Track day tyre Conudrum....why do I bother!!!

[roseytvr]

My current set up on the car for road is 225/45/16 front and 245/45/16 rears. I have the Brembo brake upgrade which is fantastic and the 7.5" Estorils just fit nicely, I am very happy with this set up.

However I need some trackday wheels and tyres and want to keep the set up as close to my current set up as possible so I don't have to do any thing over and above swapping wheels over. Originally I thought get some 7.5" x 16" wheels with the same ET and buy the same size trackday tyres. Unfortunately I could not find any other 16 " wheels that would fit over the brakes other than Estorils and buying 4X16" Estorils was going to be very expensive given that I would probably have to buy two full sets and discard 4 15" wheels! Furthermore I understood tyre choices where limited on 16" wheels though this now appears not to be the case as I can get r888's and VG70a's in the right sizes at 16".

So to the point of this long winded yarn! I have bought 4 7.5"x17 Compomotive Mo5s in the same ET and very nice they look too! To match my current set up I simply thought drop to 225/40/17 front and 245/40/17 rear.

Its not that simple!!

Firstly web sites tell me the max tyre fitting on a 17x7.5 wheel is 225 compared to 245 on 16" rims, you learn something everyday!! Secondly R888s and V70a's do not do this size in a 40 profile and the best I can get is 215/40/17 all round (205/40/17 in R888s). So my choices appear to be:

215/40/17 all round and lose 25mm grip on the rear, or
225/45/17 all round, reduce the grip loss a bit but have to drop the car (I have adjustable suspension) by 13mm each time I swap, or
Stick with the 16" wheels and swap the tyres over (£40) every time I need to.

Any other options or suggestions on this guys, particularly interested in the views of the Sprint guys and those that have had the same problem!!

Cheers
Rosey

[QBee]

My tyre/wheel size chart says the max size for a 7.5J wheel is 235.

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/tyre-size-for-ri...

I rate Federal 595 RSRs as being 100% as good on a TVR as Toyo R888s. I actually prefer them because they give you more warning of an impending spin, and can also be used on the road.
I rate Federal 595 RSRs as being 45% as hard on the wallet of a TVR owner as Toyo R888s.
The wear rate is similar.
My set has lasted for about 15,000 road miles, including 10 track days full on, and is now down to 2.5mm all round (starts with 5.9mm).

I had a quick look on the bay of the almighty flea, and you can get 2 x 215/45 17 Federals for the front and 2 x 235/45 17 Federals for the rear for about £300 all up. The Toyos will cost about £700. Be very careful to order 595 RSRs - there are other non-track variants of the 595 (SS and Evo).

The 17 inch wheel and tyre size with these fitted is about 20 mm diameter larger, so your ride height will have to go up 10 mm. However, I use my Federals on road and track perfectly happily, all year round. So sell your 16s and you will have made a profit. Or just live with the car being slightly high on your 16s - it's less than half an inch.....

[griffdude]

I'd give the RSRs a go. No one uses them in the TVRCC Speed Championships but it's a different discipline to trackdays; 100% grip for approx 2mins flat out- my personal preference is for the V70A.

As Mr QBee has come up with a pretty good & cheap option, it's worth a go.

[QBee]

Ian, if you want to invest a little fuel in the decision, pop over to mine this weekend or next weekend, we can stick my wheels and Federal tyres on your car, and you can give them a try. My current set up is 215/40 17 front and 215/45 17 rear, so pretty well identical in ride height to your current 16 inch set up - hence no need to change the ride height for the test.
I have a low level jack and a battery powered wheel gun, so it shouldn't take long to swap them over, and plenty of spare wheels to put on my car (as my wife keeps complaining) while you try them. I can stick my 888s on and we can go for a blast around the local A and B roads.
I am M6, M69, M1 (briefly), M46 from you, and for reference live 60 miles from the M6/M69 junction, which takes one hour. I am close to Newark if you want to see what time you would be investing.
Peter also has a pair of Fed 595s if you want a second opinion.

[roseytvr]

Anthony

Thanks for the detailed response and kind offer. Unfortunately I am away until Monday, I will see if any other suggestions/ solutions come up and decide what to do. I may well take you up on the offer at a later date if that's okay
Cheers
Ian

[MPoxon]

I have gone for a different approach with mine and purchased a set of Yokohama AD08Rs for my Estorils to use all year round. The AD08Rs are a fast road / track day tyre similar to the Toyo R1Rs but you get a full 8mm of tread.

If I did more trackdays I would get another set of wheels with R888s but as it stands doing only about 2-3 trackdays a year I am hoping to get away with the compromise.

[T4NGO]

I took a gamble on some Nangkang NS 2R's. Am very happy with them. I went with the hard compound. 1 track day at snetterton and 30 or so hard laps at Spa last weekend. Drove there and back no issues. I have never used RSR's or 888's to compare though, but was about £400 for all four corners on the Sag. 265/18's rear and 255/18's on front.

[EvoOlli]

Little Off-Topic: I saw your car on the weekend, my eyes are still hurting :-)

[T4NGO]

EvoOlli said:

Little Off-Topic: I saw your car on the weekend, my eyes are still hurting :-)

Pictures just do not do the brightness any justice

[EvoOlli]

T4NGO said:

Pictures just do not do the brightness any justice

No, thats for sure. But looking into a 2000 Lumen torch or a Xenon-Headlamp will do it :-)