Hey all,

I'm just about ready to stomach in $400+ on tires and I need to know if I'm making a good purchase.

I used to run Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs on my car and they gripped wonderfully on the track.

I've got a track day coming up and the tires on my AP1 are worn-out. I need grippy track tires and I'm on a budget.

There are pretty good prices out for the Hankook Ventus R-S2's. I've got a couple questions about them though, and I want opinions from fellow s2k drivers:

1. Are these tires pretty close in performance to the Star Specs?

2. Would they provide me with enough grip to prevent the rears from sliding out too much (provided I have to talent to prevent that from happening)?

3. Lastly, are these tire sizes appropriate for mostly-neutral/slight-oversteer handling characteristics? F:225/50/16, R:245/45/16? Or would it be better to run 215/50/16 in front?

Thanks so much all!

 

1. NO. I've driven both at the track in the wet and in the dry. I actually did one wet/dry event with RS-2's up front and Star Specs in back. In the dry, the RS-2 is about 90% of the Star Spec. In the wet, the RS-2 is about 50% of the Star Spec. In the wet with RS2 fronts and star spec rears, the understeer experienced was unbelievable. That was with over half thread depth remaining in the RS2's, and in any case hydroplaning wasn't the issue.

2. Provided you have the talent to prevent it from happening, yes. If you don't, no. That was an easy one! Actually, I do have to say that from the start I found it very easy to get the back end to come around in the wet with the RS-2's. The StarSpecs' wet grip advantage is PROFOUND.

3. Star Specs only come in 205/55-16 and 225/50-16. That size combination is absolutely fine. With the RS-2's, I ran 205/50-16 fronts with 245/45-16 rears (don't think they have a 215/50-16). Balance between these two setups is pretty much the same, you just get more dry grip with the *specs and WAY WAY more wet grip.


Again, having driven on the street and at the track, in the wet and in the dry, the Star Specs are the superior tire by a HUGE margin. Don't bother with the RS-2's.

 

^thanks so much for your input ZDan! im so torn between the two. i only do dry condition driving, so the poor wet grip doesnt bother me at all. the price difference is too great between the specs and the r-s2's. would you suggest the r-s2's for dry track conditions over the star specs if theres a $68 difference between the two? the 245 rear width of the r-s2's also give an advantage in grip, right?

 

Wrong. My money would EASILY be on StarSpecs in stock 205/225 sizes over RS-2s in 205/245 or 225/245 in the dry. And much more so in the wet.

At the track in the dry, with 205/50 RS-2's in front and 225/50-16 *Specs in back, the car was more understeery/less oversteery than with 205F/245R RS-2's.

The value of additional "tread width" is nothing compared to superior construction/compound.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=107

Also, the R-S2s have been replaced by the R-S3s