Just got my new Ecsta V700, put them on right off the truck. I went out to heat cycle them and all I can say is WOW. I have never driven on R tires before, and I cant believe the difference. I cant wait for my next school on the 19th.

I got 17x8.5 wheels and 235/40/17 tires.

That's a great setup. The 235's on 8.5's are very happy and not only generate tremendous grip, but have excellent transient response.

Wait to you heat them up and get them on the track. HoG (Hand of God) grip.

On the minus side, watch treadwear. Mine wore horribly.

What is horribly? I am still on street tires for DEs, but am looking to move up in another event or two. I am currently on the dirt cheap yoko AVS intermediates, which get good and greasy fast. From the looks, they've got enough tread for something like 3 more events, which would mean they lasted around 10 track days of ~90 minutes.

I know I could still do some learning on the intermediates, but it's irritating when some punk on hoosiers comes shooting up your inside, way off line, just because he's got about .5 G to spare while you're right on the edge.

The Ecsta V700 has great grip, and are a perfect fit on 8.5" rims. Once I got the pressures figured out, and stopped over driving the tires, the grip stayed consistant all day.

Check this old thread on the Ecsta V700 groove of doom (http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=38342&highlight=groove).

I really think they need to be shaved to help prevent the groove, run as much neg. camber as you can, and don't run pressures too low. Keep an eye on the tread wear, and have them remounted inside out (move left tire to right rims, etc.) to extend their life.

badmonkey

what tire preasure did you start with cold. 32-34?

I dont know what my camber is. I took my car in to the place that GC recomended. Im sure they took it back to stock.

So, if you take good care of your kumhos, how many days and/or minutes of driving do they tend to last? Not sure that I can get lots of negative camber with my bone stock set up. Maybe I'll put in some Koni SAs and swap the strut hats.

I am hoping to find something much stickier than my pos avs-is that will last about as long (8-10 DEs, ~1000 miles).

On a cold day, I may start off 34-35psi, a hot day maybe 32-33psi. First thing getting off track I'll measure temps all four corners. Sometimes they have increased evenly front to rear, sometimes there is a differential of 2psi or so. The happy zone seems to be 36-40 psi, nothing over or under that, with 38psi being my reference hot pressure. Tire wear appears to be even across the tread, rollover seems in check.

The V700 is supposed to have a new compound, though I can not verify that. Hopefully this has mitigated the groove-of-doom issues with the first Ecsta release. Just keep an eye out for it.

I got 6 events on my Ecsta V700's, averaging 4 - 20 to 30 minute sessions. I had them remounted "inside out" after the third event attempting to extend their life. I also added more negative camber, and stiffened the springs. All of the above seemed to reduce the unusual wear.

I easily could have got 2 more events out of the tires, for a total of 8 events, before they were done, but ended up getting a new set mounted on new rims before they were really done.

Believe me, I'm no expert, just relaying my experiences, or at least my understanding. :)

If the Ecstas have such problems with wearing why don't people use the Victoracers? I don't seem to hear about the GoD with those.

stjobs

Victoracers aren't available in 235/40-17, the Ecsta V700 is. I didn't want to go from a stock size street tire to a much larger dot-r. Next set will definately be 255/40, either the Victo's or Toyo RA.

Nothing wrong with the Ecsta V700... they are on my street rims right now :)

I'm trying out the V700 Victoracers in 245/45/17 on stock rims. A bit large, but they fit just fine. I heat cycled them and I'm ready for the first event.

I didn't want to go to the ECSTA V700 after the GoD problems people are having (and not just in BMWs). I had good results with the Victoracers several years ago.

John

Originally posted by SoloII///M
I'm trying out the V700 Victoracers in 245/45/17 on stock rims. A bit large, but they fit just fine. I heat cycled them and I'm ready for the first event.

On my car, the 255/40-17 Victoracers actually fit better than the 245/45-17's. The 245/45's were so tall, they scraped the top of the fenders when the suspension was fully compressed - the 255's are a lot shorter...which also helps the gearing.

Jim

Drat. That knowledge would have been great to have before I bought and heat cycled the 245/45s. :stickoutt

I wasn't able to get them to scrape the fenders on my heat cycling loop, but they are pretty close to the struts in front. Not rubbing, but closer than I'd like.

Will a 255 tire fit on a 7.5" rim? My tire shop (a "Tire Rack approved installer") had problems mounting the 245/45s as it was!

Thanks for the info Jim,

John