2nd tyre choice

[chops]

so I have finished a roll cage, bought slicks and a trailer, AASA logbook will be sent off this week and I am getting close to being ready for racing

what I haven't got sorted is a second set of tyres for when slicks won't work. I have dríven on R specs a few times in the wet and while it is pretty busy have managed to do ok. I have a couple of sets of 15 x8-9 wheels and thought either V70 or AO50 in 225 on those would be a passable wet setup and a good damp/drying/dry setup. I have not dríven on AO50's so not sure if they are any good in the wet?

Or am i just wasting my time trying to make r specs do something they aren't really designed for and go buy some proper wets. I really haven't looked into wet racing tyres at all and would be interested to hear from those who do have some experience

[rascal]

I'd suggest a proper set of wets rather than trying to use R specs in their non preferred environment.

Whilst I've never used proper wets and the following isnt exactly the same but fwiw, I normally run R specs on my car used just for sprints, and bought a set of AD08s for when it rains.
Driving on the AD08s was night and day better when its raining than trying to get the R specs to show any grip. Could carry way more corner speed, get on the throttle earlier and harder on the brakes with the AD08s whereas the R specs in the wet were so frustrating and that much slower it wasn't funny. Approx 2 secs lap at PI faster in the wet on AD08s than NT01 R specs, and car felt much more like its dry behaviour just at a lower level compared to the R specs which wouldnt brake, turn or accellerate..
(However couldn't wait to get off the AD08s as soon as the track started to dry..)

So my slightly related experience is that you are much better off getting a tyre suited for wet conditions rather than try and make one work that isnt.

[david_syd_au]

If you are serious about your racing/sprints, then spend the money and get proper wet weather tyres, otherwise a set of good road tyres is an economic solution.
2 years ago I had a couple of wet meetings in a row, and found it "exciting" driving on worn Nitto NT01 r-specs. So I bought another set of wheels (cheaply) and fitted Dunzip DZ03G r-specs in a softish compound with the tread pattern extended to better disperse water, with the intent of only using them for wet events.
Well, would you believe, in the 2 years since then I haven't had another wet event, and those tyres are starting to go hard, even though I mostly keep them cool and out of the sun.
A set of good road tyres would have been cheaper and have a longer shelf-life.

[Dan]

I've been running soft Hankook Z221’s in the colder months and have a set of mediums on at the moment which I’m using for the warmer months, these tyres have an almost identical tread pattern to the A050 and I've been very happy with how both compounds have worked on a damp track once they get up to temperature. I found them worlds better in the wet compared to the NT01’s I had before these.

Since I only do supersprints I have the luxury of skipping sessions if the rain gets really heavy which you don’t have in racing and for standing water a set of wets would be better but I think a good set of R Specs could be a good compromise tyre.

My next set of tyres will probably be a set of A050 Mediums to give them a go, from the conversations I’ve had with people running them their wet weather performance is good when the tyre has tread depth. Other competitors or IPRA guys could probably give you first hand experience racing with A050's in the wet.

[Luke]

I have only had 2 R-Specs.
Kumho V70A K90 Hard Compound. They are bad in the wet compared to everything else I have used. Incidentally they were also bad in the dry. Both Used R88's and new Ventus RS-3 were easily quicker in the dry. K90 = bad.
Toyo R888, GG Compound. They were brilliant in the wet. On a monsoon like day at Eastern creek North Circuit I was 11/90 odd cars whilst it was bucketing down on these. I was surprised how good they were in the wet. They also wear quite well.

As for track rated Road tyres I have used:
Achilles 123S: How does 4th gear wheel spins sound in 4th gear with 120KW at the wheels???
Kumho KU36: Never liked these in the wet. They always felt greasy on my SE and my Dads NC.
Hankook Ventus RS-3. These feel pretty good in the wet. But never have had a proper wet track day on them, only the Bathurst Conrod run doing 180 in monsoon like conditions.