During the hot summer months here in California, there's obviously been no sign of rain. Still a word of warning to those of you using these tires on the street. Although a great/grippy tire watch out for those evening sprinkler systems that deoposit water all over the road. I've already had a couple of unwanted incidents where the back tires just loose it and the car begins hydroplaining. Of course with PSM on everything remains fixable but just a word of warning Watch out for standing water, not to mention oil which seems to not go away as easily as it does in winter when it rains much more.

 

I know what you mean Shark. There is one turn in particular near my home where, late at night, sprinklers soak the pavement right at the apex. My Cups have made me paranoid of wet pavement -- gotta be careful out there.

Craig

PS: Shark, I sent you a PM last week that remains unread. Apparently the forum screens do not provide any type of indication if your inbox has a PM.

 

Heya Craig,

Glad you're ok. That's exactly what I am talking about... caught me off gaurd the first time but I straightened her out. Second time I was almost expecting it... It's got to be the transition of sudden dry to wet that it just can't handle. I've drove on them all winter and in the rain a few times (not intentionally) and they were fine. Either way, I'm a lot more careful now. Also watch out if you go on any early morning spirited canyon/mountain drives. I've gotten squirlly a few times with early morning dew and cold tires. They really need warming up. Once they're warm, they're good to go...

 

Reminds me of one of my first experiences taking a racecar to the track. I didn't have a trailer back then, and had to drive to the track on race tires. Of course there was a huge downpour and cars - regular street cars on street tires - were going off everywhere along the highway. Somehow I made it through that storm and covered the 150 miles to the track without incident. Needless to say, it was a white knuckle drive the whole way... and the racing that ensued seemed really relaxing by comparison.

 

Damn that sounds scary... glad you made it through ok

 

So how do you guys like the cups? My Pirellis seem to have enough tread to last a while longer. But, once the winter weather sets in (and the car returns from EVO with 140 more HP), I'm a little concerned about grip. Do you think that the cups would give me better mild temperature grip (say 40-70 degrees outside, dry conditions)? I'm mainly thinking about under hard acceleration during the Arizona winters. Last year (driving a stock Z06 Vette) I had pretty significant off the line grip problems. Although the 996TT has a significantly different power curve that may be less problematic off the line.

As for improved grip around corners, I always appreciate that as well. But, I am a little less concerned about that as a race car driver can always have fun around a corner, regardless of the grip provided by the tire. In fact, more grip just means increasing the odds of a speeding ticket before reaching the most enjoyable slip angle.

Yours in speed,

 

I'm not really certain of how to answer that question but a few things I've noticed (I'm on my second set).

1)It is essential you warm them up before doing any kind of spirited driving. Just like any other R compound tire, don't go canyon driving/tracking without having warmed them up.
2)On cold mornings this is especially important. I've gotten squirly failing to sufficiently warm them up.
3)Don't bother using them if you are interested in straight line acceleration. They spin and don't get traction for that sort of thing.
4)If you're into curves, I've never driven on any tire that grips as well as they do.
5)Michelin Pilot Sports are a noisy tire. They give you ample warning (aka screech) when you are pushing it too hard. The Sport Cups do not. They make no sound until your rear end starts coming out. Something new to get used to I guess...
6)They suck in standing water. Enjoy hydroplaining?
7)On the track they last so much longer than regular tires, such is life with R compounds.
8)I got about 7-8k out of my first set. Only had to replace the rears. Fronts were ok...
9)On the whole I really like them. My car is also modded so I have more HP than stock, ROW suspension and front and rear sways so my car is pretty stiff to boot. Not suprisingly the car handles better with these tires than stock but just be careful of cold temps and standing water...

 

Do you have to break them in before using on the track? What tire pressures do you run on the track (and on the street) Thanks, Rob

 

Sharkster, your feedback definitely helps. Thanks!

 

I did with my first set (a couple of hundred miles?). Second set I got heat cycled so I just went out on them...

I lower them down to 28 front and 30 rear....

 

Glad it does Stage IV must be nice!

 

Well, the one time I drove the EVO test mule, I thought it was great. Todd just picked up my car on Sunday to do the install, and I won't be able to drive it until I return home on Aug. 3. It's going to be a long and painful wait!

 

It'll be so worth it though. I've only ever heard good things about Todd @EVO.

 

I second Shark's comments. The Cups handle great in the curves -- much better than the P-Zeros. They are unstable in standing water -- much worse than the P-Zeros. They do not make noise when approaching their limit and, thus, there is little or no audible warning before the Cups break loose.

I have approx 7k miles on my Cups -- much more than I anticipated. I plan on buying 315s/235s as soon as Michelin releases the 235 Cups.

They are GREAT!

 

Yeah same here Craig. CJV mentioned we'd need some fender rolling to make the rears work...