I run 245/45-17 tires and '98 Cobra 17x8 wheels on my car, , which as of this past winter, Maximum Motorsports K-member, A-arms, coilovers and a torque arm and panhard bar. Full interior, working A/C, about 265 RWHP, and about 3450 lbs with me in it.
Over the years, I've run Kumho MX's, then Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R's, then Dunlop Direzza D1 Star Specs, each one a better tire than the last, with the Dunlops simply fantastic for a street tire, although apparently short-lived from a treadwear standpoint.
I had them at a Heartland Park track event a couple months ago and recorded this video behind an '00 Cobra R. By my best estimation using trackside landmarks, I ran a 2:02.
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/92-5 ... 161996.htm
However, last month I ran the same configuration again, except I had Nitto NT01 R-compounds mounted on factory '99 Mustang GT 17x8 wheels. There were no other changes to the car, same brakes and everything.
Frankly, they didn't feel much different than street tires, with one exception, which is heat resistance. I ran them 35 front and 32 rear hot temps per the instruction of experienced R-comp users, and they still slid, they still talked back, they still spun on ham-fisted throttle application, but they were
very progressive, and simply
never got greasy. They come into their own with a warmup-lap's worth of heat, then they just perform. Lap in, lap out, you have the same tire every lap.
This next video is from the first session of the day, the only one I ran "clean" before the ignition system and maybe fuel system started giving me fits when the car got hot. As such, I was still learning my way into the tires and undoubtedly did not find their limits. I have no doubt at all they have more in them than I got out on the shallow end of my learning curve, and when I look at this video, using the same landmarks, I get about a 1:58, for a net 4-second improvement without a lot of practice in them. I'd call that a hell of a package. It would do even better if I put more tire under it, I'm overworking the right front on that left-turn dominated course.
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/hot- ... 168567.htm
I can't comment much on the tire wear because I only put one event on them and they're still there
but if anybody's in the market for R-comps for track use, I'd put the NT01 on the shortest of short lists.
