Looking for track tire

[lakefront]

Well, still snow covered here in the North but wondering about getting new track tires for my 135. Bought extra set of wheels, looking for others' experiences with "off" brands. Federal RS-RR is my go to right now, any thoughts on Nexen or Toyo, etc? Basically stock car with TC Klein coils. Need something better than last years MPSS.
Thanks for any input!

[amg6975]

I think the Sur-4G is pretty well liked in the track community. The RS-RR is as well, but simply because it's so cheap I think.

[lakefront]

Thanks, the Nexen seems to be priced pretty close to the RE-71. Just being a beginner on the track, I don't need the best tire, just good...if that makes sense. Price would be more important than ultimate performance. Which made me look at the Federal in the first place.

[amg6975]

Originally Posted by lakefront

Thanks, the Nexen seems to be priced pretty close to the RE-71. Just being a beginner on the track, I don't need the best tire, just good...if that makes sense. Price would be more important than ultimate performance. Which made me look at the Federal in the first place.

Yeah, word got out the Nexan was a legit tire and prices went up and up. All the "name brand" 200TW's are so close in price I don't see any reason to get anything other than the RE-71, unless you want to just try other ones out.

[beattiecj]

I run hankook Rs-4 pretty solid tire doesn't get too greasy towards the end of a 20 minute session. Overall wear is good will probably get 3 seasons out of these tires.

Running 235 up front and 265 in the rear on Apex wheels.

[chris_flies]

I've seen very, very good things about the Falken Azenis RT615K+. I shopped between those and my Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's, the FFI500's were cheaper and had a good rebate going for them at the time. If the Falken's were cheaper, I'd have certainly gone for those, as they are a much more track-oriented tire.

Are you looking at a track-exclusive tire, or a tire to drive to the track, go full send, then drive home?

[lakefront]

Actually looking for a tire that I will use for track only, but could drive short distance to the track....meaning I have a set of street tires but would use these just for the track. Heard good things about the Falkens, but surprised at the RS-4 lasting so long. Need to take that into account for sure.
Thanks for the replies.

[beattiecj]

To further clarify for the RS4 usually do 3-5 days a year and drive 3k miles on it in the summer months.

Also curious if the Falkens are good on track, thought they were mainly used for AutoX.

[lakefront]

Originally Posted by beattiecj

To further clarify for the RS4 usually do 3-5 days a year and drive 3k miles on it in the summer months.

Also curious if the Falkens are good on track, thought they were mainly used for AutoX.

That's true about the Falkens, at least used to be. They had a hard time handling heat, so better for autox.

[spxxx]

The Sur4G, RivalS and RE71R are three fastest 200trdw tires ( fairly objectively) - Most sanctioning visited consider these tires equivalent to 100trdw tires. The RivalS and RE71Rs also wear out very fast.

Will you just be doing track days or also competitive events with tire tread wear rules?

The RSRR tires are great for the price, I Tab those forever butthe RE71R/RivalS are going to be the fastest tires at the expense of tire life. They're also addictive, hard to go back to a slower tire once you try one of the above "cheater" tires.

I've heard the Sur4G tires last longer at the expense of overall grip but are still competitive... Same goes for the RS4s.

[lakefront]

Originally Posted by spxxx

The Sur4G, RivalS and RE71R are three fastest 200trdw tires ( fairly objectively) - Most sanctioning visited consider these tires equivalent to 100trdw tires. The RivalS and RE71Rs also wear out very fast.

Will you just be doing track days or also competitive events with tire tread wear rules?

The RSRR tires are great for the price, I Tab those forever butthe RE71R/RivalS are going to be the fastest tires at the expense of tire life. They're also addictive, hard to go back to a slower tire once you try one of the above "cheater" tires.

I've heard the Sur4G tires last longer at the expense of overall grip but are still competitive... Same goes for the RS4s.

Just doing track days at this point. So I guess the choice is between price (Feds) or something that lasts longer like RS-4 or the Nexen. Value I guess I would say.
Thanks for the input, all.

[Mark Aubele]

Originally Posted by lakefront

Just doing track days at this point. So I guess the choice is between price (Feds) or something that lasts longer like RS-4 or the Nexen. Value I guess I would say.
Thanks for the input, all.

If you are just doing track days go for the Hankooks or Federals.

[MightyMouseTech]

The less grip they have, the more fun they are, as long as they can stand up to the abuse.

[Ginger_Extract]

Depends how fast you want to go. Federal RS-RR are nice because they pretty much cost $400 per set regardless of tire size. In terms of lap times, they are comparable to the older Hankook RS3, or even a heatcycled out RE71R.

Had two bad experiences with the Nexen SUR4 having premature delamination, causing me to actually pass on a free replacement set. Lost enough track time from them and didn't want to risk a full-on blow out at race pace.

[crowtrobot]

Big fan of the Falken Azenis RT615K+s here. Good tire life, good communication and feel.

Not a fan of the BFG Rivals - wear was abysmal. Might be that I have more experience now, but the car wanted to push a lot more with the BFGs than the Falkens.

[lakefront]

Leaning towards Hankook RS4 right now. Cost more than Federals but seem to last a lot longer. And they sound like they handle heat very well. At this point not looking for the fastest tire, maybe when these wear out.

[NorthernDancer]

Originally Posted by lakefront

Thanks, the Nexen seems to be priced pretty close to the RE-71. Just being a beginner on the track, I don't need the best tire, just good...if that makes sense. Price would be more important than ultimate performance. Which made me look at the Federal in the first place.

"a beginner on the track" should never be on a track tire. Also pretty stunned you didn't like MPSS.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

"a beginner on the track" should never be on a track tire. Also pretty stunned you didn't like MPSS.

As a relative newbie on the track, I agree with this. It's far better to learn on a forgiving and talkative tire with low limits, than a racing tire that goes from grip to slip in the blink of an eye with very little notification while letting you take corners at far higher speeds than you can really handle. I liked my old Kumho Ecsta PS31's, they were extremely talkative, had enough grip to not slow others down too much, had good tread life, and were cheap. Great learning tire. I've since moved up to my new favorites, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's. They're fairly talkative, have much more grip than the Kumho's, and have good tread life as well. They're also quiet and comfortable on the street, especially compared to other high-performance tires.

OP, do what you want, but Baron Mills, WDCR SCCA's chief instructor repeatedly says that the best mod he did to his car was driving on slow tires before returning to fast ones.

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

As a relative newbie on the track, I agree with this. It's far better to learn on a forgiving and talkative tire with low limits, than a racing tire that goes from grip to slip in the blink of an eye with very little notification while letting you take corners at far higher speeds than you can really handle. I liked my old Kumho Ecsta PS31's, they were extremely talkative, had enough grip to not slow others down too much, had good tread life, and were cheap. Great learning tire. I've since moved up to my new favorites, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's. They're fairly talkative, have much more grip than the Kumho's, and have good tread life as well. They're also quiet and comfortable on the street, especially compared to other high-performance tires.

OP, do what you want, but Baron Mills, WDCR SCCA's chief instructor repeatedly says that the best mod he did to his car was driving on slow tires before returning to fast ones.

Or just go do a wet track day on some all seasons. It's amazing how much you learn with no traction

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by spxxx

Or just go do a wet track day on some all seasons. It's amazing how much you learn with no traction

I LOVE wet track days! The lack of traction exposes poor lines and mistakes that I make on a dry track that would otherwise be masked by grippy tires.

[Relegate]

I get the desire for track tires and I’m not going to talk you out of them. I would say the RE71 will be the outright grippiest tire but the cost per session will be high because of the wear rate. A tick behind is the RS 4 and it has a longer wear life and will be cheaper to run for sure. I’d recommend the RS-4 and I’ve been tracked on my Firehawk Indy 500’s 225/255 just to see how the car felt.

Will these track tires be staggered or a square setup? I’ve heard the Federals run very wide and I know several guys who where very disappointed with them despit the hype.

[CivicDuty]

I have the Indy 500's and I like them (225/255). Good performance for $. I'm not competing so a sticky R compound is not necessary. Just want something I can drive all summer and track a couple times per year. My $0.02 anyway.

Good luck!!