jplanaux

Did my first track day(s) last weekend. I'm hooked and the first upgrade I want to spring for is track tires. I don't mind spending money if I have to, but I'd like to keep my money if I can achieve satisfactory results.

First question: track wheels OEM? Used, aftermarket? High end race wheels?

Then the 18 vs 19 debate revisited!

Any advice would be appreciated.

Spiffyjiff

i'd stick with OEM until you have plenty more track days under your belt. the best mod a novice trackkie can do is tighten up the nut behind the wheel: learn practice learn. THEN mod.

beyond preaching and to answer your question - when you eventually mod, i would do suspension & tires at same time. most track oriented tires take advantage of camber and alignment that you wont be able to get with stock suspension (on a non-GT car). point being, yes you will get slightly increased performance from an R-compound tire but youre going to be throwing a little $ away since you wont be "using the whole tire".

CCW makes great and cheap-ish track wheels and toyo 888's or similar are a great compromise betw street tires and hoosiers/slicks. i use my silver OEM lobster 19's for the track and bought black OZ's for street. if i didnt hate the lobsters so much, i would still be using them for street and would have bought 18's for the track. but beggars cant be choosers.

good luck and be careful - tracking and modding are slippery slopes.

kosmo

spiffy is right.
If you are in need of tires right away, then the Toyos are a good choice. The MSC are too expensive.

roadrat

Agreed with the other responses. Get at least 4-5 track weekends under your belt before upgrading suspension, brakes, or tires

Track tires are a whole different animal and its not worth complicating your fun for a couple of extra seconds off your lap times....yet

mdrums

For a beginner I highly suggest you stay on street tires for a few reasons. They last longer, they give you audible sound whe they are reaching the limit, they break away progressively and you can still use stock brake pads as so called track tires...r compound tires have more stick...braking force and will eat up street pads.

Tito_gsx

I have 888's for autox and track days which are working out really well. Agree with mdrums that street tires are good for trying out track days. But if you plan more track days then I would go with dedicated track tires. I happened to use my street tires (pss) at an autox and you can really see the wear. Street tires dont like excess heat which means grip and wear is compromised....so if your getting faster then track tires is a good way to go