Best Tire You Can Drive To The Track?

[Caddyshk]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

I've checked pricing at several locations.
I don't see that TR has any kind of exclusive on them.

Thought you were working today

[mfanatic325]

Originally Posted by jsoltan

I have ran a full season (4 track weekends) on my first set of Dunlop Star Specs and need to replace the rears. Now I found out that Tire Rack has an exclusive and have jacked up the cost. Need 2- 275-35-18's. Got any?

Discount Tire Direct has them. You just have to special order.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...%2FPerformance

[jsoltan]

I called Discount Tire Direct and the sales rep called Dunlop and they indicated that Tire Rack had an exclusive. If you have found them on other sites let me know.

[mfanatic325]

Originally Posted by jsoltan

I called Discount Tire Direct and the sales rep called Dunlop and they indicated that Tire Rack had an exclusive. If you have found them on other sites let me know.

wow, that's very surprising
Good thing I don't use Star Specs anymore (since they don't have 19" sizes)...I've always been against the grain and never thought much of TireRack
I only like using their surveys and test results sometimes to see what good tires are out these days. But they don't carry some brands, such as Nitto, etc.

[Caddyshk]

How much cheaper can you get than $255 for an extreme performance tire in this size?

[lucid]

Originally Posted by jragan

I'm advanced run group in all the local orgs and I won't use r-comps because I know I still have learning to do and you can't learn on an R-Comp because it stays stuck to the road even when you're doing something stupid so you can learn very bad habits.

I see what you are saying, but I think you are taking that too far.

R-compound tires do not simply stay glued to the road to cover up your mistakes. They don't have unlimited grip. They have their limits just like any other tire. They do have different grip vs slip angle characteristics. In general, their grip will be higher than street tires at comparatively lower slip angles, but then will fall sharply as slip angles increase so you can't push them the way you would on a street tire and expect them to hold. So, you need to be more attentive to what they are doing and manage your slip angles or you'll end up off the road. That is not necessarily a bad thing as it forces you to pay more attention to what your tires are doing and be proactive with corrections as opposed to being reactive. In other words, they require a somewhat different set of skills and sensitivities to drive effectively. Those are skills one has to ultimately master if one wants to be fast.

If you make mistakes, you lose time. That has nothing to do with what kind of tire you are on. If you know where you are losing time, then you know where you made a mistake, so you can try to correct it. By mistake, I don't necessarily mean an incident. Even a small thing like not straightening the wheel as quickly as you could have coming out of a turn will cost you time.

The issue is figuring out where you lose time. In many cases, you can figure that without an objective measurement, but in others that doesn't cut it. A basic lap timer is a good start and will reveal the effects of more obvious mistakes, but for the subtle stuff a GPS unit is necessary. I also find it useful to take along an experienced driver who knows how to read sector times from a stopwatch so that he can tell me what's happening in real time.

Of course, I am not advocating any of this for a beginner or an intermediate driver. It's just that you can (and will need to) learn on r-compound tires if you approach the whole thing the right way.

[krnnerdboy]

check this for cheap spares when you get the r888's

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=477754