Recommend me some noob track day tires
 

Hey All,

I got myself some 6UL 15x9 for mounting track tires. My original plan was to get some 225/45 NT01 tires for it. I then found federal 205/50, it is real cheap and seems to be an ok track tire.

I am total track day noob. Can 205/50R15 tires be mounted on 15x9 6ULs? Will it work ok as track tire setup?

Feel free to give me some advice.

Thanks,
-Raj

Some 205s will fit on 15x9s, not sure about the ones you mentioned though. If you're new to track days, you can't go wrong with Hankook R-S3s. They will last a while, you can drive them on the street, they communicate well, and they're pretty fast.

Edit: And cheaper than NT-01s.

Thanks for the info Nate. I will check them out.

-Raj

Yeah, NT01s are pretty intense for a first time driver. RS-3 or Dunlop Star Specs are probably a better choice for a beginner.

You should probably run on shit-rubber the first few days, but running on NT-01 won't be dangerous or anything. It's more about not wasting tire-money while you are a newb than anything else.

Would RS3 be considered as shit track tire? Emilio, in an other thread indicated that they were going to run Federal RS 595-R on their 25hrs of Thunderhill race. I wonder if they are going to run it on 15x9 or 15x8. Maybe Savington or Emilio might pop in and comment.

Thanks for the info.
-Raj

I've kept my tires at around $60 a piece and used falken 512s, toyo proxxes 4s, and now nitto neo gens. Havent had any complaints with any of them. Great in the Oregon rain, last forever, heat up on the track. Yes you sacrifice grip, but I'm not racing competitively.

Do you know how to trail-brake with extreme prejudice? Can you slide the car from apex to paint? Can you back-in the car on tight corners?

If not, run a shitty tire because this is stuff you need to learn. Running a couple sets of 200 treadwear to learn to slide the car will probably "get you there" faster than running stickier stuff.

Nope, I can't trail brake or any of the things you mentioned.

I have falken 512s on 7 inch wheels now. I think I will just run them for a few track days and see how I fare.

Thanks,
-Raj

Hustler's right. You want to learn on less grippy tires because they will let you find the limits of the car's handling and let you learn how to handle it at the limit at much safer speeds. Then increase grip later, after you are comfortable practicing catching the car over and over when it tries to spin out. The sticky tires will cover your initial mistakes and cause you to get over your head quickly with no skills to save the car or yourself.

My $.04
Shit rubber will let you lock-up without cording a tire and will teach you car control when you start driving the car sideways down the track. When you can back-in the car in a tightening, off-camber, trail-braking turn, you are ready for the fancy rubber. When the car and driver become "horse and rider", you'll know what I mean. Car placement and dynamics will become a motor function to a degree, not an effort to use the input devices as a correction. It's not about the tire covering mistakes, it's about learning car control on a tire with less grip.

I think the best practice or newb tire out there is a cylded-out r-compound. They still break-away clean and predictably, they just make very little grip. You should spend all your money on Xidas, bushings, swaybars, and brakes. Get the car set-up perfectly and run shitty tires. If someone tells you that you "don't have enough experience to use all of that good shock valving and expensive set-up stuff," disregard everything they've told you...which means 90% of people at the track no nothing they speak of.

BTW, you need a lap timer with over/under prediction. I wasted a lot of tires/brakes/fuel before I bought a lap timer.

Thanks, good stuff Hustler.

I just ordered my Xidas last night :D

Already have some all-seasons ready to go to learn on ($60 Kuhmos FTW), too bad everything up here is done until 2013.

Road Atlanta December 1-2 with NASA Southeast Region. The weather is much better in ATL than Indy in December.

Just a quick 10 hour drive down I-65! That's a long way to go without a trailer. If anyone else from Indy is trailering their car down and have space for another, I am in! Otherwise I would be way too nervous whoopin on my ride home.

Any open days left at Autobahn CC? That's only 2 and a half hours or so for me.

RS3 is definitely not a crappy track tire. I have asked in that thread specifically why they are going with the Federals. There's been no response yet but I will hazard a few guesses based on my google research of the Federal 595 rsr.

a) the RS3's like heat. Thunderhill can have sub-freezing temperatures. If there's any precipitation at all then the RS3's probably could not be kept up to temp and would not grip well.

b) what information I can find on the 595 RSR's indicates they warm up faster and do well in cold temperatures, and have a lower optimal temp

c) the RS3's only come in 225/45 for 15". The Federals are 205/50. I don't know if there's a point penalty between the two sizes for the classes 949 is running in but the narrower 205 should be better if there's any rain. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this, that's my understanding. The wider tire would hydroplane easier.

Hustler, Im currently running potenza RE-11, 180 treadwear. They are pretty much done, and will be done after my next weekend. If I am still in the learning stages, would I be best to up the tire wear a tad, or would sticking with another set of RE-11's be a decent choice?

I think the following bit is the most important part of figuring out the answer to the question.

Run em till they cord then buy another set, or see what 949 says about the Federal after the race because 949 isn't going to say shit about it now and I don't blame them. I hope that doesn't sound like he/they are holding out. They've given a mega-ton of information to us, you have to work for some of it because information is more valuable than parts.

If I were you, I'd buy SM take-offs until you have a year or so under your belt. After the amount I grew over the last few months, I'm getting another set of wheels for "junk rubber" to practice on. Eventually I'll warm-up on RS-3, then run SM6 or NT-01 "for the money" depending upon class. NT-01 are super-fast for about 15 sessions, then it's over. I can go ~30-40 sessions on them, but they aren't fast after the first 15 sessions.

Touche six.

Yeah, I had a feeling that they would be tight lipped about the federals until at least after the 25, I dont blame them either. Ill do that, wait until they chord, and see what is avaliable to me at the time.

Here is my plan, feel free to critique it. I have some money invested in it and it is gonna take a while for me to buy new shiny parts (Xidas, bigger brakes etc..).

I have a set of race konis (700/400 springs. Kraig Klippel's old setup). I also have the RB front hollow sway bar and stock rear sway bars. Mounting these should be faster (One weekend hopefully. I can't work during the week days/nights). I will do the polyurethane bushings and grease fittings later. I am going to do a few trackdays using my street tires (Falken 512) and then switch over to used Toyo RA1 (Came with the 6UL) till I wear them out. I am going to try and borrow a traqmate setup for the initial runs.

I will then re-evaluate my setup and skills and ask for more advice.

-Raj