Tyres

[Marshy]

Great info marshy, thanks heaps. Just thought I would ask about dunlop rears? What you think etc. then the question of where is the best place to source these.

Dunlop rears are a vexed question, as I struggle to get consistent performance from them. I used to run them quite a bit, but moved on due to this inconsistency. Recently I've been running the UK Ntec KR108 rears; I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of lightly used ones, and they were awesome!! I got 2 full days of hard use before they'd heat-cycle off (they looked great, but the grip really went away). Great, very even wear; loved them!

Then I bought 3 new ones (they are $440 each!!), and destroyed 2 of them in about half a day each. Very expensive exercise, that one Buggered if I know why; I haven't quite sorted that yet - possibly a temperature issue?

The US rears are kinda fun! They are awesome for 10 or 15 laps, then they get quite slippery and squirrelly but continue to provie heaps of grip, even though they are sliding around a lot. I actually like this feel quite a bit, and often I go fastest when I've taken the initial outright grip from a tyre and it starts moving around a bit (or even a lot).

The major, major advantage with Dunlop rears is that they slide very, very progressively. It's actually not unsettling to hang the rear out in a big powerslide - something that will highside you on another brand. Pirellis particularly, and less so the Bridgestone, when you pass the limit just let go suddenly, with no warning. But it's swings-and-roundabouts: the progressive sliding also means that they move around more. Suits me, but not some people.

But tyre life isn't fantastic from the Dunlops (any of them, really). They are much more sensitive to temperature than some other brands, so it's important to get the right compound for the conditions. They are prone to tearing up, and when they do, they don't recover or 'clean up' like some tyres if you go gently on them for a bit.