davekmoore wrote:deviant wrote:Toyo R1R might be worth a look but personally I am not convinced in the value of S-Specs. They are about a second off the pace on track, last 4 laps before turning to grease and then the tread vanishes in a cloud of blue smoke and rubber marbles. They are also about the same price as a proper semi-slick. They do have much better road manners though.
So that's the conundrum. Do I stick (no pun intended) to S specs and look to set a time on, say, laps 2, 4 and 6 only and have decent longevity and road manners or do I go R specs with more $$$, less longevity and a less enjoyable drive on the road in exchange for maybe more quick laps?
I find it incredibly frustrating to drive around tyres like that especially if you only have limited laps. You basically end up treating the tyres like a soft compound slick and have to build up to 1 or 2 flying laps and then back out of it. You don't get in to a flow and if someone gets in the way or you need to let someone go by you lose your opportunity.
You will find that S-Specs don't always have decent longevity on track, especially when they are new with all of the tread on them. The tread blocks squidge around and the tyre overheats and then the corners of the tread blocks start falling to pieces and one decent slide can make a real mess of them. They do not cope with big heat as well as a semi slick.
I also find that the limit of the tyre is less progressive than a semi-slick.
rossint wrote:My experience, NT01 is faster than the R888 in dry, R888 last longer and are faster than the NT01 in the wet. Both come up to temp quickly and don't drop off, even after an hour and a half on the track. I've not had a problem with either of these tyres on the road, sure they're noisier than a street tyre but they can barely be heard over the rest of the car. My car is used mainly for track work, gets dríven to and from the track and the occasional trip to the shops.
This is all true and the same as my experience.
My car is noisy as hell anyway but a semi-slick on the road makes a sort of whirring noise particularly over 80kmh.
The wet weather thing gets people in a flap sometimes. I would not go out if it was raining sideways but I would not worry about it to much...just be respectful and stay smooth, like you would on any tyre. I took a car on the Nurburgring a few months back in the wet and that was on R888's and in fact there were sections of the track it was raining sideways but I managed to not kill myself.
R888 and NT01s are very similar tyres, both very R-spec, made by the same manufacturer.
