I hope that these topics may be of general interest to others.
I know that those who have spent years tracking have opinions that are of great value to others.
Please add your comments.
I`m glad you brought this up. Driving in the rain was a difficult challenge for me. I was concerned that the tires would make all the difference.TroyV wrote:I know this is deviating a little from the original topic...... I have driven full tread RA1's and NT-01's in the rain. I found them to be no better than the Hankook RS2's I had on the car as street rubber....especially where standing water was concerned. Strangely,I found the NT's to be slightly better than the RA1's in the standing water, though not enough to declare them a winner.
Obviously......In this part of the country, we get a bit of rain. In the 2009 season, more than half of the track days I was at were raining. As a result, I would get very frustrated as I was under prepared for the conditions. The way I look at it now is that not having a proper rain tire at those events represented missed opportunities, missed seat time, not to mention a severely dimished experience over all. You spend your hard earned money to be at one of these events,so it behooves you to get as much seat time as you can, at least it does for me. This year, I used RA1's and NT-01's as the car's street rubber. This was so I could carry the R6's and the wets on the tire trailer. I only drive the car on the street to and from events, and a few days before/after to work out any mechanical issues I may be experiencing. I never noticed the RA1's or NT's dropped in performance in any way, and I drove the car to and from all the away events save one. My car is very light though.
It may sound like a frivolous purchase, but my Hoosier wets were the best purchase I made last season. The amount of track miles on my odometer is a testament to that. At least a third of my miles are on them.
For a street tire, I'd pick the tire with the lowest UTOG rating that gets the best reviews in the wet. Star Spec, RS3, RT615K, and XS are in that category.
"It's all about the fast lap" has a subset statement that is unwritten. That phrase is "It's all about tires".
And I really did not have the right tire.
Yet when I`m planning a track day I never think about a wet track. In this past year my dry -track -days luck ran out and I
ran several days in heavy raining conditions learning to cope with the rain.
At Mid-Ohio a large portion of the cars were parked. I saw this, but to a lesser extent, at other tracks.
So for next year, I want a tire that I know can handle the wet.
It sounds like a pure rain tire, like the Hoosier Wet, out performs say a Micheline SP2 ( 220 wear rate ) .
Also, if I can only bring one extra set tires to the track, then I will be driving there on my track tires.
One person says that highway driving will heat cycle the tire.
Another says that it is not true because the tire is not getting hot enough- so leave the ( re: RA-1) track tires on.