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Autocross Tires
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 372
Likes: 0
From: Mississauga Ontario Canada
Autocross Tires hey I'm looking for tires for autocross this summer, I am looking for the most extream street tire i can find (140wear+), I dont drive the car daily or in the rain so I am not worried about wet traction.
I was looking at Nitto Nt-05's, I've read good reviews on this tire. anyone have first hand experience with it or know of a better tire?
I like the price of the NT05 as well.
any info would be appreciated!
I was looking at Nitto Nt-05's, I've read good reviews on this tire. anyone have first hand experience with it or know of a better tire?
I like the price of the NT05 as well.
any info would be appreciated!
I've run NT-05's for almost a year now and wow, what a night and day difference between them and the street tires I used to run. I chose them at first mainly on price and good reviews. Having said that, I'm now wanting gripier tire for the road coarse. (don't autoX much) They start to grip real good about my second lap in but by the 7-8th lap they get a little loose on me. Maybe not be a problem for the short autoX runs.
Hope that helped.
Hope that helped.
What class do you run?
I run Prepared, BP to be precise, and my vette loves the A6s I had before. These are a 'slick' so may not work in your class.
Stay away from the toyos as they take a while to heat.
I run Prepared, BP to be precise, and my vette loves the A6s I had before. These are a 'slick' so may not work in your class.
Stay away from the toyos as they take a while to heat.
First question is going to be the size you want to run, it may eliminate some choices.
Dunlops Star Spec was the 140+ tire of choice the last 2 years. They are updating it for this coming year if you want to hold out for a bit.
I've run both the nt05 and SS and although the nt05 is a good tire, its not the SS. Though for the price and availability in bigger sizes, the nt05 is a decent tire.
^ A6 is a 50 treadwear tire, so no go for him. I'm assuming by Toyo you're meaning their r888. If yes, its meant as a road race tire so yes, it takes more heat to get them to temp, but they also won't get greasy as fast as your a6 on a road course.
The street tire Toyo which escapes my mind is a competitive tire as well, though didn't it get banned from street class in the end?
Dunlops Star Spec was the 140+ tire of choice the last 2 years. They are updating it for this coming year if you want to hold out for a bit.
I've run both the nt05 and SS and although the nt05 is a good tire, its not the SS. Though for the price and availability in bigger sizes, the nt05 is a decent tire.
^ A6 is a 50 treadwear tire, so no go for him. I'm assuming by Toyo you're meaning their r888. If yes, its meant as a road race tire so yes, it takes more heat to get them to temp, but they also won't get greasy as fast as your a6 on a road course.
The street tire Toyo which escapes my mind is a competitive tire as well, though didn't it get banned from street class in the end?
Last edited by Hardrvin; Mar 2, 2013 at 02:19 PM.
TECH Resident
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 782
Likes: 0
From: North Las Vegas, NV
I love my NT05 tires. My car is not a DD and rarely sees rain (which it has and the tires did fine with the TCS system off. People who say these tires suck in the rain are obviously screwing around).
I find that having the air pressures at 28/front and 25/rear works really well. For whatever reason, to much pressure will make them get greasy quick.
I find that having the air pressures at 28/front and 25/rear works really well. For whatever reason, to much pressure will make them get greasy quick.
^ I've never had much problem in the rain either. They're not going to win rain filled autox days, but to daily in the rain no problem.
I tend to run mine at higher pressure but haven't run them hard on a hot day to judge how greasy they get.
I tend to run mine at higher pressure but haven't run them hard on a hot day to judge how greasy they get.
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Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 56
Likes: 1
From: Hillsborough, NC
This is part of an epic thread on the Corvette Forum. It applies specifically to a C5 Corvette HPDE car, but the general comments are almost certainly applicable to other makes and models:
Continued next post...
Street Tire Recommendations: (red denoted a great choice wet & dry if you can get the size)
Nitto: NT05 -for the price great value, good turn in. Good even wear, easy to throttle steer for a street tire. Predictable. Do not get hard after a few heat cycles like many street tires will. Sticky for a street tire. like 28 cold and 34 hot for a starting spot.
Nitto: 555 (not 555R or 555R2) - I have heard very mixed reviews on this tire, probably the only Nitto that doesn't get regularly good reviews from drivers.
Nitto: Motivo - New for Winter 2012, no one I know has tried them. (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/misc...5&prx_t=294466) Message me if You have.
Firestone: Firehawk Wide Oval -Great Tire Rack street/HPDE tire with good wet performance use
Hankook: Ventus V12 Evo K110 - Good for both wet and dry consistently, but not cold, no CCW widths. These tires in the dry keep heating up all day with regular air and need to be bled all day until they finally level out and stop expanding after about 3 sessions. They do not like pressure, and 36lbs makes the tire change from pretty decent to ****ty in a hurry. I like 35 front pressure MAX, and 33-34 rear. You can very consistently drift the car through a corner on these settings. They will need a slow heat cycle or they will grease, first time on track take it easy about 4-6 laps sadly in dry if new. Good turn in, and less power oversteer than the PS or PS2. Again be warned, stay under 36 lbs at 37 lbs they grease and get completely unmanageable and I dropped a wheel off.
Michelin: Pilot Sport Cup (PSC) - OEM choice on many Porsches, ZR1 and Katech cars
Kumho: Ecsta XS (best) or MX or SPT by budget. Great cheap AutoX and street tire combo, decent wet use as well. Consistent from cold to hot with traction and doesn't grease in right pressure range at all.
Kumho: Ecsta V700 -great track wet use tire, needs to be shaved for dry use, good DD street use
BF Goodrich: KD Dry use tire mostly, very poor in wet
BF Goodrich: KDW Wet version of the above tire, noisy for the street but similar in grip and wear to a PS2. CF members seem to say they are relatively grippy in wet and dry, but once they get really hot you can overdrive them quickly. I think this is true though of all street tires. Easy to find, many sizes, good value tire.
Bridgestone: Potenza RE11 - no personal experience, but they have good reviews so far in C6 sizes. Not too noisy on street, good grip for those looking to "hook up" on the rear wheels. No reviews I can find so far that address them on the AutoX or Road Circuits yet. Initial reviews sound good, and price is very reasonable.
Dunlop: Direzza DZ101 Funny these are used buy so many tuner car owners, but rarely on Vettes. Comparable to price with the RE11 but when compared the RE11 do better. Interestingly when you look at the TireRack scores on this tire, it scores well in the survey BUT not so good in the "would you buy it again" section. (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ireMake=Dunlop) Almost zero reviews on the forum, in fact if you search for the tire you only find it for sale never discussed.
Nitto: NT05 -for the price great value, good turn in. Good even wear, easy to throttle steer for a street tire. Predictable. Do not get hard after a few heat cycles like many street tires will. Sticky for a street tire. like 28 cold and 34 hot for a starting spot.
Nitto: 555 (not 555R or 555R2) - I have heard very mixed reviews on this tire, probably the only Nitto that doesn't get regularly good reviews from drivers.
Nitto: Motivo - New for Winter 2012, no one I know has tried them. (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/misc...5&prx_t=294466) Message me if You have.
Firestone: Firehawk Wide Oval -Great Tire Rack street/HPDE tire with good wet performance use
Hankook: Ventus V12 Evo K110 - Good for both wet and dry consistently, but not cold, no CCW widths. These tires in the dry keep heating up all day with regular air and need to be bled all day until they finally level out and stop expanding after about 3 sessions. They do not like pressure, and 36lbs makes the tire change from pretty decent to ****ty in a hurry. I like 35 front pressure MAX, and 33-34 rear. You can very consistently drift the car through a corner on these settings. They will need a slow heat cycle or they will grease, first time on track take it easy about 4-6 laps sadly in dry if new. Good turn in, and less power oversteer than the PS or PS2. Again be warned, stay under 36 lbs at 37 lbs they grease and get completely unmanageable and I dropped a wheel off.
Michelin: Pilot Sport Cup (PSC) - OEM choice on many Porsches, ZR1 and Katech cars
Kumho: Ecsta XS (best) or MX or SPT by budget. Great cheap AutoX and street tire combo, decent wet use as well. Consistent from cold to hot with traction and doesn't grease in right pressure range at all.
Kumho: Ecsta V700 -great track wet use tire, needs to be shaved for dry use, good DD street use
BF Goodrich: KD Dry use tire mostly, very poor in wet
BF Goodrich: KDW Wet version of the above tire, noisy for the street but similar in grip and wear to a PS2. CF members seem to say they are relatively grippy in wet and dry, but once they get really hot you can overdrive them quickly. I think this is true though of all street tires. Easy to find, many sizes, good value tire.
Bridgestone: Potenza RE11 - no personal experience, but they have good reviews so far in C6 sizes. Not too noisy on street, good grip for those looking to "hook up" on the rear wheels. No reviews I can find so far that address them on the AutoX or Road Circuits yet. Initial reviews sound good, and price is very reasonable.
Dunlop: Direzza DZ101 Funny these are used buy so many tuner car owners, but rarely on Vettes. Comparable to price with the RE11 but when compared the RE11 do better. Interestingly when you look at the TireRack scores on this tire, it scores well in the survey BUT not so good in the "would you buy it again" section. (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ireMake=Dunlop) Almost zero reviews on the forum, in fact if you search for the tire you only find it for sale never discussed.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 56
Likes: 1
From: Hillsborough, NC
R-Comp:
Toyo: RA1 -comes in the CCW widths, pretty good in wet for the first few weekends then looses the water channels and becomes a dry only tire. I ran these pressures wrong at first, try 39-40 lbs hot in the front and 36-37 rear. Toyo recommends from their website that these like 37-42 lbs for a car in the C5 weight. At 42 they slide corners front. Under 36 they roll the fronts for bad premature wear on the outsides. Rear above 38lbs you start getting power oversteer exiting corners. On full tread, not so hot dry track friendly and really do much better shaved. Full tread tends to be a bit slippery on the preferred hot temps, once they hit the shaved amount they stick great and wear much slower int eh 2nd 50% than the first 50%. They prefer high Camber (btwn 2.5 and 5.0) so if you have an aggressive street set up in the just under 2.0 range expect excessive outer lip wear. Good tire to buy off some other guy who heat cycled them already for a time trial etc and wants to be new for each event. Its cheaper for the tires this way, but the mount and remount costs get expensive too. Operating Temperature RA1: 160°F to 220°F Check prices here (http://www.treadepot.com/sizes/ra1.html). There is a little circle on the outside tire wall that is designed to match up with the location of the tire valve for easier balancing, make sure to remind your installer. CF Forum Vendor often with Deals on RA1: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...uper-deal.html
Toyo: R888 -like dry better than wet, Toyo says they like to start at high pressure for a C5 weight like 34/36lbs and hot at 42-45lbs, this isn't too great in practice. Less grippy than the 555RII & the RA1. Recommended pressures to start: 32/30.5 to end up 38/36. While they are recommended to be "Hot & High Pressure" mine and others experience is they slide too much after 38lbs. hot in rear & understeer too much above 40lbs in the fronts. Do better as well after they have lost 30-50% of the tread life & second half burns away slower, but do not suffer the sliding of new tread depth like the RA-1. I think its a slightly stiffer rubber compound is why, hence less sticky. The least "sticky/grippy" of the 2 Toyo offerings. Can quite often be found as cheap used discards from time attack cars or time trial cars where DOT tires are required. Check Prices Here (http://www.treadepot.com/sizes/r888.html) There is a little circle on the outside tire wall that is designed to match up with the location of the tire valve for easier balancing, make sure to remind your installer. CF Vendor with Deals often on R888: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...w-pricing.html
Nitto: NT01 -is a DOT legal R-comp HPDE designed tire, better in dry than wet. Not in CCW sizes... yet :-) you are seeing theses more and more often on cars running Z06 stock rims for both god grip and cost effectiveness in the stock Z06 rim sizes. They are also very street tire friendly and the wear on the street is pretty decent if not raced on.
Nitto: 555R -is a DOT legal drag radial - Not a HPDE road race tire, side walls too thin.
Nitto: 555RII -is a great choice for Road Racing, great dry and not bad wet with decent tread. Very sticky both at full depth and at shaved depth. Consistent feel all the way to the cords. A must try tire if it comes in your sizes for R-Comps. Not in CCW widths yet. Are in Z06 stock widths.
Nitto: NT05R -is a DOT legal drag radial (pressure cold 32lbs F / 30lbs R - they like to run hot at 40lbs) - Dry use
Falken: Azenis RT-615 -good street tire, but when you push them they get "greasy" fast = not good
Kumho: Victoracer V700 -only in 16" & 17" though great tire (seam issues you can read about here http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...s-do-this.html) Have not tried myself but have not heard good stuff, so far have heard about difficulties with pressure, fast & unreliable wear. Have not heard anyone I know who liked them.
Pirelli: PZero Corsa R -good tire if you don't have a price issue, you can buy two for one anything else
Nice thread on the R888 vs 555R2 - Short version Same rubber compound since Toyo & Nitto are the same company (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-f...omparison.html)
Track Slicks:
Hooser: A6 - hands down the better of the 2 Hoosiers, better when new, heat cycles more evenly, don't last long but you will run faster on these than on the R6. Great if you are "racing" vs HPDE.. Starting cold pressures are 21-24 F 20-23 R with hot pressures 30-32 F, 26-28R & operating temps: Hoosier A6 120-140 degrees.
Hoosier: R6 - last much longer than the A6, but starts getting hard & performance wanes with repetitive heat cycles. Won't get you the A6 times, but for HPDE a much better $$ value if .6 secs doesn't matter. operating Temps: Hoosier R6 125-145 degrees
Goodyear: GT
Michelin: Slicks S8D(medium) Front & the S9D (medium) Rear - Stick very nice once they heat cycle. Takes a bit longer to heat cycle these than the GY GT. Start very low cold near 22 lb, and let them heat up. Many people complain they are difficult to mount on rims, and the bead takes a long time to set up on them. Speculation is because they have such a steep camber requirement (F -3 to -4 & R -1 to -2).
Kumho: Victoracer V710 Have no personal experience with these, nor do I have any close friends I have seen out on these. (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....del=ECSTA+V710) They have grooves in them so they are technically DOT legal slicks, but I would hate to get caught in the wet with V710's if the tread was anything but brandy new. My understanding is they are less sticky than their Hoosier counter parts and you will run slower, which for HPDE is not a big deal - big deal if you are time competition however. They grip poorly until the get HOT, and the tread life is a bit longer than the Hoosier which is nice since this is thus a cheaper tire that lasts longer. Operating Temp: Kumho 710 110-170 degrees
BF Goodrich: G-Force R1 (http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...force-r1-tires) I have no experience on these, and they are priced nice at (http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...35&ar=30&rd=18) Discount Tire Direct for my big rear 335's. Can anyone PM me a review on these vs Hoosiers? I want to try them but want others experience with them first.
Toyo: RA1 -comes in the CCW widths, pretty good in wet for the first few weekends then looses the water channels and becomes a dry only tire. I ran these pressures wrong at first, try 39-40 lbs hot in the front and 36-37 rear. Toyo recommends from their website that these like 37-42 lbs for a car in the C5 weight. At 42 they slide corners front. Under 36 they roll the fronts for bad premature wear on the outsides. Rear above 38lbs you start getting power oversteer exiting corners. On full tread, not so hot dry track friendly and really do much better shaved. Full tread tends to be a bit slippery on the preferred hot temps, once they hit the shaved amount they stick great and wear much slower int eh 2nd 50% than the first 50%. They prefer high Camber (btwn 2.5 and 5.0) so if you have an aggressive street set up in the just under 2.0 range expect excessive outer lip wear. Good tire to buy off some other guy who heat cycled them already for a time trial etc and wants to be new for each event. Its cheaper for the tires this way, but the mount and remount costs get expensive too. Operating Temperature RA1: 160°F to 220°F Check prices here (http://www.treadepot.com/sizes/ra1.html). There is a little circle on the outside tire wall that is designed to match up with the location of the tire valve for easier balancing, make sure to remind your installer. CF Forum Vendor often with Deals on RA1: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...uper-deal.html
Toyo: R888 -like dry better than wet, Toyo says they like to start at high pressure for a C5 weight like 34/36lbs and hot at 42-45lbs, this isn't too great in practice. Less grippy than the 555RII & the RA1. Recommended pressures to start: 32/30.5 to end up 38/36. While they are recommended to be "Hot & High Pressure" mine and others experience is they slide too much after 38lbs. hot in rear & understeer too much above 40lbs in the fronts. Do better as well after they have lost 30-50% of the tread life & second half burns away slower, but do not suffer the sliding of new tread depth like the RA-1. I think its a slightly stiffer rubber compound is why, hence less sticky. The least "sticky/grippy" of the 2 Toyo offerings. Can quite often be found as cheap used discards from time attack cars or time trial cars where DOT tires are required. Check Prices Here (http://www.treadepot.com/sizes/r888.html) There is a little circle on the outside tire wall that is designed to match up with the location of the tire valve for easier balancing, make sure to remind your installer. CF Vendor with Deals often on R888: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...w-pricing.html
Nitto: NT01 -is a DOT legal R-comp HPDE designed tire, better in dry than wet. Not in CCW sizes... yet :-) you are seeing theses more and more often on cars running Z06 stock rims for both god grip and cost effectiveness in the stock Z06 rim sizes. They are also very street tire friendly and the wear on the street is pretty decent if not raced on.
Nitto: 555R -is a DOT legal drag radial - Not a HPDE road race tire, side walls too thin.
Nitto: 555RII -is a great choice for Road Racing, great dry and not bad wet with decent tread. Very sticky both at full depth and at shaved depth. Consistent feel all the way to the cords. A must try tire if it comes in your sizes for R-Comps. Not in CCW widths yet. Are in Z06 stock widths.
Nitto: NT05R -is a DOT legal drag radial (pressure cold 32lbs F / 30lbs R - they like to run hot at 40lbs) - Dry use
Falken: Azenis RT-615 -good street tire, but when you push them they get "greasy" fast = not good
Kumho: Victoracer V700 -only in 16" & 17" though great tire (seam issues you can read about here http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...s-do-this.html) Have not tried myself but have not heard good stuff, so far have heard about difficulties with pressure, fast & unreliable wear. Have not heard anyone I know who liked them.
Pirelli: PZero Corsa R -good tire if you don't have a price issue, you can buy two for one anything else
Nice thread on the R888 vs 555R2 - Short version Same rubber compound since Toyo & Nitto are the same company (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-f...omparison.html)
Track Slicks:
Hooser: A6 - hands down the better of the 2 Hoosiers, better when new, heat cycles more evenly, don't last long but you will run faster on these than on the R6. Great if you are "racing" vs HPDE.. Starting cold pressures are 21-24 F 20-23 R with hot pressures 30-32 F, 26-28R & operating temps: Hoosier A6 120-140 degrees.
Hoosier: R6 - last much longer than the A6, but starts getting hard & performance wanes with repetitive heat cycles. Won't get you the A6 times, but for HPDE a much better $$ value if .6 secs doesn't matter. operating Temps: Hoosier R6 125-145 degrees
Goodyear: GT
Michelin: Slicks S8D(medium) Front & the S9D (medium) Rear - Stick very nice once they heat cycle. Takes a bit longer to heat cycle these than the GY GT. Start very low cold near 22 lb, and let them heat up. Many people complain they are difficult to mount on rims, and the bead takes a long time to set up on them. Speculation is because they have such a steep camber requirement (F -3 to -4 & R -1 to -2).
Kumho: Victoracer V710 Have no personal experience with these, nor do I have any close friends I have seen out on these. (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....del=ECSTA+V710) They have grooves in them so they are technically DOT legal slicks, but I would hate to get caught in the wet with V710's if the tread was anything but brandy new. My understanding is they are less sticky than their Hoosier counter parts and you will run slower, which for HPDE is not a big deal - big deal if you are time competition however. They grip poorly until the get HOT, and the tread life is a bit longer than the Hoosier which is nice since this is thus a cheaper tire that lasts longer. Operating Temp: Kumho 710 110-170 degrees
BF Goodrich: G-Force R1 (http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...force-r1-tires) I have no experience on these, and they are priced nice at (http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...35&ar=30&rd=18) Discount Tire Direct for my big rear 335's. Can anyone PM me a review on these vs Hoosiers? I want to try them but want others experience with them first.
Though I've never tried them personally, they appear to be a more street oriented tire. Ie, they have large channels (read void) to support wet driving but sacrifice dry grip and although not always true, the tread rating of 300 would suggest a harder compound.
