I know this has been beaten to death but I’m close to pulling the trigger and there would be nothing worse than to get on the track with a set of tires and regret it and have to wait for a new set or simply waste a set because I hate them. I am classifying them on my list of priorities which includes.

#1 Track Performance (because the track is where I want the results)

#2 Street Driveability (because I don’t want to have to change wheels as of yet, learning progressively before hoosiers)

#3 Cost Effectiveness

I have narrowed my choices down (kinda) to the tires I have heard the most about. I want something that communicates, but not too much, doesn’t need to be shaved for optimum performance. Don’t care about wet performance because I wont drive in the wet

-Michelin PSC $1300 shipped. + fast, street driveable -Long time to warm up, highest cost, low availability

- Nitto NT-01 $1051 shipped. + no shaving needed for optimum performance, long lasting - no available in stock rear size, would have to go 315’s which is a nono for me.

-Toyo Proxes RA-1 $1231 shipped + very fast shaved, long lasting - needs to be shaved

-Yokohama Advan A048 $1300 shipped + Very fast on dry surfacs, decent life span - high cost

I think the fastest tire in this group would be either the A048 or the MSC although I have heard the shaved RA-1 are fast too. I don’t think the Yokos are worth the money. Hear the MSC are hard to get warm although I don’t care much about that because I’m not Racing yet. But the availability is not good either.

P.S. if someone has found better pricing on these tires let me know.

 

Your selections include street and R compound tires. the best of both worlds for street and track would be MPSCups or The Toyo RA-1's, you dont need to shave them.

OR....get a second set of wheels and put Hoosiers on them!!

 

Hoosiers......

 

I absolutely hated my MPSC's with 580 rwhp. They're greasy as hell unless they're burning hot. I'm surprised they're receiving so many votes. Sold them after 3 days of use.

 

Same feelings here, I have alot less HP too.... I would rather run so2a's.... I am going to try out the RA-1's heard good things so we will see

 

same here, was not a fan of the MPSC's.. Well for occasional track use and street driving its hard to beat the PS2's especially for a car that doesnt have traction issues, otherwise IMO RA1's, they are good for a car with good power and that need traction on street or track, cant wait to get my new set

 

+3. I had MPSCs for over a year and they were terrible unless really hot, which is difficult to accomplish on the street absent extended canyon driving. During normal street driving, with normal temps, they slip and slide. I currently have MPS2s. They are much better during normal street driving / normal temps. I would like to try the Toyos and/or Nittos, as I have heard good things about both.

Craig

 

Well I'm not too much concerned with them being hot on the street because most of my fast driving will be on the track or highway where traction is less of an issue.

I also meant to add the Kumho Ecsta 700, havent heard much about them here but they seem like they might be a pretty good tire.

 

The other tires you listed are as good if not better than MPSC's (those from sister companies Nitto and Toyo, especially), but unlike the MPSC's, they don't require 2 laps inside the earth's core to make them sticky.

 

Even on the track, the MPSCs takes 2 laps each outing to start warming up. Those two lap can be long and irrating.

 

I actually think I'm going to try the Kumho's, and if not those I'll try RA-1's. I have eliminated the Nitto's based on the rear tire size (I dont want 315's) I am eliminating the MPSC's mostly because they cost more, take long time to heat up, and since this is an intermediate step for me in terms of tires (street tire >>>> R compound >>>>Hoosier R6 >>>>> Full Slick) I just want something that is predictable and MUCH better than street tires.

 

The NT-01 is 1 generation ahead of the RA-1. The NT-01 is basically the sister tire to the Toyo Proxes R888:

http://www.toyo.co.uk/page.php?identity=r888

The R888 and NT-01 have small differences in tread design, but the carcass and compound are supposed to be near identical.

One of the biggest advantages of this set, according to both Nitto and Toyo, is their stiffer sidewalls as compared to the older RA-1.

 

I agree, Sally. Those are the exact reasons I currently have a set of NT-01's in my garage ready to install on my car after it arrives.

 

I ordered my NT-01s last week. I will let all you guys know how they perform.

 

Are all of you guys running 315's??? My car is lowered on JIC and will get even lower for my next event so I really cant run a sidewall that big. I prefer no to roll fenders.