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Newbie on track, track key question

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Tracking worse than stock??

Must be the size difference.

By tracking I mean the tires ability to stay in the direction you pointed and not be affected by ruts or bumps in the road.... The NT05s are definitely more susceptible to that then the stock Pirelli's especially once worn half or more IMO
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,530
5,248
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Illinois
Got it.

Agree that you have to "Drive" the car a bit more. The 05's should be a better choice "On Track" since you have both on hand. Maybe the stock tires for daily use and the 05's when you feel the urge.

Not bad choices to have.
 
I think for this event I'm going to run the stock Pirelli's... If I get bit by the track bug I'll make a change for subsequent events.
My Nittos are 20s mounted on Vossen wheels with a pretty extreme offset and strong concave... Not exactly track wheels. I think I'm better off with the stock wheels.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
Just one addition!! Get some camber plates or the tires will not last very long!! I went through my original pirellis in one day of Track school. They corded on the edges after 4 hours on the track. Sad to see money get burnt up that fast.
 
I did my track day yesterday, it went well in that I came home in one piece with no issues. The tires were very slippery.... I had a tough time getting them to stick. Brakes worked out great, the trans only blocked me out a couple times in 5th which was better than I expected. Overall I could not really get a good pace going as every lap I battled the tires in the turns. Every time I tried to pick up the pace I suffered understeer or partial power on oversteer. I've never tracked a car with crap tires before. It' was disheartening in a lot of ways. I was passed by pretty much every car that was on track tires. Even lesser cars that I wouldn't expect to. I got pretty good at the point by maneuver.... So, first mod would be TIRES!
 
You should pick up some APEX 18x10.5 wheels and throw some 305 Nitto NT01's on them.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
I did my track day yesterday, it went well in that I came home in one piece with no issues. The tires were very slippery.... I had a tough time getting them to stick. Brakes worked out great, the trans only blocked me out a couple times in 5th which was better than I expected. Overall I could not really get a good pace going as every lap I battled the tires in the turns. Every time I tried to pick up the pace I suffered understeer or partial power on oversteer. I've never tracked a car with crap tires before. It' was disheartening in a lot of ways. I was passed by pretty much every car that was on track tires. Even lesser cars that I wouldn't expect to. I got pretty good at the point by maneuver.... So, first mod would be TIRES!

The NT05's are like that, My buddies S550 has 275 and 305 NT05s (I think that was the size). He posted a time 1.2 seconds slower then on set of 275/35-19 square Dunlop DZ02 hand me downs I gave him because they were cycled out already...

If you are having any kind of lock out problems then you should look at the MGW race shifter..... Fifth and third gear can go very quickly. It would be a wise insurance policy. Ask me how I know!!! Three dead MT82's... and I have never ever killed a tranny before. (and that includes a flock of Alfa Romeos). A good shifter and a Calimer rebuild sorted out my box dramas.
 
369
146
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Waco, TX
On my old 93 Cobra i ran nt05's at the track and i would agree they can't handle any type of power when attempting to exit a corner. As for turn in it was hopeless i was beginning to think i was doing something wrong. So i had my instructor drive my car and he noticed it right away. Most of us that day had them on and subsequently got rid of them after that day. Granted the cobra had a ton of power and torque but even half throttle it would try to kill me. I had full coil-overs with springs rates suggested MM and even they couldn't understand what was happening. I ended up going with Falken azenis 615's and that cured most of my problems.

On my current car 14 GT i plan to switch my track wheels to the new conti's or NTO1's square.
 
I ran my stock wheels+tires twice, they performed ok. I'm currently running R888's 275 squared, soon after this set is done I'm looking into a set of nt01 305 squared.
 
If you are having any kind of lock out problems then you should look at the MGW race shifter..... Fifth and third gear can go very quickly. It would be a wise insurance policy. Ask me how I know!!! Three dead MT82's... and I have never ever killed a tranny before. (and that includes a flock of Alfa Romeos). A good shifter and a Calimer rebuild sorted out my box dramas.
You forgot the clutch which IMO is the biggest problem.
 
Part of the issues with my Pirelli tires imo was they had been sitting in my garage for the last three years. I put them on a month plus ahead and drove around with them. But they just never felt sticky. The car was always on the edge of oversteer with any throttle application in all but the straight.
 
Part of the issues with my Pirelli tires imo was they had been sitting in my garage for the last three years. I put them on a month plus ahead and drove around with them. But they just never felt sticky. The car was always on the edge of oversteer with any throttle application in all but the straight.

Yep. Nobody likes the stock Pirellis, made worse by the fact that these tires are now going on 5 and 6 years old if they're still the original tires that came on your Boss. This is old enough that they really should be replaced, anyway, even if they aren't overly worn.

I plan to retire the boat anchor stock wagon wheels/Pirellis to long term storage once my Apex 18x11s come in and will probably go with NT01s.
 
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