Tyres That Are Suitable For Track Days And Also Road Legal

[Global_Warmer]

As the title suggests. I am lookin for some new rubber for my 260RS autech. The only problem is the rim size that I have on the car is a bit of an odd size. The rims are currently wrapped in 265/40/17 tyres. They seem to be a limited in choice of tyres for this size rim.

So far all I have been offered from one of my local tyre mobs are Falken RT615.

http://www.falken.com.au/tyres/passenger-RT615.html

They look the goods, but I am keen to hear ya thoughts and any other choices that you may know of that may be of use to me.

[Kinks]

how about you read the tyre thread sticky.

there is LOADS of information on this part of the forum answering your question.

LOADS

also, quoting a tyre size tells us nothing about your rim width. 17" diameter by what?

[Global_Warmer]

how about you read the tyre thread sticky.

there is LOADS of information on this part of the forum answering your question.

also, quoting a tyre size tells us nothing about your rim width. 17" diameter by what?

Dunno. But the 265's sit square on the rim. Where I think 255's would sit back off the rim to much.

I will check the sticky ol mate.

[Duncan]

17x9 probably...lots of options available.

best performance, any price dunlop dz03g, 255/40/17 would suit (8.5-10" rim)

best price/performance mix kumho v70a or toyo 888

semi slicks are always much wider than a street tyre in the same nominal width

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

i would say the best VALUE would be a kuhmo KU36 for a street/track combo

[Global_Warmer]

Thanks for your replies guys. They are some sweet lookin tyres that you told me to look at. Now there are TOO many desicions...

I tried trawling through the Sticky tyre thread last night, but wasnt really keen to have to sit through 49pages of information that was not directly related to what i am trying to find out.

My only problem is (as i mentioned before) that I currently run 265's and they sit perfectly on the rim. I fear that 275's will bo too fat and hit the guard and 255's will lok sil because they are to thin. All those tyres that you have showed me are either 275's or 255's.

Does anyone know of any other track/road tyres?

[Duncan]

there are about 10 other brands types, but they are either more expensive or perform worse than the ones above. And in most cases more expensive AND perform worse.

do not worry at all about the width of the tyre varying by 1 notional cm. There is no chance you will even notice it. They are not actual tyre widths they are just notional/manufacturer names and different brands will be different physical sizes for the same notional size.

Stay in the middle of the tyre manufacturer's range for your rim width and you can be sure the tyre will not be stretching or bulging on the rim.

BTW Kumho KU36 are no-where near the tyres I mentioned (seconds a lap slower), but they are a great street tyre. I guess you need to keep in mind that a proper semi slick is pretty unfriendly on the road.

[hrd-hr30]

17x9 probably...lots of options available.

best performance, any price dunlop dz03g, 255/40/17 would suit (8.5-10" rim)

best price/performance mix kumho v70a or toyo 888

semi slicks are always much wider than a street tyre in the same nominal width

I'd say the best price/performance now is the Federal FZ201 medium. very sharp pricing and they're doing very good times.

I personally don't rate the R888 at all.

And listen to Duncan about the widths. a 255 semi will probably be wider than your 265 street tyres.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

BTW Kumho KU36 are no-where near the tyres I mentioned (seconds a lap slower), but they are a great street tyre. I guess you need to keep in mind that a proper semi slick is pretty unfriendly on the road.

yeh... my point was it's a good compromise tyre that you can have on a daily and then give a flog at the track every now and then...

[Brezza]

why dont you try Toyo R1R's?

they're still street legal and have a wear rating of 140

i havent tracked my car with them yet, but i plan to. they're a great tyre, they do wear more than your normal tyres but thats what you get with a softer compound. better grip = more wear

i got mine for my 17in rims and they were $300 each for 235x45 R17, they're also NOT asymetric so you can swap sides and front to back to get most wear out of them.

mind you the 235 is wider than the normal 235, i have 9.5in rims and there is the absolute slightest stretch on the tyre so they should fit your rims well.

i find on my GTR they really start to perform when pushed hard and respond better when warm.

[siksII]

I guess its important to figure out - Do you want a track tyre that is road legal or do you want a road tyre that works ok on the track? What is your priority?

R compound tyres have a fair few compromises when being used on the road so I would suggest sticking to the 'trackday' road tyres unless your focus is on lap times and you wont be driving around on the road much.

Good R compound tyres:

-Yokohama A050

-Dunlop DZ03G

Street/track tyres that are readily available and good:

-Federal 595 RSR

-Kumho KU-36

[Tangles]

pirelli pzero corsa, treadwear rating of 60

[Moodles2]

In the long term, I think it's best to have 2 sets of wheels, street and track duty wheels. I use Kumho Ku36's (225) on my street wheels (16x8), and decent 255's on my track wheels (17x9s). Then you won't be wearing through semi's with daily duty driving.

[Global_Warmer]

In the long term, I think it's best to have 2 sets of wheels, street and track duty wheels. I use Kumho Ku36's (225) on my street wheels (16x8), and decent 255's on my track wheels (17x9s). Then you won't be wearing through semi's with daily duty driving.

I tottaly agree with you on this. But my car does not get driven every day. Its my "show pony" that i can cruise around my country town in or its gunna be my car I can flog down Putty road and around Eastern creek. So one set of tyres will be fine.

[Global_Warmer]

I am quiet liking the look of these and my local tyre shop can get them in:

http://www.falken.com.au/tyres/passenger-RT615.html

What are your thoughts on them?

[siksII]

I tottaly agree with you on this. But my car does not get driven every day. Its my "show pony" that i can cruise around my country town in or its gunna be my car I can flog down Putty road and around Eastern creek. So one set of tyres will be fine.

If you are prepared to spend $$$ then for your purpose you cant beat r comps, these will cost around $500/tyre and last around 4000 road kms. Your car will be transformed, feel super hardcore and you will never want to use a regular tyre again.

I am quiet liking the look of these and my local tyre shop can get them in:

http://www.falken.com.au/tyres/passenger-RT615.html

What are your thoughts on them?

Street/track tyres are cheaper and will last around 15,000-20,000kms depending on driving style

My opinion on the RT 615 is that it was a good tyre when it came out years ago but the game has moved on a little in terms of performance and performance/price of tyres you can get locally. All the street/track tyres have similar(good) grip in the dry but differ more in other factors like wet performance, noise etc. Overall I would not get the RT615s, they would be one of the last on my list.

I believe that each generation of tyre tends to be better and the RT615s are pretty old compared to a lot of options nowdays so you can kinda assume(rightly or wrongly) they arent as good as some of the competition now. I remember even when they came out as a replacement for the RT215, most friends who ran them were disappointed and preferred the RT215 for whatever reason.

After looking into all those styles of tyres recently I say go for KU36s if you want good value and awesome dry grip...that said I dont like how they feel and would not buy them myself. My personal favourite is the Federal 595 RSR... one drive on these tyres and I knew I had to have them

[siksII]

how about you read the tyre thread sticky.

there is LOADS of information on this part of the forum answering your question.

LOADS

also, quoting a tyre size tells us nothing about your rim width. 17" diameter by what?

Most of the information in that thread is rubbish, you have people giving Nankangs 7/10 for dry grip. I think its pretty fair that people ask for individual advice rather than trawling through pages of crap.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

you have people giving Nankangs 7/10 for dry grip.

[driftmeister]

Been using the KU36 for 3 months during weekend blast only. Very grippy and sticky the minute out of the shop crawling as though the power steering assistance loss almost 30% but once on the move that's when you feel the sharp response and great steering feel. Surprising the noise level is rather quiet, sidewall flex at a minimal even when using 9inch width rims with 235/40/18. Since they are semi's the width of the tyre is the same as a 245/40/18 street tyre. Only thing bad about this tyre is quite slippery feeling on the wet when cold, after a few miles driving then the grip would be marginally better. Word of advice, they are better than my RT615 in the dry anytime but not sure how the tyre wear gonna be like.

[hrd-hr30]

I am quiet liking the look of these and my local tyre shop can get them in:

http://www.falken.com.au/tyres/passenger-RT615.html

What are your thoughts on them?

they're harder compound and more expensive than both the KU36 and Federal 595RSR. My thoughts are both those tyres are going to perform better for less money. Federals are softer and faster, KU36 will probably last a little longer. Both are good tyres in the same category as the RT615. Buy them from Option 1 garage cheap! www.option1garage.com.au/NewTyres.htm

I've had the KU36 on a couple of cars. They're hard to beat for the money, but the Federals are pretty close on price now too and certainly have the edge at the track.