RS-3 vs Z1SS vs 595 RS-R vs RE-11 vs Z2 vs Rivals
03-28-2011, 09:42 PM
#101
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Originally Posted by psychoazn' timestamp='1294453212' post='20052756
...I was supposed to go to Buttonwillow the following day, but elected not to go; my alignment had also been knocked out in the process, and the prospect of flying off track at near triple digit speeds wasn't too appealing...
I went to SV BW event on the Saturday after ES's SOW event on Friday (SOW was full and I didn't sign up earlier enough). Someone in a GR-STI flew (yes FLEW) off Riverside on the last session on the very first lap. I suspect he didn't get his tires up to temp and went in hot, got too much understeer, then lifted and got throttle lift oversteer... He then went off inside the turn and flipped his car 2-3 times - I saw it fly through the air at least 15 to 20+ feet. It stopped flipping when it hit the corner station barrier. They even brought the tractor out to "re-groom" the dirt to make it all flat again. I watched most of it as I was exiting bus stop.
I need to get a seat, harness, and harddog soon...
And yes you do need a seat/harness/rollbar
Mike, I knew you were going to be adding the 595RSR's to this list when you said you had a different tire planned! I have always had that tire in the back of my mind. I am looking forward to your review! See you at the track
03-28-2011, 10:39 PM
#102
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I remember last year when I had fresh RS-3 driving home from their first track day, and I was a bit worried going ~35 over the grapevine in pouring rain. Chris (F20kills) knows all about it... he was limping home on his NT01s.
I had absolutely no problem driving at highway speeds when the Z1SS were new. As they wore down, there was a definite decrease in hydroplaning resistance, and my highway speeds dropped accordingly, but that is expected with any tire.
03-28-2011, 10:40 PM
#103
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I was actually going to get AD08s, but then an opportunity popped up to grab some Federals... these tend to be sold out in 255/40/17
03-29-2011, 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by '09S2K' timestamp='1301377370' post='20406090
Mike, I knew you were going to be adding the 595RSR's to this list when you said you had a different tire planned! I have always had that tire in the back of my mind. I am looking forward to your review! See you at the track
04-01-2011, 10:30 AM
#105
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To all considering the Federals, I thought I would share my experiences with the company. I bought 4 federal 595s 6 months ago. They represented a good value and I thought I would try them out.
Around that time I was aligning the car and fighting some veering under acceleration. I had two alignments with the last one helping the veering but it wasn't quite gone. As time went by it got worse and I moved over to new wheels. My tires where moved over and the veering got to the point where I couldn't take it. With the tires being the only thing left to check, I discovered that two tires were not straight. On the balancing machine you could see the tire move side to side even though the tire was seated correctly on the rim.
I contacted Federal tire who advised me to take the two tires back to where I got them for a warranty claim. I sent my tires in for ~$45 in shipping. A month later I was told that they would only cover 1/4 of the cost of the tires with no explanation. I have contacted them since but have not gotten a reply.
Beware the tires may have some low quality control and may not compare favorably to the other options depending on what you get. Don't expect Federal to back the quality of their tires!
Around that time I was aligning the car and fighting some veering under acceleration. I had two alignments with the last one helping the veering but it wasn't quite gone. As time went by it got worse and I moved over to new wheels. My tires where moved over and the veering got to the point where I couldn't take it. With the tires being the only thing left to check, I discovered that two tires were not straight. On the balancing machine you could see the tire move side to side even though the tire was seated correctly on the rim.
I contacted Federal tire who advised me to take the two tires back to where I got them for a warranty claim. I sent my tires in for ~$45 in shipping. A month later I was told that they would only cover 1/4 of the cost of the tires with no explanation. I have contacted them since but have not gotten a reply.
Beware the tires may have some low quality control and may not compare favorably to the other options depending on what you get. Don't expect Federal to back the quality of their tires!
04-08-2011, 08:23 AM
#108
I love my 255/40/17 Star Specs on my 17x9 6ULRs for autox. They definitely perform well in the cooler weather as shown from our trip to the SCCA Mineral Wells ProSolo two weekends ago. I'm normally 1 second slower than Drew's s2k since its fairly prepped for STR with Penske shocks and high spring rates while I'm still on stock suspension; he runs RS3's while I run Star Specs. I was actually beating his left course time. I let him borrow my tires and he shaved off more than 1 second overall from his combined times on both courses. It was probably 50*F ambient outside with a good wind whipping away.
I autocross twice a month and got my first set of Star Specs in Jan 2009 and by the time I went to Nationals in September they grip was pretty much gone even on the concrete surface but the tread still had a little ways to go before hitting the wear bars. I continued autox'ing on them until Jan 2010 and performance was horrible for competitive autox within 4/32 to 2/32. They were fine as daily drivers though. I put a fresh set on 2 months ago and I definitely noticed a significant increase in grip again. Woohoo!
I autocross twice a month and got my first set of Star Specs in Jan 2009 and by the time I went to Nationals in September they grip was pretty much gone even on the concrete surface but the tread still had a little ways to go before hitting the wear bars. I continued autox'ing on them until Jan 2010 and performance was horrible for competitive autox within 4/32 to 2/32. They were fine as daily drivers though. I put a fresh set on 2 months ago and I definitely noticed a significant increase in grip again. Woohoo!
04-08-2011, 09:57 AM
#109
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04-08-2011, 10:52 AM
#110
Hey all, I was running on star specs my first time on the track, unfortunately, my rears were very worn already before track day, but they seem to handle quite well. I was scared to take it to the limit because of the worn tires. Since then, I've got R-S3s mounted just for the rear. My front Star specs still have lots of life left in them. I have another track event next week and report back to let you all know how star specs in the front and r-s3s in the rear perform. I'm hoping with the specs in the front, will help with turn in, and the R-S3s in the rear with a softer sidewall will help with rotation and cornering grip.