Tire Hierarchy chat
#121
Another data point on Rivals:
I was at Putnam Park this weekend and borrowed a friend's 225 NT01s for two sessions to compare to my 205 Rivals. Both sets are about a year old, halfway through the tread, unknown heat cycles. Between 5 sessions yesterday and one this morning, my best Rival time was a 1:21.8. Two sessions on the NT01s and I got down to a 1:19.9. I ran a 1:20.8 on the Rivals when they were new last summer, but I don't think I could do that again with this set. They've definitely fallen off a bit.
I was at Putnam Park this weekend and borrowed a friend's 225 NT01s for two sessions to compare to my 205 Rivals. Both sets are about a year old, halfway through the tread, unknown heat cycles. Between 5 sessions yesterday and one this morning, my best Rival time was a 1:21.8. Two sessions on the NT01s and I got down to a 1:19.9. I ran a 1:20.8 on the Rivals when they were new last summer, but I don't think I could do that again with this set. They've definitely fallen off a bit.
Last edited by Lincoln Logs; 05-06-2014 at 04:06 PM.
#122
The V710s are pretty great if you want to be fastish for cheap. I drove on a set once that had over 400 auto-x runs on them and pretty much didnt wear any more. About the same grip as top level street tires are that point but crisper turn in. After they heat cycle out they become the undying tire.
#125
Supporting Vendor
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: San Diego
Posts: 3,303
Total Cats: 1,216
Impressions on the Rivals are colored a lot by the perspective the driver is coming from. For those used to R-compounds, they leave a bit to be desired, especially if you're used to Hoosiers, but then isn't that pretty obvious?
For those switching to Rivals from other "high performance summer" street tires, it's a different story. I switched from the RS-3, which is a fast tire for what it is, but it's glaring weak-point is in braking. It felt like you were on a different tire than you had just been on through the last corner, not very much grip and prone to locking/flat spotting. The Rivals blow the RS-3 away in the braking zones and feel nearly if not as fast everywhere else.
My experiences braking into T2 at ACS (140mph -> 50mph) went from "dear tires, it would be great if you would stop me before I run out of track, thanks" to consistently being able to brake with confidence at the same marker lap after lap.
-Ryan
For those switching to Rivals from other "high performance summer" street tires, it's a different story. I switched from the RS-3, which is a fast tire for what it is, but it's glaring weak-point is in braking. It felt like you were on a different tire than you had just been on through the last corner, not very much grip and prone to locking/flat spotting. The Rivals blow the RS-3 away in the braking zones and feel nearly if not as fast everywhere else.
My experiences braking into T2 at ACS (140mph -> 50mph) went from "dear tires, it would be great if you would stop me before I run out of track, thanks" to consistently being able to brake with confidence at the same marker lap after lap.
-Ryan
#130
Also anyone tried the new generation of RS3's? http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes
My dad just ordered some for his 350z... $1200
#132
I have experimented with a few tire pressures on the track and from a purely feel perspective they seemed to want around 34-36psi hot. This is 225's on an 8" rim. I have no empirical data to back that claim up. The turn in and grip characteristics just didn't feel right at lower pressures around 32psi.
#137
I swear that with really stiff sidewalls you sometimes need more pressure and not less. My guess is that while the stiff sidewall might make turn in feel good at relatively low pressures, you can get a sort of hourglass shaped contact patch where the middle is not doing much because the sidewall is taking a lot of the load. So great turn in, probably even nice breakaway characteristics, but a fundamental loss of grip relative to a higher pressure because the middle of the tire is just not doing enough.
END UTTER NEWB WARNING-
*This is from some guy who only started watching tire pressures when a guest driver who knows which way is up asked what the pressures were on a terrible car with van tires and I did not even know. Thank god the car owner had a gauge handy LOL.
#139
ok. 1:20.0 on rs3 @30psi, 1:20.5 on rival @30psi, 1:19.9 on rival @35psi. everything else same. just got the rivals so there's more to come for sure as I get used to them. cornering grip seems about the same but braking is massively better on the rivals.
Last edited by endura; 06-18-2014 at 10:27 PM. Reason: added info