Cheap track day tires!

[blk-majik]

I'm doing my first track event soon. It's noncompetitve and just for fun, so I'm willing to sacrifice some performance for cost, as long as it's still safe. That said, the biggest money burner will likely be tires. I know its common in some areas to be able to find slightly used racing slicks for next to nothing,typically sold by sponsored teams that uses them for a bit during practice session and sold by someone who collects them at the track. I've also heard of getting decent beaters along various shops on Peachtree Indy and other parts of town.

Any have any experience in this, or able to suggest any places to get cheap tires?

And on that note, for anyone who has experience doing some light tracking of their DD Evo, what do you think about getting a set of cheap wheels for track use to save from having to refit and balance your street wheels every time?

[BlewByYouEvoVIII]

I wouldn't skimp on tires. Get something solid, doesnt have to be an R comp, but a good set of tires. For safety and fun. Also as far as wheels, no problem getting a cheap set, just make sure they are strong and not cheap quality.

[shunderwunder]

I'l agree with Ryan here. You will want a good tire. Something like the Advan A046, Neova, Brigestone RE01R's, RE11's, or Dunluop D1 Star Specs. There are plenty more but thats aquick rundown of the popular ones. Not sure where you could find any in good shape used though. You don't want to go with tires that are close to worn out cause track days will eat quite a bit of rubber. As for Track wheels. I'd recomend finding a used set of IX MR or SE BBS wheels. They can be found for a good deal used & are light wweight & strong. Not to mention 17" tires are usually cheaper anyway.

[blk-majik]

yea, those are all DOT street tires. I wouldn't want to get those used unless they were hardly used and the price was super low. Doubt it'd be worth finding that needle in the haystack along Buford Hwy ;) If no one knows of anything, sweet! but I'm not gonna go looking

I'm more so looking for a deal on slightly used track-only racing slicks. That is, non-DOT approved hard compound road racing radials. A lot of club races with track-only cars use these, assuming they can find them in the area. I doubt I'll find a source for them in 245-18-40 or whatever my stockers are, hence mentioning the wheels, too.

The benefit of using used slicks over street tires (weather permitting) is that even if they are 1/2 worn down when you get them, they'll probably still last longer than street tires when pushed around a track. And they'll perform better. And you can usually get a set at less than half the cost of road tires (<$50 each). More money left over = more seat time! But I do have to admit, I kinda feel dirty asking about this with regard to an Evo :)

[bomjoon]

used tires ftw~!

even if the used r-comps you bought have flat spots here and there there is an easy fix.

go and buy you a gt 42r turbo kit along with supporting mods. and some race gas. then mount the tires on the rims you want to use and do 4wheel drift till they are smooth.

then turn back the car the way you like to be set up for the track day and enjoy. :P

sometimes you can buy re-treaded r-comps... like the truckers use. re-treaded tires FTW~!


for light track use try nitto nto1r. they are relatively cheap and handle nice for the $$

[EVILutionVIII]

used tires ftw~!

even if the used r-comps you bought have flat spots here and there there is an easy fix.

go and buy you a gt 42r turbo kit along with supporting mods. and some race gas. then mount the tires on the rims you want to use and do 4wheel drift till they are smooth.

then turn back the car the way you like to be set up for the track day and enjoy. :P

sometimes you can buy re-treaded r-comps... like the truckers use. re-treaded tires FTW~!


for light track use try nitto nto1r. they are relatively cheap and handle nice for the $$

http://forums.maxima.org/images/smilies/+1.gif Used R-compounds ftw!

[shunderwunder]

Tru didn't think that if you've got a spare set of track wheels that you could run slicks on em. Not sure where you'd find take offs though. I see some everyonce in a while on Evom, but not often.

[TripperFx3]

If your looking for used tires and the such check norcalevo.net. They always have tires/wheels for sale there and if your willing to pay shipping I'm sure they'd do it.

[bomjoon]

shipping would be more than enought to cover the difference to get the new tires.

unless you have a ups account

[Meredith]

If this is your first event I would not use r-comps. Learn how to drive the car on street tires first, street tires will give you alot more feedback when they are close to the limit. R-comps will fall-off with very little warning at the limit and for somebody that has not driven on them before you will have a very hard time finding the limit of them. My suggestion is to find a good deal on a new set of RE01rs or Dunlop StarSpecs and kill whatever is on your wheels right now. If you can drive your car well on the street tires then you should transition to more grip.

And FYI most entry level r-comps are DOT rated (ie V710/Victoracer, R6/A6, RA1, R888 etc). Real racing slicks are really expensive and take forever to heat up.

Edit: The best thing you can do before your first track day is buy a few set of pads and bleed your brakes with some high performance fluid.

Here is a bunch of wheels/tires for sale...
http://sccaforums.com/forums/14/ShowForum.aspx?PageIndex=1&sb=0&d=1&df=10&uf=0&hrp=0&lf=0

[bomjoon]

drive daily on r-comps. FTW~!

[blk-majik]

Thanks Meredith, sounds like solid advice and I think you're right. I haven't pushed the stock Advans too hard yet (just over 1k miles on the car), but I hear that they are really good in terms of predictability and giving feedback right as they near the breaking point. Probably best to burn them off while learning the car.

Great link on the SCAA forum, too! That'll come in handy when I want to move to R-Comps, then slicks! I'll keep asking around if there are any reliable localish hook ups for what I was originally asking about and share what I find.

BTW, does anyone know about Road Atlanta short session on Sunday morning of SCCA events? I heard something about a $20-$50 course you can do that'll get you about an hour of seat time in street legal cars, since a local noise ordinance prevents race exhaust from being run before 11am.

[bomjoon]

have not heard about the short sessions...

i think its better to save up some $$ and do a real trackday.

trackday at lil tally is only like 140 per day.

[EVILutionVIII]

If your looking for used tires and the such check norcalevo.net. They always have tires/wheels for sale there and if your willing to pay shipping I'm sure they'd do it.

OT: R u from NorCal? I moved here 2 years ago from Cali.

[Meredith]

There is a PDX at road atlanta in three weekends... register here:
http://www.atlantascca.org/club-racing/announcements/132-register-now-for-july-double-sarrc-pro-it-and-pdx.html

PDX is a shorted track session during the "quiet hours" on sunday morning.

[EVILutionVIII]

There is a PDX at road atlanta in three weekends... register here:
http://www.atlantascca.org/club-racing/announcements/132-register-now-for-july-double-sarrc-pro-it-and-pdx.html

PDX is a shorted track session during the "quiet hours" on sunday morning.

Nice, think I'll hit this one up as well. There's a summer challenge down at Roebling on the 11th I'll be going to if anyone is interested. Same situation where its just a portion of the track.
http://www.myautoevents.com (http://www.myautoevents.com/pls/mae/frmEventDetail.Show?psevent_id=10539)

[Feffman]

If you need "R" compounds, give Eric Frisby at Frisby Tire (www.FrisbyRaceTire.com) a call. He's very knowledgeable, they offer a variety of brands and are price sensitive. Hope this helps!

Feff

[em1toevo]

OT: R u from NorCal? I moved here 2 years ago from Cali.

Actually, Tripp moved to Reno last year. He used to live in Atl.