Ten years ago, before they were known as “super-200s,” a new range of high-performance summer tires had become so popular, the rest of the best had to take notice. Japanese manufacturers had introduced these versatile tires several years prior, and with their wider range of abilities, these super-200s put performance on par with versatility, road manners, and reasonable cost.
The hope was that a dependable track-oriented tire with streeting pretensions and few shortcomings would appeal to the track driver-cum-time attacker looking for something low-effort and high-reward; something they could use for fast laps and long commutes.
The wide range of abilities came at the cost of outright speed. Earliest versions of these tires lacked a little in peak performance and consistency across track sessions compared to the contemporary R-compound tires like the Maxxis RC-1. However, many were willing to look past this because the first Maxxis offering in this category, the Victra VR-1, made up for its small shortcoming with its durability and affordability.
Add to those qualities a benign breakaway and better wet weather ability than some rivals on the market, and the VR-1 quickly established itself among the 200-treadwear max summer tires with a sizable following. These qualities made it a noted contender in endurance settings and, due to its relatively deep tread depth, as a rain tire in NASA Spec E30.
“The Super-200 category was never a volume pusher, but the praise they started getting forced other manufacturers to take notice and step their game up,” said Walter Chen, Product Strategist at Maxxis.
The Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R, the tire that set the benchmark for outright speed in the super-200 category, converted more weekend warriors to this class of tire. “The RE-71R was wildly faster than the competitors,” Chen added.
Others responded, but the RE-71R remained the preferred choice for many due to its dry weather performance advantage. Though a compound update several years later improved the VR-1’s outright speed and consistency, some still wanted a little more peak performance.
Maxxis listened to its customers and used their feedback to refine the VR-1. The new version would need to be more focused, more responsive, and grippier without losing the VR-1’s communicability and the agreeable handling characteristics that made it so easy to come to terms with.
With these priorities set, Maxxis set about designing the Victra VR-2. Pulling from experience designing the track-only RC-1 and its racing history, Maxxis reduced the depth of the treads to minimize block flex, and opted for an asymmetrical pattern to improve cornering speed with bigger tread blocks on the outer shoulder for maximum dry-weather performance.
Inside the tire, the construction was reworked considerably. The VR-2 features a reinforced bead area with two high-tensile-strength steel belts and a spiral wound nylon cap. Engineers used a super high turnup sidewall ply for improved lateral stiffness and response.
Additionally, the VR-2 uses a new Carbon Black compound designed to switch on quickly for accessible performance on autocrosses or chilly, early morning lapping sessions. Peak grip is available from the second hot lap, and grip does not diminish much at all over the course of a session, making it a versatile tire for logging laps as well as setting the quick one to boast about.
Like the Bridgestone RE-71RS, the new Victra VR-2 is a +1.0 tire in the Super Touring and Time Trial rules.
“You can maintain that pace within a half-second for the rest of the session,” said Justin Ross, driver of the Magic Developed E46, added.
At Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, Ross set his fastest lap on his VR2s’ seventh heat cycle: a 1:37.8 in a 2,770-pound, with driver, E36 M3 making 212 horsepower at the tires. “We put eight heat cycles in the tires that weekend and we saw little to no drop-off,” he began, “and I know they have another dozen left in them.”
Elie Mansour, a Spec E30 racer who uses a set of VR-2s on his Time Trial E46 M3, has found them dependable and remarkably consistent. “The tires have about six track days on them, and altogether, I think between 12 to 15 heat cycles. Like I said, before it ran a 1:20 [at Streets of Willow]. We went two weeks ago – 90 degrees in the same configuration – and after five track days, it ran a 1:21 in the scorching heat.”
Equally important to the track rat and time attacker alike is the way tires provide feedback, and the quality of that feedback. The VR-2 has been received well among novice and intermediate drivers, who rely on telltale signs of slip far more than the advanced driver. Mansour, a highly experienced driver who coaches many novices, elaborated on why:
“Our BMWs are famous for going into ice mode [under braking], so I noticed with the VR-2, it kinda minimizes it. If you have to swing it or adjust it, it’s very predictable and it gives you feedback under braking,” Mansour began.
“At the exit, if I’m completely transparent, the lateral grip on that tire stands above every Super 200 tire that I’ve driven before,” he adds. “Once you punch it, it does get loose a little bit, but I’ve noticed it’s more of a power-slide than a drift; it keeps pushing the car forward.”
“It’s super easy to control. So even if it slides a little bit, it gives you warning at the edge, and you can control it and keep going. So it comes in handy for, like a beginner driver, it’s forgiving, or an experienced driver who knows how to modulate it to go faster,” Mansour added.
There are other factors that contribute to consistency and a sense of harmony between car and driver. “They communicate, too. They’re not noisy, but you do get a lot of feedback through the wheel. They tell you what they’re doing,” Ross relayed.
The VR-2 has been able to provide in a real way for those looking to set personal bests. “The VR-2, in terms of dry performance, is close to the RE-71RS. It’s marginally slower, however, you can get more fast laps at a consistent time than the other ones and it doesn’t drop drastically like those others,” Mansour concluded.
The compound retains silica fillers to maintain solid performance in wet weather, but if that peak grip and consistency comes at a price, it might be its wet weather-ability. “The VR-1 had the tread grooves to move standing water. The VR-2 is fine in damp and drying conditions, but it is too focused to be as capable in a downpour. You won’t be caught out if it starts to rain, but there are better options for heavy rain. Put it this way: we went out in a storm and we kept it on track,” Ross said.
“They can be used for endurance racing if you know how to drive them well. Endurance race teams do use the VR-2, but they have to leave some margin, massage and manage the temperature range,” Chen elaborated.
That temperature range is a factor at the lower end, too. “It takes a couple of laps to get up to temperature if it’s cold outside,” Mansour noted.
Fortunately, this improvement in speed hasn’t come with any other shortcomings. It’s proven versatile on the street, too. The VR-2 is quiet at highway speeds and not at all harsh over bumps.
Ross has seen no decrease in performance yet, and he’s tested the sister car on another set that performed over 20 cycles. He’s confident they’ll be able to carry him over another race weekend.
Maxxis is confident that this current design is in no need of an update anytime soon. “Since getting the right compound requires time and resources, we made sure this new tire performed well from the start. So far, we have had no issues or complaints from anyone, so there is no need for any update,” Chen said.
And why should it? Addressing its predecessor’s main shortcoming has given the VR-2 a new personality that will undoubtedly find it new homes in varied settings. Drivers who’ve already committed to this tire in its first six months on the market, and have tuned their cars to suit it, have already found a host of uses for it. Surely, they won’t be the last.
