Maxxis Victra RC1 Review
 

I was able to be provided a set of the Maxxis Victra RC1 tires (http://www.maxxis.com/catalog/tire-450-107-victra-rc-1) at a discounted price to use on my FR-S in return for providing feedback to Maxxis and the community on my how the tire works for my application. This car is setup for the SCCA Solo2 Street Modified class.

I usually autocross 2 weekends a month (both Saturday and Sunday). I planned to use these tires on the practice days in order to save the Hoosiers which I use in competition from having to be used on practice days.

The Maxxis tires are 275/35R17, which is the same size as the Hoosiers that I use in competition. My wheel setup does not allow me to rotate the wheels from front to back, so these tires have been mounted on the same wheels and in the same position on the car for the entire time.

At this point I've put about 50 autocross runs, ~400 street miles, and 6 20 min sessions at Laguna Seca on the tires.

I've found that they are wearing extremely well, handle the heat nicely, have good steady state turning grip, and their braking and acceleration grip is very good as well. BTW I'm running 3 degrees or more negative camber on all 4 corners of the car.

I've found that for autocross about 25lbs square on the air pressure is the sweet spot for my driving style and car setup. Even with that low of pressure I'm not observing an excessive amount of tire roll, and the steering response is still very good.

The level of grip these tires provide does not seem to have diminished over time. I just got to about 60-70 runs on my Hoosier A6s and they have definitely fallen off a cliff in terms of grip.

The Maxxis tires have been able to maintain a consistent level of performance throughout the runs I've put on them. During the track day I participated in recently, and during autocross use I never felt them get greasy or fall off.

When you compare the cost of Hoosiers to the Maxxis tires in the sizes I'm running the Maxxis is about $571 cheaper at initial purchase. The Maxxis tires still have a lot of tread left as they aren't even on the wear bars yet, which leads me to believe that I should be able to get at least 120 total autocross runs on them.

Also, during the times that I've driven them on the road I've found them to be extremely quiet and smooth. I'm not sure that I'd want to use them as a daily driven tire, but they could certianly be a tire that you could mount at home and drive to the event day.

Overall I'd say I'm impressed with this tire, and plan to continue using them for my practice day tires.

I've included some photos of the current state of the tires so you can see how they are wearing. The first 4 are the front tire, and the second 4 are the rear tire. The sidewall shots are inside first, then outside.

Feel free to respond here with any questions you might have about the tires.

Thanks for the review Robert!

@CSG Mike recommended these to me a while back when I was in the market for new tires. I think they are still a bit stickier of a tire for my skill level/experience right now(I think they will mask my mistakes), but I will definitely have to try them out eventually.

Great price point even without a discount too!

I'd like to share the codrive impressions on this tire from someone that just jumped in the car recently. Driving experience: Advanced Intermediate (just above the intermediates, but not fast enough for to be called Advanced). Seat time in car in this configuration: 0 runs.

I drove Bob's car on these and was very impressed. It is no doubt a better performing tire than the Nitto NT01, which I personally revered as one of the shining jewels of the 100TW tire level. The MAXXIS RC1 is a very predictable, easy to read tire that allows you to push your car to a new level without breaking the brand. It really does seem that the ideal Venn Diagram of cost to value to performance has almost been achieved and I'm a guy that's pretty hard to please.

I drove Bob's car for 4 runs on these and found the tire very squirmy at first, but found it easy to control at higher slip angles.

Run 1) The cars behaviors were almost exaggerated due to the lack of grip, but allowed me to get a good read of what the tire and car would do if asked improperly.

Run 2) Focused more on getting used to the auto, but the tire seemed to basically be up to temp. I found this to be rather surprising as it's designated a road race tire. The grip level was exponentially better and got better better and better throughout the latter half of the course.

Run 3) The tires were fully up to temp at this point. It was time to push the car to it's limit. Nailed a few sections and overshot the downshift blips causing some understeer. The car enjoys precise driving lines and very deliberate inputs. Mid corner adjustments seemed to be difficult to achieve, but again this car is set for Hoosier A7's.

Run 4) The car finally spoke to me and I was able to put more of the course together with the way this car behaved. The tires were working well. Feedback was superb and nailed more of the course. Then came time for yet another down shift delay and I just got really confused and ended up hitting a pylon due to oversteer and a snap out action resulting in a rather dorifto taxi down-hill section.


Overall impressions, this tire is tons more performance than a NT01 and better than a Toyo RR in a short race application. We experienced no overheating issues on this hot day. Very impressed with the price point and performance and would go to these in a heart beat to run them for a road race application or track day.

Thanks for the Codrive Bob.. Your car is super fun :) :happyanim:

For others who tried Victra RC1 this year - would be great to get your impressions, especially comparisons to NT01 or similar/stickier tires.

Off topic but what is your hp?

I was probably around 280Whp at this point.

Rumor has it, Maxxis will be releasing a 200tw tire for next season.

My Buddy runs these on his 380whp civic, has been happy with them and have had amazing results for wear. However, they are off pace of his R7s. So they make a great tire for 80% of the day and then swap the hoosiers for your 3-4 Hot Laps.

Hi, thanks for the info. One question what rim size did you use?? Thanks

17x9ET45 RPF1.