Good Starting tyres

[Hellmun]

Well I've had my first track-day and loved it. I've hopefully got some standard 15' NB8A wheels lined up but first I need to work out which tyres to get. I was initially quite keen to go straight for Semi-slicks like the Proxes R888 or RE55's. Problem is I'm worried I'd be wasting them while I'm still learning circuits and how to drive faster. So I'm starting to consider something like T1R or the PP2's.

I have a set of 17's that the car came with which have street rubber. So I can put the 15's on only for the track so that isn't a concern. I just don't want to spend over $1000 on tyres when it's still mostly the driver being the bottleneck in posting time.

Also how many track-days are people getting out of semi-slicks before they're out of heat cycles? I plan to go to every track-day I can get to.

Finally any recommended tyre places around Wollongong?

[StanTheMan]

sounds like you need to get to some tracks with your current road tyres.

R888 sound like a real good compromise. probably will not get affected by heat cycles too much as you'll prolly have to get to & from events.

DO'1 will get rooted in No time if you drive them to & from events
but are a great semislick if you dedicate them for racing only. That means getting them to the track without driving on them. & keep them under the house ,in the dark when not in use.
Not sure what the DO2 is like. But some people prefer them.

TR-1 I'd be giving other tyres like the Azenis RT615 preferance. Sidewall on the TR-1 is pissweak. Probably not a good option for the track. Tyres ike the Azenis RT615 does not get affected by heat cycles as much (if at all)as opposed to the DO1's& 2's its a road compound with semislick tread pattern & very stiff sidewalls.
There arer a number of tyres to choose from in thast catergory. But they are(RT-615) not as good as the R888 or the DO1's & DO2's on the track.
there are other compromises which you have to be willing to put up with if you choose top get these tyres for Track & road use

I don't know anything about the RE55's

[CT]

1 got 14 track days out of a set of D01s driving to and from the track. On their last track day, I set a decent PB so they are fine with what you plan - I wouldn't be too worried about heat cycles unti you are trying to crack the last .001sec per lap. However, until you are lapping wakefield in the 1:17s on street tyres, don't bother with R tyres either as you still ahve some learning to do. Think of them as a development curve, when you've got consistent lap times on street tyres that are competitive in class, then up the ante with better equipment, ie r tyres. There are plenty of heros claiming immense driving talent with fancy tyres that aren't being used properly.

[deez]

RT615?

Last time I checked I got quoted $210 per corner for a 15\"....can't really remember whether that was 6.5 or 7\" wide though.

[Hellmun]

Biggest problem with the current wheels is that they're heavy and non-standard. I think the best starting point is keep the car in standard club class and chase down the two guys already running 1:17's on street tyres. Better benchmarking platform when learning than in modified when there's always the thought in the back of your head their car is just faster.

The single big reason I wanted the semi-slicks was consistency. I was trying each lap to focus on only 1 or 2 corners per lap to get faster. I was atleast certain to me I was taking the corner in the same line and speed on the same breaking point and 1st lap great, second lap understeering slightly and by 3rd car felt very twitchy going between understeer on entry and oversteer accelerating the same amount out. I dropped the tyre pressures towards the end on Irwin's advice to 33psi hot from the 36psi cold they'd been and that helped a little. Also found the passenger side wheels were higher pressure than the driverside by that time.

Just filled out the next track-day form and saw

Note: The definition of a standard car is one in the ‘spirit’ of as it would have left the factory, ie
No performance enhancing modifications including tyres. Yokohama AO32R’s or similar
will classify a vehicle as modified

I wonder if the RT615 would be legal.

[StanTheMan]

I wonder if the RT615 would be legal.

in Spirit....probably not. I'd be checking with Mr Michael Hicks. Shoot him an E-mail.

although its not an R compound. Its not far off it. Fairly strong sidewalls with a pretty chunky tread pattern. It could be argued that its not a proper semislick.

However with "in the spirit of things" I would say, if I had normal street tyres to keep within the sprit of things ". I'd be a little peeved if someone was allowed to run these tyres in the standard class.
But thats just me.

[manga_blue]

My idea was to run any old rubbish for the first few track days, as long as they held together. Six year old half-worn hard ex-taxi tyres were a fair match to my skill level at the time. Actually they were pretty good when the temp hit 38 degrees in the shade and everyone else's tyres were melting.

There's so much to learn when you start out. Tyres are not your biggest worries. Also there's a big risk of committing a lot of money to tyres that aren't right for what you eventually decide you want to do.

[butters]

the other argument is even if your talent isn't great track tyres would be worthwhile if you plan to get out there a bit.

my argument would be that road tyres go off to quickly out on the track. if your wanting to try and improve your times while circulating it wont be anygood trying harder each lap when the tyres are getting worse.

tracktyres would let you do a few laps before they become useless. but yes you wouldn't have to go out and buy something super soft and expensive.

other benifits are, if you have an off you won't damage your precious 17s, track tyres will probably provide a greater safty margin (you'll chicken out before you will loose grip)


i'd sudjest going out and getting some prices and aim to spend around or less then $250/tyre. possibilities:

toyo r888

falken azenis rt615(as mentioned more rd tyre, possible plus of bolting them on if you were going out on a cruise??)

Kuhmo V70A (i think thats their name)

please note: i have done one track day and have competed in hill climbs/ street sprints ON ROAD TYRES, i have found they are the limiting factor to my setup, it becomes frustrating out on the track when they get hot and I'm going to be looking into my own set of track tyers

[Matty]

I wonder if the RT615 would be legal.

in Spirit....probably not. I'd be checking with Mr Michael Hicks. Shoot him an E-mail.

although its not an R compound. Its not far off it. Fairly strong sidewalls with a pretty chunky tread pattern. It could be argued that its not a proper semislick.

However with "in the spirit of things" I would say, if I had normal street tyres to keep within the sprit of things ". I'd be a little peeved if someone was allowed to run these tyres in the standard class.
But thats just me.

Which is why such a loose term being treated as a classing rule is a crock. Either say they're OK or they're not. But that's just my 2c.