Hankook RS3 tire pressure recommendation for track

[Fen335i]

Anyone using RS3's for the track? What did you find as a optimal cold tire pressure? And when they are heated up, what were they at?

[noxredna]

Start with 34-35psi cold.. mark ur side walls and see whether it rolls or not.

you should be aiming somewhere between 41-43psi hot..

My 2nd set of RS3s now and they are awesome tires in the dry.

[Fen335i]

^ thanks...how many track days (or miles) have you gotten out of your first set? I'm going to drive these on the street for 3-4 days before track day to "break them in" a bit...

[noxredna]

I ran both shaved to 5/32nds and heat cycled for time attack races so I can't be sure with full tire depth..

I have heard they don't last as long as the AD08s (which I ran full depth for a whole season, around 10 days of hard driving), so i'm assuming you should be looking at something along 8-10 track days depending on how hard u drive it.. you should have no problem running them on the street or to the track; 4 days of street driving should definitely scrub them in.

In regards to tire pressure I suggested above, this is standard hot tire pressure that I normally run.. sometime I do run lower hot tire pressure to get more grip out of it but you have to adjust accordingly with your driving style and the track you are in. I am guessing that you will keep dropping your tire pressure downwards.. I ran 30psi cold last time I was out in willowsprings because how hot ambient temperature was (upwards of 100F)

[aus]

How did you like that hot wind in the evening? Mix in the blowing dust... what track days are all about!!

[Fen335i]

Thanks Noxredna! Great information...much appreciated. I didn't shave mine...figured they will eventually wear down to that level. I'm not a good enough driver to warrant shaving tires...maybe down the road, but not yet. 8-10 track sessions would be great. And, yes I'll drive these for about 5 days (to and from work) before my HPDE event, so they should be pretty worn in by then...

Thanks again for the tire pressure information. Weather forecast looks like the ambient air temps will be around 75-80F for trackday...so, given the relative cool conditions, I'll start with 34-35PSI and go from there after the first 20 minute session.

[noxredna]

Good luck and keep us updated as to how the tires hold up, glad I could share my experience with them! For the price, they are a really good buy..

Willow springs was brutal, first time out for me there over july 4th weekend.. so much fun out there; the track is hairy considering how fast it is. Our cars go flat out after 5 all through 8..

I don't think I'm that good of a driver to the point that I warrant shaved tires for regular HPDEs, reason why I shaved and heat cycled them is because I was chasing the last tenths of seconds. It's different when u shave and heat cycle them to 5/32nds and wearing a tire down to 5/32nds; the compound and point of optimal grip would have been a lot lower when the tires are worn down to 5/32nds

[Fen335i]

do the rs3's need to be "heated up" a few laps before they reach maximum grip? Also, did you notice them getting greasy towards the end of your track sessions in that extreme heat?

[noxredna]

All tires get greasy eventually, but the RS3s did last a good 25 minute session. It is safe to say that the tires are at completely different level from a PS2 perse which gets greasy after a while; the tire compound should be very different (but don't quote me on this).

They do take a lap or so to heat up, like any tires; but these are not R-compounds where by you get absolutely no grip when its cold and significantly more grip when it's optimum temperature. It is ultimately still a street tire so take the first two laps easy and it should be good to go, but don't worry too much as it still offers decent grip in the cold.

[Fen335i]

^ good to hear...thanks. Yea, I ran the PS2's last summer at the track. Given my abilities, they seemed to hold up ok...but I did notice that they chunked a little bit and the shoulders showed a lot of wear. That's probably more to do with the track (rough pavement in spots) than the tires...

[aus]

Originally Posted by Fen335i

^ good to hear...thanks. Yea, I ran the PS2's last summer at the track. Given my abilities, they seemed to hold up ok...but I did notice that they chunked a little bit and the shoulders showed a lot of wear. That's probably more to do with the track (rough pavement in spots) than the tires...

PS2's have very soft sidewalls, so they'll roll over very easily and rub the edges.

[kartracer12]

Where do you mark the tires to determine rollover? What do you use to do the marking?

[aus]

There's some kind of calk or grease pen you use to mark up the side of the tire from the edge of the tread to part way up the sidewall. After a session, you see how much is rubbed off.

[HapaM3]

Has anyone taken tire temps to determine the right pressure to run R-S3s? I cannot rely on a recommendation without some hard data. Subjective feel isn't good enough. If the recommended cold pressure for street driving is around 34psi (tires are not going to heat up much for city driving) then, under track conditions, you would be aiming for hot pressures of about the same.

I just found a thread on another vehicle and they stated a Hankook rep suggests running R-S3s at 35-36 psi hot.

[surlynkid]

I used to run them and nowhere near that hot. 37-38 hot.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by surlynkid

I used to run them and nowhere near that hot. 37-38 hot.

This

Usually start at 29 cold and eventually get to 37 hot

[M3 Number 86]

i liked them lower for some reason.

34 hot. i usually drop to 24 cold. but i slide a lot lol.

[okusa]

I used to run them and found that 36 hot was best.

[beats]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

This

Usually start at 29 cold and eventually get to 37 hot

same here

[surlynkid]

Sounds like 37 is a pretty solid answer.

[///Mobbin]

Originally Posted by surlynkid

I used to run them and nowhere near that hot. 37-38 hot.

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

This

Usually start at 29 cold and eventually get to 37 hot

Originally Posted by okusa

I used to run them and found that 36 hot was best.

Originally Posted by skru_fase

same here

Originally Posted by surlynkid

Sounds like 37 is a pretty solid answer.

This. I was pretty happy with ~29 cold and 37-38 hot on 60-70 degree day.

[Shaung]

hmm.. I had professional drivers do a tire temp reading, inside, middle outside, for at my last track day and they said 34 PSI was good.

I think 34 is best and have about 15 track days on this exact tire.