[kaz]

Just had a great day at Streets, came home early was already pooped by 4pm. Attached are two pics of the front tires, after the first warm up session in the morning, and at the end of the day. These R1's wear really well and the grip is pretty consistent and feel better to me than my old RA-1's. If you ignore all the gummies the tire doesn't show that much wear from a track tough on front tires (well all tires). Very happy with these.

Pressure wise I much preferred higher temps that were recommended in the R1 manual of staying near 35 hot. Fronts I liked 34 and rears 35 all hot. Pyrometer right off a hot lap showed the fronts at 37 were 140/160/140 so bumped down to 35 and it was more or less even. The rears at 35 showed 140/150/160 from outside to inside, so going to try adding one shim and seeing if they stick better.

Anyways long story short, the tires feel good lower temps in earlier slower sessions in the early part of the day, but once things got warmer the car definitely liked the 34/35 hot combo. This is on 205/15F and 245/16 rear.

 

[Gary(SF)]

To me, the big advantages of the RA1 have always been 1) relatively inexpensive, 2) heat-cycle free (run to cords with little performance drop-off) and 3) reasonably streetable. How does the R1 compare in these areas?

Gary

 

[kaz]

Prices are on tirerack.com, others from this forum and elsewhere have said there is little drop off on performance over time and that they don't heat cycle out...and these are my current street/track set as I drive to the track and about one day a week on the weekends. Will update over time till these wear down all the way.

 

[Gary(SF)]

Prices are on tirerack.com, others from this forum and elsewhere have said there is little drop off on performance over time and that they don't heat cycle out...and these are my current street/track set as I drive to the track and about one day a week on the weekends. Will update over time till these wear down all the way.

Thanks! Keep us posted, especially since RA1s are going away.

Gary

 

[dstevens]

Optimum grip usually always gives a temperature gradient which is hotter on the inside than the outside. Try changing the camber each way to find out.

 

[Bane]

Are they DOT legal? Seems like the cops could hassle you for using those on the street...

 

[kaz]

DOT baby! yes street legal

 

[plastique999]

hmmm....these would fit nice on new Volks!

only thing is, then I think Jim would put me in cup class as they would be categorized as slicks....

 

[kaz]

I don't know..they are "technically" an R compound which are supposed to behave like a shaved R888 or shaved RA-1 - but yeah, they are kinda cheater R compounds lol. I wonder how the different race organizations are categorizing it.

At least though Eddie you could run these on non-LCS days for practice and what not, then run a fresh shaved R888 for the time trial.

 

[kaz]

Just did a Jack BW day yesterday on these...3? 4? track days now on this set. They don't look much different than the pictures above although I didn't run a lot yesterday, but they were run nonetheless. Took about 2 laps to get heat into them, but once they got temp they had gobs of grip. Fun tires, and I drove home on them. Easily a tire that replaces the RA-1's I would normally buy.

Same pressures, 33-34 front, 35 rear hot - felt great.

 

[OTB]

R1 Experience

I have been running 225/50R15 front 245/40R17 rear R1's on the road course for approx. 6 events. They have definetely been consistent and will last longer than I anticipated. I believe I was starting around 28F 30R cold, and 32F 34R hot. I will measure some more this weekend.

One thing to consider....my friend has a 2zz MR2 spyder (which I love) and we both run the same street tires (Falken RT-615). I ran his car with the falkens then the Kumho V710's. I ran my car with the falkens then the BFG R1's, and I definitely had more improvements with the Kumho's. I don't know about tire life/heat cycles, but his kumhos were well worn, and my lap time improvement was repeatedly improved with the V710's over the R1's.

If lap times are your biggest concern, you may want to check them out. I have always had good BFG experiences, but maybe they are better suited for heavier cars.

 

[plastique999]

I don't know..they are "technically" an R compound which are supposed to behave like a shaved R888 or shaved RA-1 - but yeah, they are kinda cheater R compounds lol. I wonder how the different race organizations are categorizing it.

At least though Eddie you could run these on non-LCS days for practice and what not, then run a fresh shaved R888 for the time trial.

Peter, bummed you couldn't run more on Jack's day, but glad to hear the BFG's are holding up - I like your thought about practicing on the Goodrich's then r888's for the TT....of course now I'll need 2 sets of 15/16's.....anic:

I noticed you are running high psi's....what were you running the RA1 psi's at?

I am about 25F and 28R HOT on my r888's.

 

[kaz]

I ran my RA-1s at 24F 25R, mebbe up or down a pound or two depending

The sidewalls on the BFG's are really thin and they flex more, so the tire needs more pressure to remain stable and not squirm so much...but yeah very happy with them.

Just buy a used Rota 15/16 set for street and practice, then switch to your nice Volks for the TT with fresh rubber Rota's are like $400 used

 

[Iman]

I will be be using these for all of the other stuff and the 888's for the LCS