Trackday tyre dilemma

[gwp]

Bit of help needed deciding on what tyres to buy. They'll be for track use only, pretty much exclusively Anglesey and Oulton Park, and shod on R15 5.5" steelies - don't know if that would need any consideration with sidewall stiffness? Car won't be caged and will be driven to and from the track with the same set on, albeit with a set of PE2's in the boot, so no full on slicks.

Budget is approximately £300 fitted. May be able to stretch that to an extra £50 but definitely no more. Examples I've found within that budget are; Federal RSR, Yokohama AD08, Maxsport RB5 & Toyo R1R.

Main consideration for me would be durability and hence why I haven't included more 'normal' road tyres such as Toyo T1R / Proxes etc. Is it a wrong asumaption these won't be as durable on track?

After reading copious amounts of info on various forums I feel I know less now then when I first started! Am I in dream land hoping to find some tyres at the price that'll last up to 8 trackdays??

Cheers
Pete

 

[Sir_Dave]

Nearly new R888's?

 

[gwp]

They'd be spot on. Know where to find or anyone selling nearly new R888's?

 

[George K]

5.5 is far too narrow for anything other than a 175 tyre!! Track tyres would need to be a hard compound to give good wear and you will need negative on the front to even out the wear.

 

[gwp]

All the tyre manufacturers state a 5.5" rim can accomodate up to 195, although they don't state if that's pushing the boundary!

 

[Sir_Dave]

They'd be spot on. Know where to find or anyone selling nearly new R888's?

eBay

Re: the steelies, i'd be a little worried about brake cooling as well as their slight narrowness.

 

[gwp]

Ah good 'ol ebay. Had a browse on there earlier R888 15 now in saved searhces

I've never found a problem with steelies on previous cars, 106 Rallye & Golf Mk2, so long as the pads, discs and fluid are up to it. Obviously the Trophy is faster and heavier so we'll see how it goes. Gone for EBC Bluestuff NDX pads, Godspeed discs, braided lines and Castrol super reponse fluid so hopefully it'll go nicely.

 

[aucky]

Have a look at Hankook RS2's

 

[Sir_Dave]

Ah good 'ol ebay. Had a browse on there earlier R888 15 now in saved searhces

I've never found a problem with steelies on previous cars, 106 Rallye & Golf Mk2, so long as the pads, discs and fluid are up to it. Obviously the Trophy is faster and heavier so we'll see how it goes. Gone for EBC Bluestuff NDX pads, Godspeed discs, braided lines and Castrol super reponse fluid so hopefully it'll go nicely.

Hmmm, personally, unless you've already ordered the Bluestuff garbage, id not bother, & perhaps try an obtain a refund. For track, its umm sh1t lol. Godspeed gave out free sets on CS and most people binned them iirc.

Standard discs & DS2500's are all you need, unless you want something a little more hardcore ie PF97, or Carbon Lorraines. Then simply remove the fog lights & arch liners.

I havent even got braided lines. More of a placebo than a life saver imho.

 

[George K]

All the tyre manufacturers state a 5.5" rim can accomodate up to 195, although they don't state if that's pushing the boundary!

For track work sidewall stability is key to both handling and tyre wear - otherwise you will be running on the 'letters'. I personally would not go over 5.5 x 30 = 165!! This is a guideline which has worked well for many cars over many years.

 

[keith185]

Anglesey is quite hard on brakes so if you are going to be running steel wheels deffinately need to sort some cooling to them either ducting or as sir_dave mentioned liners out.

The kerbs at Anglesey are quite big if you do go over them too much so I'd really keep eye out for some 15" alloys for future use.

8 trackdays are bit too much to ask out of a set of tyres, especailly if you want them to be legal to drive home. R888 medium compound would stretch to 3 trackdays for me at Anglesey.

 

[pete g]

You have wrong ref the; Track day tyres better than Normal ones for durability...

Track day tyres are soft for more grip, faster lap times, they will wear quicker!

Soft 888s/048Rs/Soft Khumos are soft.

R1Rs/Hard Khumos are in middle.

T1Rs PE2s + most else normal road tyres are relatively hard and will best for your 8 TDs

But dont over drive, if you go charging into corners esp with std geom you will kill the outside front edges.

The odd 1or 2 secs / lap does not matter for TDs, the softs are really designed for sprints/hillclimbs and can 'go off' with hard multi lap use. Hope that helps.
Pete.

 

[shiftspark]

My vote is AD08 as I have a set fitted for sprinting, they have a very stiff side wall and appear to give excellent grip , my 1st event is 17th april so I will report back then whenI have tried then out a bit more.
I have used T1r's previously that IMHO were good especially for £35 ish vs £90ish for AD08.

PS Demon tweeks were the cheapest fitted esp if you use your CS discount (tup)

 

[Luke335]

I'd say the PE2's have a sidewall that's too soft for track work - even with extra negative camber. You would wear the edges out in one or two days.

 

[keith185]

I'd say the PE2's have a sidewall that's too soft for track work - even with extra negative camber. You would wear the edges out in one or two days.

100% agree, some pics from when I used PE2 it looks like I'm on the rim of the alloy in some corners :lol:

 

[pete g]

PE2 maybe ultimate too weak in Sidewalls but I did 2 sprints, C Combe T Day, W/E at Nurburg, 2days at Spa... and 6000 rd miles on a set of fronts! - And I dont hangabout ask George K...

Put few extra pounds in front and drive with bit of care and you will be ok.