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What tires for HPDE track days

BronxBomber

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#1
Hey all. In the process of prepping car for some HPDE track days at Sebring Florida. Track conditions will be in the 90's and track is murder on brakes. I'm interested in what tires you guys are using for track days. Whether you guys are using the stock tires or track dedicated tires. Please chime in and let me know your experiences with said tires. I'm on the fence as to which tires to go with. Looking at Dunlop Star Spec and Federal RS-R racing since I've had good experiences with the regular 595 line.
 


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#2
I just had my first HPDE track day Saturday so I am also looking into my next set of tires. I did the day on the stock potenzas, they held up really well everybody there was surprised my car came with such soft tires from the factory haha, just have to watch for the pressure jump you'll get when they heat up, mine went from 41psi at the start to 49psi after the third practice session. They squealed a bit but they never broke loose on me.
 


Chuckable

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#3
Hey all. In the process of prepping car for some HPDE track days at Sebring Florida. Track conditions will be in the 90's and track is murder on brakes. I'm interested in what tires you guys are using for track days. Whether you guys are using the stock tires or track dedicated tires. Please chime in and let me know your experiences with said tires. I'm on the fence as to which tires to go with. Looking at Dunlop Star Spec and Federal RS-R racing since I've had good experiences with the regular 595 line.
Whatever you decide on, please let us know and post up feedback! I'm interested to know as well. I can't afford dedicated track tires, so I'm going with BFG Sport Comp 2s for dual use.
 


Siestarider

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#4
I found the BFG SC's to be excellent on street and good on track. 10 track days before they got so hard I could not get a good time out of them (down to wear bars but still had tread).

I am currently running BFG Rival S, first track day not as good as SC's were, but maybe they needed a good heat cycle. We will find out at Sebring NASA event 4/30. They are definitely wearing faster than SC's did.
 


OP
BronxBomber

BronxBomber

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Thread Starter #5
I found the BFG SC's to be excellent on street and good on track. 10 track days before they got so hard I could not get a good time out of them (down to wear bars but still had tread).

I am currently running BFG Rival S, first track day not as good as SC's were, but maybe they needed a good heat cycle. We will find out at Sebring NASA event 4/30. They are definitely wearing faster than SC's did.
Have a few questions for you seeing as you'll be running same track as me. Is it ok if I pm you?
 


meFiSTo

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#7
Preface: Track tire preferences depend a little on what you're trying to accomplish. I'm not going for ultimate speed, but rather tires that will hold up over the course of multiple sessions and multiple track days. 20-minute track sessions are tough on tires. Some tracks are harder on tires than others. "Locally" (kind of local to Portland), we have 2 extremes. Portland is comparatively gentle on tires, while Pacific Raceways is brutal on tires (with both driven about the same way with a FWD hatch). I figure it has to do with the design of the tracks and the road surface conditions in combination. I have not been to The Ridge yet, but plan to get there this year. It's newer than the others and the surface at least won't be so brutal as PR.

In any event, I've used a number of tires (including Dunlop Direzza Star Specs, Toyo RA1s, Hoosier race tires, Nitto NT01s, Falken Azenis RT615s, Bridgestone Potenza S-04s and some Continental stockers).

IMHO, if you plan to visit track day events on any kind of regular basis, a set of track wheels is the way to go. Whether those are drive-to-track or mount-at track, it's worth the investment. I also have a preference for Nitto NT01s. They're tough to beat for the money. They hold up great in-session and (in my experience) last easily as long as any street tires. BUT: They are not good for drive-to-track tires (they basically turn into slicks after one track day and need to heat up to be safe).

I have some Bridgestone RE-11As for drive-to-track tires. I have not used them yet at the track. They are basically my summer street tires that would double for track use in a pinch (or if I am lazy). Next time, I think I'll get RE-71Rs for that purpose. I've ordered some 15x8 Team Dynamics wheels and am on the fence about making them my street wheels or my dedicated NT01 track wheels. Still TBD. If I went street use, I'd likely get the BFG g-Force Rival S tires -- due to size availability, although I've heard those are not the greatest for long track sessions (softer compound used heats up fast and gets a little greasy). So, yeah, on the fence.

With that said, all the tires I've used worked reasonably well. Of the street tires used so far, the Dunlops held up (for me) the best. The Hoosiers (purchased as discounted/discontinued models way back) were amazing, but corded MUCH sooner than the RA1s or the NT01s.
 


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#8
I have the BFG g-Force Rival tires on 15x8 Team Dynamics wheels and absolutely love these tires but will agree you have to be careful after about 20 to 25 minutes on track as I found I was getting more overseer and definitely overheated the tires! (my fault) I have also used these tires a lot on the road even though they are supposed to be dedicated to the track and they are fine even in the rain just have to be a bit careful.
 


OP
BronxBomber

BronxBomber

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Thread Starter #9
This is good to know. I won't have nearly the same options as I'm going with a 17" tire which will serve double duty as a street tire for now. If I start tracking he car more regularly, I will look into a dedicated track tire most likely Nitto NT 01 sized 205/40/17
 


haste

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#10
I will be using a set of Dunlop star spec II tires sized at 215/40/17 coming up in mid-may. I used the stock tires last year and am hoping for a big improvement.

I will post up some thoughts after the event, if I remember this thread.
 


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#11
I'm on stock rubber, but I plan on moving to Michelin Super Sports after I tear up the stockers. I've had them in the past and I really thought they were great at handling track abuse and still good as a DD tire. Worth the price IMO.

Lots of Florida boys in this thread! I'm thinking about running PBIR 'Track Night in America' May 24th. Any of you looking to run that?
 


OP
BronxBomber

BronxBomber

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Thread Starter #12
I am going to go to one of the events. Going to hook up with Performance Driving Group. They race all over Florida. Sebring, PBIR, Homestead and Daytona. I'll look at he PBIR website to get some more info. Night racing sounds good. Cooler temps= less stress on the car and moar Powah!
 




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