15" track tyre/semi slick- what would you recommend
Discussion
I'm part way through a daft project to get an Octavia Tdi down the 1/4 mile strip as fast as possible (whilst running on chip fat.
Essentially I'm trying to see what I can achieve on a minimal budget.
Totally stock (90bhp) it ran an 18.009 at 71.3mph
I then remapped it- and it pulls 16.832 at 80.5mph
However, the starts and 60ft times have not improved significantly- I'm getting significant wheelspin from the fronts on launch.
I reckon some of that is down to the lack of grip offered by the Roadfine tyres currently fitted.
To counter this I'm considering getting 2 steels fitted up with semi slicks for track use only, so I thought I'd ask here as to what is considered the best "budget" semi slick tyre?
Ideally I'd be looking for 195/50 0r 55 but could go to a 185 or 205 if it was cheaper
So far it looks like Nankang, Toyo or Federal- what would you recommend?
Essentially I'm trying to see what I can achieve on a minimal budget.
Totally stock (90bhp) it ran an 18.009 at 71.3mph
I then remapped it- and it pulls 16.832 at 80.5mph
However, the starts and 60ft times have not improved significantly- I'm getting significant wheelspin from the fronts on launch.
I reckon some of that is down to the lack of grip offered by the Roadfine tyres currently fitted.
To counter this I'm considering getting 2 steels fitted up with semi slicks for track use only, so I thought I'd ask here as to what is considered the best "budget" semi slick tyre?
Ideally I'd be looking for 195/50 0r 55 but could go to a 185 or 205 if it was cheaper
So far it looks like Nankang, Toyo or Federal- what would you recommend?
The normal M or MH or H track tyres are not really what you need, you want something in a soft compound, as used by hill climbers, they do an 888 & v70a & ao48 in a soft but I'm sure there are better.
If you do want a regular track tyre I have a huge surplus of Ao48, in MH a but of an odd size, 205/60/15 I sell 'em pretty cheap.
If you do want a regular track tyre I have a huge surplus of Ao48, in MH a but of an odd size, 205/60/15 I sell 'em pretty cheap.
iguana said:
The normal M or MH or H track tyres are not really what you need, you want something in a soft compound, as used by hill climbers, they do an 888 & v70a & ao48 in a soft but I'm sure there are better.
If you do want a regular track tyre I have a huge surplus of Ao48, in MH a but of an odd size, 205/60/15 I sell 'em pretty cheap.
sent you an email-cheersIf you do want a regular track tyre I have a huge surplus of Ao48, in MH a but of an odd size, 205/60/15 I sell 'em pretty cheap.
Took my TVR to Santa Plod.
First and only time, as decorating the house beats watching paint dry in the queue at Santa Plod. 40 seconds motorsport in 5 hours of standing around. Simply not my idea of fun. Strokes, folks etc.
However, on arrival, seeing the queue, I jumped straight into it on road tyres for my first run, and did 13.08 secs for the quarter mile on Bridgestones.
Changed onto Toyo R888s.......and did worse. Not a lot worse, about 13.2, but not the half a second improvement I expected.
My theory is the same theory I have about sprint events, where you wait for ever in a queue, and then spend 90 seconds on track with stone cold tyres, trying to do a fast time without having a serious excursion into the scenery.
Last time out sprintiong, 5 minutes before my turn I did try me some serious charging around roundabouts just outside the circuit (20-30 laps of a roundabout, tyres screaming for mercy, followed by a series of full braking lockups) and still found it impossible to get any useful amount of heat into track tyres, which are at their best at 50+ degrees C on a track day. Problem is, they have very little grip stone cold.
So next time I go to a sprint day, i will be sticking the trusty Bridgestones back on and trying my luck (with the 888s to hand just in case I am totally wrong as usual!)
Good luck. Try the track tyres by all means. More importantly, practice your burn outs, as getting heat into the tyres is the most important thing.
First and only time, as decorating the house beats watching paint dry in the queue at Santa Plod. 40 seconds motorsport in 5 hours of standing around. Simply not my idea of fun. Strokes, folks etc.
However, on arrival, seeing the queue, I jumped straight into it on road tyres for my first run, and did 13.08 secs for the quarter mile on Bridgestones.
Changed onto Toyo R888s.......and did worse. Not a lot worse, about 13.2, but not the half a second improvement I expected.
My theory is the same theory I have about sprint events, where you wait for ever in a queue, and then spend 90 seconds on track with stone cold tyres, trying to do a fast time without having a serious excursion into the scenery.
Last time out sprintiong, 5 minutes before my turn I did try me some serious charging around roundabouts just outside the circuit (20-30 laps of a roundabout, tyres screaming for mercy, followed by a series of full braking lockups) and still found it impossible to get any useful amount of heat into track tyres, which are at their best at 50+ degrees C on a track day. Problem is, they have very little grip stone cold.
So next time I go to a sprint day, i will be sticking the trusty Bridgestones back on and trying my luck (with the 888s to hand just in case I am totally wrong as usual!)
Good luck. Try the track tyres by all means. More importantly, practice your burn outs, as getting heat into the tyres is the most important thing.
QBee said:
So next time I go to a sprint day, i will be sticking the trusty Bridgestones back on and trying my luck (with the 888s to hand just in case I am totally wrong as usual!)
Good luck. Try the track tyres by all means. More importantly, practice your burn outs, as getting heat into the tyres is the most important thing.
This is my plan as well. I did my fist sprint in June and felt I would have got better times on my road tyres than the 595 RSRs I had on the car.Good luck. Try the track tyres by all means. More importantly, practice your burn outs, as getting heat into the tyres is the most important thing.
SonicShadow said:
QBee - what pressures were you running in the R888's at Santa Pod?
22 front, 24 rear as normal. Standard TVR pressures. Should I have lowered them? I avoided too much wheel spin, it was simply that the road jobbies gripped better cold.
I suggest that if the OP buys a set of four steels (I got a set of four 14 inch 6J alloys a couple of weeks ago for £60 off Ebay for my trailer), and gets two track tyres off the poster above and two used road tyres of a good grippy variety (something like Uniroyal Rainsport 3s, or a decent Continental or Michelin with a good wet grip rating - ie good grip in the cold) from a second hand tyre place, hw could compare results and do us all a favour by posting them on here.
I have also tried Federal 595 RSRs sprinting, much the same result.....I rarely spin on a track day but spin all too readily on a sprint.
QBee said:
22 front, 24 rear as normal. Standard TVR pressures. Should I have lowered them?
I avoided too much wheel spin, it was simply that the road jobbies gripped better cold.
Lower pressures do help with grip and heat on the strip. It does depend on the tyre though. It does sound like the R888's simply need more heat that you can hope to generate before a run at Pod as you said, unless you do a substantial burnout in the water trap.I avoided too much wheel spin, it was simply that the road jobbies gripped better cold.
We went to Santa Pod yesterday, and had an absolute ball.
I think there were only about 50 cars there and another 10 or 15 bikes, so we all got about 6 or 7 runs in before we left at about 2pm.
I had my Soarer V8 on cheap road tyres, and must say I had no worries with wheel spin, but I've got a limited-slip diff. My brother-in-law was in his LS400 with an open diff, he had real issues with wheel spin...
Then there was our mate in his diesel 405 estate running on veg oil....
I think there were only about 50 cars there and another 10 or 15 bikes, so we all got about 6 or 7 runs in before we left at about 2pm.
I had my Soarer V8 on cheap road tyres, and must say I had no worries with wheel spin, but I've got a limited-slip diff. My brother-in-law was in his LS400 with an open diff, he had real issues with wheel spin...
Then there was our mate in his diesel 405 estate running on veg oil....
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