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Firehawk Indys as track day tires?

Messages
453
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345
Location
Orange
#1
Hi all,

I recently got a set of Sparco wheels and 205/40/17 Firehawk Indys as daily driver tires, and relegated the remains of my OEM Bridgestones mounted to Ford Racing 15 spoke wheels to track day use.

The track day set is about to need tires soon, and my boss said he might kick in a few bucks for tires since I've been using my car to test new products on the track.

That gave me a thought. Since the Sparcos are lighter than the Ford wheels, what if I relegated the Sparco/Firehawk set to track duty, and got a new set of Michelins or another set of Firehawks for the Ford wheels, and used those for daily drivers. It would cost a lot of money to swap the tires from one set of wheels to the other.

Is anyone using Firehawks as track day tires? If so, what are your thoughts?

Thanks!
 


Messages
312
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124
Location
Toronto
#2
Those are hard compound long wearing tires, they have less grip than the oem Bridgestone, I'd stick with something more grippy for track use

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Messages
291
Likes
86
Location
Ontario
#3
Hi all,

I recently got a set of Sparco wheels and 205/40/17 Firehawk Indys as daily driver tires, and relegated the remains of my OEM Bridgestones mounted to Ford Racing 15 spoke wheels to track day use.

The track day set is about to need tires soon, and my boss said he might kick in a few bucks for tires since I've been using my car to test new products on the track.

That gave me a thought. Since the Sparcos are lighter than the Ford wheels, what if I relegated the Sparco/Firehawk set to track duty, and got a new set of Michelins or another set of Firehawks for the Ford wheels, and used those for daily drivers. It would cost a lot of money to swap the tires from one set of wheels to the other.

Is anyone using Firehawks as track day tires? If so, what are your thoughts?

Thanks!
I just got a set of Federal RSRR's in a 215/40/17 and they were great on track.
 


Woods247

2000 Post Club
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Atl
#4
I used 500s on track once this winter. The track surface temp was 26 degrees Fahrenheit all day. By the end of 20 minutes sessions the tires were hot and greasy. Tire pressure went from 30psi to 38psi (all four) by the end of the sessions. I'll be switching to Falken RT615K+ or Federal RSRR for track use this spring and summer. If the Firestones heated up with track temps that low, I'm sure they will be useless during southern summer temps.
 


OP
Gone in 60
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Orange
Thread Starter #5
Wow, thanks for the feedback, guys. Guess I'll keep the Firestones on the street. :) I will be able to get at least one or two more track sessions out of the Bridgestones.
 


green_henry

1000 Post Club
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Location
Pleasant Hill, CA
#6
I used 500s on track once this winter. The track surface temp was 26 degrees Fahrenheit all day. By the end of 20 minutes sessions the tires were hot and greasy. Tire pressure went from 30psi to 38psi (all four) by the end of the sessions. I'll be switching to Falken RT615K+ or Federal RSRR for track use this spring and summer. If the Firestones heated up with track temps that low, I'm sure they will be useless during southern summer temps.
Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know. Hankook RS4s for me :)
 


alexrex20

1000 Post Club
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Spring
#7
What size RS4s? I don't remember them offering a size remotely close to fitting our wheels.

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Messages
142
Likes
38
Location
Peoria
#8
Toyo r888r, if its a track only tire, get something good, don't waste time/money on a street tire that really has no business being on a track unless you track 1 time a year kind of thing just for fun.
 


DaveG99

Active member
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214
Location
Dallas
#9
The indys are not great when extreme grip is needed. I went up to the mountains in Arkansas with mine and I was sliding around all over the place. The stock bridgestones are much much better.
 


Messages
66
Likes
49
Location
South Weber
#10
I recently mounted a set of the Firehawks. For the money they are a good solution as a street tire. I have found they don't have the grip levels of the OEM Bridgestones. I can't imagine them as being good for even infrequent track day use.
 


OP
Gone in 60
Messages
453
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345
Location
Orange
Thread Starter #11
So far I've found the Firehawks to be a bit "cushier" than the Bridgestones. Pretty nice for the commute, and most of the driving I need to do. But I just remembered my boss' wife has connections to a tire dealer, so hopefully when the Bridgestones are spent as track tires, I can parley my way into something sticky for dedicated track use. If I can talk them into swapping my Firehawks onto the heavier Ford wheels, and the race tires onto the lighter Sparcos, even better.
 




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