Seriously, everyone was telling me how great the traction was, blah blah blah with these tires... They blow bottom-line.

They remind me much of the S03s that Doug had on his Kinesis awhile back. The channels are FAR too large on these tires, and car feels like a squirmy pig on the track.

After 5 hard laps, and after the tires came up to track temps... traction kept dropping and dropping. I couldn't carry much of ANY speed in the corners. Track temps were relatively low and there was ZERO excuse for the tires to slick up so easily.

My stock RE040s FELT BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Word of advice, all the wheels and tire packages you're looking at... SKIP THE TOYOS!!!!!! Pick ANYTHING but the Toyos... UNLESS you just want ride quality! These tires are VERY soft sidewalled, and ride WONDERFUL on the interstate. (My rant has to do with TRACK performance!!!)

I will be looking at something different VERY soon unless these tires shape up tremendously.

 

Hmm. Yeah, I have Toyo's on my 19" volks but I didn't feel huge improvement in traction compare to stock 18" RE040's. There was an improvement, but I think it's due to increased width on all 4 tires. They do ride good though. But as you said, those soft sidewall doesn't really help during the cornering. I just hate that feeling when sidewalls feels like they are flexing.
It's good enough for the street, but definetly not for the track. But what good track tires are there for 19" rims? Our choices are fairly limited for 19". If you go 17" or 18" then you got tons of choices tho.

 

I agree, the sidewall is so soft and flexible that the car felt like it was floating during turns, the S03's feel much better but haven't tried them on the track yet but they do have much stiffer sidewalls.

 

The S03s perform almost identically to the RE040s on track, but don't squeal as loudly. However, in the wet, they are far superior. Another advantage of the S03s is they wear much better... but both will get greasy once they get really hot...

 

Yeah, I've definitely heard bad things about the T1-S from the performance inclined.

I have S-03s now, but will probably need to replace them next spring. I've been happy with their performance, but now that the Z is strictly a good-weather car, I don't have to worry about wet traction very much.

I probably don't want to go to a full race tire, because I still want to drive on the street occasionally. Any recommendations for good dry-weather street/track tires?

I was thinking Kumho MX or BFG G-Force KD. Thoughts?

 

I found that brand new they feel very slick. It takes a thousand or two thousand miles before it feels like you have good traction.

 

What pressure did you run them out there? I noticed that if you run them very high, they handle better and the sidewalls don't flex *as much*, but regardless, they become more slick after a few minutes of the session.

 

I'm trying decide between Kumho MX and Falken Azenis as my street/autocross tire.

 

I'd love to get some MX or Azenis, but they don't make any 255/18 applications

 

I run the T1S's too. They felt pretty squirmy at first. Turn in will not ever be as crisp as the S03's. Put a few thousand on them and bump the pressure up.

For track days I start out at 40lbs cold. Then change them according to track conditions and thermal pattern. Usually end up around 43 up front and 41-42 in back. As you put more track days on them, they will get better and better traction. Now, only near the end of the day and in the later sessions do they get greasy on me. They are not the best tire, but they are cheaper than the Bridgestones.

My only other complaint with them is that the tire width is rather wimpy on a size per size basis with other tires. For instance, the Kumho 255 is about as big as my Toyo 265.

 

I'm also desiding on street/autox tires for my next season. T1S were better than stock, but I want more traction for the next season...

 

Why not get some 275/35/18 MX that would be a great street/track tire compromise. I'd put it on all four corners too.

 

I'd also hate the T1-S. Even for spirited canyon carving, I can feel the sidewalls flex, and they make a horrible plowing noise...even at relatively slow speeds. Traction is marginal at best.

I heard that Toyo is coming out with a whole new line of high performance tires, which will replace the T1-S.

The only positive feature of the T1-S is they are very lightweight...several lbs lighter per tire than the S03.

 

Toyo is a good ture by far, especially for someone that just wants wheels and enjoys alittle performance in there driving. But If customers are looking for a better performance tire I always say the Bridgestone S03. S03 does give the best performance and without killing the ride quality

 

I have S03's and enjoy the traction they provide once they get warm. Stiff sidewalls make for quick turn-ins and a solid feel..... but they're way too heavy and rough for the street (for me).

You can absolutely feel the performance hit when running an extra 3-4lb rotational mass (that's 12-16lb mass on the outside of the rotation). Probably not as bad on 18's as they are in large sizes on my 19's.

I'm going with T1S for 19's on the street and seperate race tires for my 18's (RA1) or maybe MX if I can ever find weight info on them.

 

I just put 265/35/18 / 295/35/18 MX's on... we will see how they perform on the track... So far when they are cold on the street they suck next to my KDW's... But my KDW's werent great on the track either...

 

PheonixINX,

I have a few questions about your T1-S experience. How many miles on the tires before you tracked them? What tire pressures were you running? What camber are you running, especially front? What size wheels?

Just curious because I have tracked these tires quite a few times up against others, Pirelli, S0-3, and BFG KD.

The toyo's are squirmy for sure out of the box, road or track...but after some easy street break-in they are for real. Wait until you break'em in then watch the feel return, if you have a chance to run in the rain they will impress you for sure. I've tried every combo imaginable with the other tires (presssure, camber, etc.)mentioned the BFg is the only one that comes even close.

If you know it won't rain and you have another set of wheels get some Toyo RA-1's. These are serious race tires that feel like you are on rails. Good luck.

 

I ran the T1-S once and didn't think they were too bad, not any worse the the RE040. I have also autocrossed on the RE040 and S03 and the S03s were considerably better. The car felt more balanced and understeered less, running same as the stock size.

Out of 52 entrants in STX at Solo2 Nationals, 47 were running Falkens. STX of course is the top street tire class. Some were on Azenis, some were on the FK451, shaved. According to Falken, the final 4/32nd on the FK451 is the same compound as the Azenis. So if you shave down the FK451, you have an Azenis compound and in the opinion of many (running STX at Nats), the tread was more stable and less squirmy than the Azenis Sport.

As for the Falkens vs. MX, a local nationals STS competitor did about 35 runs at a practice day running both tires in the exact same size. His conclusions:

Draw your own conclusions from that. For me

+MX comes in more sizes
+New Azenis (due in 1/05) will have more sizes
+Both are equally as fast
+If you're really die hard, a shaved set of FK451s might be worth it.
+MXs are lighter than Azenis
+Azenis have a stiffer sidewall

 

I have the T1S's also and sometimes I think I don't get enough grip from them also. But I also have them on my A4 1.8 quatrro and they stick like velcro. But what the hell do I know; this is my first rwd car. Damn I need to take a performance driving shcool!!!

 

what tire pressure were you running cold?

what tire pressure did it get up to hot?