We got blessed today with the best autocross weather you could possibly ask for. It was low 70s, low humidity, few clouds, cool breeze and no chance of rain. This is perfect tire testing temperature since I could see how they feel relatively cool during early runs and then really hot for later runs. I did not bring a sprayer so I just let them keep increasing in temperature.
Testing the Advan A052
NNJR SCCA - 5-25-2019
My initial impression is that these are really good tires. They "talk" more than the RE71s in that they squeal quite a bit when pushed and do so well below the limit so you can use the noise as audio queues on how much harder you can push them. I had to drive like a total asshole on one run to finally break the rear really loose and almost spin but even then I was able to recover pretty easily. I ran them 30psi front and 32psi rear, the same pressures as the REs and they seemed to like it. I did have to make some shock adjustments since my new 245/265 stagger vs the old 255/265 stagger, (which is really more like a 255/275 RE71R equivalent) introduced a bit of understeer so I softened the front shocks a bit and the balance was restored. They felt very nicely controlled and turn in quite sharply even "cold". They did seem to hook up better and better as the heat increased up to the point where tire pressures stopped rising. Unfortunately I forgot my pyrometer so I don't know what temps they got up to but they were very hot to the touch. These tires suit the Cayman nicely in that I find it harder to keep tires cool than try to get heat in them so I'm going to stick with them for the rest of the season.
NNJR SCCA - 5-25-2019
As far as times though, well, it wasn't great but I don't blame the tire. The new softer springs are here, ready to be installed now. In the interest of expediency, the car's going back to Speedsport Tuning when they get back from their PCA club race at The Glen so she can be fully sorted before the NEPA autocross at Poconos Raceway in June. If you look at the videos of my runs especially the helmet cam, you can see how much I'm getting tossed around the car even fully strapped in with a 6-pt harness because of how overly sprung she is right now. I had the grip in the tires but could not take advantage of it as the bumps and undulations really made her super hard to drive and put power down. I'd frequently engage ABS in the brake zones as my front tires kept getting bumped off the pavement and frequently the jolts would be enough to force my foot off the gas pedal. It's a horrible mess to be honest and if I can't get her to glide over undulations, then there's no way I'll have competitive pace for Nationals so some drastic changes in suspension setup need to be made. Softening the shocks overall helps a bit with this but at the sacrifice of transition speed. It's really killing me in the slaloms. Really looking forward to what more compliant suspension and these tires can do in upcoming events.
