Track day tyres, 20" ?

[8bit]

Think I already know the answer to this after a quick look online but thought I'd ask in case I've not looked in the right places. Did a track day in my XKR at the weekend and, as expected, tyres were one of the things that showed up as a weak point (the others being brakes and heat soak, of which the former is easily solved).

I have another set of standard wheels for the car which currently have winter tyres fitted. They are 255/35/R20 front and 285/30/R20 rear. Anyone know of track day tyres that would be available in these sizes?

[SonicShadow]

Will 18's clear the brakes? Lots of options in those widths on an 18inch wheel.

EDIT: Or even 19's.

[8bit]

There were some wheels in 19" offered as an option, I was hoping to use the 20" ones I've got but I guess that may not be realistic.

[SonicShadow]

That's going to be your only option if you want to run a staggered setup in similar widths to stock unfortunately. What road tyres were you using before, out of interest?

[GT4EDS]

Hi, when i had a Mustang on 20" wheels i went for the Nitto NT05 and they were very good. Ordered them from USA. They do few 20" for the Nissan GTR's too. Did the R888 not do a 20" too? I think you may have few options there.
Eduardo.

[SonicShadow]

There are a couple of 20inch tyres available, but the range of widths / profiles is very limited, which could be a problem. For example, The Demon Tweeks offer the R88R in 285/35R20 and 305/30/R20. If OP's car can accommodate the increased width (and the wheels are suitable for those widths), they might be an option.

[8bit]

Thanks guys.

Yeah the R888s come in some bigger sizes but nothing close enough to my wheels. I think if I was going to do this I'd probably have to sell those wheels and get some 19" ones instead, in which case I'd probably want lighter wheels than standard etc. etc.

I live about 2 hours' drive from Knockhill and about 6 from the next nearest half decent track so can't really justify spending loads on track bits, let alone a track car (much as I'd love to), hence I was hoping there'd be a tyre option available in sizes that would work on these wheels.

I'll look at the Nitto ones and see if that could work, I guess failing that I'm looking for a road tyre that may also cope well with a bit of occasional track abuse (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2? Pilot SuperSport maybe?). I have Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas on just now which are excellent on the road in wet or dry. They actually resisted fade on the track much better than I'd feared and did much better in the wet than I'd expected too, just that they limited getting the power down a bit even once track conditions allowed.

[SonicShadow]

The Vred's are good road tyres, but they will struggle with abuse on the track, especially on a larger car like an XKR. Not surprised you had issues!

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's should be a decent middle ground, looking online it seems they are available in 265/35R20 and 295/30R20 which is very close to your original spec tyres.

[Jon_Bmw]

If you use a more grippy trackday tyre then your brakes are going to become even more 'exposed.'

[8bit]

Thanks Sonic, yeah the Vreds seemed to just run out of grip accelerating hard out of the slowest corners, maybe just not quite up to the task on track but I've never had any complaints with them on the road. I'll have a look at the Cup 2's.

Regarding the brakes, yeah I'm aware of that, I'm getting close to needing to change the fluid, discs and pads anyway, I'll select ones that can take a bit of track use.