Anyone tried Federal 595-RSRs?

[Ian Lockwood]

I'm very tempted to get a set of Team Dynamics wheels for track. The question is what tyres to put on them. I know people who have used Federal 595 RSRs on other cars and rate them and at £350 for a set in our sizes, they're less than half the price of Avon ZZRs or pretty much anything else.

However, they need to be notably better than Corsas on track otherwise there's no point spending over £1k to get a set of wheels and tyres specifically for the job, as I might as well keep using my road wheels/tyres.

Has anyone tried them on an Exige V6 and would you say they were better than the Pirelli Corsas?

[313]

I am also very interested in those tyres... Did really nobody try them?

Elise owners were very pleased and said they might even be better on slightly heavier cars. Sounds ideal for the V6...

In late June I will need new tyres, might give them a try...

Edited May 23, 2016 by 313
Typo

[Freejack]

Some of my Porsche friends are running them on older 911 and were really satisfied. Best compromise between price and performance, but of course not better than Pirelli Corsa.

[Ian Lockwood]

OK, so do people think that the 595s are no better than a Corsa?

I was under the impression that the 595 RS-R is a proper track tyre (like a Trofeo), not a road tyre that can be used on track (like the Corsa)? There wouldn't be any point getting a spare set of wheels and tyres just to get the same level of grip on track as I already have!

[Freejack]

17 hours ago, Ian Lockwood said:

I was under the impression that the 595 RS-R is a proper track tyre (like a Trofeo), not a road tyre that can be used on track (like the Corsa)?

Ian, just from the rule of economy this is impossible.

[Ian Lockwood]

Well, is it? Are you saying that more expensive tyres are automatically better?

The Far East brands are very keen to get into the European premium market, hence you can now get track tyres from Nankang (I think!?) They're cheaper than the European brands by some way. I have no idea if they're as good, but the chances are they're not bad. Say they're 50% of the cost of a Trofeo, I'm willing to bet they're more than 50% as good, even if they don't quite match the Trofeo. It's then a question of where you want to sit on the price:performance ratio.

It's also possible that great road tyres can be more expensive than good track tyres, but the track tyres still deliver better dry grip at high temperatures.

So this is my question - on track, does the P Zero Corsa offer better dry grip than the Federal 595 RS-R?

[Arun_D]

I must admit, my understanding was that the 595 RS-Rs were more the road-legal trackday tyre akin to a Trofeo, than 'merely' a high performance summer road tyre like the Corsa.

[Ian Lockwood]

Just chucking these into the equation too: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/competition-tyres/nankang-ar-1-tyre

Rumour has it they don't last that long but grip like billy-o, so I probably won't try these, but at that price if they perform as well as Trofeos, they might be of interest to some. Looks like you'd have to use a 45 profile for the fronts though.

[Neal H]

Are List 1C tyres road legal? Those Nankangs look like they'd be positively dangerous on the road!!

[Arun_D]

Description and Q&A says it's e-marked so all good for road use!

[Ian Lockwood]

13 minutes ago, Neal H said:

Are List 1C tyres road legal? Those Nankangs look like they'd be positively dangerous on the road!!

It does say "approved for road use" in that Demon Tweeks listing, but likewise I thought they looked pretty "interesting" for the road.

[qwerty123]

I have used and am still using both the Nankang NS2r and the Federal 595 Rsr tyres. I use them for road use and racing my Esprit. Both road legal.

Impressions after 2 years:

Federals are a medium hard tyre and require dry and warm roads to get up to temp to get the most out of them. I under steered badly in the wet and in the cold. They simply do not warm up enough to grip safely on a cold or cold/wet morning. On a warm day they are however, not bad at all but bear in mind the frost or rain the following morning and they become not very grippy at all. 

I switched to Nankang NS2R (I use 120 compound which is soft-ish. You can get 180 which is street compound or medium and 100 / 80 compound for racing / sprinting)

They are much better in the cold and/or wet. Do not require heat to make them work and are ok in the wet due to the tread. My under steering went away. Good tyre.

They are both available, affordable (cheap?) and are used around the bizarres where I race with success. Nankang are making a new track tyre (AR1) too which is a bit more extreme (bit like R888 or ZZR) but still affordable.

Hope that helps.

Dom

 

nb. You may have to look at what cold pressure to set before tracking them otherwise they may overheat.

Edited May 26, 2016 by qwerty123

[Ian Lockwood]

Thanks Dom, that's very useful info. Would you say the NS2R lasts about as long as the 595 RSRs?

[qwerty123]

Quote

.

I've tracked at Silverstone and raced at Croft on both tyres and done maybe 2000 road miles and they are still good, plenty of tread. I can't say if they will last as long or longer, different tyres. Both are lasting well though and as they are so affordable and available who cares!

Also, I have heard very good stuff about Avon ZZRs, apparently they are in the top 3 track tyres but again, it depends a lot on conditions, temps and pressures, moisture etc. It's the Lotus on Track (racing) control tyre I understand which speaks volumes...

Edited May 27, 2016 by qwerty123

[313]

I found some feedback on the 595 rsr in an Facebook group by a V6 owner.

The short summary after the first km:

Grip better than Pirelli (I suppose Corsa), clear response from the tire, a bit more sensitive to lane grooves.

And after 8.000km with some mountain passes:

Still enough tread; outstanding grip in the wet (he drove the passes in the wet); grip in the dry "good" (not far away from Toyo888)

In summary very pleased and he will buy them again.

This review made me decide to try them as well...

Edited June 23, 2016 by 313

[Ian Lockwood]

Thanks Marc, that's useful, good find! Interesting that this chap was using them on the road - I presume from the comments that he is referring to road rather than track use anyway.

[313]

That's my impression as well - but there was no additional information other than in my post.

[ratmbe]

Hi, do you have any news regarding this tire reference?

[313]

No, I did not investigate further. I am on AD08R now and very pleased overall...

[piwo]

www.trackdayforum.com/uploads/monthly_2020_06/opony22.png.a7c39e7a641efac896ee8d32687f98d8.png 

https://racingtires.pl/pliki/RacingTires_TEST_OPON.pdf

myślę, że ZZR będzie 0,3s szybciej niż FZ201 I A052 0,2s szybciej niż ZZR.

Edited July 11, 2020 by piwo