Track tyres for mx5

Track tyres for mx5

Author
Discussion

torqueofthedevil

Original Poster:

2,068 posts

176 months

Friday 20th April 2012
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Any suggestions? I don't want mega grip as I want to get the back end out but I want something that will last. Had t1-r's on a gti6 last year and the blocks were clearly moving around too much and generating too much heat. Had to retire after maybe 30 laps due to huge chunks pealing off!

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Friday 20th April 2012
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Your thinking about it too much! Any old ones will do... As you say, don't want too much grip as it's nota high powered car.

mx5tom

573 posts

172 months

Friday 20th April 2012
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Federal RS-Rs are highly recommended over on MX5 Nutz and the tyres I'll be getting at the end of the month.

I've gone through a set and a half of T1-Rs on the road and was not impressed by them. They were great in the wet, but in the dry they gripped ok but on a sprited drive the same is not true. In my experience they would very suddenly stop giving any feedback, and grip levels would drop off a fair bit. I can only imagine this scenario would happen quickly and often on the track.

I'm currently using Hankook RS2's, a similar tyre to the Federal I mentioned. Like the Federal, think of it as a track tyre that's still usable in the wet. In my experience with the Hankooks, they give the car a bit of a split personality which I quite like: In the dry, there is a huge amount of grip and it's not easily overcome. It's still possible to do so by deliberately unbalancing the car, but under normal circumstances it's very difficult to get near the limit of grip (on the road, at least). In the wet, there's still a healthy amount of grip, but the back will move under power no problem at all (as in, too much throttle exiting a roundabout). This is in the lower power MX5 with wider tyres than standard. (215/25/17)

SEO Musketeer

38 posts

143 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
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Good recommendation from mx5tom there.

we use Federal 595 RS-R on our car - it is the control tyre in max5 Championship - drives like a slick in the dry - you can get the back end when and where you want, or drive them carefully and they stick really well.

I have just driven them in full wet conditions up at Croft - just this last week. First time in wet with these too - took six laps or so to find the limits on them - had to soften the Gaz shocks a little - as you would anyway - but they were great - combined with the softer suspension - they gripped really well and were predictable.

I was worried about driving in the wet as my previous tyres were the old Hancook ma5da control tyre - they were rubbish compared to these Federals.

in the dry - we can go in to a corner + 10 mph faster on Federal than Hancook.

we got ours from Rodo - thats were we get most stuff - we don't have time to waste working and racing - he did us a great deal - i am sure there are plenty of suppliers of Federals on here and the web - but if you want to consider them here is a link to his site - Federal 595 Tyres


ciderminx

809 posts

203 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
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If you dont already have your track tyres on a spare set of rims, I have some 14in rims off a Mk1 for sale?