I recently found a really good deal on some 18x10" wheels and now I'm shopping for tires. I have about a weekend's worth of driving left on my tires from last year. The tires I have been using are 255/40-18 Yokohama Advan AD08's on stock 18x8.5" fanblade wheels. After 20-25 minutes, depending on the track and weather, they would overheat and start to lose grip. Now that I have 10" wide wheels I'm looking for a 275 or 285 width tire that I can use on both a dry track and for rainy track day use. I don't want to swap wheels at the track so the non streetable R compound tires are out. No R6's, R1's, etc...
I was looking at the R888, NT555R-II, Advan A048, Kumho Ecsta XS, Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, Potenza RE-11, Hankook Ventus RS3, and the wider Advan AD08's. Some are much more streetable than the others. Looking on other forums, I found a wide variety of differences of opinion an the tires. Overall it seems that most people like the Toyo R888 tires. It seems that everyone says the NT555R-II's are just RA-1's with a different tread pattern due to Nitto Buying Toyo when they had financial difficulties a few years back. If they are RA-1 with a different tread pattern, why are they about $100 cheaper per tires in similar sizes? Also, I heard the RA-1 tires need as much camber as possible and are really sensitive to camber settings. If that's true, then do the NT555R-II tires act the same way? I've heard only good things about the Advan A048 tires in the harder compound.
Will switching to wider high performance street/autoX tires allow my tires to last longer without overheating? I was also looking at the Kumho Ecsta XS, Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, Potenza RE-11, Hankook Ventus RS3, and Advan AD08 tires, but due to my experiences with the narrower 255 width AD08's I wondered if they would last longer than 25 minutes without overheating. Many people say the wider tires will last longer without overheating due to the increased amount of mass in the tire due to the larger tire size. However I don't know if its jsut their driving style, different/lighter cars, or the wider tire that allows their tires to last longer.
I also can get 265 width R888 takeoff tires with 80% of the tread left for about $120 each plus shipping. I'm guessing there won't be a huge difference in performance between the 265 and 275 width R888 tires.
I was looking at the R888, NT555R-II, Advan A048, Kumho Ecsta XS, Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, Potenza RE-11, Hankook Ventus RS3, and the wider Advan AD08's. Some are much more streetable than the others. Looking on other forums, I found a wide variety of differences of opinion an the tires. Overall it seems that most people like the Toyo R888 tires. It seems that everyone says the NT555R-II's are just RA-1's with a different tread pattern due to Nitto Buying Toyo when they had financial difficulties a few years back. If they are RA-1 with a different tread pattern, why are they about $100 cheaper per tires in similar sizes? Also, I heard the RA-1 tires need as much camber as possible and are really sensitive to camber settings. If that's true, then do the NT555R-II tires act the same way? I've heard only good things about the Advan A048 tires in the harder compound.
Will switching to wider high performance street/autoX tires allow my tires to last longer without overheating? I was also looking at the Kumho Ecsta XS, Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, Potenza RE-11, Hankook Ventus RS3, and Advan AD08 tires, but due to my experiences with the narrower 255 width AD08's I wondered if they would last longer than 25 minutes without overheating. Many people say the wider tires will last longer without overheating due to the increased amount of mass in the tire due to the larger tire size. However I don't know if its jsut their driving style, different/lighter cars, or the wider tire that allows their tires to last longer.
I also can get 265 width R888 takeoff tires with 80% of the tread left for about $120 each plus shipping. I'm guessing there won't be a huge difference in performance between the 265 and 275 width R888 tires.