Quote:
Originally Posted by Canehda
Going to disagree with you on that one. Now if I was total crap and had absolutely no experience then yes I would probably be better starting off with some low grip tires to learn with. However if you are even somewhat competitive then why undercut yourself by going in with something inferior to the norm, especially when you are only talking about a few hundred dollars difference.
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He wasn't suggesting to just run any tire, he was talking about comparable tires in the same performance class (ie ZII SS, RS3 V2, Rival, AD08R, etc). He was also just suggesting to be honest about where the money is best spent. If $400 more tire gets you 2 tenths faster on average, but you're still half a second off the pace there's probably a better place to spend the money.
Until you're a fast enough driver to have completely maximized every 100th of a second out of a set of tires, and are very consistent, it's very hard to quantitatively measure how one set of tires compares to another.
Also, unless you're out after FTD, you might enjoy a tire that isn't the absolute fastest, but feels better. I'd much rather have another set of ZII's over the RS3's I currently have, just based on sidewall stiffness, turn in and overall feel. ZII's are louder, and more expensive but I prefer the feel over the RS3's. That's not to say RS3's don't give feedback, just not as much.
Another thing to consider is how the tire works against your driving style. Some tires are faster with more slip angle, others need to be driven much cleaner to be fast. If you're not comfortable with lots of sliding and squirming, you'll never get the most out of some tires (Rivals have a reputation for that). On the flip side, if you prefer being really loose, you'll be slower on some tires that are faster with less slip angle.
Then there's the budget and how it fits in. Are you willing to spend ~50% more for a tenth or two or different feel? When I bought my RS3's they were $810 taxes in, ZII SS' were $1150 taxes in (same store, same size).
Don't take any of this as an insult, I have no idea how consistent or fast you are... for all I know you're significantly faster than I am
