DHI

Through procrastination and frugality, it appears that I have painted myself into a corner as far as my tire options go. I have a DE in less than two weeks and I need new tires.

My ideal choice would have been the NT01, based on durability and relative low experience. I do not trailer the car. These are sitting on the west coast and will command a 225$ premium to fly them over to Montreal.

The convenient alternative would be Hoosier R6 as these can be installed by the tire service that will be present at the track.

Do I have the skill to run a stickier tire?... Probably not. (a dozen weekends worth of track experience in 10 years)

Should I be driving this tire to and from the track (2-3 hr. drive)?...probably not.

How many track sessions or days can I expect from either tire and what would you recommend for me?

996FLT6

V710's bro. Last way longer then r6 and just as grippy. Mike

multi21

Use street tires. You'll thank yourself on Monday.

Crazy Canuck

What run group will you be in?

DHI

Green.

DHI

I hear you. That was original plan.
Someone then convinced me otherwise.

Now i'm stuck with a second set of wheels in 9" & 12" to make the tire deliberation even worst.

On the upside... I've run R compounds often enough in the past.

DHI

Looked back at some of your earlier posts on the subject of V710's.
Interesting!

I will inquire about availability tomorrow.

Driving to an from the track on those is freaking me out though.

David

cfjan

In some region of PCA, they wouldn't let people run R-compound tires if you are not in white or above run group.. I think every region has different rules.. !

007DT

Definitely not Hoosiers at your level. I'd say street and maybe NT01 when you can circumvent the premium.

multi21

I love the V710 but if there is any type of moisture.... at all.... you'll be skating for your entire trip to the track, at the track and back home because it's basically a slick.

Try to see if you can find NT-05. It's an aggressive street tire between a R compound and street tire.

early_grayce

If you're driving to and from the track, FORGET r-compounds. Even Nittos. It's just not worth it, especially on the roads I know you'll be driving. It will rain at some point and you'll be in a serious jam.

One option would be to have Touchette store your rims/tires so that you drive up on streets, swap them for the track tires at the track, and then at the end of the weekend put the streets back on.

Driving street tires on the track is not a bad thing, in fact it's pretty fun the better you get at it. You can learn all sorts of techniques like throttle steering, trail braking.. as the car will "slide" a bit more.

LVDell

If you are driving to and from the track, it's easy......street tires. Good ones at that. The PS2 is the best performing tire you will get. I ran PS2's on my GT3 for the first season before moving to NT01's. And that was while I was in Red.

The question you need to ask is very simple. Are you at the limits of street tires? If so, are you at the limits of an entry level r-comp like the NT-01?

You will learn more about your car getting to the limit of street tires.

Chris R.

I would also look into seeing if anyone has Toyo RA1's lying around. At the start with full tread depth they are a bit squishy but still stick well and as the tire wears, and you improve, the grip gets better and better. When new they can be driven in the rain with no issue.
The idea of good street tires is a good one though...if it rains at the event and you are on Hoosiers, you are not going to be allowed out. A sticky street tire like PS2's have 80% of the grip that an R compund has and it is more forgiving at the limit.
I would suggest good street tires for this event and then look into getting another set of wheels with sticky tires on them so you can choose what you want/need for the event at hand.

Crazy Canuck

If green PS2s or equivalent street tire. Rennsport strongly frowns upon R-Compounds in green and white as it inhibits learning by masking driving errors.

I did the same as Dell. I ran streets while in Black until I could get the tires to squeal around every corner.

Rush this car and it will bite you in the *** and cost you $$$.

Bob Rouleau

DHI - Just to confirm what Canuck (and Grace) said, in green you do not want R compounds of any sort. There are a lot of reasons why they are not allowed for a beginner:

R compounds are less forgiving, when they let go, they do so abruptly.

They do not signal an incipient slide, in other words a street tire will howl and squeal, an R will squeal only while you are sliding out of control.

Rs mask driving errors which instil a false sense of confidence but lead to going off track at a higher speed.

Rs short of racing rain tires are useless in the wet and you won't be allowed on track if it rains.

Best is to use a good street tire, learn to be smooth and fast then after you have days of seat time contemplate a sticky tire.

If you have signed up for a Rennsport event this season you will get to enjoy the wet skidpad which will let you experience how easy it is to spin as well as hopefully how to recover from a skid/slide without risking a trip into a guard rail or gravel trap.

Regards,

Chief Instructor Rennsport PCA