i have a question guys. Some of you have seen my races at Langley speedway. I have won two A mains out there this season, and im starting to get alot faster. I am having two issues. One is that im on stock SS/SC 18's with RE 11 street tires. Two is at the track i have to run in 3rd but in the lower rpm ranges outside of my powerband. Coming out of the turns i bog and my clutch slips a bit. I was thinking if i go to a 15 or 16 inch rim, it will raise my rpms in third, and i was considering running a set of hoosiers. I dont have alot of experience with drag radials or slicks so do you guys have any reccomendations? I also want to have a stiff sidewall due to the fact im cornering really fast and dont want to roll the sidewalls. Any links thanks in advance. Looking for a rim/ tire combo reccomendation! that wont kill the wallet

bump no one wheres all the road race and autocrossers?

 

Can you just go with a lower profile TIRE, and get enough gearing advantage? Going to smaller wheels is going to cause fitment problems with your brakes, I'm pretty sure. There are tire size calculators online that give you all the dimensions, and some let you compare 2 tire sizes side-by-side. I like this one:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

For autocross (different car), I found that going to a shorter tire (5-7% difference) was great for me with gearing help, but 10% was too much. I was topping out of 2nd too often, and in inopportune places. Hope this helps. Mebbe everybody else is on vacation...

 

I'd go with a set of redline wheels or a set of ss/na wheels (17 inch)...I used a set of redline wheels and nitto's with great success autocrossing.

www.aimtire.com sells tires at a great price

 

thanks for the responses

 

Knowing the year of your vehicle makes a difference. If you have a 2007 or earlier, which came stock with 17" rims, you can usually run 16" wheels (they'll usually fit around the stock calipers) but 15s are a no-go. If you have a 2008-2009, which came stock with 18" rims and Brembos, you can run most 17" rims (although some have clearance problems between the back of the 'spokes' and the Brembos) but 16s or smaller are out.

About 'R' spec tires, 'if' you really want to run slicks, get the Hoosier R6s and make sure they are heat-cycled before you try them on a track. You might also consider the BFG R1s (supposed to be good wear and easy break-away habits) or the Hankook Ventus Z214 in the C51, Medium, rubber (this tire is relatively new, but Hankook has lots of experience). In all three cases, the tires are designed for road-racing, not autocross. In all three cases, have them heat-cycled. In all three cases, look for something in the 225-245 width for your (mostly) stock car. If you want a smaller diameter, look on the Tire Rack site and shop by brand -- you can then compare all of the comp tires, in the various sizes, and see which is the 'smallest' in diameter. And then you'll need to 'play' with tire pressures...

Good Luck, Scott Herbert

 

year is in my sig. And the SS'SC's came with 18's not 17's the SS/na's came with 17's I know for a fact i can run 16's and SOME 15 inch rims with maybe shaving some off the caliper. i appriciate the reccomendations though ill check them out. And heat cycling wont be a problem i knew about that nothing and offramp clover cant do

 

By running a good R Comp tire you should be able to get your corner speeds up a bit, maybe enough to get you in the powerband?

In Solosprint our fastest cars are on Hoosier R6 rubber. Great for max traction but not for wear. But then again if you are nice and smooth they might last long enough to justify the cost.
Run the smallest tire/rim combo to shave weight and get your car on the dyno to find your actuall powerband. You want to be around peak TQ commoing out of the corners...
TQ gets you going and HP keeps you going.

 

I would agree you would probably overheat the A's quickly, the R's would probably be a better choice. The 315 A6's overheat on my mustang in under 2 laps on a road course, and I imagine on an oval you would have even more of an issue. No need to heat cycle anymore IMHO.

 

I run with a guy who uses R6 for autoX just cause he doesnt want to buy new A6s every 1/3rd of the season. The R6 for sure is the best tire for a track day, alpping day, HPDS and some autoX.

 

i appriciate the input. And i aggree i run oval track, and when i keep winning i keep advancing and having to hotlap my car. I was pushing quite a bit out there as well im gonna try a rear bar but not one big enough to cause me to come around. Its really fun running out there im just looking to take it to the next level. I think i wanna go with a 17 but the most rims i see are 17*7 i would like to find a 17*7 1/2 or 17*8 and run a 245 tire all around.

 

I haven't tracked my SS/TC, but I have tracked my C5 Z06 quite a lot. During track days I usually run at the front of the advanced group ie NASA HPDE 4. I use Kumho 710's for track days and from what I've seen at the track and everything I've read here is my best advice for track tires:

A6's - warm up quick, fast on track, wear quicker than the R6's

R6's - longer warm up, almost as fast as the A6's, but last longer

710's - about the same as the R6's

There are a few other high performance DOT tires out there but I don't know enough about them to provide you solid advice on them.

Any real racing slick (Michelin, Goodyear, Hoosier, etc.) that is not DOT approved - longer warm up, one to two seconds a lap faster than A6's


The RE 11's you're running are a street tire and have a 180 tread wear rating. That's not even close to the 30 or 40 tread wear rating of A6's or 710's. Real racing slicks are even grippier (is that a real word?) than A6's. I suggest keeping the wheels you have or getting a set of cheap as possible but light wheels and putting on the real racing slicks. You will be amazed at how much faster you can go. Used race tires are of course much cheaper than new ones.

These guys have used race tires that will be cheap and increase your speed by a whole bunch. http://www.jbracingtires.net/ Give them a call and ask them what will work for your application. Get on their email list because their inventory is constantly changing as they acquire "new" used tires.

Of course you can always buy brand new tires which will give you the absolute fastest lap times, but unless you're a pro racing for money or have serious sponsorship it's probably best to go with what makes you blazingly fast for the fewest dollars possible.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Dog