What tire are people running for track days? Interested in 17" or 18". I'd like something a little longer lasting than Hoosiers, dry traction.

 

I've been hearing lots of good things about the Toyo RA-1's. Predictable, grippy, and last pretty well.

Don't know what sizes are available.

 

I just got a set of the RA1s. Have not tracked them yet but I tried them on the street and LOVE'M. They are one of the hot choices out there now due to their endurance. I hear they are not the best choice for autoX because they take a bit longer to heat up.

I got mine from here http://www.bmwwheels.com/ Great prices and excellent delivery. I got the 205/40/17 as this is what the JCW series guys are using. I think I could have fit the 235/40/17 though and I may try.

I had mine shaved to 4/32. The website I posted has all the info on dimension of every size here http://www.bmwwheels.com/ra1.pdf

I also here that un-shaved they are excellent wet choice.

 

225/45/17 Michelin Pilot Sport CUP - now thats a long lasting road course tire!

225/45 take some more seroius fender work to fit, but the tire possibities are much greater. Its allso a bit tall, at 25.1 inches. I know of a few using this!

Alex

 

alex,

what kind of fender work is needed? what wheel offset is best for 225/45/17?

/thanks

 

This really depends on if the car is lowered and by how much. Also depends on if you are adjusting front and rear camber.
For a stock ride height, very little trimming is needed. You need to trim away some of the rear plastic wells out near the flairs.
Lowered you will need to trim a good amount of the rear plastic wells along with some metal seam grinding. The fronts might need a bit of the fender flair lip trimmed away.

 

if the stock ride height was kept, and the fattest tire possible was to fit on the car, what offset would be best?

would this offset be different for a car with 0.5-1.0 inches of drop?

how do you fill up the mini fenders like a M3?

 

Using stock ride height a wide tire would be 225/45-17 using a rim of 17x7.5" or maybe 235/40-17 with a rim of 17x8".

If wheel offset is +45mm you'd get some rubbing and need to do some trimming.

As you lower your MINI you get even less clearance and more rubbing.

You can fill out your fenders by selecting coilovers with adjustable height or using tires that have slightly larger tire diameter but not more than 215mm wide.

 

minihune,

the 235s sound tasty, is the 8 inch wide rim needed to keep the side wall as straight as possible?

i haven't picked rims yet, what offset would be ideal for 17x8? when you say +45, do you mean over 45mm, ie., larger number +46,47.....? to move the tire closer to the inside of the fenderwell?

i bet the mini is fun over there, i went to UH, shipped a MGB over while i was in school. the road to sandy beach would be fun, and around to makaha and bellows.

 

235 in a street tire would be a tough fit. They might start to hit the trailing arm at this point.
I met someone at the track that was using 225/45/17s with stock ride height. I felt under his wheel well and there were rubs in the plastic. So 235s would seem to be just too big without some clearance mods and camber adjustments.
A wider tire does you no good at stock ride height, IMHO. Lower the car and go with a lightweight combo of wheel and tire, as that’s the biggest performance gainer in wheels and tires.

 

235mm wide tires are really pushing the limit and will fit rims from 8 to 9.5" wide. For 17x8" rims you are limited to which offsets are offered. Most 17x8" rims are not in 4x100 size but 5 bolt patterns. A 17x7.5" rim might still work with the 235/40-17 tire but you'll have to coax it on. Tirerack.com has rims up to 17x7.5" with offsets of about +42mm to +45mm. It's hard to find aftermarket 17" rims with offsets that get closer to the stock +48mm offset.

Remember that a wider rim has to fit both the inside and the outer wheel arch areas so wheel offset becomes critical. 17x7" rims allow for a better range of wheel offsets that will fit.