I’m heading off to the track this weekend and was thinking of making my debut on R-comps. This will be my sixth DE this year and my second at this track.

I recently purchased a set of four 18x9 stock E46 M3 wheels that came with a set of half used Hankook Ventus Z214s, 275/35/18. The tires are very evenly worn. The car they came off of was one sponsored by Dan Law. The ambient temps are expected to be in the low to mid 70s. The sun will be shining, so I guess the track temps should be in the high 70s/low 80s. The Kooks’ compounds are C50, which is right for these conditions, although at the lower limit.

My last two instructors, one with the PCA, the other a longtime CCA instructor, have encouraged me to go ahead and do it given my consistency and smoothness.

However, most people I speak to about it give me dire warnings about how much easier it is to over drive them and end up off the track. Having ridden with numerous instructors who were driving on R-comps, I am aware there is none of the squealing that is part of what I use to know I’m reaching the limit on my tires.

I really want to give them a whirl. My suspension is stock except for Eibach lowering springs. And I use PFC01 pads on all four corners for the track.

What do you think?

You are ready...if you have done 6 DE's, then you should have some idea of your limits now...it's not like the car will be 100% better, it's more like 10% better....go with the BFG G Force R 1's, my personal choice..:)

The 214's done squeal, but they provide plenty of feedback. Do it.

Give it a shot. Without camber changes you are going to chew through rcomps pretty fast. Rotate a couple times during the day and have the tires flipped as needed.

Give it a shot. Without camber changes you are going to chew through rcomps pretty fast. Rotate a couple times during the day and have the tires flipped as needed.

Yeah, I considered the camber issue. My BMW insturctor said he didn't start using camber plates at the same time as he did R-comps and there wasn't too much uneaven wear.

As for rotating, front to rear is about all I would be able to accomplish at the track. What were you thinking, every other run?

Switching to R-comps was so much fun, just be aware that you won't ever go backwards from there. Once you've driven on R-comps you'll never want to do the street tires again. :)

^^ Like with the track pads, huh... there's no giong back.

That's why I am a Track Junkie...I am addicted now to R tires and Hawk brake pads....oh the Humanity

Once you've driven on R-comps you'll never want to do the street tires again. :)Until you get sick of replacing wheel bearings and control arms/ball joints :mechstuck

Until you get sick of replacing wheel bearings and control arms/ball joints :mechstuck

hahaha.....I needed to replace my lt front bearing last week at Lime Rock on my e 30 r shoed car.......but it MAY have been orig w/ 120k!.......at the very least i had 3 yrs of DE's on it.....not too bad.



back on topic......your car sounds under suspended for R's......

back on topic......your car sounds under suspended for R's......

I'm all ears, tell me more...

Z214s are going to be a massive step up from street tires. Get out there and give them a try if you already have the tires. Do you know how many heat cycles the tires have on them now? Grip will progressively fall off with each heat cycle and tire wear is not always a good indicator of remaining tire life with R-comps.

Also, you may not have enough suspension to take full advantage of the potential grip level and a lack of camber may speed up the wear. Regardless, just give them a try. It will be an eye opening experience and you'll never go back to street tires.

Just remember when you increase performance you decrease forgiveness so don't over-drive and gradually build up to the limit anytime you make a major change to you equipment.

...Do you know how many heat cycles the tires have on them now?

By the markings on the sides (made with dots and slashes), if I understand them, they have around eight heat cycles. If there is more than one cycle per dot, then I don't know.

The sidewalls have marking something like: "LF ...../..." These would have been put there by Dan Law. I've started another thread to try and decipher what this means.

I'm all ears, tell me more...


well w/o being verbose........you have a stock car and aftermarket springs?...that are prolly quite soft as is. Youll have way more grip......car is heavy........etc. Body roll........dive /squat.... etc. Go have fun/be careful.....its a slippery slope. I would think a track prepped suspension would
come before r's....

I would think a track prepped suspension would
come before r's....

I agree with jrkoupe regarding suspension / r-compound sequence. It is truly amazing what high performance street tires can do on a BMW with a track/race prepped suspension. Not to mention you can drive home on the same tires.

Regardless, if you opt to go with the R-comps, my advice would be to dial it back a few tenths at first and then ease your way back up to the limit very slowly. There is no real reason to be afraid of r-comps - especially if you have had more than one instructor tell you that you are ready for them. However, just like any other car mod, you need to get used to it before you push it to the limit.

Good luck and have fun!

Well, it went great at Mid-Ohio! I had an issue on the way to the track with pad deposits and slight rotor warping (run out = 0.25 mm), so I went out on street tires for my first run to see if I could even run with the brakes the way they were (I dare you to try to find E46 M3 rotors in the middle of Ohio).

I switched to the rcomps for the second run, and that was a lot of fun. Once I got comfortable with them, which didn’t take all that long, I started noticing things. The first thing I noticed was that I was wot going into 10a without any slipping. On street tires this was tricky because the car would push through the turn, especially over the hill. There are other spots on the track that are now wot that either were not before, or it happened much later.

I thought the tires gave ample feedback. When a track buddy of mine saw me with the rcomps on, he said his instructor told him he needs another season on streets. Sometimes I think this is an automatic response rather than a skill based one. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m just grateful I was encouraged.

BTW, because I had a 6.5 hr ride back home, I switched back to the street tires before my last run. This way I didn’t have to muck with getting hot wheels and tire into the back seat of the car. It was fun to go back out on the streets for my lat run – relaxing even.

Thanks for all the feedback I got on this forum. It made an important contribution to my decision to try it.