Ted Drake

I need some help. I have posted this under the tire section, I'm really am interested in the experiances of other Porsche racers.
So I postd it here too.

It's time to buy some tires for next year.
I have run the Hoosiers DOT 245/40/17 and 275/40/17 on my RS bodied 69T with a 3.2 engine.
Mostly equally AX/DE and TT events.
I'm considering buying 2 sets of Kumho Ecsta tires. 235/40/17 and the 275/40/17.

I've heard rumors galore on these tires.

1. I have lot's of negative camber -3.25 front and -2.5 rear. Do the Ecsta tires mind the negative camber?

2. Is it true the compound on the Ecsta changed during 2002? Is the new compound working OK?

3. Do I have to get them shaved for dry use?
I am considering shaving one set for timed runs and leaving the other full depth for practice laps.

4. Is there a racing slick made in my sizes?

thanks in advance,

Tom 77

I assume you mean V700. If that is the case buy the michelin pilot sports. I went thru 2 1/2 sets of Khumos last year. I had it chunk, dropped the pressure, it went bald on one side and the third set refuses to stay in balance ( we had those on 2 different cars 996-C2 and a 996 Turbo - same result, out of balance in 5 laps). I still have plenty of rubber on it, but will probably not use them again.
Check this picture out.. pretty scary

Tom 77

OOPS

GhettoRacer

Indeed, there are many weird/bad wear (bubbling, chunking... even when shaved and heat cycled!) reports on the Kumho R tires, especially on the newer Ecasta V700's. Get the Michelin's (kinda pricy but seems like all users think they're worth the $). Or you can consider Toyo RA1's. Less common, but a great over all tire. Most consistant through out a session, as well as most consistant during its entire life. Excellent wear rate too.

Kumho's street tires, OTOH, are pretty good. The Ecasta 712 and the newer MX.

Bill Gregory

You probably should search the archives as the Ecsta's get discussed now and then. As I've previously posted, I'm using 225's and 275's in 17" Ecsta 700 DOT R, have 13 DE days on them, with enough tread for another 4-5. I have around 2.0-2.5 negative camber in front and in back. From a wear standpoint, they've been fine, and I haven't seen any ills others have referred to. Next time around, however, I'll likely go with the Michelin Cups. The Ecsta's are OK on the track for 10-12 minutes, then they get greasy.

Carl Fausett

I have some experience with the 2002 Ecsta's and the 2001 Victoracers from Kumho.

I run AX,TT,DE with a 3200 lb 928 with 305 RWHP. Ran Vicotoracers for 2 seasons, perfect balance, very reliable, got two seasons out of them - just replaced them now with another set of Victoracers. Love 'em. Infinately better than the Yokohama A032R I tried before that.

We put a set of Ecsta's on my son's Triumph Spitfire last year and ran around with them on the street and did about 6 autocrosses with it too. The Ecsta's performed very well on his Spitfire, very reliable release, drift, and hook-up in cornering. Very dependable.

Hope this helps.

Carl

Tom 77

Ten or Twelve minutes have been my experience. Michelins take an extra lap to warm up but seem to last 3 times longer. Victoracers seem much better but don't come in 18". Michelin's in the spring for me.

Ted Drake

Thanks for the replies guys.

I bought just one set of the V700 Ecstas.
For the second set of rims I did get the Hoosier R3S03's.

The price difference between these two brands was about $300 a set. The longer lasting but slower V700 Ecsta’s seem like a fair practice tire. If they don’t chunk, get greasy or ?

Ideally I’ll run the longer wearing V700 for practice sessions and save the Hoosier R3S03's for the timed laps.

For timed runs I didn’t want to loose that much time on tires alone so the Hoosier R3S03's made sense there.

Michelins didnt come in my size. I longer lasting Hoosier like tire would be perfect.

Anyone know where to find a racing slick in the 245/40/17 and 275/40/17 sizes?

belz

Here is my feedback on the Ecsta V700.
285/30/18 - 18x10 wheel on a 2750 lb. 951 race car. Camber:-3.25 front / -2.5 rear.
Observations: I'm basically a hoosier guy and I'm trying the Ecsta V700 because I'm tired of paying thru the nose for hoosiers, both in price and the fact that they're shot after ~12 heat cycles.
I was able to obtain comparible times: Portland International (w/o the chicane) 1:16.725 w/ hoosier and 1:16.844 with Kumho ECSTA V700.
However, it took me awhile to get there with the Kumhos. I too experienced "chunking" and "blistering" on my first set. Two things I learned: 1) they were not shaved ... I recommend you shave them. 2) I was running way too high air pressure.
I was told that the air pressure profile is similar to hoosiers so I started with ~34 lbs cold and figured ~8 to ~10 lb. heat gain. NOT ... I now start at ~25lbs cold with the Kumhos and this has worked out great. Thus, significantly less air pressure than with hoosiers. My last set was shaved and I used the lower pressures and that is when I acheived comparable times and the tires wear even and absolutely no blistering or chuncking ....
I have heard a rumor that Kumho changed their compound sometime last year ... the pair that I had all the trouble with was early in the season .... hmmmmm?
Summary: Overall I still like hoosiers best. They are a little faster and sticky'er than the Kumhos, however, for the money ... now that I have seemed to figure out the Kumhos for me/my car I'm gonna save the extra ~$300 per set and run Kumhos this year. (unless... I need those couple tenths!) <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" />