, to borrow a phrase from a popular pirate movie, really more like guidelines than rules.

This is especially true of the wear ratings. Just because one tire has a wear rating of 100 does not mean that another tire with the same rating of 100 is in fact the same in its properties of wear and adhesion. Or that one of 80 is "stickier" than one of 100. Nor is there a directly inverse correlation of adhesion and grip. While in general terms a "softer" tire will wear faster and grip more....it is not a linear realationship and is affected by carcass design and blocking, tread design, chemical composition and a host of other factors. Somebody tell me if this is wrong, please, but I think that the tire manufacturer sets its own ratings for these things, so there are zones or ranges within which they throw out the spec numbers, not precise and industry uniform quantitative formulas from which they are derived. And they are allowed to market their tires or influence the purchaser they seek by how they manipulate these ratings, within some limits of course.

For example, the treadwidth figures are not necessarily precise either. The NT-01 rears on my car are 315 mm based on the sidewall marking 315/30/18 ........but if you get to measuring it as precisely as with a simple finely calibrated metal straightedge it comes out to......323 mm. The wear rating is 100, but if you talk to the engineers, the right ones and long enough...you may get a little grin and a "wink" that perhaps the adhesion is a bit stickier than "100" would lead you to believe.

I am not suggesting that a Hoosier or Kumho all the way down the scale at 40 or 50 is not grippier than a 100 wear rated tire, or certainly a 140. It is. Or that it will not last as long, because it won't. But you have a lot of other issues you need to be mindful of before you choose.

If you take a 6/32 tread depth Nitto, and shave it to 3/32.....my oh my you suddenly have the shallow sipes gone and something that looks very much like a Hoosier style slick. The huge treadblocks provide significant increased surface area for grip, and the softness of a tire that has not been heat cycled fifteen or twenty times to get down to that depth. And as you have noted, for most tires the fewer the heat cycles the better the adhesion properties, a reason it is an aspect that is paid so much attention.

It gets to be an art form at the upper reaches of competition, and a common and there is a lot of information, and mis-information out there. Some of it is just another rung on the ladder of education for us....but some of it is, quite obviously, deliberate and intended to send one astray in their search for the "unfair advantage" that Mark Donohue so aptly named his book after.

 

i would have to agree with the above.

only reason i mention the tread rating is because in Redline Guidelines, the tire HAS to be a 50 or higher.