Been meaning to type something up since this past weekend at Chuckwalla. Although, take this review with a grain of salt, since there were a lot of component changes on my MZ4 Coupe, and I was definitely taking it very easy this past weekend hoping to get familiar with how these tires behave first before I push it, and only manage to get in 3 sessions (the last session was cut way short due to the wind induced sand-storm).
I'm going to leave the other changes mostly out of this write-up, and concentrate solely on the Maxxis tires. For those of you not familiar with Maxxis tires, I got mine from Scott Cary who ran the 275/35/R18 RC-1s on his E90 M3 race car:
Maxxis was a virtual unknown, and to some extent, still a new player in the über high performance tire arena. So for them to come out and hit the ground running with a competition tire was a bit of a surprise. However, since the test fit of the rear wheels up front after the RacingBrake caliper install confirmed that I can run a squared 275mm set-up, the opportunity to pick up a set of scrubbed Maxxis RC-1 tires from Scott was way too good to pass up.
The first thing I noticed was, when stacked next to my existing NT-01 tires mounted on 9" wide wheels, how much wider the Maxxis appears to be. For the same 275mm width, they appear to be about 5-8mm wider unmounted. I was a little worried that they would rub once installed, but the few trips up and down the street and to the alignment shop alleviated that fear. The Maxxis has a rounded shoulder design that should allow for wider range of fitment and clearance on fenders.
The other thing I noticed was how much more STIFF the Maxxis RC-1 sidewalls are. And not in a bad way. The NT-01 I ran had pretty stiff sidewalls already, as do the Falken Azenis RT-615Ks I use for the street. However the Maxxis RC-1 is significantly stiffer, resulting in sharper turn-in response along with crisp handling traits. While going over bumps and pot-holes can be jarring, the stiffer sidewall doesn't really transmit significantly more of the impact but does a decent job of absorbing it. However, it definitely is not a street friendly tire, as going over lane divider reflectors does a pretty good number in sending shockwaves through the seat to the back (ouch).
It does, however, come alive like few other tires I've used in the past on track. I wanted to feel out the tire and make sure the squared up set-up is as predictable as the staggered set-up, so I took the first session relatively easy, until a friendly instructor was released out right in front of me. I quickly ratcheted it up from 6/10th driving to 8/10th driving, and I had some fun earning a pass from a reluctant passee. But even at 8/10th the tires are extremely predictable, with a hint of progressive release at the limit. I suspect the rounded shoulders helped tremendously on that regard, the Hoosier R6es I ran on the Subaru was on/off with regards to release at the limit of adhesion with practically zero warning (luckily the WRX tend to understeer). Even with the NT-01s, the onset of release comes much quicker although there's still a short transition period.
I can't tell you what they're like at the absolute limit, or if they significantly shaved off my lap times, because I never got a chance this past weekend to really push the car. What I can tell you is, even driving at a relaxed pace due to the school's nature, I was only 3 seconds off pace from the few laps I managed to capture, and I KNOW dropping 5 seconds from that pace would be a relative ease...which would make it about 2 seconds per lap faster than my previous set-up. Ralph Warren, Scott Cary's driver on the E90 M3, confirmed that they are good for about 2 seconds per lap over their previous set-up as well. But like I said, take that with a grain of heavy "bench racing" salt because I didn't get data, and I wasn't pushing.
But for those of you looking to go squared up and run 275s all around, Maxxis have the right tire in stock. I'd say they're far better than the entry level R-comps for entry level R-comp price.