Anyone have experience with Pirelli's R-compound (P Zero Corsa)? How do they compare to say RA-1s or Victos?

Anyone have experience with Pirelli's R-compound (P Zero Corsa)? How do they compare to say RA-1s or Victos?

I didnt like the Pirellis at all. First of, you cannot rotate these (except maybe front to back on the same side) so no flipping (I am assuming you are not using it for just one race weekend and chucking them out). Secondly, the grip is comparable to the Yoko 032s Hard compound. With 235/40s RA1s, I would run 1:45s consistently at Road ATL. I was 2 seconds a lap slower with 255/40 fresh Corsas. Had Bernardo Payet drive my car as well, same conclusion: Glorified street tires.

A.L.

Hmmm...good info. Thanks for your input!

Anyone else out there with experience on these tires?

Anyone else out there with experience on these tires?


This is a review I posted some time ago on another site:

"This may be irrelevant info now that the prices on these tires have gone WAY up. I got my 255/40-17s for $128 each from TireRack, but they were recently shown at $246 each.

Anyway, I thought I'd give some impressions after they've seen a few track events. I originally bought them simply because they were so inexpensive and I wanted my new track wheels shipped with tires on them.

After the first event, I thought $128 was a great price and would've bought them again. After three events, however, I decided I wouldn't touch them again.

They were OK for the first two events (Sears Point and Willow Springs), but shortly thereafter turned downright spooky. Even when they were good, they had a bit of an odd feel. Plenty of grip at 8-10/10ths, but at 7/10ths and below, they felt a bit "wobbly." Almost like there was too much tread, but
there wasn't. Great lateral grip at speed, however.

They only seemed to have about 2 weekends of good life. I was at Buttonwillow on them for the 3rd weekend, and this was the first time I was spooked by my tires. They took over a lap to heat up, and would just let go without warning before heated up. Then they'd only have decent grip for about 15-20 minutes. After that, they made for great entertainment for my passengers, but it was almost like snap oversteer. It was a controllable release, so there wasn't too much drama, but the initial release was very quick.

After that on the street they even had seemingly less grip than street tires in the morning. I got one last fun day out of them by enjoying my own little drifting challenge at an LA Autox, but after that a new set of RA-1s were prompltly strapped on. There was tread left on the tires, but I wouldn't even give them away with the way they eventually behaved.

Experiment over... Good ol' RA-1s on are back on!"

Excellent...thanks!

The Corsa are great tires. The most common problem is using the wrong pressure. Avoid the Corsa System, which has more of a street bias.

Review vs Yokohama A048, Dunlop Super Sport Race, and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup (English is on right side) on a Porsche GT3:

http://www.nobleforums.com/images/onyxm400/tires/gt3.pdf

The most common problem is using the wrong pressure.

This is very true, and I had actually spoken with a motorsports rep at Pirelli while I was testing the tires. I tried the pressures I'd normally run and then the pressures he recommended. That helped a lot for those first two weekends. After that, however, the tires weren't enjoyable for anything other than autox. On track they didn't offer any confidence. This was on an E36M3 and the size was 255/40-17 on all corners. Maybe the GT3 feels different on them, but my particular M3 didn't like them at all.

As always, YMMV.

Many people who use Corsas run WAY too high hot pressures. Pirelli says 30 psi hot is the target area. The sidewalls are very stiff on these tires. In any event, they work best on a car with decent static negative camber (-2.5 or more). In order to get to 30 psi hot pressures, you have to start with something in mid 20's. Even then, if you let hot pressures get much over 30-32, you will likely start chunking issues, and they will get greasy feeling from having the load bearing parts of the tread being overheated.

When setup properly, I found them to be very forgiving and easy to modulate around the top of the tractive force/slip angle curve. They have great ultimate stick but only as long as those hot pressures don't exceed 30-32 psi. Get into the mid-30's, and you'll start overheating them (they will "go away" quickly), chunking them, etc...

All that said...get the RA1. ;)

Chuck

Everyone likes the Toyo RA-1. I thought these were slow? How do the RA-1s compare to Kumho Ecsta V710s (DOT R compound), or Hankook ZSS 211s (assuming 235/40-17 sizes among the tire brands)?

Porsche Panorama (2002 or 2003?) compared the Corsas vs Pilot Cup Comps on 996. Verdict was in favor of the Pilot Cups over the Corsas. Pilots were quicker.

I tried lower pressures but managed to roll them over pretty good on to the sidewall. I do have a heavy car and only have 2.0 degrees negative camber but still. RA1's are every bit as good and almost $100 less so mine will be replaced with RA1's after a couple of more events. I also bought mine at the introductory price of $128. Not being able to flip them really decreases the life as well.

I have used Advan A048s and they are freakin awesome. PM if you want a set.

Anyone have experience with Pirelli's R-compound (P Zero Corsa)? How do they compare to say RA-1s or Victos?


what will you be doing with these tires?

what will you be doing with these tires?

Baby Glenn wants to imitate the Michelin baby :confused ;)

That, or IP-lite?!!?!?

what will you be doing with these tires?
Just found an inexpensive set and I was considering using them as streets/wets. After reading the feedback, I'm probably going to pass and go with RA-1s again.

Baby Glenn wants to imitate the Michelin baby

That, or IP-lite?!!?!?
Wish that were the case, but I simply don't have the budget to go W2W at the moment. In a Birel, maybe, not in a BMW.