Track Tyres - Feedback and Recommendations

[imprezaworks]

As ive been mooching for the past what feels like ten years on what tyres to get, i will start it off.

The usual suspects are 888's, a048's etc but i like the idea of a new kid on the block. There are plenty of threads dotted around on here but would be nice to get a thread dedicated to track tyres. What are peoples experiences with a good tyre that you wouldn't expect. i'm genuinely interested.

 

[antnee]

The classic R888 is a great tyre, very grippy and loads of information around on the right pressures. Another bonus is they hold value well, so buy them new and sell them after 2 track days

The Federal 595RSR is a great tyre, probably 90% of the outright grip that the R888 provides, but handles wet weather a lot better and is also great on the road without making too much noise like you get from the R888. Low prices make this a very good tyre to consider, more so if you do a mix of road and track driving or can't be bothered with swapping wheels on a track day

 

[imprezaworks]

Im currently using re050a's and they seem fine on the road, once warm, not the best from cold tbh. The other tyre i was considering was the maxxis maz1 which is more road based compared to the maxxis zr9 and has brilliant reviews esp in the dry.

 

[marinemackay2003]

http://www.jjcraceandrally.com/kit-car/tyres/maxsport-rb5-tyre

i am going to try these next, £312 for 4, seem to get good reviews and slightly cheaper than most

 

[imprezaworks]

Great call chris. Ive heard of these but never looked into them. They look awesome if nothing else. What size though?

 

[marinemackay2003]

205/50/16 and 205/55/15 so caters for 15 and 16 inch

 

[antnee]

Those Maxsport RB5 are okay, they are designed for rally rather than track use so can heat up quite badly. I think that they may be remoulds and people have had issues with them

 

[marinemackay2003]

most of the bad reviews were for soft compounds iirc

 

[Cub.]

I'm going with Dunlop DZ03g this season. Most of the racers on here vouch for them...

 

[MarkX]

I know some have had issues but I'm really pleased with my RS-Rs, on the last track day a 888 shod 172 couldn't catch my little cup. I found the sidewalls a bit weak when run under 30psi hot though, more pressure needed!

 

[imprezaworks]

Whats everyone start with pressure wise cold, 22ish?

 

[aucky]

I'm going with Dunlop DZ03g this season. Most of the racers on here vouch for them...

But only in the dry iirc

 

[imprezaworks]

i was speaking to the lad who owned my car before me, was curious to see what he tried. parada spec 2 he rated (awaits the hate), and loved the r1r's

 

[-Jamie-]

DZO3's are superb. Best R rated tyre out there. Fine in the wet when they have heat in them as well. Spa in torrential rain can attest to that.

 

[Williams182]

Try camskill.co.uk for your tyres guys

 

[TarkMalbot]

I fancy NS2R or 595RSR to get started with.
I am sure I have read bad things about the 595 having cracks in them as a fault sometimes?

 

[-Jamie-]

That was a "fault" on the older tyres, Wasn't really a fault though just the way the tread is bonded to the carcass. I personally used a set with the cracks and they never fell apart or killed a bus stop full of nuns.


Out the two now i would probably go for the NS-2R's in soft but the Federals have better wet performance from my experiences.

Soft NS-2R's wear quick, Well they did on my Meg. Just over 2k and that was just road use. Tried some Mediums after and they done 3k but also did a full day at Snetterton with almost 300 track miles.

 

[imprezaworks]

ive never found camskill particularly cheap if im honest. The likes of my tyres etc are cheaper. Heres a funny one. I was on the hunt for some maxxis tyres that @Chi had on one of his old clios, they were epic and on 16's, winner. I initially thought the zr9 as they are a 'race' tyre but they only do them in 15's, no other size as far as i know. So im pretty sure they are the maxxis maz1 so i researched as i do, alot. Seem sparce and i think they have been superseded by maz3's which are a bit more user friendly, aparantly. I work next to ats so i asked if they can get them, £40 plus vat in my 195/45/16's, interesting.


Brings it to a funny (didnt realise at the time) phone call to demon tweeks. On reflection i with a passion cant stand this company, no idea why i rang them. Anyway speaking to one of the sales chaps and asked about Maxxs tyres, 'nah we dont deal with them much'. Fair rough. 'Do you kow anything about the maz1 as i can get them pretty cheap'. 'How much?', so i told him. 'They cant be the right ones as they are the road tyre, not a track tyre, you must mean the maxxis drift'. 'How much are they?' '£90'. 'Oh, thanks anyway 😧. Now aparantly the only difference between the maz1 and the drift is that they put something in the tyre to make them smoke, when 'drifting'. Now if thats true which im sure it is, i hate dt even more.

Also he slated mytres and other companies saying that the tyres they sell arnt uk spec hence why they are so cheap in comparison

 

[-Jamie-]

Im pretty sure MAZ1's are a road tyre?

 

[imprezaworks]

Well thats what i thought but they are the same as the drift afaik. If you do a bit of digging for the maz1 people rate them massivly

 

[-Jamie-]

Even Maxxis call them a road tyre

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

I used MA-Z1's on my previous 172 and my Astra VXR, reason being they where loads cheaper than the leading brands, i expected them to be poor but they was brilliant for the money!

 

[imprezaworks]

I'm not saying they are anything other than a road tyre. The zr9 is their track tyre. Chances are i will buy a set next week as I'm confident they are the same tyre I've tried

 

[alistairolsen]

Simple answer is it depends what you want from them. I want to use the car on the road and on track, and outright pace is irrelevant, so I use part worn A048s from various race classes which are £100-150 a set and will take the heat of a dry trackday without breaking up. For the road I use rainsport 3s as they come well recommended for the clio and will probably survive wet track use ok.

If i was chasing tenths for racing I would buy new tyres, if for road legal hillclimbs Id buy some pacific rim tyre that tops this years MSa tyre list, but would be shocking in the wet and not last long.

Horses for courses!

 

[imprezaworks]

Very true mate. How long do the part worns last, couple of days depending on initial tread?

 

[alistairolsen]

Depends on weather, driving style, and how much tread there was to start with, but at about a quarter of the price of a new set, with around half the tread left it makes sense unless you need the last couple of tenths that come from rubber with no heat cycles.

 

[TarkMalbot]

What do people use in the wet for track/race? Are Rainsport 3's suitable for actual racing?

 

[Goodj]

What do people use in the wet for track/race? Are Rainsport 3's suitable for actual racing?

Only if it's a wet track. Not a damp one, a properly, complete-with-puddles, wet.

 

[Simon_16v]

It would be useful to also have pressures for each of the tyres used, so that people have a starting point when trying new tyres?

 

[antnee]

What do people use in the wet for track/race? Are Rainsport 3's suitable for actual racing?

For damp tracks most of the semi-slicks still work well, although they generally don't handle standing water/puddles too well. Tyres which are a little more road orientated tend to handle standing water better, so the 959RSR, AD08 etc.

 

[TarkMalbot]

I have two sets of wheels, one of which will be used on the road with Bembro pads and one set for the track with RC5+ pads. I am thinking of Rainsports for the road and wet tracks and some semi-slick for dry track days.

 

[-Jamie-]

If your actually going to be racing, get proper wets.

Actually, even if your going to do a lot of TD's get proper wets.

I also wouldn't bother with different pads for Road and track, Especially as you say your using RC5+'s, They are a good all round pad and are more than useable on the road with little heat.

FWIW i run Carbotech XP10's in mine on the road and track and they are fine even when cold. Unlike the RS29's i had ran previous which needed some heat in them

 

[mark123]

I've got Toyo R1R for wet races although I've never used them for that.
I did put them on my road 182 for a while to get some use out of them and I found they weren't as good in the wet as Michelin PS3.
Most "cheaper" race series don't allow proper wets, you have to be on the MSA 1A (normal road tyres) or 1B (road legal track tyres) list

 

[imprezaworks]

Anyone been amazed with road tyres?

 

[TarkMalbot]

If your actually going to be racing, get proper wets.

Actually, even if your going to do a lot of TD's get proper wets.

I also wouldn't bother with different pads for Road and track, Especially as you say your using RC5+'s, They are a good all round pad and are more than useable on the road with little heat.

FWIW i run Carbotech XP10's in mine on the road and track and they are fine even when cold. Unlike the RS29's i had ran previous which needed some heat in them

At the moment I am using the car for 500 mile round trips on the motorway so didn't want to waste track tyres or pads. I was thinking if I booked a track day and it was wet I could just use my normal road tyres. If it was nice I would put the track wheels on. Same applies if it was a nice weekend and I was out for a run with Piston Heads or something. Racing is a way off yet so will worry about full on wets then.

Plus my road wheels are White 1.2 Pro Race so was also worried these will get wrecked using RC5+'s. Anyway that's more to do with brake pads rather than tyres so wont keep going on about that on this thread.

 

[imprezaworks]

I for one will. Im using re050's next Saturday at oulton so will give my feedback. I can't understand your negativity in the thread. If your not interested or feel it's a waste then don't post

 

[adamlstr]

I for one will. Im using re050's next Saturday at oulton so will give my feedback. I can't understand your negativity in the thread. If your not interested or feel it's a waste then don't post

If it's wet they'll be pap. :down:

I've used so many over the years. Direzzas for summer/track, Conti Sp Ct 3 for winter/road.

 

[imprezaworks]

Forecast is dry, so hopefully they should be ok. Some say they find them good in the wet and very good in the dry. First venture out in the new car so will be taking it relatively easy

 

[adamlstr]

I used RE050 in the wet with 4wd and 350bhp, didn't fill me with much confidence. That was 2007 though, so they might have changed since then.

 

[-Jamie-]

I ran them briefly on the road on my Megane, Decent enough but the PS2's i put on were much better in giving confidence.

RE050's were good in the dry, Not so in the wet. I don't think they would be up to much on track though