Question about matching new and scrubbed tires

[illwillem]

So Ive gone though a few sets of track tires so far on my NSX I've always seen the fronts still have about 40-50% life still in them by the time the rears are totally toasted. So far ive been getting new tires all around as the rears wear out and donating the still good fronts to friends that need them. This makes me all warm and fuzzy- but cost a sh*t ton. Im wondering, other than the obvious, Does any one have any experience with new rears only on every other tire change on a track car? Im running r888's currently and when they get dawn into the bars the grip feels to have dropped by half, fronts are still at a few track days away.

 

[docjohn]

my experience is only with Ra1 and I felt no significant loss of performance running tires at different lifespans.The only caveat is brandnew unused tires kinda suck until whatever chemical bond stuff starts to happen in the rubber.

 

[nsxtasy]

my experience is only with Ra1 and I felt no significant loss of performance running tires at different lifespans.The only caveat is brandnew unused tires kinda suck until whatever chemical bond stuff starts to happen in the rubber.

My experience is the same as the doc's (and includes the RA-1, NT-01, and the old A032, but not the R888). I don't try to match tread depths. I'll use all track tires until they're starting to show the belts. If that means one or more tires have like-new tread depth and one or more tires are worn down, it's no big deal to me; they all grip like track tires should.

Note that if you're in actual competition where cost is no object and you're looking for every last hundredth of a second in lap time, you probably don't want to wear them down that far, because there may be slight differences in grip as they wear and accumulate heat cycles. But for us amateurs, I don't think the slight differences matter. Of course, you can always try it and see; if and when you feel there's a difference, you can get new ones at that point.

 

[illwillem]

10-4. just confirming what i suspected. Like I was saying the r888's seem to drop grip like crazy as they wear. ill measure the front depths and if its anything over 40% ill just grab a new set of rears.

 

[ryneen]

You might want to try NT01's instead of the R888's next time you buy new. They are significantly better, easier to drive, much better grip and at least 1-2 seconds quicker. And they last forever. I got 34 heat cycles on my last pair.

 

[Jacob_Seattle]

You will always experience this type of uneven wear as the rears are the drive wheels. I see this on all my cars. I used to run the tires you guys are talking about (I tried just about all of them) and they are only about half as good as Hoosiers. In terms of lap times and grip, wow, the Hoosiers are at a completely different level. If you buy them direct, they are also normally the cheapest slick out there. I normally buy them from Hoosiers west (do a quick google search). I also run them to the belts and then change. I feel that the grip is near (good enough for me) the same all the way through the wear band. If you give these a try, you will not go back to any other tire. This was my conclusion thus far, but I am open to other suggestions.

 

[Coz]

I totally agree. I used R-888's for over a year and recently switched to NT-01's and saw an immediate 2 second improvement in laps time just on short tracks alone.

You might want to try NT01's instead of the R888's next time you buy new. They are significantly better, easier to drive, much better grip and at least 1-2 seconds quicker. And they last forever. I got 34 heat cycles on my last pair.

 

[illwillem]

Jacob, which Hoosier's are you running on? About how many track day do you get out of a set?

 

[CL65 Captain]

I normally buy them from Hoosiers west (do a quick google search).

Just checked Hoosierwest.com They are the same price as tirerack.

Jacob, which Hoosier's are you running on? About how many track day do you get out of a set?

I'm sure he is talking about the Hoosier R6 DOT radial. It varies, but from what I gather from talking to all my friends that run them they are getting about 3 maybe 4 weekends from a set.

 

[Jacob_Seattle]

Jacob, which Hoosier's are you running on? About how many track day do you get out of a set?

If you call and order through Hoosier west, you can normally talk them into giving you a 5-10% discount. I go with the R6's as they come perfect for my 17/18 wheel set up. I have also ran A6's (designed for autocross) and some say that they should not last well on the track. I have consistently proven this wrong as I can get about 120 min on a set of either of these Hoosiers. I find that that the rears wear fast and the fronts can give me at least another 45+ min of track time. This of course depends on the track, car set up and weather conditions. I try to use all 4 tires till the wear bar is gone and metal just wants to begin to appear. This can prove difficult as you must time my use correctly. I have my street set of wheels and tires and my track set. Since I only have one track set, if I run worn fronts I need to ensure they last me the entire track day. If your track has a tire change facility or you have another set of front wheels you would not need to worry about this issue. The worst case is your day is cut short due to eating up your tires prematurely. I like the R6's because you can drive on the street/hwy without much excessive wear. These tires are designed to take corners and normally only wear in the corners. Thus, if you are highway driving you will not lose too much tread depending on road conditions and distance.

I have been blessed up to this point and have been able to transport my track tires to the track via other means (ie other than putting them in the NSX). There will come a time really soon where I will need to fit this track set into the car (with tire covers of course). I am not yet sure if my set with rear 18's can do it.

I recommend trying a set of these R6's and you will see 2-6 sec lap time increases without changing anything else. This is what I found anyway. I got turned on to these by some of my serious racing circuit friends that race competitively.

Thanks, Jacob