s4jones

I've been kicking around replacing some relatively new ContiSportContacts on my track toy for some better performing wet track tires.

Some tires under consideration:

Toyo Proxes 4
Yokohama AVS ES100
Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S
Sumitomo HTR+

I'm looking at these primarily for their relatively good wet traction characteristics.

If I get all-seasons, I'll probably just run this year round on the street as well. If I get summer tires, I'll wind up with a winter package.

I've been leaning to the AVS ES100s. If the track got dry, these would hold up a bit better than the all-seasons.

Any suggestions and experiences are welcome.

Thanks.

Grant@Tire Rack

What size are you looking at? That would help narrow it down to the available tires.

s4jones

215/45-16 is another possibility. That's what I have as dry track tires on some Rota Slipstreams, but it might be tough to find an appropriate match at that size.

Thanks. Car weights about 2900 with driver.

jprice@CPS

<a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR4&url=%2Ftires%2Ftires.jsp%3FtireMake%3D Goodyear%26tireModel%3DEagle%2BF1%2BGS-D3">Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3</a>

If you will be tracking them in the dry as well,
take a look at the <a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR4&url=%2Ftires%2Ftires.jsp%3FtireMake%3D Michelin%26tireModel%3DPilot%2BSport%2BPS2">Michel in Pilot Sport PS2</a> and the good ole <a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR4&url=%2Ftires%2Ftires.jsp%3FtireMake%3D Bridgestone%26tireModel%3DPotenza%2BS-03%2BPole%2BPosition">Bridgestone S03</a>

s4jones

I have some Falken Azenis Sport RT-215s that I purchased for dry track days. Got them at the end of August and took them to one event after a couple weeks of "spirited" around town driving. They seemed to hold up pretty well and provided good grip for my recreational lapping purposes.

Yeah. I saw some nasty results from someone that took brand new F1 GSD3s out on Pacific Raceways on a hot day.

I've heard good things about Toyo T1-S and Yokohama AVS Sports for wet track use as well.

jprice@CPS

I think the GSD3 is better in the wet, but only by a small margin. Unfortunately I don't have a lot to compare to, just P6000s, which were rain drifting tires ;-)

I had the Toyo T1-s on the track in the dry, they did ok.. I'm moving to dedicated track tires next year though. probably Toyo RA1.

s4jones

PS2s don't come in the size I want. Tread blocks on the F1 GSD3s look too narrow for my liking if the track gets dry.

S0-3s seemed the best overall blend for my purposes and will work well as summer daily drive tires for the SVT Focus -- serves as an alternative grocery getter for us on non-track days .

I figure my tire situation will look like this by December:

* Dry track tire: Falken Azenis Sport RT-215s on my Rotas

* Summer tire/wet track tire: S0-3s on Ford SVT Focus "Euro" wheels

* Winter: ContiExtremeContacts on stock SVT Focus wheels (other cars have studless snow tires...)

Bye to ContiSportContacts...

AlanL

Wonderful street tire and great in the wet, but when I had a set of these on my old S4 and used them for a lot of track days, I discovered that after a certain point, they got really greasy and the rubber hardened up. They never really worked the same after that in either the wet or dry and were downright crummy out on the track because they slid around so much.

On that count, my current Continental SportContact 2's have actually fared better than the S03's although the contis were mediocre to begin with and the S03's were very nice. The contis have remained mediocre, but after 9 track events work better than the S03's did after fewer events.

s4jones

Well, my PLAN is to use the S0-3s as my everyday summer tires and alternative rainy day track treads. The Falken Azenis Sports are going to be my dry track tires.

For Quattrofest, I figure to drive down on the S0-3s and haul the Rotas/Falkens in the back. If it is dry and/or slightly damp, I'll run the Falken Azenis Sport RT-215s. If it is rainy/messy (as I expect) I will run the S0-3s. (I spent this morning testing jack stand locations and floor jack lift points with this car, etc.).

I also believe that, on a really wet day, speeds should be down no matter what so I figure it won't be quite so hard on the S0-3s.

During the summer I'll run the S0-3s as everyday tires (although this car is not likely to be a full-time use vehicle) and swap the Falkens in for track days. Hopefully the Falkens will last at least a couple of years. They look pretty clean after Bremerton (their only event so far). Then I'll see what alternatives (if any) will be appropriate.

BTW: I posted a few notes to my Focus friends on the car's performance with the mods/tires so far.<ul><li><a href="http://www.focaljet.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&amp;Number=2416384114&amp;pa ge=&amp;view=&amp;sb=5&amp;o=">Link to FocalJet posting on KW V3s, Azenis Sports, etc.</a></li></ul>

AlanL

Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.