Track Tyres Thread - experiences only...

[Karl]

Good to know. Thanks

[ChargeR]

Initially thats what I thought Berty, I ran 36 PSI on my first practice session, came back in it was sittin on about 43-44 from memory and it was just soooo glassy like on the track esp the last corner.

My best times came from a 34 hot I believe 1:13.8

26 psi cold is really low.... Your daily settings of 36 psi would have been a good starting point. I'd aim to get them around the 40psi mark hot.

I agree with Berty, 34 hot is way low for a street tyre, and if the RE002 are anything like the RE001 I've used they have a seriously soft casing and will flop about without enough air in them.

Even though the car may feel more controllable with lower tyre pressures, the higher pressures may be faster, it's sometimes very difficult to separate out the driving sensation from how much lateral grip the tyres are actually generating. A tyre with lower pressure will tolerate more steering angle or slip angle before it begins to slide, which can give the illusion of more grip. A different situation I know, but I found running higher pressures in my Hooser R6s as per Hoosier's recommendations to make the car much less forgiving, but if I was precise with my inputs it was ultimately much faster, and I now run 40ish psi hot in those.

[Flippit]

I agree with Berty, 34 hot is way low for a street tyre, and if the RE002 are anything like the RE001 I've used they have a seriously soft casing and will flop about without enough air in them.

Even though the car may feel more controllable with lower tyre pressures, the higher pressures may be faster, it's sometimes very difficult to separate out the driving sensation from how much lateral grip the tyres are actually generating. A tyre with lower pressure will tolerate more steering angle or slip angle before it begins to slide, which can give the illusion of more grip. A different situation I know, but I found running higher pressures in my Hooser R6s as per Hoosier's recommendations to make the car much less forgiving, but if I was precise with my inputs it was ultimately much faster, and I now run 40ish psi hot in those.

hmm interesting I'll try this next track day.

So with my said tyres and alignment what HOT psi am I aiming for, esp for Wakefield?
Is there a rough formula that you can go off to figure out what a hot psi would be judging by the cold psi or is it just dependent on the day of ambient temp etc etc?
The tread wear rating on the RE002 is 220, is this considered to be a SOFT compound due to its quick wearing rate?

[ChargeR]

hmm interesting I'll try this next track day.

So with my said tyres and alignment what HOT psi am I aiming for, esp for Wakefield?
Is there a rough formula that you can go off to figure out what a hot psi would be judging by the cold psi or is it just dependent on the day of ambient temp etc etc?
The tread wear rating on the RE002 is 220, is this considered to be a SOFT compound due to its quick wearing rate?

Try it out, I make no guarantees . As Berty said, a good start might be around 40psi hot, so set them cold to suitable pressures to get 40psi hot before the first session, run the first session and get them up to temperature and bleed them to 40psi. Then a good experiment would be to run a handful of laps, then come in and take 3 psi out of the front tyres and go back out. If after lowering the front pressures you have more understeer you know that the front tyres perform better at 40psi than 37 psi, if you have more oversteer it's the opposite.

[Flippit]

Try it out, I make no guarantees . As Berty said, a good start might be around 40psi hot, so set them cold to suitable pressures to get 40psi hot before the first session, run the first session and get them up to temperature and bleed them to 40psi. Then a good experiment would be to run a handful of laps, then come in and take 3 psi out of the front tyres and go back out. If after lowering the front pressures you have more understeer you know that the front tyres perform better at 40psi than 37 psi, if you have more oversteer it's the opposite.

So its a matter of experimenting and trial & error basically? Can't wait for next track day

[munkaii]

Re: Track Tyres Thread - experiences only...

Good advice. Also worthwhile to note the conditions that you're racing in. Relating cold, hot pressures and track temps will mean that as conditions change, you can slightly change pressure settings and still drive quick I'm poor conditions, rather than blaming the weather for not being able to drive quick.

[tinkerbell]

also - watch where you park your car!

sun on one side of the car can make pressures 1psi or more higher than the non-sunny side between sessions...

(very important for hillclimbing where pressure has to be *perfect* at all four tyres for the 30-50 seconds of time that you have to maintain optimum traction up the hill)

[eskimo_firefighter]

Looking to get a new set of street/track tyres. Would love to hear some input about the RS3, AD08R and Z2's etc in here.

[ChargeR]

This may interest you: http://tire.bridgestone.co.jp/potenza/re71r/size.html

Seems like Bridgestone have been a little behind in the last generation of high-po street tyres, hopefully this is a return to form.

[eskimo_firefighter]

The RE-11A didn't seem all that bad though. Interesting but at 43k yen a tyre for the 255/40, that's a little pricey.

[eskimo_firefighter]

Quick review of the tyres I've used so far in the S2000. The wheel alignment isn't so aggressive. about -2.5 camber front and rear and about 2mm total toe out front and 2mm total toe in rear.

Nitto NT05 - supposed to be on the same league to AD08, RSR, RS3, etc.

Pro's - High level of grip. They have been through over 25,000km and been through about 9 track days. Even after much usage the grip levels have definitely diminished but the tyre has remained consistent and grip lets out progressively. Wear is very good for the abuse they've been through. They're well priced also.

Con's - They're absolutely horrible in the wet. Even street driving you must be careful with throttle input in a RWD. Even when they were near new they can be quite snappy.

Nitto NT01 - 100 tread wear. Same league as R888, A048.

Amazing grip for the money. Extremely consistent levels of grip, and when they do overheat they let out progressively. They do like lower tyre pressures, starting off about 28-29 psi cold and aim to have 36-38 hot or so. They only been through 1 and a 1/4 track days and they still look new'ish.

Looking to replace the NT05 some time soon. So the AD08R, RS-3, the new RS-RR is on the cards.

[eskimo_firefighter]

All good man, I bought mine from http://www.option1garage.com.au/. Otherwise St Georges tyres in Sydney also sell them but I haven't had a great experience with them.

Oh nice! Sounds like fun. Looking forward to the review. From what I've heard the NT01 and R888 is essentially the same compound but obviously with different tread pattern, so they should have very similar dry grip levels.

[ptrann]

Has anyone used the new Federal RS-RR's? Not much info about them online was wondering how they compare to all the other high performance tyres such as the RS3's etc
They seem pretty cheap at $160 for 255/40/17 @ Tyres for less, Fairfield East