Track day wheels and tires
 

I'm probably going to sell my old wrx summer setup (245/45R17 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 on 17x8 OZ Ultraleggera) and am thinking about a wheel/tire combo to use explicitly for the track, the benefits being that I don't have to replace my street tires as often.


It looks like there's a few ways to go here, so I'm looking at a few:
Going to a 17x8 wheel (likely Enkei TS-5) I can run the SSC class autox size 225/45R17 which has healthy options in the 200tw category... just about every brand in the space plays there, so I'm wondering what holds up better at a track, instead of going to shit after one lap like most autox tires do.


Alternatively, I could spend the money from this sale on other stuff, and just replace the stock 18" tires once they wear out with a 225/40R18... though the 18" tire options are a little more limited - seems like the Hankook R-S4 is the only really trackable option there.

It really depends how competitive you want to be vs the wear you're willing to put up with.

You're probably not going to want something like the A052's or RE71RS (brand new, might not even be available yet).

A lot of Gridlife guys are running the Falken RT660 if they're not going full out on A052's. Mine have been holding up well for autox purposes. But again, you'll probably see more wear than with something 300TW+.

If you want better wear, but still good times/grip.... the Conti ECS would be my choice actually. Good for rain events too if you get caught out in one.

And yes on 225/45/17 with an 8" wheel.

Good wear 200TW, RS4. Little slower is the SX2 at 220TW or whatever it is now. The Z3 lies between the RS4 and the RT660 in grip and wear though is pricier then both. I get 4 days out of RT660's on track.

Yeah I was leaning heavily toward the rs4, seems like a solid balance between longevity and grip. I'm not out here trying to win the HPDE anyway.

RS4 on stock wheels for track, 17"with RT660 for SSC, could be your winning combo here!

LMK if you want those Enkeis.

Mike, have you heard much on the V730? I know one guy who has run them, along with 5-6 other tires and he seemed pretty happy with them for the price. I think he got 5 days out of them but wore the outsides due to not enough camber so they may have been good for 6 days with the right amount. Faster than the RS4, though not as good of wear but they are cheaper.

I don't have any apples to apples data, but they're definitely faster than the RS4, with also faster wear.

We have someone running them for autox here. The entire outside half of the tire is completely bald after just a few runs because the tread is less than 1mm even when new there. The inside looks normal. I would not want to be driving on the tire in any rain at all.

Here's a picture:
https://imgur.com/waUJUC4

Yeah, pictures I have seen from the local guy I know where about the same. They were pretty much bald on the outer half after about a day.

Just sharing because nobody asked but I tried getting the v730 but nobody local to me could get them for a reasonable price. Yay Canada. I ended up with the RT660 instead, preferring something faster than the RS4 but should hold up to some hot lapping. Only one lapping day on them so far, and it was at 21c/70f ambient so fairly cool, around 3 hours of on-track time and they didn't overheat under those conditions. It looks like I'll get at least 3 more similar days out of the set, if not 4. As for pace, I beat my previous PB on this course, 2:06.1 set on RS3 down to 2:05.1 in just 2 hot laps. The rest of the day was spent dialing in tire pressures or just following traffic.

I'm in the market for better track day tires for my 2022 BRZ. In the past I've run Hoosier R7's on my STI. I don't want to run slicks because my BRZ track buddies don't.
My focus is on dry weather track tires that don't fall off with extended lapping and have stiff sidewalls for better feedback. A 100TW tire (like the Goodyear) would be fine but I'd like to stay under $1,200/set. I know the Goodyears will wear out the fastest.
I've been running 245/40-17 Toyo 888R's on 9" rims so far and am disappointed by how fast they fall off. I typically run about nine laps and they are decent for only half the time or less. Plus they are horribly noisy.
At Club Motorsports I was having to dial back my aggressiveness to stay on the track and one of the guys with 255 Kumho Ecsta V730's was hard to stay with.
I think I've read everything there is to read and watched all the videos.

In order of interest:
Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R (245/40-17 only) 23 pounds
Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS (245/45-17 or 255/40-17) 24/25 lbs.
Kumho Ecsta V730 (245/45-17 or 255/40-17) 24/26 lbs.
BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S 1.5 (245/40-17 or 255/40-17) 25/26 lbs.

I'm not sure why I wouldn't want to run a 255 if it were available in the tire I choose. Again, I have 9" rims and no clearance issues.
Are there any serious contenders I've missed?

For a lapping tire, you can't go wrong with the Hankook RS4. They like heat and last quite a while. I tried out the new Conti EC Force on the Miata, and am very happy with them. They don't need a lot of heat to start working and are designed to be an eduro tire, so will last all day. They're a little faster than the RS4, but are quite a bit pricier, so it's up to you if it's worth it.

Fosh, et all,
I would like a lapping tire, but I don't do a large number of track days per year. I want a big return for my time on the track and the trips that require a day on each end for travel and at least three nights stay.
Today I spoke to a specialist at Tire Rack and he had a tire or two to add to my list. The Conti was one of them. After a long conversation he liked my list for what I want to do and I went with the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R. I know they will not last many track days but their price is not crazy. I paid $1,029 for the set, including high CT taxes.
I'm excited about how much lighter they are than some on the list. It was tempting to go up to a 255, but the tire's traction, overall performance and light weight "outweighs" other factors.
Thanks for your input.

I been running the v730 for 3 years now, this year they cost $600 a set at onlinetires.com (on sale often). As for lap times, at Tamworth, I did a 1:45 with them. Not as fast as a RE71R for sure. They last 6 to 8 days on average. On day 8 they are at least a second slower.