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What is the favorite autocross tires?


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Asking for a tire to last a full season of autocross, (all or most?) open lapping and 300km a week is not likely for most cars.

 

RE-71R was the easy answer for most Winnipeg autocrossers for years however Bridgestone has discontinued the tire and the replacement RE-71RS is not available in North America. further complicating things there's been a few new tire options available in the last 2 years each with their strengths and drawbacks. No clear tire choice at the moment, it will depend heavily on your cars characteristics, tire size option and your needs. 

 

If you want long lasting that can hold up to lapping and are willing to give up some lap time maybe a Hankook RS-4 would be worth considering if they come in your size.

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I’ve got some Falken RT-660’s being fitted today. 
 

I WAS supposed to have new tires today! Falken had production/shipping delays and they only just today arrived in Canada, NOT in time for this weekend of Open Lapping.   Grrrrrrrrrr!    Oh, yeah AND SpeedFactor didn’t bother to tell me until after I arrived to pickup my car from the shop, only to find my old blistered, chord showing, tires still on the car. Grrrrrrr!  & Grrrrrr!!

maybe they were on that container ship diagonally parked in the Suez Canal :-(>>>

Edited by David Klassen
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I think I can speak for @Corey Allegory Montessori as well, because we both run Hankook Ventus RS-4 at Autoslalom and they hold up very well. I also use them for Lapping and Time Attack and could never get the same life out of the RE-71RS as I could the Hankooks.

Check out the link below for additional tire choices.  Thanks @Magner

Time to Retire - Technical Motorsports Discussions - Winnipeg Sports Car Club (wscc.mb.ca)

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I'm lucky I managed to get some RE-71R from Honda. Also, when I asked Speedfactor last Monday, they said there's one last set in Calgary.

Hmmm I'm getting the most for my money I like it, I guess I'll just stop going to events when the tire life is getting lower.

Now that I know that only six events counts in autocross standing, I guess I'll just come to six events.

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This season it seems quite a few myself included are trying the Falken rt660.  Only thing negitive is the tire sizing  is typically larger then the bridgestone re71r.  for example a 225 runs more like a 235-245 tire width.  This is because of a redesign of their sidewall. 

It comes down to what you want more, tire life or more grip.  

 

 

 

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For those of you on Falken RT660's, I got a hold of one of the guys that worked on the development team. He'd love to get feedback about your experience with them.

He said that:

  • they like a bit of -ve camber
  • they like a bit higher pressures than other tires
  • the operating temperature of them is between 120°F and 140°F
  • they're directional but not asymmetrical so you can remount them swapping left to right to even out wear

If you have some feed back for Tsuyoshi Johnson send him email @ tjohnson@srnatire.com

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6 hours ago, grail said:

I'm trying a new brand this year. There was an article on them in Grassroots Motorsports. We'll see how they hold up.

Nankang CR-1 255/40r17

 

Those CR-1s look a lot like Yok A052s (what I'm running this year). The Nan AR-1s are great tires so these should be too. Let us know how they do...I'm sure they are cheaper than the competition. Thanks

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8 hours ago, grail said:

I'm trying a new brand this year. There was an article on them in Grassroots Motorsports. We'll see how they hold up.

Nankang CR-1 255/40r17

20210419_124842_cr.png

I use that brand too. And they use them a lot in the Nurburgring! 

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2 hours ago, beppca said:

Those CR-1s look a lot like Yok A052s (what I'm running this year). The Nan AR-1s are great tires so these should be too. Let us know how they do...I'm sure they are cheaper than the competition. Thanks

They are priced roughly the same as the RE-71R. Figured I'll try them out.

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11 hours ago, rusoman said:

What is the ideal psi for RE-71R? Is there a different psi for track and for autocross?

I need to know so I could get it set up at the shop.

Thanks!

Many variables..  front wheel drive? rear wheel drive? AWD?   weight of the car?  alignment?  track conditions?....    as you can see the answer can get interesting..  for example I drive an MX-5 weighing 2300 lbs, with max camber dialed in and my ideal pressure is 28 psi all 4 corners to start and that might get changed a psi or two depending on track conditions that day... 

My advice, experiment, the best way to do that is attend every event and practice practice practice... 

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11 hours ago, rusoman said:

What is the ideal psi for RE-71R? Is there a different psi for track and for autocross?

I need to know so I could get it set up at the shop.

Thanks!

There's no definitive answer for tire pressure. Lots of variables involved such as what tire you're running, weight of car, driving style, or even road surface. Typically we chalk the outside edge of the tire so we can see how far over the tires "roll over" so we can reduce the pressure as low as possible without rolling over onto the sidewall. Maybe start at the factory recommended pressures located on the sticker on the inside of your door and adjust from there.

Highly recommend getting a tire pressure gauge that allows you to adjust pressure while measuring. You'll probably need to let some air out between runs as the pressures increase with heat. 

Hope this helps a bit.

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1 hour ago, rusoman said:

Are you using these for the same car? Interesting. May I know why?

Yes. Re71r was discontinued and the rt660 was roughly the same price and supposed to be similar performance wise. I went with the narrower size because I heard the Falken ran wider and the 235 was already pinched.

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13 hours ago, Curtis said:

Yes. Re71r was discontinued and the rt660 was roughly the same price and supposed to be similar performance wise. I went with the narrower size because I heard the Falken ran wider and the 235 was already pinched.

Yikes my 255s are going to be way wider than my nexens

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15 hours ago, Curtis said:

Yes. Re71r was discontinued and the rt660 was roughly the same price and supposed to be similar performance wise. I went with the narrower size because I heard the Falken ran wider and the 235 was already pinched.

I didn't know tires could go wider based on the model, I thought if it's 235 it's always as wide as the other 235s in the market lol

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Another data point here on the RT660 vs Re71R size. I received my 215/45/17 RT660 and compared them to a new never used 225/45/17 RE71R. Mounted on the same 7" wheels side by side they are almost identical height less than 1/8" difference.

 

If you have clearance issues or already run a pinched Re71R setup absolutely consider going down a size in width if available. 

 

 And another not so apples to apples comparison. 245/40/15 RT660 are about 10.5" worth of tread from sidewall to sidewall where as a 245/40/17 RE71R mounted on a 8.5" wheel is under just under 10". In theory they should be the same width but based on brand, diameter, mounting they are not. Again not a good comparison but just shows the RT660's appear to run wide. 

Edited by Magner
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Tracked the rt660 this weekend and they seem to handle well. I Put on 225/45/17 on my factory civic si rims and they look like a tight fit. No issues with rubbing.  I am excited to see how they are on the autocross track this weekend if we are allowed to run.  

So far I am very happy with the performance for the price.  

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