Track day tyre advice

[shifty]

Ok just bought some rims to use on the track there 18/9 and going on a very low RX8 so any size advice would be appreciated also brand options although most swear by the R888

[Will66]

R888s are good but currently they\'re insanely pricey, they\'ve gone up 30% in price over the last two years.

Yokohama A048Rs are good, but they\'re costly too.

A lot of the Sprint and Hillclimb types like Kumho K70As, however since the Japanese Earthquake these are quite hard to come by.  They come in two compounds, medium and hard, I wouldn\'t stick medium on as they\'ll just wear out quicker and you won\'t have any benefit for trackday use.

Federal RS-R 595s are quite good and cheap apparently.  Probably what I am getting for my next set.

California Style\'s just got some Dunlop Direzzas for his car so I will wait to see what he makes of them.

However to get the best of them I reckon it is worth doing a couple of track days with regular tyres on the car first.  You\'ll be in a better position to exploit their extra performance if you\'re somewhere close to the limit of the performance of normal tyres before you fit them.  Otherwise you may be wearing out performance rubber without reaping the benefits.

[shifty]

What about the Yokohama AD08,s

[clive]

I\'m now on my fifth set of tyres on the RX-8.

 I look for a lot of feed back from a tyre and like to feel when its going to let go so I can run on the limit of adhesion :Hammer.

I have now tried Bridgestone 040 and 050 then Falkens which gave far better info and grip back than the Bridgestones even though a budget tyre .

I then tried Yokohama Sports which I believe is a brilliant road tyre and actually felt like a proper racing wet weather tyre such was the grip I found in the pouring rain at Oulton Park however I have now bit the bullit and fitted  Yokohama A048\'s which although not a race tyre as its still got a hard compound is very very good and has probably found me around 5 seconds around Castle Coombe,

Whilst expensive I raced on Advan\'s (Yokohama) for a couple of years and knew they would be a good progressive tyre which was why I went for A048\'s over the R888\'s  

Hope this helps

[Competition PZ]

Will, did you mean the Kumho V70 ?
Also the tread pattern makes a difference too - eg the Ecsta are the List 1B tyre legal for sprints/hillclimbs.

Warning on the Kumhos, they are critical to carcase temperature and on some surfaces will disappear quick Also, initial wear rate is high, but once down to 2-3mm loads more grip and control. As a Scot I refuse to spend money on rubber and then shave most of it off for a few extra tenths of a second

Aside: What most do is run a new set for practice and switch to old "worn" for timed runs and then as the "new" set wear in they get moved over to "timed" set. Only problem I have with that is getting 8 tyres in an \'8 But that doesn\'t help much for trackdays

As good as Yoko ? pass, I\'v not tried 048s on the \'8. Used them extensively on the Alpine and whilst great grip I found them less progressive ( but was rear engined setup so no true comparison ) Did find them only up for two days at Knockhill tho\'

BIG q always to ask about trackday tyres is wear versus grip.
Much larger influence on choice as once you start seeking the higher grip levels then the trade off of life versus cost becomes quite large. Again, my experience ..... soft compounds LOVE the RX-8 (PZ setup) ....nice consistent wear, temps and grip. BUT , one day competing at Kaimes kills one set. Ostensibly "road tyres" ... yeah lessons learned

[shifty]

Ok thanks guys a bit of food for thought any advice on sizes

[Will66]

I wouldn\'t go larger than a 245 or a lower profile than a 40 profile personally unless you\'re running a wider rim but then you\'ve got implications with increased unsprung mass and rotating intertia which will change the way the suspension performs, I use 18x8 rims on track quite happily.  

A lot of the 35 profile tyres have lower load ratings than the RX8 has as standard as well.  For instance, Kumho V70As in a 245/35R18 are 88 rated tyres which mean a tyre has a maximum individual load of 560 kg, the RX8 standard tyres are a 91 load rating which is 615 kg.  In normal use that wouldn\'t create too much of an issue, however if you\'re pushing it on a track you are going to get closer to the maximum load a tyre can take than you will on the road, a blowout or de-lamination at high speed on a track will at best give you a nasty brown stain on the seat to remove, at worst it could write the car and you off.  Most of the 40 profile tyres are a 91, 93 or higher load rating so this isn\'t an issue.

[shifty]

I wouldn\'t go larger than a 245 or a lower profile than a 40 profile personally unless you\'re running a wider rim

I am there 9"