Need Autox tire recommendation: Hancook RS3 V2 vs. Direzza Z2 star spec

AK370Z

So as I'm getting ready for 2015 autox , I came to this dilemma. You know how it is with the autoxer and their tire selection.. it's pretty much one of the most important ingredients for us. I had a fantastic season and half on 285-35/19" RE-11 squares. Fantastic tire w/stiff sidewalls and grip was great (well... in lower temp; when more than 80-90 Fahrenheit, tires suffered poorer performance).

For 2015 season, I wanted to try out either Hancook Ventus RS3 v2 or the Direzza Z2 star spec. I do have Eibach front sway(stiffest) and Koni yellows now, competing in Bstreet. I do drive solo/myself only, mostly asphalt venues and ambient temp starts around 40F to 90F to 40F again (April through Nov).

After looking the Tirerack comparison, they seem to like the Direzza Z2 but I am not sure if they did dedicated "autox" like test. I spoke to them and they were saying Z2 has a better feel in slalom and quick turning (and supposedly stiffer wall). here's their comparison video/article



TireRack Testing RS3 v2 vs. Z2 Star Spec
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=197

Video:

But in Feb 2015 SCCA magazine, SCCA did their own testing among these tires. Of course SCCA did solo type setup and testing. In their test, RS3 V2 came on top! Almost .5s second faster than Z2. Magazine does praise rs3 as very good controllable tire even when it's at the limit. Here's the comparison article:

SCCA MAG testing Comparison: http://goo.gl/muLmT2


So I pretty much have two questions:

1. Which tire should i go with?
I know RS3 is out of stock at Tirerack and wont get there till end April/early May, which makes me want to just get Z2 and call it a day! but part of me feels that RS3 is worth the wait? Jeff, Jason and few other drivers did very well with RS3 at the nationals (and my car is pretty similarly modded as Jeff), which makes me want to get RS3 only! Though I'm not sure if I'll attend nationals at Lincoln but I'm doing the Pro-Solo at NJ Met life 5/8-9. Rs3 was praised highly at scca mag too.. but Tirerack is swearing by Direzza Z2 being FASTEST! So let me know what tire i should go with. I can either wait for RS3 v2 which might get here around end April or just get Z2s now. Personal experience from autoxer would be appreciated who drove on these tires.


2. What size tire should I go with?
I am pretty set on trying out 275/35/19 square. I do have a little adjust ability with (off shelf) koni yellows. So let me know.

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cruzthepug

I have the same setup, Eibach front sway, stiff setting, Koni's. I used RE-11's last year as well and really liked them, but opted for the RS-3's this year, 285/35/18 all around. With 2 test and tunes on these tires I like them. Only thing I can say about the Zii's is the was a 350Z (STU) at one of the T&T's that was using them and had some really fast times. He ran RS-3's last year and only got the Zii's because the Hankook's were not available. He did say he was afraid that once it got hot the Zii's would suffer.

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j-rho

There are some emerging options, especially if you can wait a little while - Bridgestone RE71R and a new BFG Rival. Might want to hold off and see what the early results are from them before deciding.

For a car as heavy as the Z (especially in front) I'd be concerned about keeping the Dunlops cool enough.

cjwsrt6

The rs3's like heat so if youre in jersey they might not be great. I'm running 285 rival's squared and so far am very happy with them, completely stock over here though, might want to think of that since you're a single driver

stuy486

This...

I'm seeing a lot of buzz around the Bridgestone RE-71R right now, but I'll hopefully know a lot more after this weekend. The first people started getting them this week, so no one has raced on them yet. I'll be racing against a car with them on Sunday, so perhaps I'll know more then...

Even in relatively cold temps on asphalt, I've never had any problems getting enough heat into RS3s in one run, especially with the newer V2 compound which claims to work better at lower temps. It wasn't uncommon for me to spray mine after 2 runs. Like j-rho, I'd be concerned about overheating the Dunlops.

As for the size question, my opinion is that square is the way to go. I'm pretty sure I remember j-rho (after running 275-305 at Nats) saying he thought square is probably the way to go as well.

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AK370Z

Good to know. How do you like the rs3 compare to the RE-11 (driving wise- easier or harder to drive? noise?)

Noted, thanks. Keep seeing RE-71R popping up. Bridgestone went from trying to deliver bigger RE-11a sizes to a completely new tire! I WANT to hold off but part of me don't want to because season starts 4/12 and I have autox every week. we shall see if I have enough patience. Also it doesn't help that my RE-11s are shot. I can always buy now (whatever Z2 SS or 71R and sale it around June for RS3 v2 with maybe 10% loss? who knows...) How's your STR build?

Isn't Dunlop upgraded the compound this year to tolerate more heat? I think I heard from someone/somewhere that the "star spec" version of Z2 for 2015 can withstand more heat to compare to last years Z2.... Have you heard anything? I think TireRack implied that in their review video too?

you're correct. Direzza Z2 is VERY popular around here. Hence their name came up as primary competitor in this thread. Honestly, most of the guys I battled last year (CS and some friend of mine in FS) were on Z2s. It's a very popular tire in NorthEast. Hmm rivals.. how are their sidewalls? stiff? it's hard to compare over stock bc RE-050s are garbage .. Maybe you should drive a rs3 or z2 equipped 370Z to get a true comparison.. that would be nice to know.

AWESOME stuff Jeff! please let me know how he/you liked the tire over the weekend. As of right now (and I know my heart will change decision again by evening lol), I'm thinking grab Z2 star spec or RE-71R for now and sell it when rs3 arrives in couple months? (like June).. I doubt I'll have trouble selling that, no?

You're right. The V2 seems to be very good with lower temp as well which original rs3 wasn't. But as I have said above, isn't star spec newly Z2s have more heat tolerance? i could be wrong

Thanks. I think I'm staying 275/35. I have probably watched your and jason's final lincoln runs (and few of your prosolo runs) like 10 times! 275 worked well for you. Awesome driving for both of you guys. I gotta make a "2015 autox runs video" thread so that I can see other peoples driving too.

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cjwsrt6

Update! I like the rivals, good grip and stiff sides But being camber challanged the edges wear FAST, I've got 40 runs on my front and the corners and peeling. I'll post some pictures but plan on running rs3 or kumho v720 when they release. I've had the rs3 on my crossfire and liked them a lot, took the alabama heat very well As did the kumho so I'll definitely be switching soon

stuy486

Well, both drivers in the vette beat me, but not by much. Results

[disclaimer: excuses ahead]
They were on brand new tires, whereas we were 4-event old (~35 runs/event) RS3s.
IMO the course pretty heavily favored power cars, particularly on the "straightaway" in the back where we got up to 77mph in the 350.

They ran the Bridgestones and their old RS3s back to back on Saturday, they were definitely struggling for grip on the RS3s compared to the RE71Rs, but that's probably more a result of tire age than anything, so it's tough to draw an conclusions really. It seems to me like the RE71R is much more of a contender than the RE11As, but it's not like they're running away with it because the tire is that much better.

You can watch their thread over on the Vette forums to see if they say anything about them.

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j-rho

Power course but you all got raw-timed by an STS Civic? ;-)
Was Yeoh on the Bridgestones too?

stuy486

Ouch :-p

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2014 SCCA C-Street National Champion
2015 SCCA STU National Champion

stuy486

Just looked, yes he was on RE71Rs.

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2014 SCCA C-Street National Champion
2015 SCCA STU National Champion

cruzthepug

From the Dixie Tour event this past weekend

Street Tires
Hankook 67 Trophy 23
Dunlop 52 Trophy 17
BFG 22 Trophy 3
Bridgestone 19 Trophy 11
Toyo 7 trophy 2
All the rest less then 5 each

Looks like all the cars in BS were on Dunlops, no 370's in the field.

One of the local BS drivers (Corvette) had this to say about the Dunlops on the local forum:

"A note about tires: The new crop of super-performance street tires, if the Dunlops I'm running are typical, do have more grip than ever, making them more fun to drive. And the Dunlops stick cold, so you can drive hard from the start of run 1. On the other hand, I'm glad I didn't sell my trailer. They seem to wear more quickly than last years Rivals and I suspect will heat-cycle out after a while. We may be headed for tires that will last one season locally with street driving thrown in, but probably 2 sets a year if you really do a lot of events and better limit the number of street miles by trailering to the away events."

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derraj06

I'm taking a set of RE71Rs to the dragon in a couple weeks. I've got the rears now, waiting on the fronts to release. So far I like the RE71R much better than the RE11. My disclaimer is I am not running AutoX due mods so no direct feedback there. The dragon is a good test bed though.

03threefiftyz

If I were buying a street tire for Autox right now....probably be the RE71's. Looks BFG went all in on their new compound, too, but have not seen any viable data on them.

j-rho

My Hankook RS3V2's have 15 runs and about 100 miles on them. Ordered Bridgestone RE71Rs today for use this weekend - even though they're only available in 245-18, while I'd prefer (and the class allows) 255's.