Tyres - stupid to take 8mm to track?

[steve singh]

Hello Chaps,

Wonder if you could help me? I've recently purchased Golf GTI MK5 for my wife which had two new bridgestone tyres put onto it (hence 8mm tread on both front tyres)

Given the great weather I would love to take the car on a track day - however I've always heard that using "good tread" tyres will leave them decimated at the end of a track day - is this true?

If so, on a "reasonable" track day what kind of tread will I be likely to wear away? (how long's a piece of string type question I know).

I don't want to "completely obliterate" the tyres given they cost nearly £280 to put on in the first place

Thanks for your help.

[shim]

yep, you are right, it could be the end of the tyres especially with the track temps this weekend but you could limit the laps per session and use them if you are careful

[hyperblue]

Might be worth swapping them onto the back, they'll suffer far less than on the fronts.

[NorthernExposure]

better off putting them on the offside rather than nearside...the nearside tyres always wear worst

[ALY77]

Part and parcel of doing track days in the first place though, you munch fuel, tyres and pads in the short term and much more in the long term.

[steve singh]

Thanks guys - disappointingly confirms my thinking. I'll probably try and source some 17 inch alloys with worn tyres and stick them on instead.

Failing that, I'm starting think it's easier just to buy a £1-2k car (BMW 323i?) and use that as a little toy around the track (no fear of damaging it etc.) - but having owned porsches & m3s I suspect such a toy may feel too slow...

[Munter]

steve singh said:

Thanks guys - disappointingly confirms my thinking. I'll probably try and source some 17 inch alloys with worn tyres and stick them on instead.

Failing that, I'm starting think it's easier just to buy a £1-2k car (BMW 323i?) and use that as a little toy around the track (no fear of damaging it etc.) - but having owned porsches & m3s I suspect such a toy may feel too slow...

If you're going down the route of buying wheels and tyres just for the trackday. I think the BTCC slicks are 17" ... Just something to ponder...

[TheLurker]

You may think its just spending 1-2K, but you will spend more on it - trust me.

How about just picking up a set of part worns and having them swapped on to your wheels for a day? perhaps just the front as the rears shouldnt take too much wear.

[steve singh]

TheLurker said:

You may think its just spending 1-2K, but you will spend more on it - trust me.

How about just picking up a set of part worns and having them swapped on to your wheels for a day? perhaps just the front as the rears shouldnt take too much wear.

The 18inch Monza Alloys on GTIs are quite problematic in terms of getting damaged, so if I spend the money I'll prob just go the full hog and get some 17 inch alloys so I don't have to worry about them at all.

In terms of spending more than £1-2k on a track toy - is that because of the likely desire to upgrade the car in terms of suspension etc?

[steveavxt]

NorthernExposure said:

better off putting them on the offside rather than nearside...the nearside tyres always wear worst

Only on CW tracks (which most are TBH)

Munter said:

If you're going down the route of buying wheels and tyres just for the trackday. I think the BTCC slicks are 17" ... Just something to ponder...

Most trackdays will not allow full slicks unless you have a roll cage.

[E36GUY]

Munter said:

If you're going down the route of buying wheels and tyres just for the trackday. I think the BTCC slicks are 17" ... Just something to ponder...

Where would one procure such delights?

[Munter]

E36GUY said:

Munter said:

If you're going down the route of buying wheels and tyres just for the trackday. I think the BTCC slicks are 17" ... Just something to ponder...

Where would one procure such delights?

http://www.touringcarspares.com/part_list.php?cat=wheels

I think there are some E-Bay sellers... might be the same person though. Anyway they are available a few places.

[jon-]

Trackdays are about fun, not ultimate lap time. Having a car move around on the limit, to me at least, is fun. In my experience slicks do not allow this like road tyres do, offering more binary grip.

[mrmr96]

steveavxt said:

Most trackdays will not allow full slicks unless you have a roll cage.

This is not the case in my experience, and I've looked into it recently.

Some are a blanket yes.
Some are 'yes, if it's dry'
Some are a blanket no.

Very few I've spoken to require a cage - it's normally just yes or no.

[mrmr96]

Update, I had a look at a few websites and also dug out my old emails (well, from May 2010) and only 2 require a cage. Everyone else either said 'Yes (if dry)' or I don't have info on them.

YES:
Lotus on Track - 'Yes no restriction' (via email enquiry) - www.lotus-on-track.com
Trackdays.co.uk - 'Yes no restriction' (via email enquiry) - trackdays.co.uk
Gold track - Yes if dry - http://res.goldtrack.co.uk/res_website.asp?supplie...
Javelin - Yes if dry (cage reccomended) - http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/index.p...
Easytrack - Yes if dry - http://www.easytrack.co.uk/faq/show

YES WITH CAGE:
Circuit days - Yes if Cage (per email) - http://www.circuit-days.co.uk/faqs.asp
Book a Track - Yes if Cage - http://bookatrack.com/

DON'T KNOW:
MSV - No mention - http://www.clubmsv.co.uk/car-home/faq.aspx
RMA - No mention - http://www.rmatrackdays.com/?id=terms_conditions
Open Track - No mention - http://www.opentrack.co.uk/page5.htm