Wet track day tyres
Discussion
Go to Mr Tyre Motorsport
http://www.mrtyremotorsport.co.uk/Race-Tyres.asp
He has advertised a special offer for 235 610 17 slicks/wets (perfect fit for an 8x17 wheel) for an absolute age so I don't know if he even has any or that they are actually on offer but worth a try. Dunlop wets for a song would be a steal.
That or keep your eyes out on Ebay as race tyres, mostly part worn, pop up every now and then in that size (235 610 17, sometimes 240 610 17)
http://www.mrtyremotorsport.co.uk/Race-Tyres.asp
He has advertised a special offer for 235 610 17 slicks/wets (perfect fit for an 8x17 wheel) for an absolute age so I don't know if he even has any or that they are actually on offer but worth a try. Dunlop wets for a song would be a steal.
That or keep your eyes out on Ebay as race tyres, mostly part worn, pop up every now and then in that size (235 610 17, sometimes 240 610 17)
I race in a series which mandates road legal tyres; ie List 1a or 1b.
In the dry I have used Yoko A048s, Toyo 888s, Michelin Pilot Cup Sports and Dunlop Direzzas. I have also raced on these in the wet when I had to.
More recently I raced in the wet on a set of Uniroyal Rainsports and they were excellent compared to the tyres mentionrd above, far better.
I haven't raced a tin top or GT type car on proper race wets but I have no doubt they would be better than road tyres. If you have the ability to carry several sets of tyres then, sure, have a set of race wets mounted but in the real world if you can only have a set of track day tyres for the dry and a set of "road tyres" for the wet then the Uniroyals are probably the best of the latter.
In the dry I have used Yoko A048s, Toyo 888s, Michelin Pilot Cup Sports and Dunlop Direzzas. I have also raced on these in the wet when I had to.
More recently I raced in the wet on a set of Uniroyal Rainsports and they were excellent compared to the tyres mentionrd above, far better.
I haven't raced a tin top or GT type car on proper race wets but I have no doubt they would be better than road tyres. If you have the ability to carry several sets of tyres then, sure, have a set of race wets mounted but in the real world if you can only have a set of track day tyres for the dry and a set of "road tyres" for the wet then the Uniroyals are probably the best of the latter.
The difference between full race wets and a normal road tire.
A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
Previously, I have used Toyo R888, which worked pretty well on a wet track, not raining hard. I rented a car at the Nurburgring on a very rainy day that was running Federal 595s. Those also seemed to work well. I have also done rainy trackdays on Dunlop Direzza StarSpecs. I have never run them, but the Toyo T1R are well recommended. Obviously, none of them stick like an r-compound tire on a dry track, so you adjust your driving accordingly.
Personally think that investing in full race wets for track day use is a little OTT. No one cares about lap times after all. Stick some good quality road rubber on (that's not toyo t1r's) and it should be job done. Can get you safely to and from the circuit also, whilst saving miles on your other tyres.
Having witnessed some incredible wet race performances at castle combe, I now own some rainsports. As does the entire Combe saloon championship paddock...
Having witnessed some incredible wet race performances at castle combe, I now own some rainsports. As does the entire Combe saloon championship paddock...
There you have it.
I would advise against race wets purely on cost. I bought some for my car and they came out at about £450.
For a pair!
You can fit a -full- set of Rainsports for less.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres-225-45-17/?...
FAR less.
I would advise against race wets purely on cost. I bought some for my car and they came out at about £450.
For a pair!
You can fit a -full- set of Rainsports for less.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres-225-45-17/?...
FAR less.
Edited by Oilchange on Wednesday 14th December 19:58
greenamex2 said:
The difference between full race wets and a normal road tire.
A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
T1Rs are not very well regarded though. My standard-ish Clio with AD08Rs was far quicker than a race spec Clio with T1Rs around a wet Rockingham. In the dry T1Rs seem to melt very quickly as well.A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
petrolbloke said:
greenamex2 said:
The difference between full race wets and a normal road tire.
A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
T1Rs are not very well regarded though. My standard-ish Clio with AD08Rs was far quicker than a race spec Clio with T1Rs around a wet Rockingham. In the dry T1Rs seem to melt very quickly as well.A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
df76 said:
Personally think that investing in full race wets for track day use is a little OTT. No one cares about lap times after all. Stick some good quality road rubber on (that's not toyo t1r's) and it should be job done. Can get you safely to and from the circuit also, whilst saving miles on your other tyres.
Having witnessed some incredible wet race performances at castle combe, I now own some rainsports. As does the entire Combe saloon championship paddock...
Having witnessed some incredible wet race performances at castle combe, I now own some rainsports. As does the entire Combe saloon championship paddock...
Oilchange said:
There you have it.
I would advise against race wets purely on cost. I bought some for my car and they came out at about £450.
For a pair!
You can fit a -full- set of Rainsports for less.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres-225-45-17/?...
FAR less.
Nonsense. I would advise against race wets purely on cost. I bought some for my car and they came out at about £450.
For a pair!
You can fit a -full- set of Rainsports for less.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres-225-45-17/?...
FAR less.
Edited by Oilchange on Wednesday 14th December 19:58
There are plenty of used race wets kicking around to get a deal. I can get a used set for my M3 for less than £200!
The point of the race wets aren't just for lap times, they are much much safer in wet/greasy conditions.
Take my last wet trip to Silverstone for example, everyone was all over the place, there were several crashes including a car on car smashup which occurred when I was able to avoid a spun car between Maggots and Becketts, but the car behind me was not, despite going about half the speed I was!
Those tyres without a doubt saved my car that day. They were utterly planted compared to everyone else that seemed to be driving on an ice-rink, even when compared to those on rainsports.
I wouldn't do a wet day without a set of wets again.
Edited by mpit on Tuesday 20th December 23:19
Edited by mpit on Tuesday 20th December 23:20
MG CHRIS said:
petrolbloke said:
greenamex2 said:
The difference between full race wets and a normal road tire.
A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
T1Rs are not very well regarded though. My standard-ish Clio with AD08Rs was far quicker than a race spec Clio with T1Rs around a wet Rockingham. In the dry T1Rs seem to melt very quickly as well.A friend of mine raced the same car on Toyo T1R's in a touring car engined 16 valve 205, and run that same car in the wet on full race wets. The guy has won multiple championships so can drive.
The car was marginally quicker in the wet on the full race wets than in the dry on the T1R's, He also said it was a lot more pleasant to drive.
Having raced on them and won my class in the championship multiple times, you have to buff T1R's down to around 2-2.5mm, set the car up specifically for them (read quite soft), rotate front to back every few races and replace them every 6 or so races.
For wet use you need a fresh full depth set of T1R's that are 'scrubbed in' in the dry and then never used in the dry again. Tyre pressures and spring/damper/camber settings also need changing to get the best out of them. Again, after several wet races or a drying race, bin them and start again.
And then they can work very well. The 205 driver was doing similar to me.
Just to clarify the T1R time was in the dry, the wet times were in the wet.
I doubt whether a "race spec Clio with T1Rs" was going to these extremes to get the best out of the T1R's and then doing the same on the wets in order to get the best out of both in a race environment and then being able to get a valid comparison. This sort of over zealous attention to detail is usually reserved for people trying to win championships, but gives a good comparison to an "optimised" setup.
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