I just bought a set of 17" team dynamic wheels and I want to get a set of tires that can be used for the street and the track for next spring and summer. Any suggestions? I live in Indianapolis and it seems like all seasons would be on the safe side but I will have another set of OEM wheels for fall/winter use.

Would it be a waste to put something like the Falken ZE 912 for use as a street and track tire? Should I definitely go with a summer tire? Or what about the other extreme... going with the Hankook Z212 or the Falken RT615, would that be bad for the street? A compromise between something that wears well and performs well on the track would be ideal.

 

if you going to be on the track you really need uhp summer tires imo.

i'd be looking at the Goodyear F1 GS-D3s or the bridgstone re-011 or whatever it is. Maybe bfgoodrich geforce kdw2

 

i won't attempt to "answer" your question, but i will try go give you some insight based on my experience....

what is your ability level on the track? for a novice, any of the above mentioned tires would be fine (as would stock runflats!) one just doesn't push tires extremely hard while learning.....

what is your suspension setup? my street tires have held up well to my fairly aggresive track setup. i'm at 20k miles and they look pretty good. this is in stark contrast to the one track weekend that i got out of a set of street tires on a stock suspension after i had some track experience.

the expensive lesson learned......if running street tires on the track, put some significant mileage on them first. the large tread blocks of many new tires cause uneven heating/cooling which will lead to "chunking".

what tracks will you be running? tracks w/ high speed sweepers and hard braking zones will put more heat (wear) into any tire. higher speed rated tires might actually outlast a lower rated tire in this case.

if you really like your track experiences, you WILL eventually end up w/ another set of wheels and dedicated track tires. it happens to us all.....

in the interim, don't overspend. tires are a disposable item.

the main thing is.....get to the track and enjoy. the tire issues will get sorted out....

 

I am a complete novice and have only been to one track day where I was able to drive the dealer cars all day and only put my car on the track for a handful of laps.

I am planning on getting into auto-x and track days next year but keep in mind I will probably not get to go out more than once a month until dental school is over.

So I am looking for a tire to mount on the Team Dynamics wheels and when I get a chance to get on the track not worry about ruining my tires. One thing I noticed with my cheap Conti Extreme contacts is the there is considerable side wall roll which I want to not have on these new tires on the track.

 

Agreed... Actually after school my 03 will be a dedicated track car and won't be a daily driver. I will get a new MCS as a daily driver and have fun with this one.

 

Bridgestone RE01R in 205/45/17 if your wheels are 17x7 and 215/45/17 if they are 17x7.5. Great all around tire for the MINI and they will hold their own on the auto-x course.

I have ZIEX 912 on now for winter and they are nice as well, but I wouldn't track them

 

in that case you can't go wrong with a kuhmo mx

 

no....solid choice too for less $$

 

Tirerack only shows the RE01R in 215... Also they are a bit expensive for me at this point.

What about putting 215/40/17 on a 17x7 wheel? Possibly a Falken FK452? Nice price from edge racing.

 

they also have 205/45/17's from Tire Rack, at least they did last night when I looked.

Dunlop Direzza Z1 is considerably cheaper and also a solid contender

215/40 is shorter than stock....going to be a harsher ride for sure

 

What about the Nitto Neogen's come in that size from discount tire for a pretty good price.

 

Edge racing has that is 205/45/17 for only $96 a tire which is more in line with my budget at the moment.

 

Oh, one thing I forgot is that if this will be a dual purpose tire for a couple of years that I can't have it be a loud tire on the road, my wife would not be pleased

 

k_h_d: there is a big difference between A/X and open track. track days will put much more pressure on your tires due to the length of the run and the speeds involved. if you plan on doing track days once a month, get the dedicated wheels/tires now. street tires on a stock suspension won't last as you gain experience. a mix of track and A/X may be a different story. most people gravitate toward one or the other. driving techniques and setups are very different between the two disciplines....

 

yokohama parada spec-2 in that price range. I had a set in 18 and was more than happy with them

 

What tires? How many miles were already on them? What track & type of event? What tire pressures were you using? I'm using GSD3's right now as my all purpose tires, only 2500 miles but one track day.

 

I am currently stock. The only suspension setup change I may do is front camber plates.

 

I started the season on the Hankook Z212's. The compound went dead before the tread wore out. That was after 8 weekends with 8 sessions per. Included with that was a jaunt to Road Atlanta where the on track speeds are pretty darn high. No tire related issues at all with these. I was quite happy and had even purchased a second set fully expecting them not to last as long as they did. I've moved to R comps now and sold off that spare set. My thoughts are they are a darn good tire for a novice and driven to/from the track with out any worries.

I just did a quick search and they are available in a 215/40-17

Thats what I'd recommend for you. Inexpensive, long wearing and good on the track and street.

 

i was running bfg sports. i have about 1k miles on them. this was a DE at Sebring (a fairly high speed track). i don't remember the pressures. whatever i ran, it was w/ the advise of two MINI-driving instructors. the lack of camber (and too much tread) was my demise. i rationalized that a set of adjustable camber plates was much cheaper than a set of tires for every event. i now run -2.5* front camber. i don't change for the street and have almost 20k miles on my BFG KDW2's.

from the experiences of my friends, i concur w/ Gnatster. i just wanted to point out that there are many variables when posting such a question.

 

i had the RT615 on the track and i like it, especially if you aren't out to
a) kill porsches
b) out for more than 10 laps

the azenis works best at ambient temperature, when they get hot, they get stickier, but with more than 6-7 laps, consider doing a quick cooldown as when they start to overheat they do not grip as well as they would if they are just at the right temperature, that said, i used this set mostly on the street and autox because i have race tires now

Bridgestone RE750, ive used those on the track too and they are pretty good, very good response, very good feedback too

 

Keep in mind tires with alots of tread get hot fast and chunk.

get low wear rated tires, Azenis 615 or Khumo MX.

 

I ran BFG KDW 2s on the street , auto X , and track ...
I do have to say I really am impressed overall.

I now have a 2nd set of wheels and tires for track and auto-x ...
but because of my great resulte with the KDWs will be usin thos on my street set up.

On a freshly paved auto x I uesd the KDWs and in SM class pulled a 2nd !

 

They have the DZ101 at $96. The Z1 is a pretty different beast, 200UTOG vs. 300 for the DZ101, but not that much more expensive. I'm liking mine on the street, but no track time yet.

 

If you have stock suspension and stock alignment then you will not be able to fully use any tire for track use/lapping sessions/or high performance driving school/events.

The stock front camber is too little to use the inner edges of the front tires so you will wear out the outer edges of the front tires heavily and accelerate wear by about 20-30% depending on your driving style. The smoother you are the better your tires will wear.

Adding front camber plates to increase negative camber to about -2.0 to -2.4 degrees will help considerably with cornering well during track use. You can now make full use of the front tires that are doing most of the turning, braking and accelerating.

All Season tires are never a good choice for track, they are well suited for street use and for all weather use year round.

Summer tires are fine but are not for cold weather (rubber gets hard) or snow (no traction). for both street and track use you can use Extreme Performance tires, Max Performance or Ultra High Performance tires. The first of these has really soft rubber that grips and handles well but wears faster in general. This is good for the track but not a great tire for lots of miles for street use. If you have limited commuting to do then it's not bad and certainly an option-

For 205/45-17 on stock 17x7 wheels-

Extreme Performance summer tire example would be
Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R in 205/45-17 $155 each 180 treadwear

Max Performance tire would be
Falken 615
Hankook Rs2 Z212
Dunlop Sport Maxx $128 each 240 treadwear

Ultra High Performance tire would be
Michelin Pilot exalto PE2
BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW2
Kumho Ecsta SPT

There are many tires that are good for the track but may not be as good choice for daily street use- not so comfortable or maybe noisy.

Track tires are not really well suited for daily street use.
Street tires won't last for the track- the heat and demands of higher speeds are tough on the rubber and tread. Over heating of the treads especially with new tires leads to chunking- a separation of chunks of tread from the tire due to heating of the top layer of tread that leads to loss of treads-mainly with track use.

Autocross is different. Speeds are much slower and each run is fairly short with many turns. Tires do heat up but not that much. It's easier for tires to last alot longer and be used for both daily driving and for autocross. The Extreme and Max performance summer tires are well suited for autocross.

R compound tires are the most grippy and soft but don't wear well for street use. The softest tires like the Kumho V710 and Hoosier A6 are only for competition use and not for street use. Some R compound tires are more durable and can be run a little on the street- Toyo Ra1, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup, Yokohama A048, Kumho V700 Victoracers.

Now a word about skill. I have seen on the track an experienced instructor drive a bone stock old four door family sports sedan with worn Michelin XGT all season tires and overtake more than one mid modded Cooper S with Max Performance tires. The rule is skill goes much further than equiptment on the track. So even with fairly mild performance tires you can drive well. Those worn All Season tires did not fair well at the end of the track day- they got replaced right away.

 

If you are going to do around 6 track days a year, you will not get more than a year out of a set of tires. I did the dual purpose tire thing for a couple of years... using Goodyear F1 GS-D3 and Bridgestone s-03 (no longer available). The would just barely make it a full summer of street / track / autocross use.

Plan on replacing tires every summer.