Street tires for HPDE

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Oct 10, 2008 | 07:10 AM

#26

gnatster

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Both of the tires pictured below are the same "size", both are on the same size wheels. The R888's on the right are wider than the NT-01's on the left. Stack is 4 tires high.

Oct 10, 2008 | 07:49 AM

#27

dr_phatcity

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gnatster

Both of the tires pictured below are the same "size", both are on the same size wheels. The R888's on the right are wider than the NT-01's on the left. Stack is 4 tires high.

Great picture ..... I'm a little stunned. I just had a MAJOR "aha" moment.

Naively, I have been thinking that if someone actually took the time to print a measurement on a tire, they would actually get the darn value correct.

.hmmm, now to go back through posts carefully again as I've just undergone a tire evolution

----

Last edited by dr_phatcity; Oct 10, 2008 at 08:24 AM.

Oct 10, 2008 | 08:10 AM

#28

txwerks

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From: Tejas

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnatster

Both of the tires pictured below are the same "size", both are on the same size wheels. The R888's on the right are wider than the NT-01's on the left. Stack is 4 tires high.

You have too many sets of wheels and tires, Nate...

Oct 10, 2008 | 08:16 AM

#29

dr_phatcity

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here is answer 1 (tire size)

So on the evolved re-read; this seems to be the answer to the size question:

The sweet spot for tire size on a 16 inch rim would be 225/45r1
The sweet spot on 15s would be 225/50/r1
and, for 17s - 215/40/r17

AND --- actually checking manufacturer specifications is way better than trusting the darn labels!!!!

J

Quote:

Originally Posted by txwerks

Can you make 245/45R16's fit? Sure, with the right wheel offset (or spacers) and LOTS of plastic trimming.

But, IMHO, the OD is much too large... You really want to be in the 23.9" OD size range (e.g. 225/45R16, 225/50R15) to get maximum squirt out of the corners... IMHO, the 225/50R16's are too tall, as are the 245/45R16.

For the 17" JCW Challenger rims, RS-2's in 215/40R17 would be a good choice...

Oct 10, 2008 | 08:22 AM

#30

dr_phatcity

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Okay, so the evolution is a little slow here guys

Quote:

Originally Posted by txwerks

Actually, the section width on the 215/45R16 is WIDER than my current 225/45R16's, per Kumho's specs, and just as wide as most 225/50R16's (but in a shorter overall package).

Okay, so I'm a little slow ---- Based on the above --- FORGET the labels on the side of the tires -- they are useless.

Just look for a tire that has an OD of 23.9 inches and as wide as you can possibly go ......

Am I getting closer here?

Oct 10, 2008 | 08:31 AM

#31

dr_phatcity

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Answer two: Which Manufacturer?

Sorry to the marketing guys here, but it sounds like the issue of tire compound and brand name is going to take a back seat to tire sizing. My current tire gojisan (tex) is going to go with Kumho Ecstas for the benefit of tire size, maybe not so much for tire compound.

Though all things being equal, the Dunlops would appear to have the best tire compound (as of this posting-per tire rack and per member feedback from this post) but, MANY people have had success with the hankooks (one report of tire chunking though).

Thanks alot crew ---- the revolution will be televised.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinger688

Dr Platcity,

Lots of great advise here. The choice of your tires does depend on your track experience in HPDE. If you do not have too much time on the track, I would stick to street tires. You will learn much more about driving fast on a track with street tires. Hankooks, Dunlops, Bridgestones etc are all good tires with 1/10ths differences. TXwerks has really good advise on tire diameter and section width as size and fit are very important. I would stay with 215.

Oct 10, 2008 | 11:01 AM

#32

txwerks

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From: Tejas

You can't go wrong, really, with the Hankooks, Dunlops, Kumho's or any other extreme performance summer tire... IMHO, they are very close in performance and some people like some tires better than others. It's a game of one-upmanship right now in the street tire class autocross arena and we're all getting to benefit from it!

I'd go as far to say that the new street tires actually outperform some of the older r-compounds...

Suffice to say, any of the aforementioned tires is better than runflats... by just a little bit.

Top street tires, in no particular order (some which are available in MINI-friendly sizes, others are not):

Hankook RS-2
Dunlop Star Spec
Kumho XS
Toyo R1-R
Bridgestone RE-01R
Yokohama AD-07

Oct 12, 2008 | 11:17 AM

#33

gbuff1

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Quote:

Originally Posted by txwerks

I run the Hankook RS-2's on the track and autocross with them... On the track, they start and end sessions the exact same way - great. We've seen 1.2 G's sustained on several different tracks (P.S. that corner that Nate's talking about at Road Atlanta is brutal and can and will inflate #'s - hah!). I run 225/45R16's on OZ Ultraleggera's (16x7, +37 ET).

We also run the RS-2's on our e30 BMW for autocross and track - they last us 9 autocross events (double-stinting, 8 runs per event = 144 runs!), street driving and 1-2 DE's. On this car, we run 225/50R15's on Team Dynamics Pro Race 2's. BTW, the 225/50R15 is actually a good 3/4" wider than the 225/45R15 (and that extra grip is GREAT to have)!!! They do finally get a bit hard at the end of a season...

I hear nothing but good things about the Star Spec's, too, though...

I've also been really impressed with the Rs2s on track....I did 5 days on the same set and they were excellent--as good in the dry as my old SO3s were. Yesterday at Mosport they finally gave it up, though....no grip at all. I was really skating around out there all day long which is too bad as they've still got usable tread left but I guess all the heat cycling finally did them in.

Feb 28, 2009 | 06:54 AM

#34

Bilbo-Baggins

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From: Middle Earth

This is a great thread. Lots of good information here.

I can back up that listed tire width does not always reflect reality. I have BFGoodrich 205/50R16 Traction T/A V summer tires and some Falken Azenis 215/45R16 RT-615 auto-x and HDPE tires. Both are mounted on the stock 6.5"x16" rims. If I stack all four of each tire the BFG stack is actually .75" taller. The worn tread area is equal.

Last edited by Bilbo-Baggins; Feb 28, 2009 at 07:01 AM.

Mar 12, 2009 | 04:58 PM

#35

miniminn

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Would it be ok to run my runflats on a HPDE event? I know they suck but I want to finish them off before buying new ones.
Also I have 205/45-17. What would be the best size to change to. 215/40- or 215/45.
Unfortunately I can't put 16's since it wont clear the brakes.

Thanks

Mar 12, 2009 | 08:01 PM

#36

dr_phatcity

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I have seen many people run on runflats. Depending on the wear, you might want to buy the replacement tires before the track weekend. You would NOT want to wear out your tires and have nothing to run on....

From the above discussion, I think that:

17s - 215/40/r17

Would be best on your 17inch rims.

-JM

Mar 13, 2009 | 05:06 PM

#37

miniminn

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Thanks, I can't wait to run the mini

Mar 16, 2009 | 08:00 PM

#38

TLMCS05

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From: Fairburn, GA

I found a great resource for those of us with high hopes and low budgets

I have had great success for the money running take offs from teams with $pon$or$ https://www.fossport.com Inventory changes as the season progresses so check in often. Bruce has forgotten more about tires than most will ever know, be sure to listen to his advice.
I am running the 225/45/15 Koni Challenge tires on my Kosies now and will probably get a set of 17s for the Enkies this summer. I do run a 5mm spacer to keep these from rubbing hard in the corners. As mentioned above they do run wider.

Tim

Last edited by TLMCS05; Mar 16, 2009 at 08:07 PM.