Slicks for Autocross

[toilets]

Time for me to get some slicks since I now am in ESP class....

My question is, has one had any issues with the slicks in regards to axles breaking or anything else breaking/wearing out because of the added grip levels?

What all would you think I need to change because of the grip levels being so high compared to a street tire?

Thanks

And who the heck makes a 20inch slick? or a R compound tire atleast?

[IOM Black Diamond]

When you find a tire I would like to know. I have been trying to find a slick in a 20 for auto X for a long time. I have my stock wheels that I want to use for track tires.

[blazzin1]

Nobody makes a 20" slick. You best bet is just to use a very high performance street tire (like the Nitto Invo or Toyo R888).........or change your wheel size!

[Li0nel1234]

Ditto on the 20 inch slick. Check out Hoosier's catalog for their sizes. They make a lot of sizes but don't have the 20's to fit the stock wheels.

drop to some 19s and you can go 19x10.5 all around. Or even 18.5x10.5s depending on the wheels...

[Ovenmitt]

http://www.racetire.com/products/toyo_r888.htm

The R888 can be had in 285/35/20, which fits the stock wheel. It's an R-Comp race tire

[toilets]

Originally Posted by Ovenmitt

http://www.racetire.com/products/toyo_r888.htm

The R888 can be had in 285/35/20, which fits the stock wheel. It's an R-Comp race tire

Now thats nice however, operating temp is very high for autocross... but may be my only bet and looks like a very nice tire!

[600hp-lpe]

There aren't any 20" tires.. other than Nitto's, and they are really for street/drag.

If you are going to drop down to a 19 or 18, wou will need a custom set of rims to put the tires on, and need to match the tire diameters for front/rear to get the same height. It is a bit of work, but worth it once done.

I dropped down to 18" to get a decent wide race tire. You have 2 options - run a 19" that would fit without modifying anything, but real limited in sizes. It will also tie you to only hoosier's as there aren't any other manufacturers making 19" R series compounds.

Going with 18's, you have a bunch of tire choices from different manufacturers, but you have to do some work to make them fit. I worked with John at CCW to build a custom set of Wheels 18X11 front, 18X12.5 rear.

We went with a 315/30/18 front, 335/30/18 rear. I run Hosier A6 Tires... same diameter front and rear. 25.6" tall.

It took a bit of work to make the combination fit - they will hit the Lower control arm, so that needed to be modified for clearance. Rear emergency brake line needed to be relocated as it hit the rim as well.

Front knuckle where the camber adjuster is had to be ground down with a grinder to make the front inside rim have clearance. (that weas all that was needed for the front.

Was it worth doing all the work to get the tires to fit? Absolutely! the tire/wheel lower the car over 1.5" by just swapping from my street set to the track set. The wide tire and grippiness of the rubber allowed me to be competative in my SCCA Street mod class against AWD subaru WRX's and Mitsubishi EVO (also AWD).


Here is a pic of my car with the 18's on it.. notice how low the car is. The suspension is only dropped a little over 1" in height at rest with stock tires on it - the 18's lower it nicely just with the shorter diameter tire/wheel combo.

[toilets]

WOW! That is really nice!!! I am a bit torn right now in regards to the future of my car so we will see (have my name on the Zl1 list but just waiting for price)

I like the 19inch size since I rather not tinker with trying to make everything fit. Hoosiers will be a fine choice I think as well. That way I can swap rims and tires right at the track.

Thanks for the input!!

[Li0nel1234]

I had to mod my front nuckle with a mill file. It took maybe 1 minute of filing on each side. My rears clear the e-brake line fine. Sizes are in my sig.

I think I will be getting some A6s once my NT05s wear down. I will use my OEM setup to and from the track and put on the A6s at the events. I just don't know if they'll fit in the trunk!

Anyone know if they can fit 4 wheels n tires back there with the back seat folded down?

[FloMoCamaro]

I know when I go to the drag strip - only one wheel (315x18) will fit in the trunk. The other wheel goes in the back seat area with the seat folded down. You might can fit three wheels in the back seat area - but never tried...

[navyblueburnout]

[QUOTE=Anyone know if they can fit 4 wheels n tires back there with the back seat folded down?[/QUOTE]

I could barely fit 2 WITH the seats laying down.

[Li0nel1234]

Hmm... this will be interesting...

[600hp-lpe]

I don't have a back seat....

I have an enclosed trailer and tow to/from the events.

Never tried putting tires inside the car. My extra tires go in the trailer...

[Erik@Torq]

Originally Posted by toilets

Time for me to get some slicks since I now am in ESP class....

My question is, has one had any issues with the slicks in regards to axles breaking or anything else breaking/wearing out because of the added grip levels?

What all would you think I need to change because of the grip levels being so high compared to a street tire?

Thanks

And who the heck makes a 20inch slick? or a R compound tire atleast?

By throwing on a set of slicks you are adding on a lot more stress to the suspension and chassis, and to simply throw on a slick on a stock car is not always a good idea. Yes, it can be done (I have done so as well) but the stock suspension is simply not designed for the much improved grip. I am not saying that your car is going to fall apart just by throwing on the slicks But endlinks, bushings etc will wear out faster and eventually fail.

R-Comps would provide less grip then a full slick of course, but still work great on a road course or auto-x track. You can throw these on a stock car and run it as hard as you want! But at the end of the day if you don't have the suspension to put the power down, it doesn't matter what tires you are running.

I have run faster times then other Camaros, Mustangs etc with full suspension mods and running on wide 18" slicks, A6's, R6's etc on my 20" Toyo R888's. A proper balance between tire/suspension/power/driver mod will always be the winning car.

With that said, your only 20" option in a sticky tire is the Toyo R888, the same as I am running. I used to run the 285's on 4 corners on 4 stock 9" rims and that worked great. I would NOT run the 285 on the stock front 8" rim. The Toyo's are quite wide for a 285 and will buldge to much for comfort on the 8". I will find a photo of my 9" rims and show you.

Running square with the rims and tires will make the car very well balance, especially with the Camaros awesome weight bias plus the added benefit to swap them around to get more out of them.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by DirtNMyTeeth

When you find a tire I would like to know. I have been trying to find a slick in a 20 for auto X for a long time. I have my stock wheels that I want to use for track tires.

Originally Posted by toilets

Now thats nice however, operating temp is very high for autocross... but may be my only bet and looks like a very nice tire!

As mentioned above, I am very pleased with my 20" R888's. But they are not optimal to run on stock front 8" rims. But the grip is awesome, even when cold! I have run on Stock, Invo's, NT-05's and these R888's and have nothing but good things to say about them.

Originally Posted by Li0nel1234

I had to mod my front nuckle with a mill file. It took maybe 1 minute of filing on each side. My rears clear the e-brake line fine. Sizes are in my sig.

I think I will be getting some A6s once my NT05s wear down. I will use my OEM setup to and from the track and put on the A6s at the events. I just don't know if they'll fit in the trunk!

Anyone know if they can fit 4 wheels n tires back there with the back seat folded down?

With the rear seat in, I don't see them fitting. I had 3, 20" rims in my Camaro all the way from Miami to Arizona but it was tight. Had my wife not been sitting next to me I am sure I could have fit the 4th in there.