madrambler

I have three track days under my belt. I'm running the 20" Carerra Classic Wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Heading back to Laguna Seca art the end of May and am thinking about more grip. Downsizing to lightweight OZ 19" and Micheling Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.

Here's my question: Is this too much too soon? I could use some opinions from the track vets here.

thanks!

arter

Well, you will learn faster to control the car using lower grip tires. Pushing these towards their limit helps develop the feeling and technique you will need to drive faster.
Randy Pobst can drive faster around Laguna using pirelli p zeros than most of us can running hoosiers.

Sport 4s are pretty good on the track, they just wear and over heat faster than cups 2's.

phx991

I made the exact same switch. The handling and grip were better with the 20" factory wheel on PS4s. The reason I use the 19s is because tires are cheaper, more rim protection, and if I do bend a rim it's cheap to replace.

madrambler

@ arter - Thanks. That's good advice.

@ phx991 - That is surprising to me. Did the 19"/PSC2 combo get a chance to heat up? Did you heat cycle them prior to the track day?

chuck911

[QUOTE=arter;14977433]Well, you will learn faster to control the car using lower grip tires. Pushing these towards their limit helps develop the feeling and technique you will need to drive faster.
Randy Pobst can drive faster around Laguna using pirelli p zeros than most of us can running hoosiers.
[QUOTE]

Right. Also the less sticky the tire, the easier it is on brakes and suspension.
I seriously doubt if even Lewis Hamilton's Hypersofts are enough to make anyone here faster than Randy Pobst.
Its not the tire. Its the driver.

madrambler

Thanks. Yes, I'm getting pretty clearly that sticking with what I have until I build more skills is the way to go. Cheers!

mdrums

Valvefloat991

Agreed. Hard to imagine that the PSC2s have less grip than the 4Ss. And there's no evidence that 19s, in general, have less grip than 20s. After all, F1 tires are 13-inch diameter and the tires have aspect ratios of .56 in front and .42 in the rear.

RRDnA

Stick with the 20s - better turn in, add MPSC2 N1 - run hot 34 PSI front 36 PSI rear (do not go below 28PSI cold). Very effective if you want great turn in and lots of grip. In the dry the PSC2 N1 are well ahead of the 4S N0. In the wet its a different kettle of fish.

phx991

I don't heat cycle tires. My experience is the same as RRDnA's-- the turn in and overall response with the 20s is noticeably better. I can't explain why the grip is lower, but I've done 10 track days with the 20s and 5 with the 19s and the lap times are consistently slower. It could be factors other than the tires, but I'm less concerned with lap times, and more with running costs so overall I'm happy with the switch.

madrambler

@RRDnA - Couple of questions: Are you running the MPSC2 N1 year round? I already have the 4S N0's on the 20s, so I'm curious about switching tires that I only really want to use on the track. Seems like a lot of potential tire switching and I think that adds risk to damaging the rims after repeated switches. I'm also in the Bay Area and we are seeing cooler than normal temps. Also...I'm not seeing MPSC2 N1 on Tire Rack, just N0s.

@ phx991 - why don't you heat cycle?

@ mdrums - I was approved for the Solo group at my last track day at Laguna Seca.