I noticed that my lap times were about .6 seconds slower at a local track (Gingerman in South Haven Michigan) while running 225/45/R18 Bridgestone Potenza s03s than when I was running 245/40/R18 Falken Azenis on the same track last year.

I wouldn't have thought that the tire width would have made that much of a difference especially as I had about a dozen more track days in between the two days including 3 more days at the track. My car also lost about 90 lbs of weight so I would have thought that would have helped as well.

Are azenis that much better than the Bridgestones? Is it the tire width? Maybe getting slow in my old age? Perhaps I already had the track pretty much sorted out when I registered my lap time last year?

Track conditions weren't optimal on either day but I don't think that would have set me back much.

Anybody else feel they have hit a wall with a given track and feel like you've maxed out your technique?

 

Tyres can mean a lot of difference in times.

Smaller tyre means less contact patch with the road surface. There is a point where you can go to wide as well. Its a matter of balance for the track you are on.

I think the 245 is the minimum I would chose to track on with the 8. 265 the widest. There are people here that AutoX on 275 or maybe even 285.

Cheers

Andrew

 

The S-03 is a decent street tire that will do OK at the track, yet the Azeni has more grip and I suspect that it would have a stiffer sidewall.
For track days, it seems like people are seeing good results with 235 or 245 widths. Go too wide and you lose top end speed, as well as proper sidewall profile on the 8" wheel.
So yes, a 245 Azeni should be faster than a 225 S-03.

 

I will add something here. I had the RT615 and they are only good for 2-3 good laps. This can contribute to people not getting good times out of them.

 

 

i think it's more of the stickier compound on the RT-615 that made you faster than the extra 20mm width... this is not fair comparison.

 

Unless you can do back-to-back runs with the different size tires, comparing the times is useless. With a year between runs, there are way too many variables such as track condition, track temp, ambient temp, the car's alignment, etc, etc.

 

send in the reciprocating engine she-devil ...

 

Correct, the OP was comparing different tires in different sizes at different times. And actually it's not always true, the 205/225 RE-01R's on the S2000 are by FAR faster than the 225/245 Hankook RS2's.

Also skinnier tires may work better if that's all that the wheel width can support. People proved 285's on a 8" wheels isn't as fast as 245's on a 8" wheel in stock class.

 

I did find that I am running more consistent lap times with the bridgestones which is probably because the Falkens would heat up and get unpredictable throughout each session.

Last weekend was awesome because we had only 19 drivers and rented the track all day. We had about 9-10 hours of track time and at many times there were only 3-4 cars on the track.

 

Thats what I was getting at. Unless you are able to do you're best laps in the 1st 2 or 3 hard laps then the falkens end up going off and need to be cooled down or you are driving on a very unpredictable tyre.