Did my second track day on my stock 07 MCS.

I just changed to sport shocks before the this run.
I need to upgrade my tires and brakes. It’s still a daily driver and I only track day maybe 4 times a year.

Any recommendations on brakes or tires? Anything else?

 

I'm on continental extremecontact sport, performance is not far behind the michelin pilot sport 4s. Either of those I'd recommend for DD and some track usage.

 

Firestone FireHawk Indy 500’s, great fast street, occasional track day tire. Read the customers’ reviews.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...I5XL&tab=Sizes

I like the Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R’s for track day tires. Super grippy and fast, but will wear quicker if run as a daily.

 

Go for some high temp brake fluid 1st
https://www.waymotorworks.com/motul-...ake-fluid.html

Then for brakes ideally if you could get a set of pads just to use for track days as that will give you better brake performance and let you keep your standard pads for daily use.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/ebc-ye...rake-pads.html

Same for tires having a tire that is daily and track worthy isn't ideal. So just picking up a cheap 2nd set of wheels and getting good track only tires as again this will be the best performance for both use.

 

+1 on the Indy 500's, highly recommended in 215/45/17

 

Make sure you don't have any oil leaking from the turbo oil feed line, if you have the aftermarket braided line do not follow the factory routing, route it out and over top of the cold side of the turbo. You may alos want to insulate the line and the valve cover to protect from heat damage/melting. These can cause catastrophic failures including fire. Check this post to avoid any potential problems.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lure-fire.html

 

I got a second set of rims. What's recommended for track tires? Looking at Tire Rack and they only have a few brands. Also doing slotted rotors and brake pads.

 

Conti Extreme contacts work great . Definitely upgrade your pads and rotors, flush your brake fluid. Swap out your rear sway bar, it helps the rear of the car "pivot"

 

if you are getting dedicated wheels/tires I would step up to something like hankook RS4, they wear better than most on the track and have a stiff sidewall the mini's need. They are slightly off pace compared to RE71 or rival S at an autocross but they do not overheat on the track and wear 4x longer (.5 seconds slower on 60 second course for me). They are popular with endurance teams because they wear so well

Once you get into the advance run groups then switch to R compound like hoosiers or NT01 or AR1 or maxxis slicks

 

if you have a second set of ri s just for track days don't bother with anything but 200 treadware tires that people run for performance driven events . Bridgestone re71r, BF Goodrich g force rival S 1.5 , Falken Azenis RT615k or the new Azenis RT660, Yokohama Advan A052 (these wear faster then most), Dunlop Direzza ZII and ZIII's to name a few.

 

have you used these on the track? I have used two of those and I do not recommend the RE71 or Rival S 1.5, they overheat 3/4 of the way through a session. They are very fast at lap 2-3 and popular for time trial because of that, and I have used them for that purpose. But, for HPDE 25-30 min sessions they are not a good choice, and they wear out very fast on track!!! a set of RS4 last me twice as long easily, probably 3x longer.

RS4 are all sold out because they work so well for the track, endurance / 24 hour race teams use them because they actually last the entire event. All sizes will be back in stock at the end of the month and will probably sell out again this year

 

I'm not suggesting to him not to get your tire of choice . I was only giving more examples. Sounds like you are more orientated with tires that last for a longer time and that is probably one of the best choices. Far as the BFG and Bridgestone's overhearing, lots of fast people use them without issues.

 

I do a lot of track days, and I instruct students on track. Everyone will have the rival S and RE71 overheat on the track if they are a reasonably fast driver. They are designed to heat up very quick for autocross, not for sustained 20 minute sessions.

 

you really think tire companies designed their tire just for autocross? I would agree that Hoosier does but they call it an A7 compound for autocross and R7 for racetrack.

 

Yes, the re71 and rival s are designed specifical for autocross, along with the new falken rt660, you cant even buy the 17" 225 falken unless you are a SCCA member. The new a052 was designed to unseat the re71/rival s but it is is a very poor choice for a mini due to FWD+Mcpherson strut and our limited camber

the new falken was designed for the autocross SSC class (86/brz) and the spec tire size is the one you cannot buy without a membership, see below

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...60XL&tab=Specs

 

I don't even know how to start with this reply. First I will tackle the fact I have literally talked to both BFG and Bridgestone. Bridgestone's don't like as much heat as BFG's, this is a true statement that even both tire companies agree. There is no tire that is the perfect choice for a Mini because they are very camber challenged. Far as the new Falken, it's simple about the 1 size not being available to the public through Tire Rack. Tire rack is a major sponsor of SCCA and Falken has a deal with SCCA to be the only tire you can run in that 1 size in the spec class. You can buy any other size they have available but its it's obvious availability is limited(they don't even have all predicted sizes in). As availability needs are met you will be able to buy any and all sizes.

 

you said basically what I said, not sure why. BFG overheat too

 

I'm not basically saying anything that you are. I don't agree with you about running BFG, Bridgestone or any other 200 treadware tire built for performance driving. I think they all are good choices and will work and should not have overheating issues unless your over driving them. Autocross is way more abusive on tire's because you are constantly turning and a lot of the time pushing the tire past optimum grip, with NO straightaways for cooling of tire's and brakes. If you think the Bridgestone overheats, the Azenis RT615k+ is even worse .

 

maybe the difference you get out of 200tw on track is the location? What tracks are you running?

here in the SE the temps are so high in the summer the 200tw simply overheat, there's just no way around the physics of it, the operating temps are significantly lower than a track tire like R7 or R888R or the RS4, unless you are slow of course. Slow <> beginner, beginners tend to overdrive the tires and that is even worse for temp.

I did vir last week, I ran autocross slicks as we started out at 35 degrees and peaked at 50 degrees the temps were so low the tires never overheated. In june I could not do that, they would overheat in 4 laps

 

forgot to mention, we had good tire life out of RT615k on track, but the rs4 is so much better for grip and life and also cheap, I wont run the 615 again

 

I’m looking at A052 tires (tyres in uk) for fast circuits and track days
I have oz 17 x 7 et 37 ultraleggera wheels with gp2 camber lowered on bilstiens B16 pss10
upgraded Roll-bars front and rear, giken clutch, quaife diff, manic stage 2 with more Power to come, gp2 calipers and discs, rsl 29 padgid pads

215/45/17 ado8r need replacement for next season possibly sooner
I need to drive to the track and drive home after as I cannot fit 4 wheels into a jcw roadster

which size in 17 would best suit my use ?
in order of cost High to low, £150 to be saved over a set of 4

215/45/17
205/45/17
215/40/17

I am ignoring 205/40/17 as no savings to be found if you factor in buckled wheels at some stage, the 215/40 may also be too low?
I could look also at buying a 7.5 rim but that’s a lot of extra cost, would that be suitable for a 225 or to far outside recommended width for this application
I’m not going to even consider 8”



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