chetly

Right, that's my current plan is to try the 305/19 rs3v2 on the rear this year. Once it comes available that is. That or I'm looking at selling the car and getting something else. I was hoping with the fact that cars are getting bigger and bigger tires these days that there would be more tire options by now.

B4CHawk

Do you have any clues as to when the new Kumho v720 will be released? Kumho tended to make larger tire sizes for the F/Y-body crowd.

strano@stranoparts.com

That sucks if you have to sell a car you clearly wanted because of the stupid tire rules and availability.

talon95

Still has the option to run Hoosiers.

TypeIsCheap

Yet another thread I have to subscribe to so I can buy tires this spring! Hurry up and figure this out so Tire Rack can take my money!

Seriously though, anxiously awaiting the new crop as well.

Xian

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a set of Z2 Star Specs. All the scuttlebutt points to the new Rival and Bridgestone not really being out until later March or into April. That means in the best case scenario that I'd be on old Rivals for 3 local events and the Dixie Tour. And that's assuming that the sizes I want are those among the first released...

First event is 2/15 and then 2/22. Fingers crossed that I like the Dunlops!

0SpeedFreaksUSA

FWIW I have tested almost every single EHP street tire available since 2009 on road courses. Of the current crop the ZII was the fastest for me but subjectively wasn't as enjoyable for me as some other less peaky tires (you have to drive them really clean). I wasn't a fan of the rival, the tread design lends itself to horrible tread squirm when new. They do have a very forgiving nature though. They can handle larger slip angles without slowing down too much and because of that I would bet they will be faster in the hands of the average driver. I have only driven one one tire from the newest generation, the ZII star spec, and I am very impressed. It seems to have lost most of the extreme peakyness of the original ZII and the compound *feels* stickier to me. I wasn't running a data logger so I can't be certain but I'm confident it will be around .5 seconds improvement per 2:00 of lap time over the ZII. The new Bridgestone RE-71R looks like it will be pretty fast too and the Hankook R-S4 and new AD-08R replacement should be coming soon as well. All should be 200 UTQG and very competitive. For a single flying lap or two some of these will be as fast or faster than a GG R888 around a road course and close to an NT01 if the driver can extract the most from the tire.

-Matt M.

chetly

That's not the only reason. I really like the looks of the new gt350 and or the z/28 and I like the idea of having one of those cars and being able to modify it and still run CAM, OUSCI, good -guys... Haven't decided what I'm going to do but I think it's narrowed down between those two.

chetly

And that would require another set of wheels a truck and trailer or installing a hitch on the z06 and dragging that around wih me. I like showing up, not changing wheel/tires and just running. I've always ran on street tires from my vw and s2000 days and that's where I like to play.

talon95

Sorry, my statement was really directed at Sam and his ongoing street tire commentary. I realized this was the reason you were considering another car. I've actually been considering swapping my C5Z for an S2k for this exact reason.

And yes sizing is a problem for our cars at least right now. Not sure if that will improve or not. Although this may just be a bit of a road bump in the long run.

Xian

Yeah, that's my hope with the Z2 Star Spec... I wasn't super impressed by the Z2 and preferred the Rival over it (though it was a case where I could get a wider Rival than Z2 and made the necessary wheel/setup changes that the Rival needed). Before the setup changes, the Rival felt mushy on turn in. It ultimately needed to be stretched on the wheel more than the Dunlop and have additional camber added. After that it did remarkably well, IMO.

Hankook RS4? Was that a typo or on purpose? I know the RS3 is out of stock and I heard a fairly unsubstantiated rumor that the RS3 was being eliminated... if the rumor is true then, yeah RS4 would make sense.

Agreed on the Bridgestone. I'd have loved to try them vs. the Z2 SS's but with events already starting up around here I had to pull the trigger on something.

Interesting comment on the Yok. I eyed the current AD08R but with 180TW they were out of the running for autoX. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they have something competitive (and legal) coming this year too!

Gordy M

Do the Bridgestone RE-71R come any larger than 265/35x18?

Xian

I don't know that anyone knows "for sure" what sizes will come to the states. If you look around online there are some release announcements and pages with JDM sizes listed:

http://www.bridgestone.co.jp/corpora...014120802.html

http://tire.bridgestone.co.jp/potenza/re71r/size.html

They're making the bigger sizes but if they're going to bring them here... dunno.

Robert Thomas

I have a fairly new set of 275/40-17 Ecsta XS on my C3 (180 TW) and would be forced into SSM but my local club graciously gave me a one season waiver to run those in CAM. I imagine if I was competitive they may not be so generous. They understand the traction rating confusion that exists right now and reasoned my tires probably won't be as good as the current crop of 140/180s that will magically become 200s.

SteveC68

Having made the move from the Ecsta XS to Hankook RS3 V2 I can tell you that the Ecstas are junk by comparison. So yeah you should not be penalized for the Ecstas.

strano@stranoparts.com

I'm about to make your heads explode, because mine almost did. I drove a C5Z this weekend on RE-11's, not A's even it felt great. Now, what's odd is the the RE-11 isn't considered to be a fast tire. But then again most of these opinions come from small cars, not big ones.

All I know it I had no solid comparison to say "fast" or not. But they sure drove in a way I liked, and better than the Hankooks IMHO (Having driven those on Corvettes and Mustangs and Camaro's).

Sorry to muddy the water, sort of, this is what was to be expected with this upheaval.... but I can tell you when I need streets I might to that just to have the option of running A-street if SSR isn't well entered somewhere.

Oh, the car own is here. And I wasn't the only one who thought that. In fact all the instructors, all who have C5/C6 seat time (3 of 4 having lots of it) all felt the same way.

Sox-Fan

^^ My car.

Last year had them on for 11 months of daily driving which included a monthly trip from Charleston S.C. to Daytona and 20 autocrosses before I really felt that they were lapped out and I replaced them. They had plenty of tread left, but were not sticking as well as I'd like. They are also better in the rain than I expected they would be. I made that monthly trip in the rain more than I'd have hoped for, but the car never slipped an inch. I autocrossed with it in the rain twice and did very very well.

dhowdy

But the necessary rear size for the C5Z is marked 180 TW according to tirerack? We should have the RE-71R coming soon, right?

Sox-Fan

They say 200 on my sidewalls.


edit - let me check that. I'm 99.99999% sure it says 200. When I leave the office in an hour or two I'll double check

just fyi I am running 285/30/18 front, 305/30/19 rear.

talon95

What sizes?? They don't make an 18" size for the rear that's correct at all. And there was no back to back testing either?? Soooo....