Nankank CR-1 vs. A052?
 

I'm about to buy tires for track days and time trials. Tenths matter! Was going to get A052s but came across some info that suggests the Nankang CR-1 could be quite a bit quicker (see post #2):
https://www.miataturbo.net/wheels-ti...cr-1-a-103685/

Anybody here tried these?

The A052 is faster.

From reading seems like they're close to each other but cr1 may get a few more heat cycles.

I ran a052s last year and am trying Cr1s this year. A few more heat cycles is a good tradeoff if it's pretty close speedwise, in my mind.

C'mon, tell me a story, with lap times!

@tony_r

Unfortunately not my data to share, but in a controlled environment, the A052 is consistently faster by a small margin.

Thats enough information there, thanks :)

One could look at the opposing viewpoint and highlight:

How about in the wet?

What type of track work?

Sprints and Laps are two very different situations.

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3-lap time trials, usually there's a full warm-up lap, sometimes half-lap warmup.
But I'd also like to be able to pound around for 15-20-minute sessions...

Ah. I can't help you there. I also see now that the 52s are not the successor to the AO50s like I thought so I have nothing to offer really.

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Do you have any insight on how they compare for speed over lifetime, and durability/longevity?

Either of those tires are not durable enough for any longevity questions. An A052 set I had with some Solo Nats runs on them lasted ~4 hours before total the tire had no tread left.

If you want a fast 200tw tire, it will not be durable.

Both are not suitable for full wet conditions, PS4S or ECS

4-5 hours for thread to be gone, around an hour or so before cords on the A052 for me. Spaced out in several 10-20minutes sessions. In case more people are wondering about the longevity of these. Fastest tire I've tried so far (have not done Hoosiers or similar, but just about anything else in the 100-200TW game). Really keen to see how the CR1 will stack up :)

I ran A052s on the Cayman, just want to know if CR-1 is longer- or shorter-lived, and whether it loses more or less performance over its life.

A052s are *fantastic* in the wet. My first event on them was in the pouring rain at Mont Tremblant, was 2nd quickest in the wettest session.

Raises the question: How do CR-1s do in the wet?

Initial reports are suspect and seem to claim they want to heat cycle out before getting through the thread. With that being said, every car setup is completely different so if you want to know the only way would be for you to do back to back testing. Which if you're in time trials and dedicated enough you'd already be doing. Hate to say it, but no other report is going to satisfy you besides your own testing.

Also, A052s are *okay* in the wet. If you've never been on PS4S in a full wet condition you're opinion is skewed. Wet sessions are weird, because like anything driver skill is always impacted. Once again, back to back testing you'd laugh at even considering A052s again for wet work.

Tires have tread
Your bedsheets are made of thread

Just tryna harvest what info is out there before spending $$$ on tires, that's all. I am considering buying both as I'll need at least 2 sets of tires this year anyway.

I've driven on a very wide variety of tires over a number of years, including ECS last year on non-TT days. A052s are amazeballs in the wet, at least when newish. For standing water, yeah, I'd want more/larger water channels but in the wet on tracks with good drainage, I would not bet against newish A052 vs. PS4S or ECS...

Appreciate all the useful information you have to offer.

It's largely dependent on the driver and what exactly they're trying to accomplish.

If you're going 10/10ths for 5 laps straight, you're probably going to have a bad time. If you/re doing singular hot laps attempting records and cooling the tire, you'll do great.

Nobody is going to win anything going 10/10ths for 10 minutes straight, or even 30 minutes straight. That's just terrible race strategy.

Try a different strategy of hot cold hot cold,. rather than full sessions.

The question here is, what is the objective, quality laps, or lots of laps?

Oh those were mostly qualy style laps. I did give the tire time to cooldown after 1 or 2 laps (max) of full agression, I dont know if it helps, but it should have since you are suggesting it. I still count the time driven on the track while cooling down as use tho. I think I could maybe get a bit more out of them but one of the days was at Calabogie Motorsports Park (CMP) which is notorius for having a rough asphalt and the temps were in the 95 to 105F. I think that day I took like half of their usable life out of them in a little under 2 hours. For the grip they offer I still dont think they are too expensive of a tire, certainly worth for AX and time trials for sure (if class needs 200TW tires).

This applies to autox and the number of runs you get out of a tire too.

The BRZ is a lighter chassis, so when looking at data from heavier cars or even ones that have more body roll, wear will vary.

I know guys running things like the Focus RS or WRX/STI that cord RE-71R's at 100-125 runs. The guys drive hard and some overdrive the car.

I drive smoother and get 200 runs out of a set of RE's, both on my WRX and BRZ.

Just ordered a set of A052's and I'm hoping to get 150+ runs out of them. No track time though.

Just because you can get so many runs doesn’t mean they’re always the fastest and at their prime.

I sold my RivalS at 70 runs, always. They still have half tread, but pace starts to drop off.

Heat cycle is a thing


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100% true.

RE's always fell off at 125 runs for me. Post 150, they're bad.

We had a guy at our test and tune run used Yoks on his CAM-C car. Stored them in an unheated garage and they had near zero tread left. He could have ended up winning PAX if it was a real event. Good driver, but we had other national winning drivers there too.

The Yoks look like they might be good to end of tread and not heat cycle out much at all. If you can get even 125-150 runs out of them and have those be good runs, that's more cost efficient than running BFGs or REs to 75-100 and dumping them.

@ZDan: How much do they cost the A052s over there?

$850 shipped for set of 245/40-17

My RE71R's dropped off so hard in the 80-100 run range that I don't see how anyone could stand to take 200 runs on a set.

I think I'd rage quit autocross at around the 120 run mark.

I've heard through the grapevines that the AO-52's stay around the same pace to the cords. I've got mine mounted, but it'll be another month before our first track day here in the mid-west.

First event on the Nankangs.

Day 1 was low 70s. Was having trouble getting heat in them for AutoX Surface temps felt room temp.
Day 2 was high 40s. Zero opportunity to get them to temp as the course was damp from rain.

Overall, they were grippy. Not much to say as I'm not a national level competitor who can really review tires lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbUU0cAci_A

Are the CR-1's SCCA legal for 2021?

Try getting closer to the steering wheel. You'll have much better car control with bent arms than straight-arming it. Elbows should be bent about 90 degrees with hands at 9 and 3 on the wheel.

Yes this has been mentioned by almost everyone I know. My posture isn't generally this bad.

I sustained a shoulder injury a few days prior and I was just making due with the limited motion that I had. I promise you'll not see me sit like this again once I'm back to 100%.

They should be. They have (4) sizes available.

But XA doesnt care. We can run any 200tw.