Road Tyres - For track?

[Nick172Cup]

Afternoon all, with my new cup I've acquired I'm looking to start doing a few trackdays. I'm after a road tyre that's a good all rounder (dry/wet) and doesn't fall to pieces after a few laps/shoulders don't disappear either. I know it's a compromise using road tyres first of all but its something I'm keen to try to keep consumables down and further help me to become even smoother behind the wheel, especially as I'm looking to play a lot with the geometry to further help the tyres.

I know NorthloopCup uses Hankook S1 Evos on his trackcar and does fine on them, and they're a pretty budget tyre in the scheme of things.

Looking at spending tops £200 for a set of 4 195/50/15, that's new tyres also so don't bother telling me to use second hand R888's...

Cheers
Nick

 

[Filippo]

Gonna be shite for that price aren't they?

 

[Nick172Cup]

Gonna be s**te for that price aren't they?

Not necessarily, you can almost buy 4x Michelin PS3's in 15's for £200 and that's not a rubbish tyre.

 

[Filippo]

Not necessarily, you can almost buy 4x Michelin PS3's in 15's for £200 and that's not a rubbish tyre.

Ahh, sorry, I didn't notice you said 15's. My mistake.

 

[Adam G]

I'm in the same boat Nick, I want some that will do road and wets. Got 595 RSRs for dry track days, I'm toying with Toyo R1Rs all round or maybe experimenting and put two of those at the back for road and two PS3s up front and swap them round for track use. The other option for me would be just PS3s all round.

 

[mitch1503]

I'm in the same boat Nick, I want some that will do road and wets. Got 595 RSRs for dry track days, I'm toying with Toyo R1Rs all round or maybe experimenting and put two of those at the back for road and two PS3s up front and swap them round for track use. The other option for me would be just PS3s all round.

I've got some R1R's waiting to be fitted, only for road use and after speaking to Tony he managed to melt them on track and i've also read on here that they move around quite a bit when new due to the large tread blocks so probably not the best choice for trackdays

 

[Adam G]

They'd be for wet trackdays only though as the Federals are for dry use and they're Tony's choice for wets, so that's plenty good enough for me. I only ever give it about 90% on track so doubt I'd kill them like some might. Very very rarely give it the beans on the road either so worth a punt for £61 fitted. Just ordered four from tyretraders.

 

[mitch1503]

main reason i went for them is been wanting to try them for a while plus now the Parada's what were already on the wheels are now done for i thought i'd give them a try

 

[rdoxenham]

Hi Nick,

I use the 595 RSR's, they've been great on the road so far and stood up well on the track. But I'm sure there's a better compromise for more road driving.

Cheers
​Rhys

 

[Jonff]

Michelin PE2s (can still get them in 195/50/15) Perform really well on track I found and last a long time even through severe punishment.

 

[Djw John]

Michelin PE2s (can still get them in 195/50/15) Perform really well on track I found and last a long time even through severe punishment.

Superb in the wet or damp but easily killed in the dry from my experience.

 

[Djw John]

Oh And maybe Yokohama AD08 would be good to research, I know MarkCup raved about his for his 200.

 

[Lal B3N]

Nankang NS-2R.

Been running them for 4000 miles now, seem excellent so far. I imagine on track they would be pretty good. I have used them on a day of autotesting in the soaking wet and they performed great.

Pm me if you want a price on 4 posted.

 

[Chip-mk1]

RSR and plenty of camber so the shoulders dont get too hard a time?

R1R is another similar option.

 

[Nick172Cup]

Cheers for the input guys.

Geometry settings ill looking to have -
Camber will be having 3 degrees front / 2.5 rear.
Toe out is 10mins total front / as parallel as I can on the rear.
Caster will be AST topmounts set to max and 172 cup wishbones for the time being. Want to look into more though in the future.

Really don't want to spend over £200 on a set and I know most of the tyres listed above are. I'm not wanting something that'll give me infinite amounts of grip, more a tyre that will hold up in terms of life on track, work in wet weather and if I'm not smooth enough will try and 'bite' me.

Maybe I'm wanting too much! Lol

Nick

 

[Dan@SJM]

Another vote on PE2's. I was keeping up with a stripped and caged cup on r888's at Bedford with my full interior'd Monaco.

 

[Sir_Dave]

I used to use T1Rs Nick, mega cheap and fine wear wise if you're smooth, Hankook v12 evos are also good imho.

That was with -3 on the front -1.8 on the back, parallel toe.

 

[Nick172Cup]

Another vote on PE2's. I was keeping up with a stripped and caged cup on r888's at Bedford with my full interior'd Monaco.

​How did they hold up Dan?

 

[Adam G]

Having looked recently Nick, you're going to have to spend a touch more than £200 by the time they're fitted. Maybe Hankook V12s but they come out at just under £60 each, which is why I just ordered the R1Rs.

 

[GrahamS]

Parada spec 2 (soft and quiet), T1r's (all round pretty rated) or Maxxis MaZ1 (good rating on tyrereviews but never tried)

 

[Nick172Cup]

I used to use T1Rs Nick, mega cheap and fine wear wise if you're smooth, Hankook v12 evos are also good imho.

That was with -3 on the front -1.8 on the back, parallel toe.

Yeah these were two brands that I had in the back of my mind, got a set of each in the shed still. Both seemed to hold up well enough on a damp to very wet Llandow apart from killing the shoulders which was because the car didn't have much in the way of camber that day.

Toyos and Hankook V12's I can get for £150 for a set pretty much so may go with these, just put a thread up to see if anyone else had tried a similar cheap tyre that held its own on track.

​Nick

 

[Adam G]

Tried the Maxxis MA-Z1s on a slightly damp Silverstone last year, at Ford Fair in the summer and it was like an ice rink. However they were fine on the back at a wet Llandow. Great for a long lasting road tyre but I wouldn't put them on track again.

 

[Lal B3N]

Don't bother with prada spec 2 if you want decent wet weather performance.

Avoid t1rs also. You'll ruin them in less than a day on track.

 

[Dan@SJM]

​How did they hold up Dan?

They're still going lol. Covered about 9k in road miles aswell as they full day at Bedford. Fronts are just coming up for replacement, but I run 2mm toe out.

 

[Tony Hunter]

I can only speak for R1R's, brilliant in the wet, ask Ollie (not cub) I took him out in the wet at Llandow for 5 laps or Chip.

I know Ian has done a full season in TT with them, I would imagine that a very worn set would be good in the dry.

You can have a look next Monday at them, they look a little chewed up as I've done half a day at Brands in the dry and a few laps at Rockingham in the dry, and they look like chewing gum.

Mainly due to the blocks moving around.

​Pe2's wil also melt in the dry, I know I've done it.

 

[GrahamS]

spec 2's are never as bad as made out. They are amazingly quiet as well compared to other tyres if you want a relaxing drive to and from the track

 

[Tony Hunter]

Tried the Maxxis MA-Z1s on a slightly damp Silverstone last year, at Ford Fair in the summer and it was like an ice rink.

Keep off the racing line.

 

[mitch1503]

spec 2's are never as bad as made out. They are amazingly quiet as well compared to other tyres if you want a relaxing drive to and from the track

anything more than utter bone dry roads and they're utter SH*T tbh, i'd sooner have T1r's again over the PS 2's, only reason i've used them is they were pretty much new all round on the F1's i got off a car i broke and well after 3 month's of ROAD driving the fronts are dead

 

[Adam G]

Keep off the racing line.

I did, went for the rubber and it was the same.

 

[Tony Hunter]

I did, went for the rubber and it was the same.

​They're sh1t then.

 

[Adam G]

​They're sh1t then.

That's what I said lol.

 

[Northy 8]

Only 1 tyre i am going for is the ad08's
There a great msa 1a tyre

 

[Lal B3N]

spec 2's are never as bad as made out. They are amazingly quiet as well compared to other tyres if you want a relaxing drive to and from the track

Lol I've never used a tyre where I have thought i wish these tyres would shut up and I've tried plenty.

 

[Nick172Cup]

Lol I've never used a tyre where I have thought i wish these tyres would shut up and I've tried plenty.

Lol. They squeel like pigs!

Was never blown away with Spec2's, terrible in the wet. Road noise when not driving 'on it' isn't a problem either when I have an Oreca system. Lol

 

[sbridgey]

I would vote for federal rsr's. Superb on track in both wet and dry conditions and I found they wore well on the road too.

Not particularly good in the snow and ice mind!

 

[Andyrg@ ClioTurbo]

Avon zv5 work well.

Best road tyres ive had o track were conty sport 3

 

[Bobby.]

Rsr's hold up very well but I feel they let go too easy in the wet.

Ad08's would be my next tyre choice.

Paradas, t1r's, ps3's will all fall apart on track.

I don't think your going to get what you require for £200, as the decent track/road tyres are all around £70 each new.

 

[NorthloopCup]

I know NorthloopCup uses Hankook S1 Evos on his trackcar and does fine on them, and they're a pretty budget tyre in the scheme of things.

I do indeed use them on my 16's Nick! I've now got a dedicated set of 15's on 888's.

My own personal experience of the s1 evo's is they're a very good tyre even though they are a budget, middle of the range tyre. If you push hard on them on track they overheat and s**t theirselves, but nowhere near as fast as t1r's. I've had them as well and thought they were s**t tbh. w**k in the rain and overheated in the dry.

Hankooks are that s**t, they got me around cadwell in 1:54 (not pushing to the max) and an 8:39 around the ring btg (pushing at a tad over 10/10ths).

It really comes down to how hard a driver you are. At just over £200 a set for the michelins, I'd be very tempted to go with them tbh.

​Yhpm as well Nick.

 

[Tony Hunter]

What we are really saying is, that it's impossible to find.

 

[Nick172Cup]

What we are really saying is, that it's impossible to find.

​You what? Lol