A052 vs RE71RS vs Conti Force
 

My A052’s, which I love, are nearly done. One spring lapping day left on them.
I’m considering going with the RE71RS next (highly regarded and cheaper) but am also tempted by the Conti’s longer life.
No time trail or auto cross for me. Just street and monthly lapping days at tracks 100 and 150 miles from home so wet traction is a consideration (sorry RT660).
Your educated opinions are welcome.

Conti is designed to last longer, re71rs closer to a052, sounds like the conti fits your situation better.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ar...-buyers-guide/

I'm on R-S4s, and if the Bridgestone's didn't have such a strict requirement for when they get cold, I'd be trying them instead. Might have to get some OE Primacies on my OE wheels for the intermediate seasons between snow and summer tires.

I'm in the same boat, fellow Canuck, and have been Googling tires all winter.


I have been very curious about the Continental ECF, as that heat tolerance is what I'm after. I'm not trying to set records. The turnoff has been the price and availability. They are not available from Canadian dealers and, talking directly to Conti, they have no plans to explore our market. Tire Rack would be an option, which then adds customs fees and costlier shipping.


I am probably going with the Maxxis Victra VR-1. I enjoyed their original S1 compound, despite the set I got being over two years old, and have heard good things about the updated S2 compound. The only slight downside, after talking directly to Maxxis Canada, was that they don't have any plans to produce any this year due to still having inventory. The production date of the tires they have in their warehouse is April 2022.


All that said, I am all ears to other suggestions. If anyone has any better ideas, please share!


*EDIT*


This damn thread sent me down a rabbit hole. I am now seriously considering Kumho V730. Damn. I thought I had this figured out. Time for even more damn Googling.

The Conti isn't even in the same realm for performance, but will last the longest.

The RE71RS will have the best overall feedback.

A052 will be the most forgiving.

11 months? I wouldn't sweat it. Their warehouse is fully climate (temp and humidity) controlled; it's not a random warehouse.

Don’t be afraid to buy from Tire Rack. I bought my A052’s there when none were here in Canada. I use Cross Border Pickups. TR ships free to Niagara Falls NY and CBP clears customs and either brings them to Mississauga or ships to you.
With exchange and duty the cost was no more than Canadian (extortion) pricing.
Note: I now live in Chatham so only 50 minutes to Detroit and numerous Discount Tire locations. 👍🏻

Not sure if the v730's are good in wet? I really liked them on the single track day I used them. Liked them better than the 660's. Have not yet tried RE71Rs. They are closer to A052's in the sense they have 2-3 laps before they fall off a bit till cooled down(based on convo's I have had with others) If you want a lapping tire and don't care about max lap times I would look at RS4's or v730's.

While both being cheaper neither are particularly good in the rain.
With my long commutes to the two closest tracks I’m leaning toward the three title models. I switch my tires and pads over at home, not track-side. That said my Buddy (ND Miata) has managed RS-4’s (now on second set) as his road and track tire. That said he shyed away from the wet track opting to ride along with me on brand new A052’s, which were amazing.

If its based on those the RS4 is best all around tire. You have your answer.

I'd toss out another option like the Conti ECS if you're not going for all out lap times.

I know Continental came out with the Force 200TW more endurance tire recently, but this almost conflicts with the ECS's role. The ECS is more of a street tire for the average person, but puts down great wet times and isn't too far behind a lot of the top tier 200TWs for autocross (as an example). With the Force being about the same behind in pace, I don't know why anyone would go with the Force.

My vote is the ECS.

I do use the ECS on my OEM 7.5” wheels for street. Great rubber. Not sure I could step back traction wise on track from 245 A052’s. I did track the ECS at early track days prior to adding the S/C.

The ECForce will hold up to heat much better. The ECS is essentially a street tire that can handle some tracking, and the ECForce is a track tire that can handle some street driving. The Force will also be faster, by how much, I haven't seen any definitive tests comparing them to the ECS, but they're a little faster than the RS4 in GRMs testing. I've been running with them on the Miata for the last year, and am totally happy with them.

I've been in the same boat, my RS4 are finally cooked after 3 cross continent journeys and a dozen lapping days.

Since it's not a daily any longer and I have a set of "all (3)" seasons on separate wheels, been eying the v730 for the dedicated track set up. I've found local tire shop prices are terrible this year compared to the online warehouses :/

I'm passing through the states in about 2 months and heavily considering picking up a set and driving them across, their prices are making me quite jealous.

Agreed. Tire prices in Canada have been ridiculous forever if the model desired is even available. Last summer I visited a local Bridgestone dealer to inquire about RE71RS. I may as well had been speaking a foreign language. They were clueless.
Now that I’m in Chatham it is an easy hour to multiple Discount Tire locations in Detroit. Eventually I’ll pre-order at DT and roll over there on bald A052’s for a fresh set of ??.
DT is also an installer for TireRack in case DT don’t list my eventual choice.

Anyone had a chance to try the new Nankang CR-S 2023 compound?

Did it change from the existing CR-S? :eyebulge:

Yes it did. Andy Hollis at Grassroots Motorsports just posted an article on it (that you need to be a subscriber to read).


Long story short, Nankang changed the compound and internal structure. GRM's testing showed it to be faster and much more consistent than the previous compound. This article has me very close to pulling the trigger on these. If I want 245 I can get them now, or if I want 255 I have to wait until June.


Besides the GRM article, I haven't been able to find any other info.

Please post back if you try the new compound. After my v730s and my SX2s I am gonna switch as round my tire setup

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

Decision finally made. Order being placed for 245-40-17. I wanted 255, but those aren't available until June and my current tires probably only have one day left in them.

The specs are interesting, specifically the tread width, when compared to the other tires I was looking at (ECF, V730, RS4). The CRS has a narrower section width while having the widest tread width by a margin.

I tend to overthink things.

Wow! The ECF are much lighter.
I’ll have to look at the weight of the Stones and Yokes.

Feedback from folks other than Andy..


"Drives like the old CR-S but takes more heat to work"

They appear to have less tread width also. Do you want more tread, or less weight for a given size?

My hope is that the effect of that is that they hold on longer before they overheat. GRM's testing showing that they had the ability to stay consistent lap after lap was the part that excited me. Did Non-Andy mention anything about their ability to handle heat?

Yup! They said they were setting PBs 8 laps into a track session. Pretty impressive.

They did say it was hard to place the car at all times and not super confidence inspiring having to drive with a lot of yaw.

Thank you to you and Non-Andy for the extra info!

Continental Extreme Contact FORCE sale
 

Time to jump!
Trackdaytire.com has a ‘Buy 3 get one free’ sale this weekend only until tonight (May 5). Discount code ‘FORCE’
Put 4 in your cart, apply the code, get an~$250.00 discount.

They run the buy 3 get 1 free deal all the time, no need to feel pressured. When I ordered my ECF last year I emailed them to check date codes and they asked me if I needed a code for the deal.

I get email notifications for there frequent sales but they are just a 10% discount (~$100 saving). This is the first since last spring for this 4 for the price of 3 deal, an ~$250 saving.
For us Canucks paying an additional ~37% exchange rate this huge.

For anyone who finds this thread in the future, regarding RE71RS and A052. The wet performance of the RE71RS is considerably worse than A052 so if you plan to track in the wet, you may want to have a different set of tires for the wet.

IME this is only true in the cold. When it's warmer out the RE71RS is just as good.

IME the RE71RS get greasy after a few laps while the A052 don't.

The one time myself and a friend back-to-back tested them in the cold(ish)/wet (45F and raining pretty decently but no standing water), the RE71RS were really really sketch, while the A052s were supremely confidence-inspiring. Went like 4 seconds/lap faster on the Yoks. Friend did the same times on the Yoks in much much worse conditions, heavier rain with standing water. Both of us were in wide-eyed amazement at the *MASSIVE* difference. We used the Yoks in the time trial and I beat my main competitor in the same run group (we both got beat by someone running later in drying conditions). Friend won his class for I think the first time!

Have not run the RE71RS in warm/wet conditions, but for me up in New England, sometimes running in Canada, it's no contest which to run if it might get wet early or late in the season...

It's really quite surprising how well the Yoks do in the cold/wet conditions. Really in a class of their own in those conditions. That of course turns against you in the hot and dry when they overheat quickly.