Scratching my head

[almcphee]

Kinda narrowed it down after speaking with people, and reading a lot about the tires people use for Time Attack............Dunlop it is .
So I try to get a price on DirezzaZ2SS and am told by Goodyear/Dunlop H/O it's an American tire....not available here.
OK.....I'd rather not have to have tires shipped to me by Tire Rack from the US, for the same reason I would not buy tires at Costco, or food at Walmart.
I AM trying to buy Canadian, but I guess our market is not big enough......kinda like why they won't sell the Chevy SS in Canada......even though there are a few NASCAR supporters here,
OK.....off my soapbox...............

[wparsons]

Re: Scratching my head

Tires23 can definitely get them. I got my original ZII's from gbtires.ca, and I'm pretty sure he can get the star specs as well.

[Slowpoke]

Re: Scratching my head

I bought Dunlop through TalonTire in the past. Low shipping cost.

Not sure if CASC-OR sponsor Braidan Tire has them.

[10gt61]

Re: Scratching my head

Kinda narrowed it down after speaking with people, and reading a lot about the tires people use for Time Attack............Dunlop it is .

Yep, I've had two sets of ZII's and really like them.
ZII Starpsecs likely even better!
(you can get them at Tires23)

My dilemma - I like the ZII's but the Yoko AD08R's also sound really good and they're contingency tires. But - ZII's come in my ideal size (275/35/18) and AD08R's are 265/35/18.

Hmmm....what to do....

[xyz999]

Re: Scratching my head

Don't mean to jack your thread OP, but it would be great if someone can shed some light on why ZII Starspecs is a good tire. I thought RS3V2 and Rivals are outright faster. I have heard that Starspecs is more precise, can someone elaborate on that or anything else?

[wparsons]

Re: Scratching my head

Depending on the car and configuration, it's all a crapshoot.

Rivals seem to be better for people that are comfortable with a lot of slip angle and a very loose feel, but don't seem to be faster than a ZII or RS3 most of the time. Their is a softer compound Rival due soon, so who knows.

RS3 v2's are arguably too soft of a compound for time attack now, especially with heavier cars.

ZII SS holds up to heat better, and has stiffer sidewalls for heavier and/or camber challenged cars.

AD08R seems similar to the ZII SS.

I can say for sure, ZII's have way better feel than RS3's on the same car in the same size.

[Saj5DJ]

Re: Scratching my head

The Yokos are known to run very wide Kelly.

265 AD08R is probably close to as wide as a 275 ZII.

Anecdotally; vette drivers are complaining of overheating ZII SS during an autocross run. Wouldn't buy that they have the heat resistance of the Yoko.

Anyone here know about the RE71 Bridgestone yet?

That's what I'd be running...

[Greg Campbell]

Re: Scratching my head

The Yokos are known to run very wide Kelly.

265 AD08R is probably close to as wide as a 275 ZII.

Further to Barry's point, below is a photo comparing the relative widths of AD08Rs vs. RS3s. On the left is the stack of AD08Rs (2x 255 FR and 2x 295 RR) which are basically the same overall width as the stack of the next 'size' RS3s (2x 265 FR and 2x 305 RR).

I am glad I downsized with the AD08Rs as I already had slight rubbing with the RS3s and my rims are not wide enough to optimize the additional contact patch.

[10gt61]

Re: Scratching my head

it would be great if someone can shed some light on why ZII Starspecs is a good tire.

In my experience:
- they don't overheat or get greasy
- good grip and good turn-in characteristics
- seem to work well on a fairly heavy car (Mustang)
- they wear well (bonus!) I still have a few track days left on my two sets.
- I've done a couple of PB lap times on them but to be fair have made other changes too

[10gt61]

Re: Scratching my head

The Yokos are known to run very wide Kelly.

265 AD08R is probably close to as wide as a 275 ZII.

Anecdotally; vette drivers are complaining of overheating ZII SS during an autocross run. Wouldn't buy that they have the heat resistance of the Yoko.

Ya, admittedly the tread width difference is small according to Tire Rack,
ZII - 10.4", AD08R - 10.3"

Good to know what the vette guys are experiencing in autocross though.

[10gt61]

Re: Scratching my head

Further to Barry's point, below is a photo comparing the relative widths of AD08Rs vs. RS3s. On the left is the stack of AD08Rs (2x 255 FR and 2x 295 RR) which are basically the same overall width as the stack of the next 'size' RS3s (2x 265 FR and 2x 305 RR).

Wow - good photo. And interesting that they'd be so close overall in width.

[xyz999]

Re: Scratching my head

So is it the general consensus that ZII holds up heat better than the RS3V2 and the rivals then? I am hoping to use a set of street tires that can last abuse for sessions at a time, not just the 3 timed laps. It obviously has to be "competitively grippy".

The Yokos are known to run very wide Kelly.

265 AD08R is probably close to as wide as a 275 ZII.

Anecdotally; vette drivers are complaining of overheating ZII SS during an autocross run. Wouldn't buy that they have the heat resistance of the Yoko.

Anyone here know about the RE71 Bridgestone yet?

That's what I'd be running...

Is the Yoko 205/50/15 comparable to a 225/45/15 rivals/RS3/SII on 15x9's in terms of section width?

[Greg Campbell]

Re: Scratching my head

In my experience:
- they don't overheat or get greasy
- good grip and good turn-in characteristics
- seem to work well on a fairly heavy car (Mustang)
- they wear well (bonus!) I still have a few track days left on my two sets.
- I've done a couple of PB lap times on them but to be fair have made other changes too

Although there is lots of internet chatter on which is the 'fastest' tire the relative performance gap between any two is not going to be big enough to outweigh driver error or an un-optimized set up. If you like the Dunlops you will be faster staying with them and optimizing your set up (pressures, alignment, warm up lap procedure) vs. changing to a different tire and spending half the year trying to learn how to use them.

The ZII StarSpec sounds like it's a couple percent better so if you liked the ZIIs the ZII StarSpec will be more of the same and slightly stickier.

That said, the ZII StarSpec and the RE-71 appear to have very similar characteristics (at autocross at least); stiff sidewall, sharp but still communicative breakaway, good balance between longitudinal (braking/acceleration) and lateral (cornering) grip. The 'Stones however, appear to be wearing MUCH faster for autocross at least. Track lifespan may be an issue with the RE-71s.

Wow - good photo. And interesting that they'd be so close overall in width.

As a footnote to the above photo, as mounted the RS3s have a very slight sidewall 'stretch'. I have yet to mount the AD08Rs as a comparison, but if there is less stretch with the Yoks, it will be safe to say that the AD08Rs are in fact WIDER than the next size up RS3 (at these sizes at least).

This sizing discrepancy is aligned with the specification information listed on the Tire Rack's website (i.e. the website did say that the 295 AD08R was wider than the 305 RS3).

[Greg Campbell]

Re: Scratching my head

Is the Yoko 205/50/15 comparable to a 225/45/15 rivals/RS3/SII on 15x9's in terms of section width?

That might be a bit of a stretch (pun intended). The 205 AD08R has a tread width of 7.7 inches when measured on a 6.5 inch rim. And the 205 is only approved to go on rims up to 7.5 inches.

The RS3 v2, on the other hand has a tread width of 8.0 inches on a 7.5 inch rim and is rated for up to 8.5 inch rims (although the best set up for a 225 RS3 is to mount it on a 9 inch rim.

It's interesting that although you appear to be giving away 20mm of width, the measured difference is only 0.3 of an inch (7.6mm).

While you're only giving away a few mm of width, I can't see the AD08r being faster pound for pound than the RS3/Rival/ZII* and certainly not fast enough to outweigh the smaller contact patch. Plus, 205 on a 9 inch rim will look pretty stretched and probably ride like crap on the street.

[iamthewheelman]

Re: Scratching my head

I switched to RS3's halfway through last year from Rivals, both 225/45/15, and went about a half second to a second faster on the RS3's depending on the track.

Kyle borrowed my much used RS3's at the end of the year last year to compare to his 205/50/15 ZII's and he also went faster on the RS3'S