4th lap on the Vitour P1. Still learning how they perform, too much understeer in places that I addressed the following day, but even with trraffic, this was a 7:21 BTG. Pretty pleased with that.

​My Thoughts on the Vitour P1 tyre. 

Here's a lap of the Nurburgring on the new Vitour P1 that a few people have tried with varying views. 255/35 R18 on a 9J front and 315/30 R18 on 11J rear.

​I’ve had a few laps on the Vitour P1 tyres now, and I wanted to share some initial thoughts. To give some context, my previous tyres were the A052s. 

I ran the A052's in the morning and P1 after lunch for a same day, same driver, Circuit and condition test. 

The circuit was the Nurburgring on the Destination Nürburgring Track Days trackday last week. I've done over 3,500 laps around there. Car is an Audi R8 V10 Manual Coupe, with custom Ohlins TTX, front - 3degree 15 min, slight toe out. Rear 2degrees 20min, slight toe in. Ambient temp was around 20 degrees C.

Warm up, as expected was slower than with the A052. If I was racing I'm not sure it'd warm up quick enough. For trackdays it's absolutely fine. 

​Right off the bat, the initial turn-in feels excellent and is noticeably improved over the A052. This is likely due to a stiffer sidewall, which is definitely something you can feel. However, that excellent turn-in makes it easier to overwhelm them, which is where the tyre squeal comes in.

​Mid-corner, the tyre squeal is more pronounced and has a unique sound. It’s not bad, just different. This squeal, however, provides very audible feedback when you're getting close to the limit or when you are overloading the tyre and inducing understeer. It's actually can be quite useful as it tells you if you are being too aggressive on your steering. If you ease off the steering a fraction, the squeal immediately stops.

​The grip is there, but it feels different to get into. The A052s felt like they "gripped up" as you leaned into a corner, with the grip rising to a plateau. With the P1s, it feels more immediate. The rise to that same plateau is steeper, which means you get less feedback on the initial turn of the wheel. It’s more a case of having to expect the grip rather than easing into it.
I found myself making more minor steering corrections from corner entry to apex than with the A052's. 

​When it comes to breakaway, the P1s are progressive and not snappy. I found that if you apply too much power, the rear traction will break, but it's controllable and not sudden.

​In terms of performance, I ran a 7:21.8 BTG lap with the P1s, which is a fraction better than my A052 lap of 7:22.4. The P1 lap, however, had more traffic, so the lap time is basically the same. This is after six laps on the tyres, plus two warm-up laps to heat cycle them. I'm running them at 31psi (2.1 bar).

The outer wide band is wearing evenly, the next strip is wearing in a wedge shape, more on the part nearest the outside.

So far wear is noticeably less than I had with the A052's, but I need to do more miles to get a better understanding of wear. 

Overall I like them, the initial turn in feels sharper, but less communication during the gripping up phase of that action. Not huge, but less than the A052. 

I'll be testing them at Monza in 2 weeks, back to back with the A052 which is a much shorter circuit.




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