I swapped my tires from RE-11s to RE-71Rs to give me more performance on the track. After at least 1000 miles and a track day, I urge you to believe the hype.
Sizes:
F: 265/35R18
R: 275/35R18
Street Driving:
So far, these are good tires. The first thing i noticed was an improved ride quality....although I think that was because my RE-11s were pretty much done as far a wear is concerned. There is increased road noise, but for those who buy this tire, that probably isn't a concern.
The funny thing about this install is that it started raining when I left the shop to make an hour drive home! With moderate rain and no standing water, there's plenty of traction and stability. When the rain started chucking it, it's just like any other performance tire...you cant do $hit about it. I also did some brief cold weather testing since winter finally arrived in Houston, and the RE-71Rs have adequate grip, at least at 40F ambient. They do not behave like RS3s.
Track Driving:
I basically had to re-think how fast I could go around some corners. I found myself needing to increase corner entry speeds, and I still haven't found the limit. The steering response is a major improvement over the RE-11, and the tire doesn't require much heat to achieve the stellar grip levels. Below is a comparison video of me running the RE-11 (a tire I was very used to) and the RE-71R (after only two 20 minute sessions):
The way to tell the performance difference is how fast I'm entering the corners and the amount of steering lock I'm using. This was by no means a scientific test and I don't consider myself that good of a driver, but based on having little experience with these tires and managing a 2 second per lap difference with traffic, the results are obvious.
RE-11 Review