928SS

thinking about another set of wheels for track use.

Is there any handling loss or other advantage with a 17 vs 18 for track use?

UR thoughts always appreciated

James Bailey

Check the availability of race tires in both sizes before you select wheel sizes......

928SS

yep, was just looking for that info on tire rack...

GlenL

+1

16" tires are being made by fewer manufacturers. 17" as well. I've been looking for 17s for a while and have switched my goal to 18s.

mark kibort

no advantages either way. as was said, its all about tire size availability and costs . the 17s typically have a little more sidewall, so pressures can be a little more critical.

928SS

for street use, I must admit my 18's are taking a beating, literally. these darn LA potholes hammer the rims in a flash. I then have to beat the rims back into place so they'll hold air again. major PITA and eventually they'll just be destroyed I suspect.

so I was thinking about just using them the track and getting some 17's for street use, in hopes the sidewalls would protect the rim a bit more. 18's seem to offer a few more choices in widths. maybe I should get a tougher 18 for the street...

ew928

Thought the 17" tires are cheeeeper.

BBX

Guess who has a set of like new 3 piece Kinesis K57's hint, hint...

I'm in socal toooooo

One advantage of 17's are less money for tires. Mark is 100% on tire pressure monitoring ( I track my bikes and know the importance of tire pressure.)
17's also offer a more forgiving ride on the street as you have noticed.
The Kinesis wheels I have are so light, it's ridiculous...

Tire prices on high performance sets are a lot less and more readily available in 17 as well.

jpNcos

Are 17" that hard to find? I've seen a few posts about this and I'm always curious as to why this is being said.
From my experience 18" is to harsh of a ride in most places that have rough roads.

I guess if they are going away I need to buy a set or 2 now.

danglerb

As long as you keep to a black wall on the outside, is a pure track tire "remotely" reasonable for a limited street and track use?

Any idea what the penalty is for running a non DOT tire on the street?

Would even limited street use, back and forth to the track and a little fooling around do any harm to a track tire for track use?

ubercooper

Im running 17s in front and 18s in rear, I'd suggest getting 17s all around if you dont want to pay an arm and a leg for tires though

BBX

Mike the main problem with running a non DOT (or race) tire on the street has mainly to do with operating temperatures and wet driving traction.
If you were to run a set of Hoosiers on your street car and went out for groceries on a cool dewy evening, there is a slight possibility you could lose traction on that first on ramp you decide to open it up a little.

The risk just out weigh the benefits. There really is no strong reason to run a race tire on the street, only adverse effects.

The penalty? Depending on the cop, a $10 fix it ticket to full on impound.
I would never advise anyone to run race tires on the road.

Any track guys agree?

928SS

some AX guys I know run their race tires to the local tracks. bout as far as they go though and most don't do it at all.

super low TW tires wear out super fast too. on the street it's a waste of rubber.

I did notice 18's have more width options w/sport cups than 17's. hoosiers were about the same for both sizes.

GlenL

It is quite common to run race tires on the street. There are many brands and models of DOT-approved track tires to choose from.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/comp.jsp

Most sports car racing is done on these tires. Check out a "spec" racing specification and the tires will be DOT approved. Only the top "GT" classes in Porsche club racing use "slicks" that are not DOT approved.

danglerb

I think JimB runs Kumho V700 on the brown car.

Whatever size of decent used track tire is most available may end up being my driving force to decide on a size.

Rob what width tire you planning on?

I"ve also thought about running stock ride height, with swap wheels and tires for the track that have a smaller diameter like some of the Mustang guys I know do.