Quote:
Originally Posted by John_01
I agree its ok to start on the tires you have. Just be aware of their limitations so it doesn't take you by surprise.
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More generally, it is ok to start with the car you have. The challenge is always to drive within the limitations of what you have (braking, accelerating, cornering).
Few street cars have sufficient braking capacity that they won't eventually fade on a brake-intensive track. The solution to that is to manage what capacity you have by either limiting hot laps or braking earlier and thus slower and thus putting less energy into the brakes. It takes some real discipline to manage your brakes at their fade limit, especially when your buddy with the Cayman is catching you in the braking zones (on stock brakes).
Similarly, it is tempting to try to hang with the Cayman in the corner, but he has more ultimate cornering grip because he has better balance at the limit. You are just going to abuse your front tires by pushing too hard if you try to match his apex speed. But more generally, there is never any point in pushing beyond the peak grip of the front tires, and doing that takes skill and discipline regardless of where that peak is.
Sticky tires will make your braking woes worse because they can put more energy into your brakes. You will be able to corner faster but will still need to manage your front tire grip if you don't want to kill your tires.
When you find the limits of your car at the track, you may want to go home and figure out how to raise those limits (which invariably will be expensive), but when at the track, the challenge is always to drive within those limits.
Of course sliding around until you cord a tire is its own kind of fun and it is instructive in its own right, but it is expensive when you are paying for your own tires, and it is not the right way to develop basic track driving skills.