R-compund tires are actually very good in the wet AS LONG AS THERE ARE NO PUDDLES. The problem is that when it is wet there are usually puddles.

The reason they are good is because they are so soft. They are able to grip better than street tires because they deform more easily and can therefore grab the road better. But, because the race tires have so little tread, they are very poor at evacuating puddles, and are therefore easy to hydroplane. If you have new race tires they will probably be fine in the wet (I drove on mine a couple times in pouring rain), but after most of the tread wears off you would have a very hard time with them.

-D'oh!

 

The BF Goodrich g-force T/A KD is the grab monster of dry condition tires, and very nasty to you if it gets wet at all. It is not very happy in cold either. There are limitations in its available sizes, especially in the larger diameters. If you are an Arizona or SoCal boy....tempting. If you live where you get summer rains or temperatures below 45 (Atlanta??) I think you would be asking for some occasional dangerous challenges.

www.xrims.com has a good comparative review of 14 different brands of ultra high performance tires. The Yokohama AVS is among the stickiest, but there have been some comments about noise and of course rapid wear due to the soft compound. You can get a lot of user points of view in the comments on epinions for the various tires.

for track type conditions you have some good choices, with Michelen Pilot Sport Cup, Pirelli P Zero Corsa, Toyo RA-1, Hoosier R3S03, etc. The Hoosiers are very grippy but wear fast, so if you are driving to the track rather than trailering or having an escort to haul the rubber and wheels to change there, it might not be a good choice. For drive to the track I would go with either the Toyo or the Michelin.

You need to be thinking about your suspension, sway bar stiffness, tire width/aspect, composition of the compound and the sidewall construction characteristics of the particular tires too, because what will work nifty on one car will not with another due to mods, as the demands on the tire can be affected significantly. And we should not forget that moving the psi on the inflation can have a substantial impact as well.

I like the Michelin Pilot Sports, except that they cost a bundle. They not only perform well in the grip department in the wet and the dry, but they are very very light in weight because of the advanced compound formula that they use.

The Dunlops actually have designed into them a "squish" factor on braking, to increase the contact patch. Personally, I do not care for that in a tire, but other folks really like it (they may not know that is why they like it, but it probably is a factor for how they think it "feels" like it is gripping).

Anyway, read read read. There are lots of factors, and tires are clearly one of the most important components of performance, safety, and satisfaction with a car.
Have fun!

 

Just took a look at the "compare" at tirerack.com.
That tire is rated the best all around performance tire of what they sell.
Keep in mind that they don't carry every tire made.

 

Do not forget to compare the weight of the tires when making your decision either. Some tires can be very heavy (Bridgestones and Goodyears) while others can be very light (Michelin and Toyo).

Folks will prioritize differently of course, but all other things being equal in your evaluation as between two tires, you will usually prefer to choose the lighter one to improve performance.

One of the tradeoffs that often comes to pass, and this is just an observation and may not be totally correct, is that I have seen a lot of folks come down to a choice between Michelin and SO-3's (before we get too excited here, I have a set of both).
A lot of folks choose the "stones" because they have great characteristics, and they are cheaper than the pilot sports. Not a bad decision on that basis. BUT...they are way heavier. Now, if that does not matter as much as the price, and for many it does not, then it is a good choice. But for a purely performance trade off, and this is just my penny of thought, I would go Michelin.
Having said that...I have the Stones in 19" for my "street wheels". I could not get the Michelins in the sizes I wanted irrespective of cost. There were other choices of brand, but they had attributes that I affirmatively rejected for my personal preferences...so I accepted the weight gain. (btw, it is still lighter than stock 18" set up with Michelins, so it is a tolerable set up....rationalized....but tolerable).

So, think about treadwear, grip, speed rating, price, dry and wet weather performance, contact patch, sidewall stiffness/flex......but do not forget weight. It is often not posted and you have to dig for the info, but it is important and
often overlooked, yet is very important to the unsprung weight component of your car (wanna spend $2k plus to shave 4 pounds off your wheel rims.....then slap 3 extra pounds in rubber right back on with the wrong tire choice??? If you want looks fine, but if you want to max the performance, maybe not fine.)

Have a good time shopping!

 

Eagle,

Excellent information, This whole thread has be great! I've noticed the weight difference as well, the lightest seem to be the Toyo's. I have the 6MT coupe and weighed the stock wheels at 48.5 lbs Front and 49 lbs Rear. I'm hoping to drop about 10 lbs each wheel with a setup similar to yours for the track.

How do you like the RA-1's are they hard to care for, I was reading about the Pilot Sport Cups and they say you have to let them cure between use and add air pressure after using. Do you do all that with the Toyos? I'd like the best tire I can use only in Summer and drive to and from the track on the lightest rim without breaking the back, I'm looking to get the 350z Track Rims or the NISMO in 18". If it rains, I'll just drive slower, if it is going to rain all week, I'll swap back to stock wheels until the next track day.

 

I was just at the Michelin dealer here in town and he showed me the new Pilot PS2's that have just come out in March....anyone try those yet? They're expensive as all heck, up to $700.00+ per tire.....and for that price they better wash your car when you're done tracking

 

I am notoriously price insensitive when it comes to getting performance results. But at $700 a copy, I want them to throw in the three cute gals that hand over the trophies, for the rest of the weekend, whether I finish in the top three or not. A man just has to set some standards.

 

Spanky:
I just put the Toyos on and will run them tomorrow at Buttonwillow. So I will know more then and post a report to you.
My intention is to drive to the track, run the car, drive home, and swap out the rims and tires for a street set up. (see below).
I can say that on the road as I try to break them in a little bit before tracking them, that they grip like they have claws...kinda like you have salt water taffy down there between the road and the wheels. Very grippy.
Then I will store them, with a lowered psi and out of sunlight and heat until the next track day. My ambition is to get at least five good all day big track events out of them, plus driving to and from. They were not too terribly expensive. About $1200 and change with a 120mph speed balancing, mounting etc. Certainly a lot less than popping for the Michelin Sport Cups.
Jeff Hess at Perf Nissan is running the Pirelli P-Zero Corsa on his Z for the same type of thing, and he seems very pleased with those.

 

I run the BFG gforce KD/TA and I think I can get 14G lateral (kidding, kidding!). When its dry I can take any corner about as hard as I would ever want. Best I've ever had on dry pave.

I also read how bad they are in the wet, and although I usually park it when it is wet, I have got caught out a time or two and I was pleasantly surprised how well they handled. I expected ice rink type driving but it really worked well. Then, I didn't try to push it either, as I like my ZR too much to test silly ideas....

John

 

John,

What size tires are you running and did you have trouble finding them, good $$?

Eagle1,

Thanks, sounds like a good plan for the RA-1's.Can't wait for your review from the track.