Hi all,

I am running in my first auto X in my 06 MCS. I bought new tires and rims, 16" enkies with 205/50/zr16 Toyo T1R's. What would be the best pressure for front and rear. The max pressure on the tire is 44 psi, can I exceed that for racing?

Any experience would be appreciated.

Thanks

Forest Crump

 

don't exceed the max pressure, especially not cold, as the pressure will increase. Really, find what works for you, you'll probably get about 8 billion responses to this question, each and every one different. I say put the fronts at 42ish, and then tune the rears for balance (you'll probably find about 38ish will balance the car fairly well), although those pressures are what we use on my wife's runflats, so its a totally different animal. I'd say put them as high as they can go so that they aren't rolling onto the sidewall. . .

 

I'd go with RubyRed's advice. 42psi is probably a good place to start in the front. Don't go under 40psi, that's a recipe for destroying your sidewalls. I run my Falkens at about 43psi in front.

For rear pressure, I like to run the rears about 6-10psi less than the front. You will find lots of opinions on this, and some (ok, maybe "most" ) may be more informed than mine. Since the Mini doesn't use the rear tires nearly as much as the fronts, you can get away with a lot less pressure back there without damaging your tire. So play around and find out what you like.

You definately don't want to drive around on the street for any real distance with 40+ psi in your tires, but you don't corner on the street nearly as aggressively as you do on an autocross course.

Good luck and have fun!

 

If the max psi is 44 I wouldn't put more than 40 in the tires cold, unless you have a compresor with you at the track. If you run hard your tires will raise 5 or 6 psiafter a run, so check your pressure after each run. Good luck and happy MOTORING.