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[N55_BBM]

So I understand it's early to be asking this as HPDE season for me just ended this past weekend and I won't be doing it again until at least April of next year. However I have to start saving up...

I will be using my 18" OEM 264 wheels for the winter and will be getting CSL style wheels for the spring. I want to mount track tires on my OEM wheels once the winter is over so I can have a set of road wheels and a set of track wheels. The fact that my OEM 264s will be my winter/track wheels and that I'll have another set just for the road is not up for discussion, please keep in mind.

So, I'd like to know what tires I should be looking for. Does tire rack even carry "track" tires? What do you guys recommend? Would be nice getting tires that could handle a potential 2 hour trip to the track so I don't need to bring a set of 4 wheels in the car with me...

Also, what size am I looking at? Should I go for 225F 255R or try a square setup to help take care of understeer?

Any comment will be appreciated! Except for telling me to get 17" wheels for winter/track. I KNOW IN THEORY IT WOULD MAKE MORE SENSE, but due to reasoning that I don't want to get into, I'm not doing it so don't even bother!

[syenisch]

235/255 seems to be the new standard around here. People are fitting those on the stock rims with no rubbing issues. This is very popular with Star Spec's, which are known to run on the wide side. I wouldn't expect to have any problems with any brand/model tire in that size on the stock rims.

It sounds like you want an R-compound. If that's the case, you won't want to drive 200 miles to the track on them. TireRack does sell them. If you want to save some cash, you may want to contact Hoosier and see if you can still by any of their older model tires. They're new, just not in the current model. I did this when I autocrossed a few years ago.

Seems obvious that you don't want anyone to tell you your idea doesn't make sense. But if you aren't going to change tires at the track, you need an aggressive street tire like Star Spec's or PS2's. If that's what you decide to go with, just put them on your CSL's and hit the road!

[N55_BBM]

Originally Posted by syenisch

235/255 seems to be the new standard around here. People are fitting those on the stock rims with no rubbing issues. This is very popular with Star Spec's, which are known to run on the wide side. I wouldn't expect to have any problems with any brand/model tire in that size on the stock rims.

It sounds like you want an R-compound. If that's the case, you won't want to drive 200 miles to the track on them. TireRack does sell them. If you want to save some cash, you may want to contact Hoosier and see if you can still by any of their older model tires. They're new, just not in the current model. I did this when I autocrossed a few years ago.

Seems obvious that you don't want anyone to tell you your idea doesn't make sense. But if you aren't going to change tires at the track, you need an aggressive street tire like Star Spec's or PS2's. If that's what you decide to go with, just put them on your CSL's and hit the road!

thought of doing this but I drive about 17,000 miles a year and plan on doing about 4-5 HPDE's in a year. I don't plan on buying a set of Star Spec's or PS2's every year! Read that they definitely won't last more than 10,000 miles if I track them and use them as a daily drive.....

So ok let's say I do decide to take my set of OEM wheels in my trunk to serve as my track wheels... what's a better decision in this case?

And are we sure 235/265 will fit the OEM wheels? According to the sticky here on the forum 225/255 is the widest the OEM wheels can support..

[MikesBMW]

225/255 should these be 35 or 40 hieght

[syenisch]

Front should be 40, rear should be 35.

Read up on the 225 vs. 235 discussion here...

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293718

Can't help you on which R compound to get.

[pixelblue]

Bruno,
here is my .02 cents, I would sport some ultra high performance all season tires on your 264 for your year around DD need. for your track set up, I would buy some light weight 18" or 17" wheels like apex arc8 or breyton gsr and wrap them up with either Dunlop star specs or R comps like hoosier R6 or BF Goodrich R1. you could still drive to the track with these R comps since they are DOT approved but have to think twice if the roads are wet. 235/255 is a good option or you could go with a 245 square set up. upgrading your brake pads and fluid should also be on the top of your list. a few small tweaks to the suspension won't hurt either.

btw, how did you like summit point?

[N55_BBM]

Originally Posted by pixelblue

Bruno,
here is my .02 cents, I would sport some ultra high performance all season tires on your 264 for your year around DD need. for your track set up, I would buy some light weight 18" or 17" wheels like apex arc8 or breyton gsr and wrap them up with either Dunlop star specs or R comps like hoosier R6 or BF Goodrich R1. you could still drive to the track with these R comps since they are DOT approved but have to think twice if the roads are wet. 235/255 is a good option or you could go with a 245 square set up. upgrading your brake pads and fluid should also be on the top of your list. a few small tweaks to the suspension won't hurt either.

btw, how did you like summit point?

I really don't want to run all seasons, hate em .. I actually already bought Dunlop WinterSport 3D's for the winter to use with my OEM wheels. So that combo isn't going anywhere. I wanna buy an extra set of wheels for the summer so I don't have to mount new tires to the wheels, everytime I do that it costs me $100. But I also don't want to use my DD tires on the track because due to the high mileage i drive every year they wouldn't last more than a year.

Thus the best solution is to use my winter wheels (OEM 264) for the track and leave my new summer wheels, VMRs or whatever I end up buying, for DD. Now I'm guessing that if the Star Specs or R comps are the same price roughly, then I should stick to R comps for the track and some cheaper high performance tires for DD in the summer?

Summit Point was a LOT of fun. Got 3rd place actually, did 1:30.553. Not bad for bone stock and shitty RFTs. Should've gotten 2nd, but there was sume huge bullshit with putting this ridiculous cobra that was all stripped down and prepped for racing in ST2. he beat the second place by like 7 or 8 seconds... complete bs... Check out the times:

http://www.emraracing.org/RESULTS/re...rame_setup.htm

[pixelblue]

that is a very respectable time. nice job

[N55_BBM]

back to topic:

one possibility (that I would very much like to avoid) would be to keep the RFTs for DD and get only track tires.

anyway, looking for suggestions for a summer tire to use with my future 18" summer wheels. my priority is comfort, noise, then grip as I really don't need much more grip than the RFTs provide for daily driving.

for the track, i'm looking for all grip obviously, screw comfort or noise. but i also want to keep it under $900 or so...

[VMRWheels]

Is this your first time going on track? If so, I would recommend you look into a sticky street compound tire. Something along the lines of a Dunlop Z1SS, Advan AD08, Bridgestone RE11, Toyo R1R, and Hankook RS3 to name a few. These all work great on the street and will offer you ample amount of grip for tracking.

-Charles@VMRWheels

[N55_BBM]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

Is this your first time going on track? If so, I would recommend you look into a sticky street compound tire. Something along the lines of a Dunlop Z1SS, Advan AD08, Bridgestone RE11, Toyo R1R, and Hankook RS3 to name a few. These all work great on the street and will offer you ample amount of grip for tracking.

-Charles@VMRWheels

No, I did 2 track days already.

I'm thinking of getting a comfortable set of summer tires to use with my summer wheels (VMR probably) and then some grippy tires for the track, but wanna keep it under ~$900 for each set. Looking for specific tire suggestions. again, for DD priority is comfort and silence, followed by grip, in that order.

[fboutlaw]

So I did something similar to what you originally suggested.
- Daily drivers - stock rims - ContiExtremeContact DW
- Autox/track - lighter wider rims - r comps (Kumho V710)

However, I regret this decision. Because I'm not a good enough driver to justify the r-comps and won't be for a long time.

What I'd recommend is to get some star specs and put them on Apex Arc-8s. Use that as your only tire set. When they wear out, maybe throw track tires on them, but you'll know better if you're ready at that point.

[Hairy]

I have winter wheels and tires and use my stock wheels for the track.

I run Toyo 888's. They have sufficient tread to drive back and forth to the track, so no changing at the track and no white knuckles if it rains. They are sticky yet give you a good season or more in track miles. They are not bank breakers..... They are noisy, but what do I care, it's just to the track and back.

I run 225's and 245's.

[mineo77]

I run toyo R888's for the track, hard to find specific track tires online without special order. If u r getting a 100% dedicated track set up I would do exactly that it not go with the ultra high performance street tires. I run 245 up front and 255 rear.

I could go square or possibly squeeze 265 rear but was unwilling to take a risk with figment issues since I had to special order them.

Also I do run 10mm hubcentric spacers and front camber plates so I can run -2 to -3 camber for improved handling and getting rid of that horrible understeer.

Good luck!!

[T-Dubbs]

Could you do 255 square on OEM m sport 18's??

[PrematureApex]

I'd buy two more rear OE wheels and run 245 all around.

Or, maybe better (and cheaper) yet: Use your OE wheels for winters. And spend $200 total on any used 17x8s ET 40 (as are for sale all over 3 series forums, etc.) and run 245/40-17 track tires.

Between the money saved not buying 18" track tires (and the cost of mounting/remounting during the year), you'll easily cover the cost of a set of beater track wheels.