Tire choices for TT and Road Racing

[lutfy]

I'll chime in and keep it brief.

1) RC1 (V2) in Nasa TT5 is the ticket tire. You get 1.6 mod factor back and the difference is night and day. A local S2K got 4 track records anywhere from a 10th to 3/10th to 7/10 to 8/10 (records set at Summit, Watkins, NJMP Lightning and Road Atlanta).

But they are only good for 3 or so laps (fast ones at least).

2) I tried Goodyear 3R (100TW tire) brand new to test it out for practice (reason, I will mention below). I was amazed with how well the 245/40/17 tire wore and how fast and "consistent" they were. It was identical to a 225/45/17 R7 (width and height) size wise. And performance wise they were only a sec off at Summit (consistent low 1:22s). Above all they held up well after almost 10HC.

I am keeping them for DE/Testing.

3) R7. Been running 3-4 sets a year since 2017. Some observations:

a) You need to cure them if you care for them to last up to say 10HC. Otherwise the fall off is noticeable after 5HC. Curing them for 24 hours (at least) is important.

b) For TT they are awesome and even after 5-7HC you can get them up to heat and get a flyer lap close to sticker time (notice close to) if they are up to heat and temp. Hence for TT they are good for up to 10-12HC.

c) For ST (road race), they are good for up to 10HC as well but after 6 HC they struggle to get heat during the start. But in road race, there is traffic, yellow flag etc. However if you want to get around and pull any advantage or if someone is on sticker, you need to be on <6HC tire.

Historically I'd retire the set after 6HC (or 2 weekends). No other tire comes close to an R7 (maybe an A7 but they are not class legal for us in NASA).

Consistency is key that is why I chose Goodyear 3R. The drop off is marginal and they perform well. After 12HC R7 I struggle to find pace/heat etc in a short time span.

Hope this helps.

PS: Big fan of Goodyear 3R for DE
PPS: Prefer 245/40/17 R7 and they measure 266mm!! on a 9 wide wheel for ST and 225/45/17 (similar to most 245 tires) R7 for TT. The wider R7 manages heat better in a sprint race.

Pick your poison wisely

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by lutfy

I'll chime in and keep it brief.


2) I tried Goodyear 3R (100TW tire) brand new to test it out for practice (reason, I will mention below). I was amazed with how well the 245/40/17 tire wore and how fast and "consistent" they were. It was identical to a 245/45/17 R7 (width and height) size wise. And performance wise they were only a sec off at Summit (consistent low 1:22s). Above all they held up well after almost 10HC.

I am keeping them for DE/Testing.

Thanks for sharing this. I have been looking at the 3R since one of the TT groups local allows down to 100TW and I am tired of dealing with peaky super 200's. Also surprised these are comparable in price to NT01's and I have heard good things about their wear.