Hankook RS2 trackday tyres - any good?
Discussion
The RS2 is your best compromise being quite a soft compound but far more treaded than a trackday tyre. Ironically the Pirelli came top in the autobild track day tyre test but i don't think they make it anymore.
Depending on your car geometry the RS2s might wear rather fast too. I recently did a lot of trackdays on Bridgestone S02s, which sadly you can't get anymore but it only cost me a few seconds a lap and they lasted really well.
End of the day the RS2 is cheap as chips, give it a try and let us know
Depending on your car geometry the RS2s might wear rather fast too. I recently did a lot of trackdays on Bridgestone S02s, which sadly you can't get anymore but it only cost me a few seconds a lap and they lasted really well.
End of the day the RS2 is cheap as chips, give it a try and let us know
Edited by jon- on Thursday 15th November 14:14
Thanks for the responses. I am picking up my new 'toy' in a couple of weeks and it is currently running Dunlop Direzzas (or something like that !) trackday tyres which are eye-wateringly expensive for someone who wants to do 4 or 5 trackdays per year with around 4-5000 miles road mileage!
I need something that will give me 5000 miles a year minimum wear with good wet weather grip but also slightly stickier that a standard road tyre for those trackdays - am I asking the impossible??!
Have no experience of trackday tyres (drive 35000 miles a year with work, so know plenty about road tyres!) but just looking for the best compromise i guess.
The car is a Porsche 944 Turbo that has been 'tweaked' so rear end grip in the wet needs to be reliable!
Thanks again
Nick
I need something that will give me 5000 miles a year minimum wear with good wet weather grip but also slightly stickier that a standard road tyre for those trackdays - am I asking the impossible??!
Have no experience of trackday tyres (drive 35000 miles a year with work, so know plenty about road tyres!) but just looking for the best compromise i guess.
The car is a Porsche 944 Turbo that has been 'tweaked' so rear end grip in the wet needs to be reliable!
Thanks again
Nick
appletonn said:
Thanks for the responses. I am picking up my new 'toy' in a couple of weeks and it is currently running Dunlop Direzzas (or something like that !) trackday tyres which are eye-wateringly expensive for someone who wants to do 4 or 5 trackdays per year with around 4-5000 miles road mileage!
I need something that will give me 5000 miles a year minimum wear with good wet weather grip but also slightly stickier that a standard road tyre for those trackdays - am I asking the impossible??!
Have no experience of trackday tyres (drive 35000 miles a year with work, so know plenty about road tyres!) but just looking for the best compromise i guess.
The car is a Porsche 944 Turbo that has been 'tweaked' so rear end grip in the wet needs to be reliable!
Thanks again
Nick
Nick, I have RS2 on my 944 S2 (225 fronts 245 rear on 16" rims). Have only been on the track twice this year once at Bedford and once at Haynes. I like this tyre much more then toyo t1-s which I used to love and as we know lots of 944/968 guys like that tyre as an all round compromise. In fact I like this tyre so much that I bought a set of 17" for putting track tyres on that are still in the shed and might stay there or be sold. I would say the RS2 is a similar compromise. It works pretty well for day to day driving on cold or damp or wet roads. I don't feel at all unsafe driving in winter with this tyre. The biggest plus point I would give for this tyre is how nicely the car tracks and handles. You can get right on and over the limits without the car getting floaty or squirming around. Basically the stability when cornering hard on these tyres is brilliant compared to tractor tread tyres which seem to not steer as well. The biggest down side I found is that when new they have very low grip levels, especially in the wet. It took me along time to break them in, something like 200 road miles and 2 sessions in the rain and damp at Bedford back in Feb. I think they need to get a good heat cycle in to break them in properly and perhaps a wet track just didn't do it enough. Since that first dry session at Bedford they seemed to have gripped really well (loads more noisy too) . Wear is pretty much as I expect for this sort of in between compound. Road driving seems to hardly touch them. I bet you would get 6K road miles no problem. At Haynes however I measured about 1mm + of wear from a total track time of about 15 minutes, so maybe 1.5 hrs total track time when pushed hard on that type of abrasive surface. Ultimately if one doesn't like this tyre on the track you could just use them on your road wheels.I need something that will give me 5000 miles a year minimum wear with good wet weather grip but also slightly stickier that a standard road tyre for those trackdays - am I asking the impossible??!
Have no experience of trackday tyres (drive 35000 miles a year with work, so know plenty about road tyres!) but just looking for the best compromise i guess.
The car is a Porsche 944 Turbo that has been 'tweaked' so rear end grip in the wet needs to be reliable!
Thanks again
Nick
Forgot to add, one of the above reviews talked about the tyres breaking away suddenly. I found this but IMHO it is only caused by how well the tyre tracks through corners, the lack of squirming means you have to really feel the limits. On my S2 and I bet your turbo will be the same I feel the back end start to bounce very very rapidly just right before the rear tyres break loose, but once you know what this feels like I have had no problems getting the tyre to this point repeatedly without lurid tail slides. On the front I don't feel much before the understeer unfortunately but I run 2 degree's -ve camber. The back end bouncing could be due to little marbles of rubber being pulled of the tyre I don't know.
Secondly about the lack of wet grip. I found this at Bedford back in Feb but the tyres were new and like I said I believe the low grip was just down to the tyres taking a very long time to break in. I am gona try and do some track days this winter so it will be interesting to see how well they work.
Secondly about the lack of wet grip. I found this at Bedford back in Feb but the tyres were new and like I said I believe the low grip was just down to the tyres taking a very long time to break in. I am gona try and do some track days this winter so it will be interesting to see how well they work.
jon- said:
NJH, very interesting write up. Do you have any experience with track tyres as a comparison or is that just against road tyres?
I might try a set now after the V70as!
Just against my old Toyo road tyres, IMHO the RS2 is a way better tyre then the T1-S for example. Basically I wanted a tyre that was safe to use on public roads but wouldn't shred on the track. The Hankooks manage that brief OK, although there could well be normal road tyres that are better in the wet. Not sure ultimately how good they stack up. I was gona try the V70's next since many ppl have had good experiences with them, however I have had so few chances to get on the track that they may last a long time! For a road tyre I think I am sold now on the Michelin Exalto PE2 that I got for my daily hack Saab. Don't know if they do em in 16" sizes suitable for 80's Porsches though.I might try a set now after the V70as!
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff