What tire pressures did you settle with?

 

Don't know if it'll help, but with the mods as in my sig and 15" Victoracers I run 42# in the front and 36# in the rear.

 

What size V700's are you running?

On my HS Cooper last year, I ran 205/50/15's on the 5.5" wide oem wheels, and found that for asphalt, I had pretty good luck with 42psi front, and 32 psi rear for fast courses and 34 psi rear if I wanted it a little bit looser for a tight course. For concrete I usually bumped them up around 3 psi or so at both ends. I'm not sure that the concrete pressures I had were so good, though. It didn't feel as dialed as it did on asphalt.

This year I'm on 16" V710's, and I'm still playing around. Last Sunday we literally had snow during the event, and the event before that was still only about 50 degrees, so I basically have no data point for these tires yet

 

205/45/16s. Just got them mounted today and will use them the weekend after this. 42#, front, sounds like a good starting place.


Do you rotate them front to back after each event? How many runs have you gotten with a set of tires?

 

At autocross in my area for all Kumho tires we run about 34-35 psi in the front and about 29-30 psi in the rear.

Tires are rotated front to back and left to right. Tires can be flipped and remounted after being worn about 30-35%.

You can chalk your tires or you can use a tire pyrometer to check temperatures. If temperature is highest in the center tread then let out more air. Also as you run on the track the tires heat up and psi jumps higher.

 

Did you get the Ecsta V700's or Victoracer V700s? Could Kumho have made that naming convention any more confusing? I had the Victoracers. I'm guessing you must have the Ecstas, since I didn't know that they made that size in the victoracer.

I should have rotated them more dilligently, but honestly, I just more or less randomly put them on the car at each event. I think I could have evened out the wear a lot more had I been more careful.

But despite my careless tire rotation, I still got a lot of life out of them - probably about 20 autocrosses (about 5 on concrete) and two track days. And in fact, if I had been smart enough to flip them, they might still be going.

I'm not sure if you'll see such good life from the Ecstas or not. I think they're similar to the Victo, but maybe not as tolerant to abuse

 

Thanks for pointing out the confusion of two tires with the same designation (almost). I have the Ecsta V700s and they are directionally indicated. I've run the Victorace, on other cars, and, as I recall , they were directionally indicated but Kumho said one could ignore that. They did not have a directional tread pattern. The Ecsta seem to have more of a directional pattern (although, shaved, it's almost gone) can they be run opposite the direction shown on the tire?


I do use a pyrometer. Given my experience with Hoosiers on the Mini, I would expect the front outside edges to be the hottest.

 

I'm not sure. But you are right, I was also told (by the tirerack) that you can run the victoracers in either direction despite the labelling on the tire. Not sure about the Ecstas They do look a lot more directional than a victoracer, but that might not mean anything.

 

I'd imagine in the dry you could run them in either orientation without any difference. The directionality should only come into play when those grooves in the tread have to evacuate water.

 

You can run the Ecsta V700's in any direction, however when new if you run them against the arrows you will find the edge wear will be much greater. It tends to tear the rubber off.

Front pressures 42-45 for asphalt.

Flip them after about 40 runs.

I got about 55 good runs out of mine before they heat cycled out. If you run on large concrete courses keep them cooled down with water. I dumped them after 70 runs, no cords.

They were a good first season tire, I'm much happier with the Rs304's.

 

I just ran AO3S05s for two days, two drivers after 25 runs, w/o swapping, front to back, and I wore out the fronts to the steel belting on asphalt, on cold pavement. That's why I'm switching to the cheaper Kumhos. I've always like Victorace tire but they aren't available in a size that I can use. I have a set of V710s on back order.

 

I've had pressures all over the place. From 35 to 50 psi (50 psi was in the back). I've found that 42 seems to work well all the way around. I can get good rotation out of the back, and the front sticks well. Just turned mine around on the rims for this year. I was worried about them hardening up over the winter, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. two events this year, and they seem to be sticking as good as ever. 35 psi caused alot of roll in the front, and really tore up the tires. All of our courses are asphalt, and are tight.

 

Perhaps I am doing something wrong, but I run 50 psi in the front, (205/45/16 V700 on 6.5" wide wheels) and they wear right to the edge of the tread, if i go any lower, they run on the sidewall a little. Would I be better off running a little lower psi? I only run local events, so I'm more worried about longevity than shaving tenths (my driving still has room for improvement )