tire advice
 

I'm on the fence on tires. Vehicle is for the track (novice - intermediate). I'm torn between the Hankook RS3's (amazing price hard to find currently) or the Dunlop ZII's (little bit more expensive but readily available).

245/40/17's

Anyone have advice on either of those choices or maybe something I haven't mentioned?

Thanks in advance!
:cheers:

Are you planning on driving to the track on them, or are these going on track-only wheels?

If you're in an area where you get a lot of rain or do winter track events, or you plan on driving to the track, go with the ZII's. If you are swapping to track wheels/tires once you get to the track, and you run it typically warm weather, RS3's.

I've been doing a bunch of research and considered the ZIIs, RS3s and RE-11As, and for my use (70-80% track), driving to and from the events in FL where it's usually pretty warm, but we are always getting rain, with some driving around town, I chose the RE-11A's.

I run the RE-11A. Great tires! +1

What is your intended use?

If you're never going to see the track, I'd recommend the RE-11A over both. For track, RS3 all day.

Do you mean "track only"?

I have heard the RS3's can be dangerous in the rain on the street. I've driven them in the rain on a Miata at Sebring and they weren't uncontrollable, but definitely wasn't able to push the car at all.

What's wrong with the RE-11A's on track? I've heard they tolerate heat much better than the ZIIs?

The RE-11A is just not competitive with teh RS3, if you're looking for lap times. If you're not, it's a GREAT double duty tire, and what I would run, if I weren't looking for "ultimate grip".

I drove my R-S3s in the rain and am here today posting about it. Just don't try to be a hero.

How far are the RS3s off from NT01s or R888s? I know the R comps should be faster, but curious by how much. Having an idea of the relative performance gap would help a lot to determine whether R comps are worth the extra hassle and cost (for me).

Also - RS3s vs. MPSS - what's the diff?

Talking track/HDPE use, of course.

Both of these tires function fine as dual purpose tires. I have RS3's for street driving and felt completely comfortable when caught out in the liquid sunshine Florida is famous for. I also used the original Star Specs as a dual purpose tire for a C63 and had no issues in bad weather and they were OK for track duty but quickly overheated and wore terribly fast (4000# car).

Regarding the trip 8's, I have mixed feelings. I ran a set on track wheels for the Mercedes and actually drove through a monsoon on the way to Sebring without issue (not shaved) however the tires performed great during cool weather but greased up on hot days.

If your car is trailered or you have a support vehicle to transport a set of wheels and tools, then I highly recommend DOT slicks when you reach that level of commitment. Bear in mind that suspension and braking upgrades are required at this level, but a well setup twin on sticky tires is much quicker around a road course than most people realize including a great many of the forum members.

The difference between RS3 and PSS on this car is about twice as big as the difference between RS3 and NT01.

In other words,

NT01/R888/RC1 < RS3 << PSS

The bigger advantage of running the R-comp (NT01), is that they take heat better, and will give you a much larger window of "ideal" tire temps/grip. R888 is peaky, and RC1 like colder weather/temps best.

Just for clarification, do you mean
NT01/R888/RC1 is better than RS3 which is twice as good as PSS for track?
If so, it should probably be
NT01/R888/RC1 > RS3 >> PSS

Errr brain fart. You're correct!

I'm not saying twice as good; I'm saying twice the difference (which in reality is miniscule in terms of feel, but huge in terms of lap time if you're chasing times)

E.g., if the NT01/RC1/R888 is 1 second faster than the RS3 on a 2 minute course, then the RS3 will be about 2 seconds faster on the same course. This may vary according to the course of course... pun intended.

OK, so where can I find a set of the RS3's? Everywhere I've seen is on back order.

Try all your local shops, discounttiredirect.com and tirerack.com