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Tire Selection Guide from Grassroots Motorsports 2021

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Found this recent tire buying guide from GRM, figured it was worth sharing here. It covers most of the common tire choices for the track, including the popular 200tw options as well as some other good performers, with some good analysis and even a handy little chart for quick comparisons:

2021 track tire buying guide

  • Autocross: Choose A or AA for Warm-up and B or better for Pace.
  • Time trials: Choose by Pace and Wear.
  • Lapping days: Choose by Heat Tolerance and Wear.
  • Street and Track: Choose by Heat Tolerance, Wear and Wet.
More from the article:
The biggest variable in performance? Tires.

But which ones are the perfect match? It depends on the car choice, setup, rules, venue, weather and driving style. Budget and longevity can also influence this decision.

We’re here to help with a synopsis of available options, culled from all our years of tire testing. If you can’t find shoes that fit here, they probably don’t exist.

All the tires listed here are DOT-approved, which means they can legally be driven on the street—even if that’s not a great idea. (We’re looking at you, Hoosier.)

While today’s market concentrates on the 200tw Extreme Performance category that’s so prevalent in autocross, time trials and endurance racing, we branched out to include faster tires that aren’t limited by that UTQG figure. To make this guide easy to follow, we’ve grouped tires by their intended mission. Happy shopping.

Full article here:

Any comments critiques of their analysis?
 
1,097
1,691
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W2W Racing
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3-5 Years
Huntsville, AL
Affirmative... 🤣 . I have a funny story to share. Actually I guess it's a run on story from two separate NASA events, my first and only two actually. When in Topeka this year at Heartland (my first ever NASA event), it basically misted/poured rain all day on Saturday. As I have pointed out, I only run vintage legal Goodyear Blue Streak bias ply slicks. The instructor was young and we were gridded for I think my second session for the day. Of course it started raining. He asks, "what tires do you have on the car?". I reply bias ply slicks. He looks at me at me and says, "OK...I guess here we go". I said, yep we'll be fine. On the session debrief, he looks at me and says, "I know one thing, you know how to handle this car. You ready to go to group 2?" Sure...why not. Before the noon session he asked if I was ready for group 3. I declined. While at Barber last weekend, I asked for a check ride to go to group 3 after my first session on Saturday. They finally worked their way around to me on Sunday morning and the head instructor comes to my trailer in the paddock. He starts looking over the car, questioning the seats, the lack of any technology, and of course the tires. After roughly a thirty minute conversation he goes away. About an hour later he comes back..."I'm not going to ride in your car because I don't feel safe. I'll do a lead/follow." Ok...fine by me. He goes away again. Well at 11:20, it starts pouring down rain for a solid ten minutes...we were due to go out at noon. As one would expect, he shows back up..."you still going out". Yes Sir. "On those tires?" Yes Sir...done it before, it will just be a bit slower. So we went out and the first four laps were garbage. However since it was literally 125F surface temps it didn't take long to dry the line. So I dialed it up to about 8/10's for the remainder of the session. After we checkered he passed me with a huge thumbs up. He gladly came to my trailer after the session to sign my passport for group 3. Said he was sorry he didn't ride after following me.

He told me that someone had commented earlier stated it appeared I was really having to drive the car. I said yeah...that's pretty much the reality of it. Every corner is essentially a controlled slide...nothing to fear, you just drive through it.
 

Ludachris

Chris
Staff member
Moderator
1,658
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5-10 Years
Newcastle, CA
it appeared I was really having to drive the car. I said yeah...that's pretty much the reality of it. Every corner is essentially a controlled slide...nothing to fear, you just drive through it.
:thatrocks: that's all part of the experience with those cars! It's funny how some people these days see that as a negative.
 

Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
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5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
:thatrocks: that's all part of the experience with those cars! It's funny how some people these days see that as a negative.
For sure.

For the driver to have to cover for limitations or shortcomings in the car instead of it being the other way around is rapidly becoming a lost art . . . kind of sad actually.


Norm
 
1,097
1,691
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Huntsville, AL
I understood his concerns. I also think he regretted his decision after the fact. I wish I could be as fast as you guys, but I have fun at my snail's pace too...

For the record, I told him the offer stood...he still declined... 🤣
 
1,097
1,691
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Huntsville, AL
I get that ALOT. My standard answer is yes…my hands power the steering, my right foot powers the brakes and throttle, and my left foot powers the clutch.

Another funny story, while in class at Heartland the instructor asked every student what their speed was at the start/finish line. He got to me and I said about 7200RPM. That completely blew the mind of a young lady in a brand new C8 Vette. She turned around and asked how do you know fast you are going? I asked…why do I need to know that? If I make it through the turn without sliding I’m going to slow. So I speed up on the next lap. That almost knocked her off her chair…🤣🤣🤣
 

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