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Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
3/9/23 9:00 a.m.

Confession time: We’ve been keeping secrets. It started innocently enough, with an email from a manufacturer asking us to find out how its new tire stacked up against the competition. 

But this tire wasn’t yet available to the general public, and our testing would have to be confi…

Read the rest of the story

avboiler11
avboiler11
3/9/23 9:14 a.m.

Excellent results!  

Is there a list of all sizes that will be offered with the new compound?

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
3/9/23 9:21 a.m.

In reply to avboiler11 :

Good question. Let me see if I can track down some sort of sizing information.

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr PowerDork
3/9/23 10:14 a.m.

Any idea when these will be available and how they will be differentiated from the older crs?

It was mentioned in the story above, but to reiterate... everything with a 2023 DOT build date code is the new version.

besimxcars
besimxcars
3/9/23 10:20 a.m.

Do we know who we can get the new compound from in the US and when they are available for purchase? I was just about to pull the trigger on some RE71RS but now it's in the air. Although that Costco rebate for Bridgestone is tempting...

Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
3/9/23 10:36 a.m.

Full list of CRS sizes for 2023:

 245/40ZR15, 225/45ZR15, 205/50R15, 195/50R15, 195/50ZR16, 275/35ZR17, 255/40ZR17, 245/40ZR17, 235/40ZR17, 215/40ZR17, 235/45ZR17, 225/45ZR17, 215/45ZR17, 335/30ZR18, 315/30ZR18, 295/30ZR18, 285/30ZR18, 295/35ZR18, 275/35ZR18, 265/35ZR18, 255/35ZR18, 275/40ZR18, 245/40ZR18, 235/40ZR18, 225/40ZR18, 325/30ZR19, 305/30ZR19, 295/30ZR19, 265/30ZR19, 275/35ZR19, 265/35ZR19, 245/35ZR19, 235/35ZR19, 325/30ZR20, 305/30ZR20, 285/30ZR20, 265/35ZR20, 255/35ZR20, 245/35ZR20, 325/30ZR21, 315/30ZR21

Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
3/9/23 10:38 a.m.
besimxcars said:

Do we know who we can get the new compound from in the US and when they are available for purchase? I was just about to pull the trigger on some RE71RS but now it's in the air. Although that Costco rebate for Bridgestone is tempting...

Containers are on the water.  Latest info is "mid-March".  But container shipping is kind of a grey area these days.

Nankang's largest retailer is Phil's Tire Service.  Gspeed and Touge Factory are also dealers

Captdownshift (Forum Supporter)
Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
3/9/23 11:04 a.m.

195 50 15s will even play on my 6.5" wide wheels. Everything's coming up Milhouse! 

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
3/9/23 11:10 a.m.

In reply to Andy Hollis :

Thanks Andy!

avboiler11
avboiler11 New Reader
3/9/23 11:41 a.m.

In reply to Andy Hollis :

Thank you for posting the 2023 sizes, Andy!

ronbauer
ronbauer New Reader
3/9/23 12:08 p.m.

Great info here Andy!  It'll be interesting to see how they compare on the autocross course as well, but this seems quite promising, with hopefully better availability than the other contenders.

Quick question, the old CR-S felt more similar to the A052 than a typical Bridgestone (I haven't driven on the RE-71RS,) in that it liked a little more slip angle vs the Bridestones being very crisp, but also harder to recover a slide.  Do you feel the new tire follows along in that vein?

Ron

Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
3/9/23 1:14 p.m.
ronbauer said:

 

Quick question, the old CR-S felt more similar to the A052 than a typical Bridgestone (I haven't driven on the RE-71RS,) in that it liked a little more slip angle vs the Bridestones being very crisp, but also harder to recover a slide.  Do you feel the new tire follows along in that vein?

Ron

Hey Ron,

 

the new CRS drives nothing like the old one, nor the A052.  It's more like the RE71RS in feel, once up to temp.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter)
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) UltimaDork
3/9/23 9:12 p.m.

Next year I'm expecting to be using these for my heat of summer Florida autocross tire. I have a set of the Rival 1.5 that I'll need to use up first, and I've got a set of the new RE-71rs (great tire) that I'll keep using until temperatures here hit the mid nineties.

I'm wondering how the 225/45-15 will fit on the six inch wheels on my E Street miata. That size Rival works fine on the narrow wheels.

malibuguy
malibuguy HalfDork
3/9/23 10:07 p.m.

If the pricing on PTS is of the new stuff...

Ill stick with the cheaper Falken 660s that seemingly more or less perform just the same in an autoX environment

I would only consider these if they were cheaper (by a decent margin) or significantly faster

Nockenwelle
Nockenwelle New Reader
3/10/23 12:40 a.m.

I've been disappointed with the AR-1, but these results tempt me to try the CR-S instead of the RT-660 I was planning for the next set. Thanks for the thorough work and keeping things interesting!

Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
3/10/23 7:41 a.m.
malibuguy said:

If the pricing on PTS is of the new stuff...

Ill stick with the cheaper Falken 660s that seemingly more or less perform just the same in an autoX environment

I would only consider these if they were cheaper (by a decent margin) or significantly faster

Revised CRS are significantly faster than 660's.  

A052, RE71RS and new CRS are all in the same pace ballpark, albeit with different heat characteristics and feel.  660 is consistently slower.  I have sets of all four that I rotate through on a regular basis. 
 

"Speed costs money...how fast can you afford to go?"

Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
3/10/23 7:44 a.m.
Nockenwelle said:

I've been disappointed with the AR-1, ..

Ditto.  We've tested them twice now.  Better with a few heat cycles but still...

They were actually part of the first round of new CRS testing but Nankang asked us not to share the results.  wink

Read the first paragraph of this and you can deduce how they ranked==> AR1 vs CRS

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr PowerDork
3/10/23 7:51 a.m.

Any thoughts on making these last in an endurance race setting?

 

Do they like more or less camber?  What sorts of pressures?

 

Thanks!

 

dean1484
dean1484 MegaDork
3/10/23 8:03 a.m.

I have not read a tire review in a while mostly because I don't have a car that needs a 200 TW tire but the format and real world info you provided is excellent!  I particularly found the tire ware info extremely interesting.  When I was involved in endurance racing this info would have been invaluable back in the day. 
 

Saving two or three pit stops over a race can easily provide you with a 5 to 10 lap advantage over your competitors.  This is particularly important in cars that get better fuel economy. Like the Miata.  

Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
3/10/23 10:03 a.m.
wvumtnbkr said:

Any thoughts on making these last in an endurance race setting?

 

Do they like more or less camber?  What sorts of pressures?

 

Thanks!

 

I expect these to become the new hotness for 200tw enduros lasting 8-9 hours.  People are already getting RE71RS to last that long and these wear 20-30% better.  Might even be able to get up to 12 hours on a well-balanced, not over-driven setup.

Pressures anywhere from 28-34 hot, depending on application.  We found similar pace across a wide range, but slightly more even wear at the higher numbers.

We're down to 2/32nds on the one set and they are still producing the fastest laps ever on that car.  Starting to get a little more edgy, and definitely need more laps to fully warm-up due to less squirm, but not heat cycled out at all.  Impressive tire.

Based on wear, they seem to need less camber than an A052 and similar to an RE71RS. 

Captdownshift (Forum Supporter)
Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
3/10/23 10:17 a.m.

In reply to Andy Hollis :

That last post is the best sounding news as of yet. Now for a vendor to get the 195s in 

ross2004
ross2004 Reader
3/10/23 10:42 a.m.

We could get 8 hours out of the front's on our Prelude with the original compound (245/40/15). Fast from start to finish, and didn't seem bothered by heat cycles. We got the most even wear at about -2.25* camber and 34# hot. It's an awesome tire. 

Bigben151
Bigben151 New Reader
3/10/23 11:15 a.m.

really great review as usual, really interested in seeing how they perform in autox compared to the A052 and RT660. Great size choice for the 15'' croud also.

pgorman70442
pgorman70442
3/12/23 8:47 a.m.

Were you able to do any testing in an autocross setting with the tires? I'm curious to see how the New CR-S compares to the A052 in something like back-to-back autocross runs, as I know the old version of the CR-S (which I currently run) needed a good bit of heat to get into its operating window. I will be competing in several muscle car autocross events throughout the year and will be deciding between the new CR-S and A052 as an autocross tire for the year. 

84FSP
84FSP UberDork
3/12/23 12:31 p.m.

Hmm this is relevant to my interest.  Rabbit needs new shoes. Maybe these are worth the cost increase over the Kumho V730's sitting in my shopping cart currently.

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