TRACKDAY : Tyres (for 18" wheels)

[neil_jdmr]

Great review ranjan,

From the catagory A tyres i also find the yoko tyres come out on top. I infact preferred them to my 888s i had previously. Now the ns2r i found awful and terrible under braking, squirmy horrid things. This has put me off trying the ar1s but since ive only heard good things. The federal 595s i thought were pretty poor compared to similar priced yokos and again they were not great under heavy braking and seemed like the sidewalls were too soft.

Ao52s next for me

[722Adam]

We use the AR-1s on our race car (BMW E36, 180bhp/tonne) as do a lot of other guys in 750MC. For the price we've found them excellent; they will put up with a 2 hour race, although you do have to manage temps towards the end. Typically we try to get away with 2 sets for a full season which isn't bad going really.

I'd put them on my RX8, but with only one set of wheels I'd be extremely wary of driving in anything but bone dry conditions on the road!

[benedwards64]

Interesting reading. I've been running a set of older R888s and a couple of sets of newer R888Rs recently (as track-day and sprint tyres respectively). The R888Rs are noticeably quicker - 3 seconds around Kendrew, for example - but really don't cope well with heat I've found. Fine for a sprint car, but given we're double driving at events we often find the first driver has the advantage with cooler tyres. The older R888s are much more consistent, and have dealt with 20-minute hard trackday sessions with no apparent loss of grip.

I've just picked up a set of Yoko Advan A052s, so will update this (if it's ok to hijack?) in a couple of weeks when we've had a chance to try them

Quick follow up on this - we completed the sprint at Blyton Park last weekend, and the A052s were really very impressive. Grip levels stayed consistent throughout the day whether on a cold or warm lap, and they're much more progressive and predictable than the R888Rs. I'd never really thought about the soft sidewalls of the Toyos before, but the Yokos (at similar pressures) were so much more stable.

To top it all off, at the end of the day we got some un-timed 'fun' runs while the track was still open - an ideal opportunity for cocking about and doing some cool skidz. Except I couldn't do any cool skidz, because I couldn't unstick the blimmin thing!

Here's a vid from Blyton if anyone's interested. My time, 1:12.8, was a full second quicker than I managed in my old 600kg 160bhp Westfield on soft compound R888s a couple of years ago



You'll notice some understeer into turn 1 and some oversteer later on in the lap. I was really, really pushing by this point and I'm pretty confident I'd have ended up in the field if I'd still been on the Toyos

[Timmy2]

What would be the best tyre size for a trackday car on PZ wheels ie 8x18

[warpc0il]

PZ wheels are the same size as all the other UK-spec Series 1's i.e. 8x18

[Conan]

What would be the best tyre size for a trackday car on PZ wheels ie 8x18

235 x 40 x 18 is a good tyre size for the RX-8
It lowers the car 7mm, gives you a wider tyre for cornering, slightly lighter, better turn in and a touch more acceleration etc, not too much drag in a straight line for decent speed.
The Federal RSR 595,s are a good value tyre with very progressive grip and you can get 9 full open pit lane track days out of a set.
Pete

[Timmy2]

I'm thinking Advan AD08Rs ,I had these on my previous track car(sapphire Cosworth) and found them very good

[benedwards64]

See my post above re: the new Advan A052s

[Conan]

I'm thinking Advan AD08Rs ,I had these on my previous track car(sapphire Cosworth) and found them very good

What horse power were you running on that ?

[Timmy2]

The Cossie was running a reliable 308 bhp with 315 lb/ft of torque
Are the Ao52s a road legall tyre?
Tim

[benedwards64]

Yep

[Timmy2]

Are they any good in the wet
How do they compare price wise with the ADo8Rs

[xamtex]

forecast for silverstone tomorrow is light rain showers...do i put my 595s on or leave the contis on???

[qwakers]

take both

[Ranjan]

Ranjan.

[Markl17]

Hi
I use Nankang na 2 r tyres.i have just taken them off to put the road wheels back on and noticed the front left has a ripple in the inner side wall I will post a pic but hard to see.
It looks like the side wall is de laminating but this is only a guess.it was very hot on Sunday and I was running the tyres at 1.7 bar hot.was this pressure to low or was it just the heat? It would be nice to have some opinions so I do not destroy any more tyres.
Also replacement recommendations would be helpful
Thanks mark

[Conan]

That’s way too low for 1500 Kls of car in that heat
You probably should have been on 32 pounds not 25
I would advise that you buy Federal 595 RSRs for track day semi slicks
Regards
Pete

[Markl17]

That’s way too low for 1500 Kls of car in that heat
You probably should have been on 32 pounds not 25
I would advise that you buy Federal 595 RSRs for track day semi slicks
Regards
Pete

Thanks Pete
I have just had a look at the federal 595 RSRs and they seam a be good value at 105 euro each do they last a decent amount of time? ( if I look after them properly)
Mark

[Markl17]

I've had 5 sets of 595 RSRs and, if dry weather is forecast, usually put the wheels on the car to drive to the circuit, do the trackday and drive back on them. I'd say I got an average of around 7 full trackdays out of them with this usage. The front outer shoulders will wear most, so swapping front and rear pairs helps even the wear a bit. I've even managed 11 trackdays by reversing a set of tyres on the rims to use the better shoulders!

Beware using these tyres in very wet conditions when tread is less than 3mm. Cornering gets quite interesting!

[Markl17]

I think I will order a set is 235/40/18 the best size to buy for stock wheels? This is the size of the nankangs I wrecked.
Thanks mark

[Markl17]

Yep, that's the size I've been using

[Markl17]

Looks like the pressure was too low and you might have hooked a curb.

[Markl17]

The curb are very tempting there,
Mark

[Conan]

Hi Mark,
235x40 is the best size for most on track or road.
The Federal RSRs are good value for money and can last approx 9 open pit lane track days
depending on conditions and driver. You can run them at 30 psi on road and 32 on track, they have a stiff sidewall.
You should run camber of 11/2 to 2 degrees depending on speed of cornering and front wheels straight ahead.
Curbs are there to drive on ( there part of the track )
And what Casey (Malcolm) said
Have fun
Pete

[warpc0il]

Riding the curbs is fine, it's just when you drop in the hole just beyond the curb that it can hurt.

Saw an MX-5 "track weapon" completely remove the inner bead from the rim doing this at Kirkistown, despite the warning in the briefing, and the holes being pointed-out in the pre-start track walk.