tires for track

[redlineRACER]

i am planning on going to the track more often and am wondering if i should invest in slicks or new tires or what..should i drop the pressure in my tires..i know almost nothing about racing at the track..ive only been once..any advice would help thanks...on thursday ill be representing the redlines at irwindale so let me know...

[MrCleanY0]

you'd probably only need slicks once you get some more HP behind yourself. For now the lowered tire pressure should suffice but if you really wanted something I'd go for the Nitto 555R drag radials. Those things are pretty damn good for a street/slick application in my opinion.

[redlineRACER]

where can i get those tires and how much do they cost? How do i lower the tire pressure, should i have it done professionally?

[Sp00ner]

What kind of track?

[MrCleanY0]

Originally Posted by redlineRACER

where can i get those tires and how much do they cost? How do i lower the tire pressure, should i have it done professionally?

You can get your local tire shop to order the tires in...


to lower the pressure just push your finger nail into the stem and check the pressure until you get to where you want to be (not sure what's optimal, barry should know that one)

[urbanmonkeygod04]

It depends on what kind of track you're going to on what kind of tires you should buy.

If you're going autocross/road racing, there are really really really good tires that have DOT ratings so they CAN be driven on the street (even though it's a retarded idea!). However, these tires are complete gumballs and they have a treadwear rating of 40 (I bought a pair of Nitto 450 Z-rated tires with a treadwear rating of 300, for reference), but they're sticky as all hell. You'd probably need new rims to mount them on as well, because using them for anything other than the track would be a waste of money. They're expensive, too; $221 a corner for Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires.

Linky:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ot+Sport+ Cup

Other competition tires include:

Dunlop SP Super Sport Race, Yokohama Advan A032R, Pirelli P Zero Corsa, and BF Goodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radials.

I haven't used them personally, and you have to heat them up before they work right, but they'll probably help your lap times. The stock SP9000 Dunlops or whatever are reasonably good tires for their price & the fact that they're original equipment.

Good luck; didn't see where you're from, but maybe I'll see you at the Auto-X this summer!

[redlineRACER]

i plan on racing at irwindale speedway, drag racing. My friend with an srt-4 switched his tires at the track. I want to do this because i dont want to have to buy new tires and end up wasting my stock tires. I really dont want to deal with tire pressure unless i have to...so would slicks be the best tires or something else. The guy with the srt-4 only switched his front wheels, this looked like a cheaper way to go and simpler, would only putting slicks on the wheels work fine? I would aslo have to rotate and balance the slicks also wouldnt I?...What are the best tires for my needs and how much do they cost?

[Sp00ner]

Originally Posted by redlineRACER

i plan on racing at irwindale speedway, drag racing. My friend with an srt-4 switched his tires at the track. I want to do this because i dont want to have to buy new tires and end up wasting my stock tires. I really dont want to deal with tire pressure unless i have to...so would slicks be the best tires or something else. The guy with the srt-4 only switched his front wheels, this looked like a cheaper way to go and simpler, would only putting slicks on the wheels work fine? I would aslo have to rotate and balance the slicks also wouldnt I?...What are the best tires for my needs and how much do they cost?

If you're gonna drag, you really only need the fronts. You are still gonna have to deal with tire pressure, that's how you 'tune' the tires to the specific application you're in, i.e. car, track type, track temp, power, etc. As far as what kind and how much, people will debate tires almost as much as cars, so you're gonna have to do some checking and decide on your own. I'm sure people will have lots of opinions, but I personally have never used drag tires at all, I used to race my T/A in the 1/4 with Hoosier street/drag radials back in the day. They lasted 6 months of daily driving and 5-6 runs a week of drag racing. I didn't get to race every weekend though, and I should have changed them a little sooner than I did. Mind you, it was in the 550-600 hp range at the time, and the tires were THICK, and I didn't do much in the way of pre-race burnouts.

[redlineRACER]

5-6 runs? if i run 6-8 times on a thursday that means i would have to buy new slicks every week! that would be way to expensive!

[Sp00ner]

Keep in mind that I had %250 more horsepower than you and the tires lasted almost 6 months. It is expensive to race, and even more expensive to buy speciality racing equipment, like drag slicks. They aren't meant to last, they're meant to grip and go. Racing is expensive, when I hit the road courses this summer, I expect to go through tires, brakes, oil, oil filters, racing gas, you name it, like mad. Any type of racing can eat your tires in a weekend, if you're driving like mad. Look at Nascar or something, without tire spin, they burn through a set of HUGE racing slicks in 30min. I know they're going almost 200 mph and cornering hard, but still, 30min for a set of tires that's work a LOT of cash.