Track Tires? DOT legal or not?

[franknbeans]

Looking for a set of tires just for the track. Will be used for PDE and autocross days. They will also be mounted on my stock rims. Should I go with a 100% track tire or a DOT legal track tire?
I have about 1.5 hour drive to the track I go to.

Recommended tire and sizes anyone?

[franknbeans]

no one running track tires ? Strange.

[gotroost]

Just my 2 cents.

1. Trailer it in case something bad happens.

2. I have a set of 4 2SS rear rims. Cheap but your options are limited for tires with the 20s.

3. Love my Nitto NT01s, but they are so soft would not run them any time on the street.

4. See number 1.

5. Have fun!

[Jrichards73]

When you find slicks that fit these 20's let the rest of us know...

[sting808]

Toyo 285/35r20 r888
~7 miles from home to venue, 15-20 minutes.
Pretty good surface streets and mostly highway.

Worst case, call my wife and she bails me out with a spare tire or I flatbed it home.

Nitto Nt01s were over $200 more than r888 when shipped to me. Tallest slicks were 295 or 305 19" at ~27" Dia. Car would go too low to drive to venue. Actually considered a receiver hitch to help car tires to race. Decided to try it until the r888 are worn out. I have my street/rain set if weather forecast is bad.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

I drive 3-1/2 hours to and from the track on my Nitto NT-01s, no issues. The grip is amazing. Either the R888s or the Nitto NT-01s are solid track tires that are available in 285/35-20 and will have no problem on the drive there and back. I prefer the Nittos, as the R888s are noisy and that sound is annoying to me. Some think the NT-01s last longer than the R888s, but there are fans of both tires. Price is about the same in the size I run (315/30-18s). Once you get spoiled by the grip of R compound tires, it's hard to go back to street tires. I just mounted a set of Hoosier A6s, I will be driving to/from the track with those as well. Can't wait to try out the super sticky Hoosiers.

I'm thinking about getting a small trailer and towing it behind the Camaro, as slightly used slicks are $100 each in my size. I'm not as excited about towing the entire Camaro to/from the track, as I prefer the simplicity of just driving my track car there.

[90503]

...I put in a rear-seat delete kit....All four track wheels and tires now fit in the back seat.....

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by 90503

...I put in a rear-seat delete kit....All four track wheels and tires now fit in the back seat.....

No kidding? That's a good solution. I had considered that but thought they wouldn't fit. My rear seats are being removed and replaced with a 4 point roll bar, fab is underway now. But I'm also putting in Sparco Evo 1-piece seats. Even if the track tires could make it past the roll bar I don't think I could squeeze them past the seats because they don't recline. Hmmm, you've got me thinking hard on how to make this work, but I think my plan would be too hard to change at this late stage.

[90503]

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

No kidding? That's a good solution. I had considered that but thought they wouldn't fit. My rear seats are being removed and replaced with a 4 point roll bar, fab is underway now. But I'm also putting in Sparco Evo 1-piece seats. Even if the track tires could make it past the roll bar I don't think I could squeeze them past the seats because they don't recline. Hmmm, you've got me thinking hard on how to make this work, but I think my plan would be too hard to change at this late stage.

I do have another option....It is possible to put one tire and wheel in the trunk...it barely fits through the trunk lid opening...Then, I only have to put three in the back seat....Other option, is to remove passenger seat, but I don't need to go that far yet....

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by franknbeans

Looking for a set of tires just for the track. Will be used for PDE and autocross days. They will also be mounted on my stock rims. Should I go with a 100% track tire or a DOT legal track tire?
I have about 1.5 hour drive to the track I go to.

Since it sounds like you're just getting started with HPDE, I'm going to suggest going no further than a max/extreme performance summer street tire. Something like the Goodyear Supercar G:2, Michelin Pilot Super Sport, Hankook RS-3, BFG Rival. Any of those will tolerate a wet/damp/drying track better than R-compounds or dry-weather race rubber.

Tires with better grip than that will give less or different warning than what you're used to, mask driver errors, cover up bad habits that you might develop, and ultimately limit your progress.

Given your power level, you want ZL1 tire sizes (285/35-20, 305/35-20) on ZL1-width wheels (20 x 10, 20 x 11). Or bigger.

The SS is already running as much rear tire as you should ever put on 9" wide wheels for any purpose, never mind open-tracking, which would force a 275/xx limit. Up front, you could probably go to a 255-wide tire except that (a) it would hardly be worth the effort, and (b) you'd give up a little turn-in response even if you gained a little ultimate steady-state cornering grip.


Picture below was at my last track day back in November. Didn't rain a drop all day but as you can see we started off wet from heavy rain the night before. The track was almost dry by the 4th (last) session.


Norm

[sting808]

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

...I prefer the Nittos, as the R888s are noisy and that sound is annoying to me. Some think the NT-01s last longer than the R888s, but there are fans of both tires...

Yes, the R888s howl at all speeds. They are noisy. I picked the R888 due to price and read somewhere that they are a softer, stickier compound than Nitto. I thought Toyo bought Nitto and they are sharing tech, but keeping the lines separate.

[sting808]

franknbeans,

Our Auto-X courses are technical with only a couple places to open up for bursts. My power levels are similar to yours and I launch and stay in 2nd gear since I drive a stick. Even with the R-compounds, they won't hold our power levels. Regardless, if you're spinning, you're not winning. But it's entertaining to watch and you'll get "style points."

I'm trying to get Pilot SS for street/wet setup, but limited availability. If you can find the Pilot SS, grab them while they're in stock.

[L99CAMA2011]

Sorry Mr. Beans you need to spend some cash and my advise is to call John at CCW. Stock stuff even the ZL-1 wheels won't hold that power well. Or you can try the setup I am working on. My AD08R 305 30 19 is even wider in thread width than the ZL-1 I just measured at the dealership by over an inch providing decent grip for that power range.

[franknbeans]

The only reason I was looking at the stock rims is because I wanted a track tire and then a street tire. I also didn't want to F up my Forgestars I have now. They are 20x9.5 and 20x10.5