Tire Performance In HPDE! Falken Azenis RT-615

[senna]

I'm running a Rx8 with Falken RT-615, 255 40/18 in HPDE 3 in the Socal Region and have a question or two re: tires.

 

Anyway, I was having some issues this weekend with my car setup-tire pressure, suspension settings. But once I was able to get the car reasonably balanced (oversteer-understeer) in terms of these two variables my times actually worsened during the day when I'm driving better-at least from what I can tell. I've run these tires for about 5 or 6 track days (all HPDE 3) with very few street miles on them.

 

So my question is how many track days can I expect to get out of these tires before they start to go off-i.e. significantly deteriorate in performance? We had some discussion in our downloads about how many heat cycles these tires can go thru before they're just no good and there was some suggestion that 6-8 is there limit.

 

I've liked these tires-for the price I think they perform fairly well and offer decent durability but I'm open to trying something else that might offer similar performance at a reasonable price....any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Tony

[Rob O]

I will be keeping my eye on this thread as I am about to buy some new tires for this year. What I ran last year, HPDE 1, was Kumho MX and I liked them but only comlpleted 4 weekends (tons of tread left) so they are now on my street car. My plan was to try the new Kumho XS this year. The other tire considered was the Dunslop Star Spec. All three mentioned are about the same price. That is a lot less than the new Bridgestone RE-11.

 

If you are in HPDE 3 now, when do you to go to R comps?

[senna]

That's a good question. I really want to work on my driving skills and pretty much be ready for HPDE4/TT first before switching to R-Comps. Right now my confidence in the high speed sweepers (85+ mph) is really lacking. Hopefully we'll get some input from some veterans here. Oh and not to mention I'd prefer to not spend $1200 or so on a set of R888.

My preoccupation with times is only that it's an indication that I'm moving in the right direction in driving skill....eh, I suppose I'm just a bit competitive too.

[Robnie0723]

Dunlop Star Spec are a great HPDE tire, better than the RT-615 in my experience on track and even really good in the cold and wet. Instructors in the car have had positive comments on the grip and feedback.

[RodeoFlyer]

In my experience, the RT-615's were like the Toyo, in that they sucked for a really long time. They got greasy way too quick. For the price you cant beat them though.

 

If you plan on running TT you may as well buy r-comps now, as your setup and driving style will change fairly dramaticly, and you don't want to learn in TT. It's generally expected that you know what you're doing when you get there, and if you don't people will know quickly.

[Trevor57]

That is a ton of time to get out of any tires. I agree with the 6-8 heat cycles. If you are going kind of quick, street tires should last 2 days.

[Meat]

I ran my 615's for 8 events and they got better as they wore down. I bet they had another 2 events or more when I sold them.

[Alan_Wolfe]

My experience as well - 8 to 10 DE weekends @ 8 ~ 20 minute sessions per weekend. I wore them right down to bald.

 

205/50/15s on a MINI.

 

Alan

[senna]

Thank you all for your input. It helps!!

 

Matt, I hadn't thought of R-comps that way but it makes sense to get familiar with them and to adapt driving style before moving up. It think I'll move in that direction for my next set.

 

Tony

[prsrcokr]

I don't have much to chime in DE wise but I ran my Azenis for 21 auto-x events before attempting to kill them off at a DE last weekend. They were much faster when new and at the cold weather events early in the year I was having trouble building heat in them (this is on a 3700 lb car with 235/255 sizes) where as normally they're known for heatin quickly.

 

For me they were fastest after a few events and then seemed to taper off around the 10-12th event but that was auto-x. From the DE I just did, I was faster before on my old S-03's but they could hold heat much better than the Azenis. These were getting greasy a couple laps in while it was 90+ outside at Summit (again, narrow size for a heavy car) I think they'd be a great choice for DE given a wide enough size and cooler temps (Fall events?)

 

Brian

[aben8057]

There is a good article in the new GRM about street tires which may be worth reading.

 

My personal experience with the RT-615's is what was mentioned before. The RT-615s are great tires when they are cold, as the heat factor settles in they become loose. I ended up going with a set of dedicated track wheels w/ Hoosiers and kept the RT-615s for DD. I use the RT-615s as my wets which still work for me.

[Ev]

I use the RT-615s as my wets which still work for me.

They work for you for wets?

 

I used them for one event as that's all I had and swore I would never again.

[Robnie0723]

I use the RT-615s as my wets which still work for me.

They work for you for wets?

 

I used them for one event as that's all I had and swore I would never again.

 

Same for me, switched to Dunlop Star Spec, far better tire for the track (and street).

[Meat]

I use the RT-615s as my wets which still work for me.

They work for you for wets?

 

I used them for one event as that's all I had and swore I would never again.

 

Same for me, switched to Dunlop Star Spec, far better tire for the track (and street).

 

Agreed, I ran the Dunlops at Watkins Glen last week and they were amazing. They blew the Falkens outta the water. In fact, they made me question if I was actually on the Dunlops or if I was on my RA1's.

[obzezzed350]

I started on them in HPDE1/2. They were good at first but they do get greasy quick. Lasted great, switched to RA1s before I had finished them. Good tire for starting out, and you cant beat the price.

[tbucklin]

I ran the 615s on my S4 for a weekend at Big Willow in December of '08... they were okay but definitely tapered off in grip by the end of the day. Unfortunately I went for a spin on a subsequent day and flat-spotted them, never getting more than those two days of use out of them (including the trip from San Diego to the track and back). I wouldn't buy them for track tires again, however.

[senna]

Well, I went with NT-01's (245/40 18's) for the last Big Willow event. Had a nightmare of a time getting the stock wheels off with the freakin' wheel locks. Ended up missing the first session on Saturday while I found some small roadside tire shop. The guy worked a miracle in getting the two right side locks off.

 

At any rate the NT-01's were great. It was nice having tires that would hold up thru the entire session and weekend for that matter. Did the price match thing with a local shop and saved big time over R888s.

[Renesisfury]

Well, I went with NT-01's (245/40 18's) for the last Big Willow event. Had a nightmare of a time getting the stock wheels off with the freakin' wheel locks. Ended up missing the first session on Saturday while I found some small roadside tire shop. The guy worked a miracle in getting the two right side locks off.

 

At any rate the NT-01's were great. It was nice having tires that would hold up thru the entire session and weekend for that matter. Did the price match thing with a local shop and saved big time over R888s.

Thats why I threw away those wheel locks straight away

 

How is that 8 running?

[senna]

Wise move on throwing those things away. My gut told me long ago to do the same but I didn't listen.

 

Other than high water temps around this time of the year the 8 is running well. One would think that Mazda might have learned their lesson with the 3rd gen 7 and really focused on heat reduction in the 8 but no...they practically hide the radiator and place it at an angle-both of which limit air flow over it.

 

How's yours?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I went with NT-01's (245/40 18's) for the last Big Willow event. Had a nightmare of a time getting the stock wheels off with the freakin' wheel locks. Ended up missing the first session on Saturday while I found some small roadside tire shop. The guy worked a miracle in getting the two right side locks off.

 

At any rate the NT-01's were great. It was nice having tires that would hold up thru the entire session and weekend for that matter. Did the price match thing with a local shop and saved big time over R888s.

Thats why I threw away those wheel locks straight away

 

How is that 8 running?

[Renesisfury]

Pretty good. Missed a couple events earlier this year with prior family commitments, and a PCA event due to some brake problems. Just spending money on maintenance so far

[KTL]

The Falken RT-615 seems to suffer from heat cycling much like the Hankook R-S2 Z212 street tire. Cars that are lighter will be able to get more life out of the tires with respect to heat cycles. Hence the reason the poster who has a Mini got a good amount of life out of his Falkens.

 

Some of these "ultra high performance" tires appear to sacrifice heat cycle life for ultimate initial grip. Whereas i've seen some other tires hang on forever and never seem to wear. A friend ran Bridgestone RE730 tires on his 911 for years and we constantly joked how his tires were magic- he was fast and his tires refused to wear out! When he finally wore them down, he chose Goodyear GS-D3 tires and hated them in the dry (in the wet he was untouchable by us R comp users- not too surprising). So maybe some people should take a look at the newer Bridgestone RE760 as a preliminary tire before going to R comps.

[JDMxDB8]

^ I agree. I used to have RT-615s and they would heat up very quickly and start getting greasy after a couple of laps. Yes, they last a long time, but it kind sucks when you start to slide all over the place. I would look into the Hankook RS-3, Yokohama AD08, Bridgestone RE-11, or the Toyo R1R.