I signed up for phase 1 and 2 of the New York Evo school in a few weeks.

I'm assuming everyone takes the school on street tires since 20 to 40 runs for each day can use up a set of R compounds. Right now I have 45 runs on mine and want them to last the season, another 4 events at about 8 runs each.

Is there anything unusual I should expect for the weekend.... besides a ton of vehicular abuse?

Hoping for no rain!

You assume wrong.

I would be willing to run a decent set of R-comps at an EVO school just due to the VAST difference that the instructors can show you. Don't take brand new tires but a flipped set of hoosiers work well enough and are miles ahead of street tires.

Plus the school helps you in race trim...not street trim. Why learn to do something on streets that you will just throw out the window when you get back to r-comps???

The biggest thing I learned was the amount of slip angle a well set up car can take and how much "wind up" you get from that. Every corner was like getting shot out of a cannon.

To summarize: BRING THE GOOD STUFF!!!!

No, from what I've seen, most use race tires, though you'll even see some all seasons. I have generally either picked up a set of used race tires, or put off buying fresh tires until after the school.

Evolution isn't all THAT hard on tires, because if you are abusing your tires, the instructor will probably fix that

I only budget for 1 set of tires a season, and I flipped the before the last event. That also means I have to tow the trailer through New York Citty!!!!

I see your point and can't really argue. Maybe I'll just bring them for Phase 2.

If your worried about that...phase 1 is more important.

Run phase2 on the streets. I plan on taking another phase 1 next year and then a challenge if i can.

So is phase 2 no good?

I've been autocrossing for 12 years and have a bunch of bad habits to get rid of... along with learning new stuff.

Phase 1 drills the basics home and those elements will be at EVERY autox course you ever run. So it is best to have the sticky tires so that you can feel how the car behaves in those elements.

Phase 2 is great as well but I feel that retaking phase 1 is better bang for my buck and I just want to do the challenge school. Phase 2 is more about showing you the important things to look for in a course...you can drive the proper line of the course on streets but just alot slower than you can on r-comps.

I am looking at taking phase 1 again as evo school was my first try with the car and i really need to work more on my car placement and becoming more consistant.

But both phase 1 and 2 are good to take its just I would rather retake phase 1 than retake phase 2.

I took phase 1 and phase 2 back to back originally, and used to repeat phase 1 and/or phase 2 (whichever was available) every spring as a refresher. I haven't done it recently due to family health issues, but I could still benefit from it, and it does help clear the cobwebs.

Phase 1 is about the basics or mechanics, but I'd describe phase 2 as being more about the mental game.

You do need to take phase 1 first, but personally, phase 2 is the one to repeat later. Once you get the mechanics down and break any bad habits the first time you take phase 1, there won't really be anything new if you take it again. The segment times are cool though. I always learn something new in phase 2.

I haven't had an opportunity to take the Challenge or Extreme classes.

Tire abuse depends a lot on the car. Most GM F-Bods are pretty easy on tires. Our camber-challenged SVO, OTOH, would use up front tires pretty regularly. I wouldn't think of taking it to a Phase 1 or 2 with Dot-R tires. I've seen people burn up sticker Dot-Rs, as well as street tires at these events. When my wife and I take these schools, we usually bring separate cars, on street tires. That way we don't worry about overheating a car, cooking a set of tires, or having to rush to swap drivers around.

Whatever tires you use, use something you won't have to worry about. The point of the Phase 1 and 2 schools is to learn skills that you can apply in any car, with any tire. You just need to be able to concentrate on learning those skills instead of worrying if you have any cord showing. Yes, you can learn a bunch near the limit on a set of Dot-Rs, but there are plenty of useful skills to be learned on street tires. You'll learn to not be late in a slalom just as well on expen$ive racing tires as on your DD street tires.

Go have fun. And yeah, the school is a lot more enjoyable if it doesn't rain.

Been there, done that, in heavy rain on a set of shaved and used Victoracers I bought for the school

My street tires are at least 6 year old Kumho 712s. They still have a bunch of life left in them, but they have to be past their prime.


Thanks for all the insight, looks like I'll decide which tires to use the night before based on weather.