track tires ??

I run the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s on my 16" rims, Lou.......

They also have a Vintage Racing Showroom Stock series, that may offer the size you need, the 'dries' are 5/32" rubber tread and the 'rains' are full depth tread pattern DOT.....

 

I use Kumo Victoracers on my QV for the track. Best bang for the buck. Been using them for about 4 years now.

 

Bridgestone RE-01R's - so far so good

 

Yes, Kumho Victoracers are DOT street legal. But they recommend that they be shaved and heat cycled. That leaves you very little tread for street driving, and in the wet, they will not hold.

You might want to look at some of the other Kumho tires. Their street series performance tires are excellent on the street, handle well in wet weather, but also give near-racing slick performance on the track. If you are not doing wheel to wheel racing, and just doing track days and HPDE, you don't necessarily need full race slicks, and you'll get the best compromise of street, wet and track dry performance in one tire, IMHO.

 

Think I'll have some fresh (freshly heat cycled that is) Hoosiers for the upcoming track day. You really need spare wheels if you go this route and the initial heat cycle break in is CRITICAL. They seem to last a long time if you do this correctly. Have a lot of experience with the P car but not the 308 when it comes to slicks.

Respond back to the Willow thread Lou . . . let me know what run group you're gonna be in.

Sean

 

The answers you seek are available at tirerack.com.

Dave

 

+1

Or you could try the new TSL-SX's! They have great sidewall protection!

 

Lou,

i really enjoyed the Mich Pilot Sport PS2 for VERY wet days and Pilot Cup for damp and dry. Of course really good R-compound for dry days are better, like Hoosier, but BEWARE the known 308 REAR STUB AXLE problem when using super grippy rubber.

FYI: i have two sets of 17-inch lightweight yet durable Kinesis race rims for sale, one sets includes nearly new Mich Pilot Cup tires. If you factor in rubber cost, the rims come to about $1.5k for mrsp $3.2k rims that do not have tires on them. A bargain for sure. www.EnjoyTheTrack.com

 

Repaired 4 of the stub axles . .. repaired my right in 1999, left in 1995. Had to repair the left again last month (which is why I ended up repainting the suspension ). The start of this failure from what I've seen is the nut coming loose . . .then there's the potential for destroying everything. I caught this right at the onset . .. I didn't have the socket or the machining skills in '95 to fix it the way I can now. One of the challenges was when the nut comes loose, the bearing race eats up the shaft. The inner bearing rides half on the spline for the flange . . this was a pain to knurl (interrupted contacted) to get the bearing to fit again. The bearings from 1995 still felt like they were packed with grease FWIW.

I priced out a set of custom machined "no compromise" Bogart racing wheels for $2k. Don't really need them now since I ended up with an extra set of factory 16's. How old is the rubber on your wheels Mike?

Sean

 

I run Toyo Proxes RA1 (R compound).

They ride a little hard on the street but they work (and I could probably let a few pounds of air out on my way home from the track). I have had them two years combo of track and some street. I have to tell you I am a bit frugal (cheap). So, I did not get them shaved I figured I would drive them hard and wear them in. Well after two years they show no visible signs of wear. Have probably 2000 street miles and 5 track days.

I got them at www.edgeracing.com and they were definitly the lowest price I could find.

I know some guys who run them on their race cars and I suspect they to are looking for the good value.

 

Steve / luckydynes - First I've ever heard of this!

Can you elaborate a bit further?

Cheers - DM

 

What else do you want to know? Bottom line is if the rear wheels have any slop something is wrong in there. Again, IMHO it's not the bearing "wearing out" . . it's the nut backing off which could be caused by any number of things . . I feel pretty confident that I won't have another problem with the one I just repaired for 5 years at least.

Sean

 

Sean, i think you mean me. The Mich Pilot Cups were new as of about 18 months or so ago. Alas, not home to see the date code on the rubber, yet they have always been stored correctly (bagged) and kept out of the sun, etc as is normal with proper track rubber care.

PM me here as i'll be home Tuesday and can check date code.

 

oops yeah I mixed you up with Mike C.

 

Lou,

The previous owner of my 308 - but who always trailered his car to the track - used the Hoosier slicks (on 16" rims) exclusively and said he loved them (but I there was bill for a stub axle replacement in my paperwork history!). I was in your same situation when I took my 308 to Willow and just used my street tires (Yokohama) - car did OK.

I never got a chance to try the slicks, but I still have them left over from when I bought the car; they had two heat cycles on them if I remember correctly. You can have them if you want 'em. Maybe try an experiment at the next Pantera Club event. Changing wheels at the track is no big deal - a lightweight racing jack fits easily in the 308 trunk.

Maybe you can have a pal take a set of race tire-prepped wheels out to the track for you in a his/her car? Or drop off the set of wheels ahead of time to someone who's going out to the track in a trailer and has some extra room.

In fact, if my racecar is done on time, I was going to go to the Willow event. I would be happy to take the wheels out for you in my trailer. So the tires are yours if want them. Come pick them up, get them installed on the wheels (I actually know of a great place near my house that charges $20 per wheel to install and balance). Drop the newly-shod wheels back to me and I'll deliver them to Willow for you. I'll also have jacks, torque wrench, etc. at the track.

The same offer stands, regardless if you want to use my Hoosiers. If you want to try some other not-street-friendly tire from the other guy's suggestions, get them installed on your extra rims and drop them off to me - I'll be glad to cart them out to Willow for you.

I once saw a photo of a 308 that had a rack installed on the rear deck that held 4 race wheels so the guy could drive the car to the track! - pretty funny.

Also, I wouldn't worry about adding wet-driving ability to your track tire needs. We don't live in Seattle! Don't worry about it. Remove that from your needs equation and it may simplify things. And it it rains, stay home. You'll miss maybe one track day out of 100!!

So let me know if I can help. PM for for my phone #.

By the way, with a simple open trailer (which can be had for about $1500 used), your gross trailer weight with the 308 would be about 4,000lbs, a weight which is easily towed by even the most anemic SUV, Coupe De Ville, Chevy Monza....

 

How competitive do you drive?

if you are hard core the hoosier is one of the best , but totally track only, the ride to & from the track will ruin them as well as your paint with all the pickup it will throw at your paint.

To the novice or occasional tracker, the Yokohama r tires are a good choice. you can drive in rain & daily, also the toyo RA1 unshaved(now discontinued or soon to be) the Khumos exsta unshaved are a decent choice too. The pilot sport cups are a high priced choice, but are usable as daily drivers(they are oem on some porsches now) beware when cold , they are horrible but once up to temp that are awesome. I have exstensive experiance with all the above tires. Other than the hoosiers all can be used in the rain too. If rain isint an issue , shave the tires to 4/32.Your tire life will double. The Khumos are used by the Viper guys as daily drivers & getting around 5k miles out of them(stock tires you might get 8!) as they hook up good at the strip too.

Save your $$ on heat cycling from tire rack, it does nothing compared to proper heat cycling at the track. I have spent over $50k in dot tires in the last few years & have tested quite a bit from low HPcars to turbo porsches.


Also pirelli & BFG are back in the dot game now too.

Also for the occasional user, you should check out the SCCA autocross rules, www.scca.org. there is some new classes that require non r coumpound tires, but the tire companies have developed street only tires that are close to the toyo & yoko dot r tires but have a much longer life. falken & others make these type of tires & they are really cheep too.

 

Check out www.grassrootmotorsports.com & do a search for tire tests , they have tests of R & non R dot tire tests for auto X & track. as a newbie, you are not looking to win the race, but have a fun & safe experiance & get some longevity out of your investment. The toyos. khumo,pilot sports cups, & yoko should last you 8 events plus of hard driving & remain safe. For example in race conditions I might get 4 heat cycles out of the Hoosier before we sell them to someone else. But hat is race conditions when .10 of a second is worth another $1000.

I have to disagree with the not worring about wet weather tire espeially if you are driving on the same set that you are going to the track with. A slick tire like the new khumo or Hoosier dot is absolutely suicide in the rain for a novice driver especially on public roads. Some sipes are better than none!

 

Pen...you brining the dallara? I want to see it! So cool.