Over the cooler months I will be upgrading to coilovers and moving up to larger wheels and tires for track day purposes. Right now I am just running 255/40's on a 17 x 8.5. I am at a cross roads as to what will provide the best wheel size/tire size combination for ultimate grip. I don't care about comfort, I just care about go go go. At first I was going to keep it simple and just run 275/40's on a 17 X 9. Then I started thinking, which isn't a good thing.

I know I will lose a bit of the width of the 275 on a 9" wheel so I thought, what about a 17 X 9.5. The more I thought about it, the more I pondered larger brakes in the future and the ease of fitting a smaller tire on an 18. So that made me move up to the 18 x 9.5 and possibly something like Nils is running (275/35). As I continued reading and thinking about it, I figured why not just go with something a bit wider and shorter like a few of the auto X guys and one of Muellers cars. So a 285/30/18 on an 18 X 9.5 keeps popping up. I know that they will fit with some work and the rear are already rolled and shave and all I have left to do is pull them...... so now I have too many choices.

What I can't figure out is which of all those combinations will be the best in terms of grip. The 275/40/17 is going to be the tallest tire with the biggest sidewall while the 285/30/18 will be the shortest combo with the least sidewall. Sidewall height will most like effect my spring rate choices as I can probably get away with a bit stiffer rate if I am running a tire with more side wall. There I go thinking again as I shouldnt be wanting to use tires as suspension. Not the right thoughts to have for sure.

Basically what I have done is made this more complicated than it needs to be, so I am hoping some of you can shed some light on why you are running the sizes that you are and what you would change about your wheel/tire setup. Sorry for the rambling and thanks for any input.

By the way, if my driver experience helps then here it is. NASA Licensed for TT and instructor. I mosty do HPDE's in HPDE 4 or the instructor group with the occasional TT thrown in for good measure.

jeff

 

Not sure about the tires, but for the"ultimate" wheels, TE-37MAG all the way! They only come in 18" sizes though.

 

I meant more along the lines of wheel size and tire size. If I bought a set of those wheels I wouldnt have anything left over for track days next year. I would really like to have a set but I have to stay within my budget.

jeff

 

Funny - I was thinking exactly like you

I went with some nice Volks in 17x9" 255x40x17" figured I'd try that out for a while with brake ducts. If I fry the brakes and need more rubber, I will sell the Volks; I got a Great Price on them; therefore, I won't lose $$ if I sell them to go bigger

Best of Luck

-Troy

 

After going to 275s, im committed with them on my 17x9's.

If i had it again, i'd stick to 255's. I've ended 2 days because of clearance issues on the 275's, and they still rub everywhere. 275's are huge for me. I'd love to pick up another set of 17x9 5zigen's, and run my worn down 255s against the 275's. I'm sure theres more grip, but man, it'd be nice to get to keep pushing, and not wear through stuff.

edit: what i said was clear as mudd.

 

I'm mounting my Enkei 17x9.5 RPF1's today with 275/40/17 Hoosier R6's. I'll post pics later !

-Kyle

 

Same boat here, I decided the work and money involved with going to 275's or 285's wasn't worth it. I already have a set of 255 Hoosiers and 255 RA-1's mounted, so why spend any more money. If I was racing or money was no object, absolutely (I'd run 18's). But I'm just a TT'er and the tenth or two picked up by running wider tires isn't needed right now, I'm not that consistent yet.

 

255 hoosiers? woo!

lol, what wheels are you running those on, what size, etc?

i thought a 255 hoosier was really like a 275 in width.

 

They are mounted on a set of stock wheels at the moment. I got them used (actually came off the Sparco evo) and have only run them once. I may run them back to back with the RA-1's at Putnam in two weeks if I can figure out how to haul all these wheels and tires out there.

 

I will be selling a wide wheel and tire kit. Spacers, Lugs, open ended lug nuts, and a fender roller rental.

PM me if you might be interested.

-Kyle

 

Okay, hopefully nobody will flame me for piggy backing this wheel/tire issue but...

If I kept my stock wheels, my MR BBS wheels, what would be the best tire to put on the car that would allow me run a track weekend in both wet and/or dry conditions? My Advans are worn out, 2in of inside tread of both front tires are now smooth like a slick, and I need to replace them.

Should I go back with the Advans, at $250/ea, or should I move to Michelins or another brand? I'd sure like to try the Nitto NT-01's, but I don't think they'd do to well in the wet if it rains.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

ra-1's, if you have wheels/tires to dedicate to street use.

 

True racing slicks. something they would put on the ALMS cars, run a rim width to match it... Stuff some rear tires from an LMP or Daytona Prototype under it. (fender cutting required I am sure)

The question is; It's a track day, why are you worried about ultimate grip? I would be going for longevity, and feel on the track. At which point I would point you to an RA1.

If you NEED ultimate grip in a racing situation, look at your rules, that will determine what you can/can't do.

 

RA-1 all the way... great grip / $ ratio

 

I do run RA1's and will continue to do so provided I dont switch over to the NT01 or move up to a 285 at which point I will swtich over to a PSC. Ultimate grip was the wrong phrase so I apologize for that. Maybe I should have said that I am looking for "the greatest reasonable amount of grip that could be provided given the following circumstances: Non slick, DOT approved tire, wheel costing less than or equal to $400 per."

I'm not looking for tire brands, or wheel brands... I'm looking for size combinations that will help me to maximize grip. Yes, buying a set of slick would be great and I could replace them prior to each event. In the end, I would still be stuck with figuring out what size slick on what size uber expensive ALMS wheel to run.

I know that you've spent your fair share of time behind the wheel and setting up cars, so now that I have your attention (although mocking) from your previous post, help me a bit here with "feel". A 275/40/17 on a 17 x 9 is going to have less feel than a 285/30/18 on an 18 x 9.5 wheel. At what point do you draw the line. Which is too spongy and which is too sharp. How much road feel is enough on turn in.

I could ask questions about this for hours but I would really like it to turn into a great discussion so that some of us who aren't great at setting up cars can get some input and ideas on how to get the most out of what we have. Thanks for your time.

jeff