Track day tyre pressures
Track day tyre pressures
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Discussion

Durham

Original Poster:

19 posts

241 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
As a new owner of a GT3 Mk2 I am interested to hear views on tyre pressures for track days. My car has Michelin Pilots.

timmo

1,788 posts

264 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
2.1 bar all round hot

DanH

12,287 posts

290 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
timmo said:
2.1 bar all round hot



Isn't that a bit low for Pilots unless they are the sport cups (MPSCs)?

Durham

Original Poster:

19 posts

241 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
These are ordinary Michelin Pilots for the road.

timmo

1,788 posts

264 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
Aaahhh - quite right Dan

I was talking about Michelin Pilot Sport Cups

No Idea on road the road tyres


tim

jeremyc

28,177 posts

314 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
timmo said:
Aaahhh - quite right Dan

I was talking about Michelin Pilot Sport Cups

No Idea on road the road tyres
What Tim was trying to say was: get a roof rack, a second set of CF wheels fitted with MPSCs and then keep them at 2.1 Bar hot all round. hehe

timmo

1,788 posts

264 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
the weird thing about the Carbon wheels is that your not having to adjust the temps as much
as the steel wheels
- must be the heat dissapaction

Merritt

1,669 posts

268 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
For standard tyres - I would be inclined to run the HOT pressures somewhere near the recommended COLD pressures. The sidewalls in the standard road tyres are pretty soft - you'll knock the edges out in no time if you use low pressures. Start with 34 / 39 hot and try going up or down by a few psi from there and see how it changes the handling.

Steve

Durham

Original Poster:

19 posts

241 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
Steve
Hope this is not a silly question - but if I run with the standard pressures when the tyres are hot, this will decrease the pressures from the norm, won't it? How does that fit with your comment about running low pressures?
D

Durham

Original Poster:

19 posts

241 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
Steve
Hope this is not a silly question - but if I run with the standard pressures when the tyres are hot, this will decrease the pressures from the norm, won't it? How does that fit with your comment about running low pressures?
D

Merritt

1,669 posts

268 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
Durham said:
Steve
Hope this is not a silly question - but if I run with the standard pressures when the tyres are hot, this will decrease the pressures from the norm, won't it? How does that fit with your comment about running low pressures?
D


Not a silly question at all, yes you are right it will decrease the effective COLD pressure but you will only be running them at those pressures HOT. The corsas and MPSC all have stiffer side walls so can be run at much lower pressures. Even then they MUST be reinflated to correct cold pressures before driving home or you will destroy the rear tyres in a matter of miles.

If I were you, I'd start at road pressures and then come in after 4 laps and reset them to around 38front / 44rear (remember one side will heat up quicker than the other due to track direction). See how the car feels to you after another 4 laps, come back in and knock another few psi off front and rear. If the car is handling better, keep going that way until the handling feels like it has become worse.

At the end of the day, its got nothing to do with lap times but just how you feel the car is performing. Tyres / pressures make a LOT of difference to the handling.

HTH

Steve

richad027

115 posts

255 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
You will get the best grip levels by using 32psi hot. Unless you have had a track day suspension setup put on your car the tyres will only last 3 track days at best as the outer shoulders will have worn out by then.

Richard

Merritt

1,669 posts

268 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
richad027 said:
You will get the best grip levels by using 32psi hot. Unless you have had a track day suspension setup put on your car the tyres will only last 3 track days at best as the outer shoulders will have worn out by then.

Richard




Richard -

We are talking about standard road tyres here... 32 was terrible on my car with standard tyres when I ran them for two days last year, im assuming because of tyre roll

Steve M

richad027

115 posts

255 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
Steve

I agree that standard tyres are terrible but I thought they were at their best at 32psi hot both with the standard car and once I'd had the JZM track setup added.
As you say its the tyre roll as the car is just resting on the outer shoulders, once the setups added the car use the whole tyre for cornering and grip levels rise dramatically

Richard.


Merritt

1,669 posts

268 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
richad027 said:
Steve

I agree that standard tyres are terrible but I thought they were at their best at 32psi hot both with the standard car and once I'd had the JZM track setup added.
As you say its the tyre roll as the car is just resting on the outer shoulders, once the setups added the car use the whole tyre for cornering and grip levels rise dramatically

Richard.





Richard - to be honest, ive always been a believer of experimenting with pressures on any tyre and finding something that suits my own driving style. I don't tend to conform with the norm on track day tyres either but personally I would start higher and go down from there.

I guess at the end of the day, its very much personal preference...

Steve