I am interested in taking my RX8 to a track day this season and was looking for a little advice. I have quite a bit of racetrack experiance with motorcycles and the 2 items in particular I am most interested in is selection of tires and brake pads.

What is a good tire that will be work well on the track with stock wheels?

Brake pads. Are the stock pads good enough assuming a new set installed or should I look into some race pads? I will need some that will work in the wet.

 

I use Kumho V710's for track tires and Hawk HP+ pads. Make sure you replace your brake fluid with HIGH TEMP fuild. That's very critical. ATE Superblue works well, but please make sure it's DOT4 or higher grade. If you are going to drive the car to the track and want one set, Falken Azenis Sports are great. Other track tires that are good are Hoosier R6's.

The Falkens can be driven on the street and track, the V710's and Hoosiers are track tires. The Hawks will squeel and dust a good bit, but have a great bite and are great pads which you can also drive on the street if you want.

 

How easy is it to swap brake fluid from DOT 3 to 4?

 

All you have to do is bleed them and keep adding it until it comes out of the bleeder screws at the calipers. If you use Superblue, you can tell because the stuff coming out will be of another color. Start with the wheel furthest away from the master cylinder (passenger rear). You're basically flushing them out until the new stuff is left. Speed bleeders will make it really easy and you'll only need one person for that. Keep topping off the resevoir and bleeding through. Make sure you don't get the res too low as to suck in any air.

 

Pretty much a repeat of the above post....
-Falken RT-615 tires (or basically any decent UHP, Max or Extreme Performance tire for simply lapping).
-HAWK HP + Pads (held up much better than I expected them to)
-ATE SuperBlue, Motul RBF 600 (or anything similar), or any decent hi temp fluid freshly bled before each event (get some speed bleeders).

And, pretty important:
-Alignment

I'm running:

-1.2F, -1.4R Camber
6.5 Caster
0 Toe F/R
34psi all around on OEM Dunlops.
Turn in was good, tail end rotated with pedal modulation while trail braking.

 

The Azenis are not very abuse friendly, they really don't like it when you put laps on it. I would recommend the Toyo RA-1 as they can take more abuse. THey are also TWO to THREE seconds faster per lap at most one minute track. Keep that in mind.

I would go with the Carbotech over the Hawks. They stop better, squeel a little more, but most importantly. They dont destory rotors like the HP+. Go with the Carbotech XP8.

 

Pretty much what everybody above said, and another vote for the Carbotech pads. (I run XP9s on mine) but very very very good.
As above, they squel more than the Hawk's, but from what I've observed from other people, much easier on the rotors, and I've never had a hint of brake fade ever.

Also, I use the Valvoline Synpower fluid as it is actually available local to me.

 

I can't personally speak for the RT-615's, but they seemed to be popular over at the Subie forums (where I've come over from) with track day guys. I ran Hankook RS2 Z212's on my WRX at the track with success (which aren't available for our OEM wheel, but are another WRX tire of choice).

So the other Falken tire which would fit our OEM wheel would be the FK 452, which has a higher treadwear rating than the FK451 which it replaced, so I don't know how it would do. But then again- no reason to be stuck on Falken.

FWIW, I liked the 8's stock Dunlops on the track- they held up fine on my first outing a few weeks ago.

IMO, for an introductory lapping session, any decent UHP, Max or Extreme performance tire set with a freshly broken in tread which hasn't been heat cycled to death will do just fine.

 

I hate to say it, but Subaru owners are like Miata owners. Whoever says is good, they all flop to it. Not much creativity with that board, evne though they are knowledgeable.


You have to ask yourself, do you care more about money or speed. If you want to be fast, you do have to pay the money to good tires. Getting a set of all season tires are not going to cut it. As I said, 2.5 sec difference between a set of USED Toyo RA-1 vs a set of brand new Falken Azenis Rt-615. This is on a 1.5 miles track, you decide if that is worth it to you.

 

Yeah. I agree. Much bandwagoning on the boards. But then again, it's just lapping.

Go to ls1tech.com and ask what camshaft to get and everyone says TR224 (when there are cams which kick the crap out of it).
Go to Stangnet and ask what tire to get in the RR forums and people respond AVS ES100 (which we know is not particularly good at anything).
Go to NASIOC and ask what end link to get and everyone says Kartboy (which I tired and ditched).

...Come here and ask what shift **** to get and everyone says Voodoo (which I tried and did not like).

All the forums are guilty of the same crap, so I wouldn't label it a Subie or Miata thing . At the end of the day, I use what I like and what gets me around the course safely and quickly. My fault for mentioning the RT-615 without firsthand use. Cheers.

 

RA1 is the track tire that you want, it is very forgiving, and give you a lot of feed back.
I like HP+, they are cheap and work on and off tracks.
brake fuild, when you use ATE or AP or Motul, you need to change the fuild every year.
it is because the fuild will trap moisture so the boiling point will get less.

 

RT615 is as close you can get to near R-comp performance on a 'street' tire before actually using R-comp tires on the track.

If I go back to track later this year I'm probably gonna get Carbotech brake pads (XP8's most likely)

DOT4 grade brake fluid (choose your favorite brand) is A MUST-HAVE for track lapping days

and I'm going to pick up a set of Falken FK452's to replace my worn-out RT615's (have 18k street + track miles on them), i know it won't grip as well as RT615s, but as long as it can do as well as the stock Dunlops I had, I'd be satisfied.

 

Kumho MX

Castrol DOT 4

Porterfield Ceramic brakes http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/

 

I have been running BFG KDW2s and Motul 600 fluid with Carbotech XP8s in the front, and Panthers in the back

 

I can hardly call them good street tires consider they are louder and bumpier than my RA-1s. They also grip less in both dry and wet than the Toyos. They are okay for the price, but you do get what you paid for. I am telling you right now. I have two sets of Azenis that I would love to sell, I bought them because htey were cheap. I am now paying for it! Perhaps I am just spoiled

 

Another vote for Carbotech (www.CarboTechEng.com) pads. Switched from Porterfield to Carbotech and have never looked back. I've done a good number of track days and haven't ruined a rotor with the Carbotechs.

I too use the Valvoline Synpower brake fluid. It has a 500 degree dry boiling point, it's available at any auto parts store and it's only about $6 per quart.

Happy Motoring!

Mark "Feff" Pfeffer
www.MVPTrackTime.com

 

Being that the RA-1 is a 100 treadwear Competition tire (while the RT-615 is a 200 treadwear Max Performance street tire), you're comparing apples to oranges.

A proper tire to compare versus the RT-615 is the Hankook RS2 Z212 (they fall within the same category of tire).

 

Just for comparisons sake, are your track time comments re:RT-615s & RA-1s on a 350Z or an RX-8?

And the 2 sets you'd love to sell - what wear/sizes are they?

 

No kidding, plenty of people love the RT615's I'd be in for a set if you have 275/40/17

+1 on the synpower for me as well, have had no problems with it and it's cheap/plentiful.

 

note to self: pick up bottle of Valvoline Synpower at local Advance Auto that is within WALKING distance to work when track season starts in spring.

to get ATE TYP200/Super Blue locally I have to drive 30 miles out to get it, this will be much easier lol

 

Forum Vendor Plug ---

Touch base with Phil at DPE to hook you up with the Carbotechs, fluid etc. Very helpful with answers to questions and great service !!

 

One note on the Carbotech's. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably go XP8 over XP9. I've found I actually have a little too much bite sometimes to be as smooth as I'd like to be.

I called Carbotech when I was looking for pads (summer of 05) and they didn't have a lot of feedback yet, and as the car was right on the weight line where they recommend one over the other, the recommended higher just to be safe. (i.e. they say XP8 for cars under 3000lbs, and XP9 for cars over.)

 

I used them on both cars, didnt use the RA-1 on the RX-8 though.

I have a set of 245/45/17 Rt-615 and a set of 245/45/17 Rt-215. The Rt-215s are exactly .75 sec slower than the 615s. Main difference is the amount of abuse you can take. I could only get 4 fast laps on the 215, the 615s netted me 6 laps. If you are local, I will sell it.

 

If you are interested I have some track brake pads for sale.

Carbotech Panther + front and rear used for 4 autox events. Found they were to grabby for low speed autox so went back to stock. $100+ shipping.

Hawk Blue front and rear, new in box never used. I won a few sets of pads last year at some races, Hawk gave you product for winning, I put a set on my Expedition and then ordered Blue's for the rest because I figure track guys would buy them. $150 + shipping.

 

Lots of good information, Thanks!!!