[mrCBR600]

So I have the stock Runflast on there now, almost brand new. Or I have some almost brand new Continental Contisportcontact3's I could run. Which one would be the better performer?

[The HACK]

Is this your first school, or have you done a handful of schools already?

If it's your first school, it doesn't really matter which one will perform better. YOU are still the limiting factor of the car's ability. If you've done a dozen events already, then you probably won't even be asking this question.

Believe it or not, people b*tch and complain about the run-flats and its performance draw-backs probably don't know what they're talking about. The latest generation of run-flats are nearly as grippy as the best of traditional tires. The big difference is the über stiff sidewall of the run-flats actually act as a stiffer spring for the suspension and will give you better turn-in feel at the expense of acceleration and braking since they're heavier than their traditional counterparts. I've taken the Bridgestone RFTs on the track and the draw-backs and benefits just about cancel each other out. The only PROBLEM with using run-flats for the track is they're freakishly expensive to replace once they wear down/out.

[J Tyler]

Originally Posted by mrCBR600

So I have the stock Runflast on there now, almost brand new. Or I have some almost brand new Continental Contisportcontact3's I could run. Which one would be the better performer?

To answer your question, which is apparently too much for some people to handle: the Conti's. By quite a bit. They are not a bad tire at all.

Originally Posted by The HACK

Is this your first school, or have you done a handful of schools already?

If it's your first school, it doesn't really matter which one will perform better. YOU are still the limiting factor of the car's ability. If you've done a dozen events already, then you probably won't even be asking this question.

Believe it or not, people b*tch and complain about the run-flats and its performance draw-backs probably don't know what they're talking about. The latest generation of run-flats are nearly as grippy as the best of traditional tires. The big difference is the über stiff sidewall of the run-flats actually act as a stiffer spring for the suspension and will give you better turn-in feel at the expense of acceleration and braking since they're heavier than their traditional counterparts. I've taken the Bridgestone RFTs on the track and the draw-backs and benefits just about cancel each other out. The only PROBLEM with using run-flats for the track is they're freakishly expensive to replace once they wear down/out.

- The latest run-flats are nowhere near as grippy as the latest high-end street tires when being used at a 'hot' operating temp.
- There are absolutely zero performance "benefits" to run-flat tires.
- Universal proven fact about tires that you apparently are not aware of: Stiffer tire spring rate = less grip.
- Other than RFT's being a big waste of money, major problems include: They are very slow (2-3s/lap slower than a good performance street tire per my back-to-back testing), they overheat horribly after about half a lap at a 9-10/10ths driving pace, the rubber on the edges of the tire that the sidewalls ride on deteriorates and disintegrates rapidly on track unless you run them at a high enough pressure to force the tire to carry most of the load in it's center.

OP - since it was brought up, how experienced are you? If you are literally just starting out, the RunFlats are fine. If you have enough experience that you are able to push the car near/on the limit for a complete lap at one time, I'd put the Conti's on, no question. They'll be more consistent over the course of your ~20-min sessions, and they will give you much better steering feedback than the RFT's. This is getting a little technical, but basically: the stiffer a tire is, the more difficult it is to feel what slip angle it's peak grip occurs at.

$.02

[z3papa]

+1 for the Conti's. You wouldn't want to go to a HPDE and find out the runflats were not up for the event and either have an incident or drive well below what you may be comfortable with on better tires.