With the start of the 2020 SCCA Majors season and the withdrawl of BFGoodrich from the SCCA contingency program, I elected to look at what options might be available. This year, my 350Z would run in Touring 3 configuration, which meant adding ballast to make a 3,325# minimum weight, adding 42 mm flat plate restrictors to my VQ35HR and running a 245-40-18 maximum tire size. I'd submitted a request to the CRB (competition racing board) to be allowed to run 275s, but was turned down. The biggest problem from my perspective with running a 245 tire on the Z is overall wear and durability. Particularly in the summer, a tire can heat cycle faster and overall wear accelerates.

Besides the all-conquering Hoosier R7 and A8 R-compound tires, I was hoping to find an alternative to to the BFGoodrich R1-S, a tire I'd run for almost four years in National competition. R-compound tire development from Goodyear, Yokohama, Toyo and Kumho have dropped off in recent years, but one new product caught my eye. The Nankang AR-1 is an interesting R-compound tire that is the product of a Taiwanese tire company. Rated at a 100 UTOQ level, I hoped it would be a competitive option. While the AR-1 is not backed by a contingency program, the overall cost is almost 40% less than a R7. While price is a big factor for a racer on a budget, little did I suspect how wide a gulf it would emcompass.

Ordering five AR-1 tires to start my season, it's a striking tread design. Rather than straight grooves or dash marks molded into the rubber, Nankang has asymmetric slashes cut across the face of the tire. Measuring 4 mm deep, those grooves not only help you measure tire wear, they might just come in handy if light rain might come in during a race, and allow the tire to evacuate some water. Alas, in the year of the pandemic (and ensuing late start to the race season), there's not much rain on tap. There was also not much technical information on tap for how to start the inflation tires of these tires cold. After a quick talk with Lou Gigliotti (pro racer and importer) we settled on 30 PSI as a likely starting spot for the AR-1.

I missed my first qualifying session with AR-1s when a shunt during the session cut everything short. I usually like to run new rubber hard for a short, five lap qualifying session to get the best out of them and also "set" the rubber. The first time I ran the tires in a race revealed the AR-1s have good initial handling characteristics out of the gate; firm feeling with predictable breakaway characteristics, it was a promising start. But the key ingredient, high overall traction limits was missing. After checking in the pits, pyrometer data showed stable reading across most of the face of the tires, with slightly higher readings in the middle. Decreasing tire pressures by two pounds seemed to help, but what was most notable was my lack of lap times, as I was several seconds off the pace. It didn't help that I've been battling an ABS problem since late last season and have yet to identify why my rear wheel speed sensors are not transmitting cleanly. And while I can drive a non-ABS race car quite well, with the weight handicap of the Z, ABS is a useful tool.

After several races, I can say several things about the Nankang AR-1. First, they are no match for the Hoosier R7 or BFG R1-S. I suspect their rubber compound is 50-65% harder than their rivals when it comes to sprint racing. Their grip level comes in quickly, as the pace lap seemed to be enough to bring them up to temperature. But overall grip does not continue to rise and stays relatively static even after a frantic first lap at speed, fighting to establish position . This is a critical time in pure sprint races, as you either match your rivals speed, or begin to drop back. On the other hand, the AR-1 was durable when I locked a tire briefly when threshold braking into a corner. Flat spots weren't readily apparent when this happened or after checking the tires after a race. I also found them easy to control and play with, as techniques such as releasing the brake pedal progressively in some turns allowed the rear of the Z to rotate at a slower rate and allow the driver to roll back onto the power and start accelerating before the apex of the turn was crossed. The Nankang AR-1 would be a good choice for a track day tire, as their reasonable price point ($215 in 2020), predictable handling characteristics and durable nature (for an R-compound tire) would delight many Nissan Z car enthusiasts.

 

What kind of track tires are other Z car pilots using this summer?

 

Trav Traction specials. You know, round and black. 😆

trav must be asleep.

But seriously, this is good information from an experienced and informed racer. As such, I’d have confidence in David’s assessments. A lot of people don’t understand the technicals behind tires and your descriptions on their track behavior should help making a an informed decision on R tires.

Get the impression that “informed” is key? 😁

 

First off thanks for the info.

But I am just getting my feet wet into the 200 TW tires and running Federal RS-RRs

 

Never heard of the Federal RS-RR, how do you like them? Are you running solo or track days?

 

First try of Hankook RS-4, they rate well in tests and their price is right.

 

Wow! Those Kooks are $17/tire LESS than the Nankangs, but have a 200 UTOQ rating. They'd likely be slower than the AR-1 and I've had enough of THAT this year. Just give me a competitive tire at a decent price.

 

Thanks, Mic. Just trying to post something that plumbs the depths of what makes the Z come alive, and offer content the REST of us want to hear about.

 

Yokohama AD06R is a full treaded high performance tyre, AO50 is a true semi slick and one of the best in that range but expensive. Probably the preferred race semi in my country, the Nankangs comparatively are down the list.​​​​​​

 

While I started my racing career back in the 80's with Yokohama, they've abandoned the R-compound market here in the States. Tires like the A001R and 008R were state-of-the-art back then, but the AD06R isn't even offered here and the A050 is an unbelievable $680/tire at the only internet supplier I could find. Does Hoosier market their R7 and A7 tires in Oz?

 

Oh, you mean the other 40% of my “new posts” that aren’t from PWRR?

 

Wow! Flashback time!! Had both A001R and A008 (not R). Polka dot tires!! You know what I’m talking about.

Did an arrive n’ drive in an SSA 280ZX with freshly shaved 001Rs. Sticky from the first cut.

OK, since we’re in same age bracket....

Phienix Stahlflex. 3011 “Racer”. Hahaha!

Knew you’d know that one. Had those on several cars! Street gumballs! 😆

 

Yes, who wouldn't want to know the secrets behind the making of Quiche MicVelo?!

 

Yeah we get the Hoosiers but really it's the AO50 first with the rest second or third or ....... Last time I checked the AO50 was something like 300 Yankee dolla each.here. Do you get the Bridgestone RE-11S in the US? I was thinking about trying them depending as always on price, Bridgestone usually do good tyres.

 

When I was looking for tires for the track, at the time POTENZA RE-71R and VENTUS R-S4 was what I was looking for and they were sold out. I went with the Pirelli PZero Nero GT which is a low price alternative. I'm pretty happy with it starting off. I did 3 weekends with them at VIR and Summit Point. I'm not good enough of a driver to outdrive the tire grip yet. I haven't been on the track this year yet. Hopefully I can get a few weekends in this season.

 

I wish Yokohama still offered R-compound or pure race slicks here. And no, the giant tiremaker Bridgestone hasn't offered any pure race tires for almost three decades here in the states. I recall buying some of their last bias-ply slicks back in the 90's that were discounted down to $75 for a 8.0 X 13" tire. What a bargain and the grip was similar (or better) than today's R-compounds!

Makes me wonder what the market is for race tires in Oz vs. States really is. Sure sounds like companies sell more R-compound or race tires out there. Or is it simply shipping and storage costs are less from Asia?

 

Flashback indeed, although I never did get to try the Phoenix Stahflex 3011. Heard about them when I lived out east and started racing at places like Summit Point, Pocono and Lime Rock. But as I recall, I was a Yoko fan back then and used the venerable A001R in both dry and wet conditions.

Careful, Mic- this thread could go totally OT. We could start talking about our fav 80's hits...

 

Ah, I remember fondly my Yokahama A008s, taking off-ramps and barely scrubbing speed. A 15K street tire but so much fun! My weekend roadster wears boring MPSSs and never complains.

 

Just HPDE and track days. I'm 2 seasons into HPDE with my first season using 340TW Hankook ventus v12 summer tires. These Federal RS-RRs are a pretty cheap 200TW tire.
So far I like them, I notice they don't "screetch" under lateral forces compared to the 340TW tires. The reason I went with federal RSRRs because they were the cheapest entry into 200TW. I figured why not start there (~$550 for a whole set 275/35/18s)

I"m still new to this

 

Thanks for the review! Didn't even know Nankang had a new tire.