Need tire size help!! R compounds!!

cossie1600

I buy used R comps myself since a new one is nearly $300. With the economy and tire prices, I plan to only buy one set of new tires a year (RE11). I will buy a set of used R comps later. I don't want to get Hoosiers just yet because I cant fit all four inside the car! I miss the RA1s, but I am not sure how much faster the RA1s are over the RE11, probably less than a second.

Scott @ RA

Umm, The Toyo RA1's are quite a bit faster than the RE11, easily about 2-4 seconds a lap depending on other variables (even the proposed used RA1's would be at least 1-3 seconds faster than a RE11 depending on how many heat cycles are on the used RA1) .
For one of the best R compounds try the Toyo R888 (replaced the RA1's)

ChrisSlicks

I use Nitto NT01's (similar compound to R888's) and RE-11's and they are considerably faster on track, 2-3 seconds depending on the track layout.

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cossie1600

Maybe 2-3 sec, not sure about 4 sec. Of course it depends on the track. I can tell you my old car was 1-1.5 sec faster on RA1 than Azenis 615 (which had less grip than RE11) on a 1.5 miles course. Heck, A6 was only 1.5 sec faster than AD08 on the same course.

Unlike the R888, RA1 are a lot more consistent and heat cycles don't change it as much. I used to be able to run faster lap times near the end of the tire's life. Heck, I missed the days where I would buy $100 take off RA1s, drive them 600 miles to VIR and track them. I would usually get 3000-5000 miles of street/track/autox use out of them before I have to trash them. If they have it for cheap in the 275/35/18 size, I would probably drive them to VIR instead of the RE11s!

Don't get me started with the R888, they are probably one of the worst tires to buy. They might be faster than RA1 straight out of the box, but they slow down after a few short heat cycles. You could have tread on them, but they are no faster than RE11 by the end of its life. It's not worth the money, especially if you buy take offs. There is a reason why they are bringing back the RA1s.

I recently did a test of R888 vs RE11 at an autox in my car with the same driver. The R888 FELT a lot faster and stable, but the times were the same as the RE11s. They were take offs from race cars that had 3/32nd left on them.

Obviously, these tires are still slow compare to the Hoosiers.