Proxes RA1

[TitaniumTT]

So here's the situation, many years ago I was pretty big into auto-x, then I bowed out for a while and now want to get into it with a vengence. There have been some changes to my car.... only a few and the local club put me in SMA - Street Mod ALL and while I didn't get my ass kicked, I didn't finish where I normally would've previously, or more accurately, would've liked. I was also the only car in that class on "street" tires. Once I get the engine dialed in I'll place better I'm sure but the tires I was running (RT615's) while grippy enough to puke oil out of the filler cap left me wanting after getting a few rides in an original Shelby Cobra equipped with R888's.

So my quest for race rubber began. I came across a set of rims and shaved RA1's. Now, I had previously inquired about the NT-01's and the general consensus was that they weren't worth the extra $150 over the RT615's. The RA1 and the NT-01's share the same wear rating so I would imagine that thier grip would be similar, though I really don't know enough about tires to speak intelligently. Is it really worth the coin for a dedicated set of rims and tires? Are we talking about seconds of a difference here in a 40second to minute long course? Are the RA1's going to be rather noticably grippier than the RT615's? I know this sounds rather noobish, but I have never driven back to back cars with street rubber vs race rubber. The SC with the R888's layed it down through the curves, I have to imagine most of that was due to the tires, the lateral g's that thing put out were insane.

[jecr]

Hoosier A6 or Kumho V710 is a better tire for autoX, but can NOT be driven on the street.

RA1 takes sometime to heat up and is better suited for road course then autoX. The Bridgestone RE-01R was the tire to have last year in street tire class.

[josh18_2k]

any race tire other than A6 or v710 is a waste of time (for autocross).

everything else is designed for lapping, and will not build enough heat. even if they do, they are harder compound tires.
either of those two will dust r888's

[SPICcnmFD]

I agree with what the others have said. RA-1s, etc. will be better than normal street tires, but you will never get them warm enough to work right on an AutoX course. The only truely good choices for AutoX are A6s or V710s and you can tell a huge difference compared to other tires.

NT-01s and RA-1s are the exact same compound from what I've been told. NT-01s can be run without being shaved due to the tread pattern where RA-1s will chunk up some if they aren't shaved. I personally like the NT01s better from my experience, they seem to last longer.

[TitaniumTT]

Thanks for the resonses and experience guys..... Well, here's the problem/concern. I've heard about the RT615's heating up too quickly and getting greasy and I plan to do @ least two track days this year, this causes me some concern. Plus I can get such a great deal on them, it's almost worth it ...... UNLESS the RA1's will actually stick less than the RT615's at auto-x temps, then it's a step backwards.

The good thing about the club that I race with is that it's small. Meaning the runs are pretty close to one another so I'd imagine that once hot, keeping them up to temp wouldn't be too hard of a chore.

Temp for temp at an auto-x - RT615 vs RA1's, would the RA1's be stickier?

Thanks for the input. I'm a tire newb.

[AmviciousRav]

if it's in the long run and not at a auto-cross event you'll like the RA1's but if you wanna stand a chance (well in the region I'm from) your better off with Hoosier A6 or Kumho V710

I got smoked by a freakin focus running V710's but I was using some stock crappy Yoko 420's haha (either it would understeer like mad or go intro a wanna be drift)

But this year I had a plan I got a set of used RA1's and shaved em down for a quick heat up during auto cross...I think the tires are ruined for a track event

(I hardly goto the track anyways and I got a good deal on the RA1's)