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RE11s are good. So are Star Specs, Rivals, R-S3s, etc. A lot of people I know just buy one of those based on price and are happy with that approach. I have not driven on MPSS tires, so I can't comment on them, but I see a lot of them on Vettes, Porsches, etc. at the track.
NT01s should be fine at the right width for your rims as well. People seem to love to hate them for some reason, but they are great tires for their intended purpose.
RE11s are good. So are Star Specs, Rivals, R-S3s, etc. A lot of people I know just buy one of those based on price and are happy with that approach. I have not driven on MPSS tires, so I can't comment on them, but I see a lot of them on Vettes, Porsches, etc. at the track.
NT01s should be fine at the right width for your rims as well. People seem to love to hate them for some reason, but they are great tires for their intended purpose.
The MPSS must come with free ******** until the tread gets down to 2/32" because everybody that uses them thinks they are the be-all, end-all tire.
I don't know yet. I took them to a track day last month, but it rained all day, so I did not get to do anything other than work on fine tuning car control. I have another track day Monday, but rain is in the forecast again, so we'll see.
A good friend of mine runs them and really likes them, but he only gets 4 track days out of a set. His car is a heavy Golf R with a street alignment, however.
I only bought the R888s, because TireRack had them on holiday sale for $88 each when bundled with rims, which were also on sale. I'll wear them out and probably go back to NT01s.
I have a set of RPF1 17x9s with half used Maxxis RC-1s on them I *might* be willing to sell. They weigh ~200lbs total, so shipping would be brutal. PM me if you want to discuss.
Found local set of rpf1s 17x9 but they are 30mm offset. Will that work for a track car, will it upset the suspension geometry to much. what is the ideal offset for 17x9 wheels?
I know but I bought tires and wheels from discount tire and they will install the sensors, mount, balance for free so I got this set instead taking oem sensors from old rims and putting them on new wheels.
New tires and wheels arrived, they're nice increase in the contact patch size and weight reduction over the stock S1 wheels. 255/40 17 NT01 on 9 " wheels are much wider than 245/40 18 NT01 on stock 8" wheels.
also new wheels (17.5lb) with bigger tires weigh just under 44lb just as much as the 18s with smaller worn NT01. So I got an inch wider tire contact patch with no weight penalty. in fact new 245/40 18 Nt01s on S1 wheel would be @48lb!
I guess quite a bit of weight comes off the tires as they wear. Worn 245/40 18 are 22lb vs 26lb when new.
S2 wheels with BFG rival s tires are almost 49 pounds (245/40 18)!
any tips on how to break in these new NT01s? Should I bother to heat cycle them on the parking lot doing 8 figures (warm them up on the highway first) before first track use?
Last edited by Nadrealista; 02-24-2017 at 08:47 AM.
You will get a little extra torque out of that tire size, but there is a penalty. Your speedometer will be off 3 to 5 MPH. Also, you may run out of gearing on the track. On the OEM size or 245 45 17, I upshift and downshift twice per lap. On 255 40 17, I run out of RPM sooner on some straights and have to shift three times per lap. Considering each upshift costs 1/4 second, and each downshift costs 1 second, I lose any benefit the wider tire might offer. And, we have established that wider section width does not necessarily equate to wider tread width or larger contact patch, so that tire size may represent a net loss of quickness, depending on track layout.
I happen to be building a Miata track toy, and happened to see this book at Half Price Books. It is a pretty good and quick read. It covers concepts at a basic to mid-level, and is good for refresh purposes, if nothing else. It also taught me a few new tricks. Totally worth the $10 Amazon sellers are asking for it.
Another benefit of shorter tires is a lower CG for a little better handling and less ground clearance for a little better aero. Both are pretty small advantages. I use 255/40/17 on 17x9's mostly because it's cheaper than running 18's and that's really all the tire a stock powered RX8 needs.
Unless you're setting up the car for a particular track, chances are gearing will be a bit off in some spots, and even with a dedicated setup, the transmission gear ratios might not make a "perfect" setup possible.
Definitely get an alignment. When I tracked my R3 in stock form, I got a pretty aggressive alignment done. The handling was great and tire wear was pretty even.
Another benefit of shorter tires is a lower CG for a little better handling and less ground clearance for a little better aero. Both are pretty small advantages. I use 255/40/17 on 17x9's mostly because it's cheaper than running 18's and that's really all the tire a stock powered RX8 needs.
Unless you're setting up the car for a particular track, chances are gearing will be a bit off in some spots, and even with a dedicated setup, the transmission gear ratios might not make a "perfect" setup possible.
Definitely get an alignment. When I tracked my R3 in stock form, I got a pretty aggressive alignment done. The handling was great and tire wear was pretty even.
side question - do you happen to remember the alignment specs in stock trim? Trying to figure out what the limitations are on an aggressive alignment for an R3 that doesn't really see the street anymore -
had my first event on new wheels/tires 2 weeks ago. much more grip . kept the tires at 36 psi hot. live tpms system I got was sweet. it was interesting to watch tire pressures rise throughout session and the day as it got warmer. interestingly they did not drop much if any on the cool down lap.
I ended up taking more hi speed corners in 4th gear since I could carry more speed trough them and my 4th gear was shorter. had to up-shift to 5th gear on the main straight (summit point main raceway).
Last edited by Nadrealista; 04-06-2017 at 10:02 AM.
had my first event on new wheels/tires 2 weeks ago. much more grip . kept the tires at 36 psi hot. live tpms system I got was sweet. it was interesting to watch tire pressures rise throughout session and the day as it got warmer. interestingly they did not drop much if any on the cool down lap.
I ended up taking more hi speed corners in 4th gear since I could carry more speed trough them and my 4th gear was shorter. had to up-shift to 5th gear on the main straight (summit point main raceway).
Any pics of the hypergrams on the car? I'm thinking about picking up a set.
side question - do you happen to remember the alignment specs in stock trim? Trying to figure out what the limitations are on an aggressive alignment for an R3 that doesn't really see the street anymore -
Thanks!
I can't answer for him, but the most I have been able to achieve in the front has been -2.5. I usually run the rear at -2.0. What I really want is the settings I have on my Miata: -3.5 and -3.0.
02-09-2017, 08:16 PM
. kept the tires at 36 psi hot. live tpms system I got was sweet. it was interesting to watch tire pressures rise throughout session and the day as it got warmer. interestingly they did not drop much if any on the cool down lap.