Best 15" Wheels/Tyres for Track?

[James Mk1]

We've recently purchased a silver 172 cup for trackdays. What's the best way to go about getting 15" wheels/tyres? Can we buy some reasonably cheap new 15" wheels that will do the job (prefer to buy new than second hand)?

Also what are the best 15" track tyres (and price if possible)?

And what are the best tyres around for 16" wheels for road use (and price again if possible)?

Thanks!

 

[RSprojects]

15' ultraleggera £540 for 4 and 5.8kg each! (in graphite)
yokohama ad08 tyres £75 each or pay a loads more and not make much more difference and get less tread.... get r888's the y are 110 each
this is my plan for spring!

best road tyres for 16' are pilot sport 3's about 100 which offer second to none wet grip, dry grip and all round performance
but ad08s are about 115 each which offer more dry grip but less everything else and make more noise.

best source for tyres is camskill

 

[Alex Conway]

Team dynamics prorace 1.2s are light and cheap

 

[jezcharger]

Buy some ex race team slicks instead. Usually go for about £200 a set in 15". Just use your road tyres if it gets wet (Michelin etc as suggested). Don't see the point in road legal track tyres anymore unless you wanna drive there & back on them imo of course

 

[Chri5]

On the other hand, using slicks can be potentially very dangerous unless the car is caged, due to the immense grip levels and lateral forces involved. Especially if the OP is relatively new to track days (I'm assuming here).

At least with road legal track tyres, they tend to let go a bit more gradually Just my opinion

 

[car.crash]

A lot of tracks won't allow full slicks without a cage.

 

[jezcharger]

Fair point, went round with bob the builder off here at oulton the other week, he was on full slicks, std car except apex springs (full interior etc) Javelin trackdays never said anything at the time. And he was very quick too.

 

[James Mk1]

Not overly fussed about spending extra on lightweight wheels (ultraleggera) etc, tempted by this: http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/allo...inch/195-50-15/toyo/proxes-t1-r/v-max-149-mph

£439.00 for 4x 15" TD Wheels + 4x Toyo Tyres..seems pretty good to me! Presuming that's excluding VAT though.

Don't really fancy second hand wheels incase they have hidden fractures/imperfections etc!

 

[FLOBALOB]

Better tyres than T1r's required for the track I would suggest. They will understeer like buggery once you start pushing it a little. The sidewalls arn't that stiff either so you'll be squirming around a lot. Seems a waste to buy some brand new alloys and then scrimp on average tyres. Go with Yoko AD08 's / Toyo R1r's/ Nankang ns2R's/ federal rsr's , all for around the £65-70 a corner mark and all much more suitable for track work but at reasonable prices. Or buy some part worn 888,s off e bay.

 

[Tony Hunter]

Yet another tyre thread.

Come on guys, use the search button please.

 

[James Mk1]

Better tyres than T1r's required for the track I would suggest. They will understeer like buggery once you start pushing it a little. The sidewalls arn't that stiff either so you'll be squirming around a lot. Seems a waste to buy some brand new alloys and then scrimp on average tyres. Go with Yoko AD08 's / Toyo R1r's/ Nankang ns2R's/ federal rsr's , all for around the £65-70 a corner mark and all much more suitable for track work but at reasonable prices. Or buy some part worn 888,s off e bay.

Thanks for the response - so you're saying it's worthwhile buying better tyres than Toyo T1R's for track, but you mentioned later on to go with "Yoko AD08 's / Toyo R1r's/ Nankang ns2R's/ federal rsr's"?

 

[FLOBALOB]

Thanks for the response - so you're saying it's worthwhile buying better tyres than Toyo T1R's for track, but you mentioned later on to go with "Yoko AD08 's / Toyo R1r's/ Nankang ns2R's/ federal rsr's"?

Yes they are all capable track tyres whereas the Toyo T1R are not really. Depends on how hard you push your car and how quick a driver you are. I personally find the ones I mentioned a little lacking and use Toyo 888's whenever I can. The initial post suggests you are using/building the car to do track work, and the most important things to get right first are brakes, tyres and suspension. Most people ( myself included ) have a ratty old set of 15" wheels with decent track focused tyres on, and track pads. Spending big bucks on brand new wheels and then buying tyres which some people even turn their nose up for road use seems a little pointless.
As Tony mentioned there are 100's of threads and opinions on this , just use the search button and read as much as you can on it before you spend money.

 

[James Mk1]

Yes they are all capable track tyres whereas the Toyo T1R are not really. Depends on how hard you push your car and how quick a driver you are. I personally find the ones I mentioned a little lacking and use Toyo 888's whenever I can. The initial post suggests you are using/building the car to do track work, and the most important things to get right first are brakes, tyres and suspension. Most people ( myself included ) have a ratty old set of 15" wheels with decent track focused tyres on, and track pads. Spending big bucks on brand new wheels and then buying tyres which some people even turn their nose up for road use seems a little pointless.
As Tony mentioned there are 100's of threads and opinions on this , just use the search button and read as much as you can on it before you spend money.

Yeah I appreciate what you're saying, yeah we are building the car for track use - so we're looking to get a decent cheap set of 15" wheels (don't want second hand ones) and just looking for the best tyre. Toyo 888's seem to be the most highly regarded (or one of) tyres for track use - I'd rather pay £20 more per corner and have a good track tyre!

 

[Ph1 Tom]

Pro race 1.2 + 205/50-R15 Federal RS-R = £620 including vat and delivery

I use mine in the wet and dry, no issues.

 

[Chri5]

Why dont you want some 2nd hand wheels? Plenty of good ones out there, and the money you save there can go on decent tyres and brakes

 

[James Mk1]

Pro race 1.2 + 205/50-R15 Federal RS-R = £620 including vat and delivery

I use mine in the wet and dry, no issues.

Seems a very good price - where are they from?

Why dont you want some 2nd hand wheels? Plenty of good ones out there, and the money you save there can go on decent tyres and brakes

Good shout - but I just don't fancy second hand wheels, might sound stupid but you don't know what's happened to them! They could have internal fractures/damage that you wouldn't know about

 

[FLOBALOB]

Just a suggestion, why dont you just put some Kumho v70a tyres on your 16" wheels and just stick with them for both road and track. Excellent tyres ( although a little expensive ) , and saves the aggro of the spare wheels/swopping thing. I only suggest this as they are pretty much the only decent track tyres that seem readily available in 16". Then if you get the trackday bug ( you will ), you can then put more thought , money and effort into getting a wheel/tyre set up that suits your circumstances.

 

[Ph1 Tom]

Seems a very good price - where are they from?

Wheels from topgear.co.uk. Tyres from mytyres.

 

[Guy]

I've got some anthracite team dynamics pro race 1.2's wrapped in michelin s9c slicks that I will be listing for sale soon. the wheels are as new, bought them last year and they have only done 2 full trackdays as I tend to hit it unlucky and have rain so have used my rainsports.
The tyres were purchased as used test tyres from the ginneta race series and have done two trackdays by me.