I second this, I bought a set hoping to find a better track tire than my RE-11s and longer wear than R6s and I actually was faster with my RE-11 set. I run 19 rims, so my choices suck. I ran R6s this summer, hard to settle for anything less now.

 

Well, I'm glad its not just me! Its been a while since I have driven in dry weather with the RE's and I don't recall struggling at all. In fact, I have always been blown away with just how good they are on track!!! I guess I should have just stuck with the RE's when R6's are unavailable. I have to admit, I did let this thread make me curious to their performance and remarks about trying something new get to me. Oh well, at least now I have tested all viable tire options for these vehicles running 19 inch rims. My recommendation for those DD'ing & DE'ing is to stick with the RE-11's!!!

Below, a couple stills from that NASCAR spin in T11 at Sonoma...that was close!!!

 

First two laps of the race struggling to hold on with the leaders while running the Triple Eights. Couldn't find enough grip to hang tight...eventually I had to back off : [

The audio is pretty clear in this clip as well.

 

Interesting comments about the R888s. There were unhappy MX-5 drivers back when Toyo discontinued the RA-1s and everyone had to switch to the R888 back in the days--so much so that Toyo brought back the RA-1s. I was never a fan of the RA-1, and preferred the R888s over it, but my experience has been on a light car.

I know the R888s tend to have softer sidewalls compared to competitors like the A048, which may make it less suited for a heavier car like the Turbo. Did you notice if the tires were rolling over too much? If so, did you try playing around with the tire pressures to reduce roll over?

 

Vid997, keep in mind that your car will require a much different alignment when you use Hoosier R6. R6 need at least -3 camber up front so that you don't burn through the outer side of the tire. They also work best at 30psi hot.

 

^^^ Thanks mdrums. I have been running R6's for the last two or three years and my car is set-up with more than -3.0 up front. I only run the RE's when its wet. The reason for the T8's is because no one had any 315/30 R6's in stock and I needed new tires for this event. My current RE's were too thin in the rear to run four sessions and one ten lap sprint race. My R6's were corded, and I only see 10 heat cycles out of R6's before the rears start to cord. I think I could get 12-14 out of the fronts.

 

Cool...you seem to have the set up for your car down. Keep enjoying it!

 

Triple Eight Follow-up:

Well we had just incredibly beautiful weather here this past weekend (Thanksgiving). Sunday, my daughter had a play date and it was just one of those days you wanted to cruise around with the windows down...definitely a convertible type of day if you had one. So, the wife and I took a quick trip over the hill to Santa Cruz with very little traffic...it was kind of surreal...think everyone was out shopping!

Anyway, the R8's actually seem to be a very nice street tire. They were very quiet, offered an incredibly smooth ride, plenty of low speed cold tire temperature grip, and the sidewalls seem rather supple as well. I feel these tires are probably better suited for canyon runs and short burst of enthusiastic driving in traffic vs tracking them at or beyond their limit. On track they have a very small window of optimum performance (if any at all in my book). Obviously, I will continue running these tires for DD'ing seeing as I only have 400 miles on them. However, they will not see another TT or track event. I could be persuaded into selling these to someone local if anyone is interested...

 

Thanks! VID997...this is always one of my favorite threads to read.

 

Thank you DR.S!

Sometimes I feel like I should retire this thread and start something new since it has morphed into what it has become. But, at the same time it has grown into what it is...a time-line of progression...detailing where things started with this vehicle and where they are going...what's next?

I guess we shall just wait patiently and see where it takes us...

Thank you so much for the kind words.

 

^^^ D, you'd better :-) keep the thread going. I look for it when I browse this forum.

 

I bought RE-11 mostly because of VID997's thread, figuring he knows a thing or two about tires with that expensive hobby of his, and have found that the recommendation to be 100% spot on.

I would second the recommendation, not only because the RE11 is an excellent tire (I am not switching back to Michelin), but because it's a fascinating way to learn about how tire affects handling, for those of us who are new to this. My impression of the tire below:

>>>>>>>>>>>

Tire Comparison Bridgestone RE 11 vs. Michelin PS2 and PSS
RE11 is stiffer than PSS, about 1/2 way between PSS and cup tire with respect to stiffness. The stiffness reduces ride comfort a little bit (I think it would be fine for 95% of people with stock suspension and 90% of people with Bilstein :-).) but makes handling and steering so much more precise and fun. Body roll is reducing noticeably compared to PSS. The key is that the reduction in body roll makes the car corners as if it is on rails. This is the best my car has ever felt when it comes to steering and handling, short of the Pirelli Corsa cup tire (which I don't want to use because it is so dangerous on wet roads and so costly). Really, the car corners *beautifully* with these Bridgestone babies.

Road noise is about same between RE 11 and PSS. Traction is close enough that without instrumented, professional-level testing, I doubt I could ever tell a difference. Wear: I don't expect RE11 to last nearly as long as PSS, which IMHO is a game changer with respect to performance tire: 20k miles in my Turbo - unprecedented.

Before you run out and order these tires, please note my bias: I place handling above all so I tend to sacrifice comfort a little more than normal people . I also live in a hilly/mountainous area so body roll has to be minimized for my taste. If you find yourself with same preference, I would recommend them without hesitation. I think of RE 11 as cup tire with less dry traction, but without the wet road danger ;-). Cheaper, sporty, SO MUCH fun!

 

Ah….finally some time off…NO WORK or time lines to deal with for the next week or two…woo-hoo!!!

Been so busy with work, travel and track events this year I haven't had time to share some of the other miscellaneous and cosmetic mods that I have been adding to the beast.

Mid summer I picked up some LED DRL's from MaxSpeed Motorsports along with LED fog lamps and side marker indicator lights. With all that has been going on I didn't have an opportunity to get these installed until mid October, and now I am just finding time to post. Also, had time to play around and build a simple little animated gif. My apologies for the crappy iPhone shots!!!

Cheers, and Happy Holidays!!!
VID

 

Hmm...animated gif didnt work....bummer...if you click on "Original Link" in the attached footer note it works though...very odd... or on the link I just inserted below:

http://www.vizualid.com/6speed/VID_LED_DRL_TEST_01.gif

 

Guess it was a file size thing!

Cheers!