Which tires

I just bought the 355F1B in December and the 1st time I'm taking it to the track is this Saturday. I got the car w/ Hankook Ventus V12 Evos. It doesn't have the 110 designation between the Ventus and V12 as was mentioned earlier in this thread. I'm wondering if anyone knows if there is an actual difference in tire or that is just a difference in marketing nomenclature. Also what tire pressure do you use on the street and what might be used at track, if indeed they are different. Thanks for your help and insight. While I stand on the shoulders of giants as they say. Cheers

 

When I asked Hankook about tire pressure, they said 40psi is fine. The max pressure is 50psi. I used this on and off track and it worked well. The pressure that Discount Tire used was 33F/36R which gave a poor ride and performance.

 

So you use 40 psi all around on and off track? (I forgot to mention that I have the stock OEM wheels)

 

I also forgot to mention that I expect it to be a fairly hot day in the upper 80s so the track temp should be quite high as well, at the upper end of the tire's design range.

 

The track event in the video was at Las Vegas Speedway and had temps in the high 90's to 100's. It was actually 113 F in some areas on my way through Pahrump, NV when I did an event at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch. The Hankook tires appeared to do well and tire pressure was within specs. You could drop to 38psi if 40psi is not to your liking. Just as an FYI this was a Z4 coupe with stock wheels. I don't think the psi would be much different on a Ferrari. My top speed on the road course was around 125 MPH.

 

On tire pressure::

There is an optimal tire pressure! (Really there is!) Pressures lower than this will feel like there is a lack of grip, pressures higher than this will feel like the tires are driving on grease. Different tires MAY want different tire pressures--even if they are the same brand, model, and specifications as the ones that you just toook off!

Most of the street tires (not necessarily r-compounds, though) will find optimal grip at 40 PSI HOT (plus or minus a couple of pounds). {However the real way to determine tire pressure is to use a device called a probe tipped pyrometer and read the tire temperature on the tread surface.} Generally there is a 3-ish PSI window overwhich the typical well intuned driver can't feel much difference, and the stop watch might not be able to either.

Tires heat up as they are used on a road surface. As the tire heats up so does the air inside the tire. Hotter air has more pressure than colder air. For typical street driving this pressure increase might be as little as 3-4 PSI (low speed) to as much as 5-7 PSI (backroad corner carving) to 6-9 PSI (track driving). Yet the tire, for all intents and purposes want to operate at the same 40 PSI +/-.

Asside: I set my tire pressures differently when I leave for a country drive than for the race track; using 35 PSI F/R for street driving where little heat buildup is prsent and down to 32 PSI for track driving where a lot more heat is present.

Depending on the tires on the car, how the car is set up, and how one drives, you might like 1-2 PSI more in the front (or rear) to get the car handling perfectly. {Indeed more than once I have used tire pressures to compensate for a suspension alignment issue at the track running 3 PSI more on the left rear than the right rear.

Once you find the right tire pressure for your kind of driving, drive the car home and let it sit in the garage overnight and measure the pressures in the morning (before it gets hot.) These will be the COLD tire pressures you want to use in the future--for THAT set of tires.

How to find optimal tire pressures for your car and your driving style:

A) Locate a nice long 5-mile back road with low constabulatory oversight (10+ miles is better)
B) inflate your tires to 40 PSI
C) repeat until done
C.1) drive the road with verve
C.2) if both ends feel greasy, lower both ends tire pressure by 1 PSI
C.3) If one end feels greasy but the other end does not; lower that end by 1 PSI
C.4) if one end tends to loose grip but does not feel greasy; you have found the right pressure for that end at its PREVIOUS pressure (1 PSI more).
C.5) repeat until both ends have lost noticible grip
D) drive to station or use battery operated air pump, add a couple PSI to both ends, drive road one more time to verify you have found optimum pressures.
E) drive home, store car in garage, measure tire pressures in the morning. Write these down.

 

Falken tires were previously mentioned. I have no experience with any of their line except the Azenis 615 and 615K. I have run several on my supercharged NSX on the road and track (limited amount). They don't last with some others as they are of lesser tread depth and soft but they handle very well. Responsive, v good overall grip with decent breakaway warning. They are nearly track tires but are still decent in the wet (with decent dread depth remaining). I will quite likely go back to them when present tires need replacing on my 355. My .02

 

".....with low constabulatory oversight"

That is an Alsup Classic. LOL

 

I do what I can.....