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 Hustling
a Formula 2000 race car around a road course may not be the best way to
evaluate a street tire, but I'm not one to refuse free seat time in anything.
The car was from the Bridgestone Racing Academy (http://www.race2000.com),
though the course was not the Academy's regular Mosport home track, outside
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Instead, Bridgestone moved the entire program to Phoenix, Arizona, for
a tire introduction and test-drive program at the Firebird Raceway complex,
using a sticky skidpad for autocross testing, and the West Course for
formula car driving. The focus of all this effort was the RE-01R street
tire, which-along with an extensive advertising campaign-the company hopes
will put the Bridgestone name at the top-of-mind when it comes time for
Car Guys to buy tires.
While the open-wheel track time was fun, back-to-back drives in identically
prepared BMW 3 Series sedans (except for the tire fitments) on the autocross
course proved no more telling to the ultimate ability of Bridgestone's
new maximum performance street tire. It was obvious the RE-01R has a lot
more grip and offered a tremendous leap in driving precision compared
to the touring and all-season tires from Michelin, Goodyear and Firestone
the other BMW's were wearing, but a seat-of-the-pants evaluation is hardly
a fair way to judge a performance tire.
According to Bridgestone, its Potenza RE-01R is built with "a semi-slick
shoulder block that provides lateral stiffness for advanced cornering
force and grip on dry surfaces as well as a wide center rib for outstanding
initial handling response." But that's not all, as "cooling
slits engineered in the tread help dissipate heat and make the tire more
durable under high-speed, high-temperature conditions."
So what does all this marketing jargon mean when it comes time for you
to choose tires for your hot ride? Not much, really, because every tire
company has similarly impressive-sounding adjectives to describe its product.
For a Car Guy, buying tires can be a challenge. Since we place our emphasis
on performance, we naturally want the best shoes we can afford. The problem
is, how do we know which tire is really the best? For that matter, best
for what-sunny weather only, snow driving, all-season?
There are also considerations such as vehicle weight, tire size, wheel
size and your car's drive configuration-being an enthusiast, I'm going
to assume that high tread life is not your primary concern. While all
of these factors will play a part in determining the best tire for you,
your intended use must also be taken into account. Will the tires be used
for double or even triple duty (daily driving, autocross and track day-never
a good idea, by the way), or is your thing canyon carving, plus maybe
a little autocross and daily driving?
So, how do you choose? You could ask your Car Guy buddies, but they're
going to tell you the tire they use, or the brand they've always bought,
is the best. That's really no help. How about consumer publications or
retailers that do independent testing? That's an option, but Consumer
Reports and TireRack.com, for example, test only a limited sample, and
in the latter case they test only tires they sell.
You could rely on what your favorite racer uses-those tires must be the
best, right? Nope, race tires are a completely different breed from their
street counterparts, and even if when a race series uses a DOT-approved
tire (meaning it's technically legal to use on the street), it's still
not suitable for year-round driving-DOT race tires should never be allowed
to cool below 32 degrees.
Okay, so how about the tires Sports Car Club of America amateur racers
use for autocross competition in classes specifying true street tires?
These tires must have a Uniform Tire Quality Grading (UTQG) rating of
at least 140, which makes them extremely "sticky" summer tires
that can be used three-season in many climates. Now we're getting somewhere,
but there's still a problem of contingency money. Even at the amateur
level, tire companies offer top drivers money for doing well while using
their tires.
While the driver who competes at the SCCA solo (autocross) championships
in a street tire class using a tire from Bridgestone, Hankook, Kumho or
Yokohama might do so because he believes it's the best tire, it might
also have to do with the fact that each of these tire companies pay contingency
money for finishing on the podium (first, second or third) while using
their tire. In the 2007 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships, just
eight out of 185 street tire competitors used a tire from a company other
than those offering contingency money, and just one out of 54 trophies
was earned by a driver not on a contingency money tire (and that was for
a 13th-place finish).
Based on the results sheet, one could easily interpret that only contingency
money tires are the fastest, and that's exactly what tire companies would
want you to believe. Consider that by offering contingency money, tire
companies are banking that the best drivers will use their tires, and
when other drivers see the best drivers going fast, the easiest thing
to emulate is car setup, and the most visible aspect of car setup is tire
choice.
Also keep in mind that rules may dictate tire (and often wheel) size,
and not all tire manufacturers offer the best fitments for all cars in
all competition classes. While Yokohama-shod cars took 10 of 13 trophies
, including the top six spots, in the Street Touring Ultra class at the
2007 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships, Bridgestone-equipped
cars won every trophy (nine out of nine) in the Street Touring S2 class.
In conducting my own search for tires that would serve the dual purpose
of street driving and autocross competition in a class that requires street
tires, I also had to factor in cost against performance. In the last four
years, I have driven my way through nine sets of tires, chalking up 30,000
miles on my highly modified 2004 Subaru WRX STi. At that rate of rubber
consumption, tire cost is not an insignificant consideration.
I had most recently tried the Falken Azenis RT615 because of its reputation
in the autocross community as a highly capable tire at a very reasonable
price. Compared to the most expensive options, the Falkens came in at
roughly half the cost with perhaps 7/8 of the performance. While I was
not disappointed in the overall abilities of the RT615, I also felt I
was not getting the most from my car with them, and thanks to an intensive
two-day Evolution autocross school (http://autocross.com/evolution),
I managed to wear down this set in record time and once again I was shopping
for something I hoped would be a little faster.
I have tried the pioneer route before, going with a set of tires that
nobody else seemed willing to try, and while the PZero System Asimmetrico
was an adequate option for me at the time (when I needed one tire capable
of performing both on a road course and autocross), I wanted something
a little more mainstream with a proven record of success. That led me
to select the RE-01R. I don't believe I fell for Bridgestone's marketing
hype, though the fact that so many national championship autocross trophies
were won with these tires did factor into my decision.
Compared to every street tire I've previously used in autocross, I don't
feel the RE-01R gives up any significant performance edge, including the
ultra-expensive Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD07 that, like the Bridgestone,
dominates in national autocross competition. When you factor in the 20
percent lower cost of the Bridgestone compared the Yokohama, the RE-01R
becomes an easy tire to recommend.
In Arizona we can autocross all year long, and our local Street Tire
1 class is very competitive. After switching to the RE-01R tires I found
myself in the thick of a three-way chase for first-in-class, and though
nearly as much performance is available at substantially lower cost, that
last fraction of a second is not something I'd be willing to sacrifice.
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