good track tire for GTO?

[bellwilliam]

been to a few track days with my GTO, my tires just give after a few laps after it heated up. I always turned fastest lap within first 3 laps, then the tires just gets all greasy. Summe is here, so it is getting a lot worse. I have Kumho MX tires right now, are there any better choices for a heavy GTO?

[OldER Goat]

I've done two track days (150 track miles each) on a set of Bridgestone S-03s (unshaved) on OE wheels - temps ranged thru-out day from upper 70s to upper 80's - both days. reasonably happy with the S03's in general - and they did not "go away" hardly at all from the early to later portion of each segment. the gto just needs more tire than what will fit on/in stock wheels/wheel wells - but you knew that.
btw - i've heard from several others that the mx do get slippery- quickly.

[Rockos GTO]

I would say the TOYO proxes RA1's , thats what they run in the Speed world Challenge GT class

I have seen how they handle witha race car. so it should be great for our cars

[Pat]

I'm a big fan of the Toyo RA1s as well- they're our local spec tire for Spec Miata, and they work very well. They don't have the ridiculous grip of Hoosiers, but they last a lot longer. You can run them on the street, too, although they won't last very long.

[bellwilliam]

RA1 is one of my top choice for my next set (my MX is completely gone now). but not sure how they are with heat (it is over 100f her in socal) with heavier car.

another problem is that Toyo don't make 245/45/17. only 235/45/17 or 255/40/17 or 275/40/17. with stock tires rubbing, I doubt the 255 and 275 will fit at all. 235 is narrower.

[stl_ls1gto]

run 235 in front, 255 in rear....just a thought

[Rancidbeef]

hey, buddy well you saw my tires this weekend and they held up pretty good, minus the fact the 8.5" rim was rubbing! Dunlop FM901's they are kinda slippery but they take well to the abuse of awesome GTO drivers such as ourselves dicing it up at the streets of Willow. Called the wheel dealer today about getting me an 8" rim which would put me at 18X8, I hope that takes care of the fender rubbing. Oh by the way did you see me run down that M3!

"there magically delicious"

[Rancidbeef]

Im such a dork forgot the size 245/40/18 think im gonna attend that event at Big Willow next month.

[993rs]

BFG g-force T/A KDs, stock size 245/45/17. 44psi front, 42psi rear. Worked like a charm at Road America.

[bellwilliam]

BFG g-force T/A KDs, stock size 245/45/17. 44psi front, 42psi rear. Worked like a charm at Road America.

did KD held up with heat ? are you turning same lap time even after 5 laps or so? thanks.

[bellwilliam]

hey, buddy well you saw my tires this weekend and they held up pretty good, minus the fact the 8.5" rim was rubbing! Dunlop FM901's they are kinda slippery but they take well to the abuse of awesome GTO drivers such as ourselves dicing it up at the streets of Willow. Called the wheel dealer today about getting me an 8" rim which would put me at 18X8, I hope that takes care of the fender rubbing. Oh by the way did you see me run down that M3!

"there magically delicious"

I thought your Dunlop FM901 didn't held up well. It got really gummed up by late afternoon. You forgot about how you fishtailed to front straight a few times towards end of each run :hail:

yeah, you did pretty good chasing down quite a few cars. :sneaky:

[993rs]

did KD held up with heat ? are you turning same lap time even after 5 laps or so? thanks.

Being a novice, I thought they held up pretty well. Felt consistent for seven laps or so.

[Doc GTO]

I went with the new Falken Azenis RT-615s. They are a Pure Sport tire which means that it is about 90+% of a "R" compound race tire like a Kumho, Toyo, Hoosier, ect and it had a tread wear of 200. It is a good choice for a heavy car like the GTO. I am putting these on my stock wheels and will change out at the track. I'll let you know how they do next month when I go back to RRR in Savannah and break them in!

[bellwilliam]

I went with the new Falken Azenis RT-615s. They are a Pure Sport tire which means that it is about 90+% of a "R" compound race tire like a Kumho, Toyo, Hoosier, ect and it had a tread wear of 200. It is a good choice for a heavy car like the GTO. I am putting these on my stock wheels and will change out at the track. I'll let you know how they do next month when I go back to RRR in Savannah and break them in!

old Azenis always had heat issues, although they worked great in cold. That's why they are very popular on autocross, but not on track. let us know how the new Azenis is on the track.

most likely I will go with Toyo RA-1 tires, they are used on many heavier cars on tracks. only issue is there are no 245/45-17. I will order 2 of 255/40-17, and see if they rub on front. if not, I will order 2 more for the rear. if they rub, I will get 235/45-17 for the front.

[mr2guru]

old Azenis always had heat issues, although they worked great in cold. That's why they are very popular on autocross, but not on track. let us know how the new Azenis is on the track.

most likely I will go with Toyo RA-1 tires, they are used on many heavier cars on tracks. only issue is there are no 245/45-17. I will order 2 of 255/40-17, and see if they rub on front. if not, I will order 2 more for the rear. if they rub, I will get 235/45-17 for the front.

I would bet they'd rub the fronts....ppl are rubbing in front with stock tires!

[bellwilliam]

I am also rubbing with my Kumho MX at the front, but just barely.
as for the rear, anyone tried 275/40-17? I know many have used Nitto drag tire w/o problem, but Nittor does seem to run narrower. if they fit, then I will have 255/40-17 at the front and 275/40-17 at the rear. I have SLP rear sway bar, I will tighten it up to offset the understeer.

[Doc GTO]

old Azenis always had heat issues, although they worked great in cold. That's why they are very popular on autocross, but not on track. let us know how the new Azenis is on the track.

most likely I will go with Toyo RA-1 tires, they are used on many heavier cars on tracks. only issue is there are no 245/45-17. I will order 2 of 255/40-17, and see if they rub on front. if not, I will order 2 more for the rear. if they rub, I will get 235/45-17 for the front.

In the info I got the new 615 addressed the heat problems that the old 215s had.

[bellwilliam]

some of the solo II threads said 615 is now better on auto-x, that it no longer overheats after few autocross laps. but with heavy GTO and track days (up to 30 minutes a session), I am not sure 615 will hold up.

I've been looking at both Toyo RA1 and Hankook 211. at Grassroot Motorsport, they said there will be a r-compound tire test in the next issue.

[GeeTeeOh]

After a LOT of research I went with Tire Rack's recommendation and got the Yokohama A032R (hard compound) tire for autocross events in the stock size. I won my class (F Stock) at the SCCA autoX in April and placed second last month on the road course at Texas Motor Speedway (got beat by a co-driver by .482 seconds!). I want to do some track events this summer and the advisor at Tire Rack (can't remember his name!) said the hard compound A032R should work very well for autocross and track events; so far I'm very pleased with them.

[bellwilliam]

After a LOT of research I went with Tire Rack's recommendation and got the Yokohama A032R (hard compound) tire for autocross events in the stock size. I won my class (F Stock) at the SCCA autoX in April and placed second last month on the road course at Texas Motor Speedway (got beat by a co-driver by .482 seconds!). I want to do some track events this summer and the advisor at Tire Rack (can't remember his name!) said the hard compound A032R should work very well for autocross and track events; so far I'm very pleased with them.


how did they handle the heat? did your lap time go up or down after tires heats up? thanks for your input, I will look into A032R.

[GeeTeeOh]

It wasn't that hot back on the 15th at Texas Motor Speedway (mid-80s); the road course is an asphalt/concrete mix that's pretty grippy. The real test will come on June 19th when we'll be back at TMS racing on "Black Lake", a fairly large black asphalt parking lot for buses. It'll probably be around 90 degrees and the asphalt gets a little slippery when it gets up over 100 degrees or so. So far the tires seem to work very well when warm; I haven't had them hot enough yet to see when they give up grip.

[GeeTeeOh]

Oops! Forgot to say that as the tires and track heated up, the times came down. I started-out in the 64 second range and ended-up just a tick over 61 seconds; we only got four runs due to the number of entrants (175+).

[tyfoon]

What about Kumho v710 or Victoracers? Both come in stock 245/45/17 sizes.

I am using Victoracers this year in stock size and probably will switch to 710's next year.

[bradz24]

yeah I am running the V700 this year. . and I did a track day a few weeks ago and the tires held up prety good. I did have to rotate them in the middle of the day because there are more right turns and the left front was taken a beating. .I could feel them get a little greasy after about 10 laps. 1.7 mile track. it was nothing I couldn't deal with . .lets put it this way they would outlast my brakes. so i wasn't complaining. as far as at an autoX I am very pleased with this tires as they are wearing very very evenly and have ALL kinds of grip on concrete.

[bellwilliam]

there are now a few post about running 275/40-17 tires (other than just Nitto Drag radial) w/o any issues. I plan to try it out on the rear. may be RA1, A032R or Victorracer.

[bradz24]

I would think with the Victoracers you would be fine at 275.. (dont quote me thou) if they dont fit. .. I have 245/45/17 or what ever the stock tire size is.. and I think the tires are narrower than the stockers..