track car tyre choice...

[adam_r]

Hello everyone.

 

Me and a friend have a rover 600 ti as a 'track' car. basically we are not entering competitions and are just having a lot of fun

 

we have decided that after our last track day at cadwell where we had to drive home on a bald tyre that we needed ot get a second set of alloys.

i have been able to pick up a cheap set of honda alloys for £80 so im looking at new 'track dedicated' tyres (to be put on and taken off at the track so dont have to be road legal).

 

anyway.... here are some of my options, but im not very good with knowing how tyres cope and which one is best etc.. so im hoping for some pointers.

 

 

Yoko ad08 - £75.50 per tyre.. been hearing rave reviews about these saying they are THE best track tyre out there for this type of money.

Hankook RS2 - £52.00 per tyre.. no experiance but i have heard good things on other forums

Yoko prada spec 2 - £43.80 - cheap, had them on a previous road car and where not bad... do wear out quicky though!

Toyo T1R - £29.10.. by far the cheapest tyre. never used myself but again have heard good things from them.

 

since we dont have solid suspension or uprated anti rollbars the 600 handles like a boat and without spending lots (which we dont want to do), we cant improve the handling that easily. we are trying to keep things cheap (whole car is currently under £900 including all the bits done) so im really tempted by the t1r's BUT im worried we will lose quite a bit of grip / make them go off too quickly.

 

we currently have vred sportrac 3 on the car but found they went off quite quickly at cadwell.

 

Thanks for your help in advance

[hms]

I'm with a group of peeps that run the Hornet as a track car. it's an MX5 with GAZ Gold suspension and a WIM track alignment. What I'm basically saying is that the car is well set up for track, as the only compromise made is we drive to from track in it, so none of the settings are too extreme, they will work on the road, as we drive it to the track, slicks are out.

Of the tyres we have had on the Hornet.

 

Toyo T1R's a good road tyre, sidewalls are soft so you need a little extra pressure in them for track use. Good but didn't last too long.

 

Hankook RS2's. Now being superceded by the RS3's but I'm not sure if they are available in the UK yet. A little bit more track oriented, harder side walls, and seem to last longer than the Toyo's.

 

One tyre you have not mentioned are the R888's. Road/track tyre, so is still legal, stiff sidewalls, very soft and sticky but don't last too long.

The 888's when upped by 2psi made the Hornet sing, suspension, alignment and tyres were in unison. Sublime was the word used to describe it!

Your mileage will vary on this as the Rover 600 is a heavier car than the Hornet.

h

[adam_r]

yes i did leave out the R888.... its a great try but suffers in the wet which when we do track days in the winter months we dont want to buy specific cold/ wet day tyre's as we dont have the money.

 

we are aware the 600 is a big heavy wallowy car but we got it more as a toy (and because we picked it up in perfect condition, 1 owner for £350 with 60k miles on it.)

 

i wish we could uprate the suspension but it would mean us spending mega bucks as there is no camber, toe etc adjustment.. i think the only thing you can alter is the castor

[hms]

The 888's seem OK in the damp, but they cannot cope with standing water.

h

[adam_r]

so, would somthing like a t1r be able to cope with the weight / crap suspension of the 600 ?

 

as I said before, we really arnt super competative, but we do like to push the car / ourselfs.

 

if a t1r could only handle a few track days with only a slight drop in performance / grip over the others then they i think would be the ones we would go for.

 

would a soft sidewall contribute to the tyre's over heating / 'going off' too quickly ?

[hms]

so, would somthing like a t1r be able to cope with the weight / crap suspension of the 600 ?

 

as I said before, we really arnt super competative, but we do like to push the car / ourselfs.

 

if a t1r could only handle a few track days with only a slight drop in performance / grip over the others then they i think would be the ones we would go for.

 

would a soft sidewall contribute to the tyre's over heating / 'going off' too quickly ?

 

You can stiffen the sidewall by adding a couple of psi.

Don't know how the T1R's would handle with the weight of a 600, but the work well with a light car like the 5.

Tony will have more information on this.

h

[Tony]

In that size the extra load is available so no problems there.

[adam_r]

In that size the extra load is available so no problems there.

 

Tony, we would be running 15's on the track for several reasons.....

 

1) they will have a smaller RR which means the silly long gearing in the 600 is brought down a little so we can get a little more out of 5th

2) cheaper tyres than 16's

3) they clear the calipers

 

we would be running 195/50(?)/15 ....

[jon.l]

Kumho KU31's seem to get good reviews from the Integra drivers, as they have a nice stiff sidewall (moreso than the T1R but less so than the AD08 I gather) but are abtou £40 a corner tops from most online retailers. Also good wet weather capability aswell I understand..