Track Tires

[GTMikey]

Fellas, The last two sessions I have been running a street/track tire, Hankook v12. It screams for mercey all the way around the track. They came with the car on the red rims that come with the LS so my co-owner and I decided to use them up. I do have some 18" Ford racing wheels and I wanted to get your input on a good track tire for the Boss. Thx

 

[VoodooBoss]

Mike are driving or trailering your Boss to the track? Square or staggered?

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

What kind of track experience do you have, and what is your tire budget per event?

 

[PeteInCT]

If you aren't going with slicks then I'd highly recommend the NT-555R-II. They handle the weight of the Boss very well and are damn sticky.

 

[Grant 302]

If you don't have anything against Hankook after the V12s, then I'd suggest the R-S3s if you are driving to the track.

 

[GTMikey]

Mike are driving or trailering your Boss to the track? Square or staggered?

Will be trailering in the future but would love to hear both recommendations. Square with 18's

 

[GTMikey]

What kind of track experience do you have, and what is your tire budget per event?

Advanced on track experience, have run shelby's, GT's etc... I would love to get 4 track days, 4 sessions at 30 minutes a piece out of a set.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Nitto NT01 in 275/35/18 (or 275/40, your call) or Hoosier R6 in 275/35/18. You will have a better shot at getting the Nittos to last through two weekends.

 

[2012YellowBoss]

Advanced on track experience, have run shelby's, GT's etc... I would love to get 4 track days, 4 sessions at 30 minutes a piece out of a set.

The Conti/Hoosier Grand Am take offs give me at least three full days and don't break the bank.

 

[smittytx]

Check out this deal.

TRACK TIRE BARGAIN:
NEW Continental 275/35/18 race tires (discontinued overstock) $800 /set +shipping. Must go through Rehagen Racing to get the deal.. Contact me or call Rehagen directly at 734-895-1543
(some 275/40/17 tires available also)

 

[VoodooBoss]

Check out this deal.

TRACK TIRE BARGAIN:
NEW Continental 275/35/18 race tires (discontinued overstock) $800 /set +shipping. Must go through Rehagen Racing to get the deal.. Contact me or call Rehagen directly at 734-895-1543
(some 275/40/17 tires available also)

Which profile tires do you use and prefer?

 

[smittytx]

I usually buy the used Contis for practice, I've gone through lots of them because they are cheap. I bought 2 sets of these new ones from Rehagen. I'm anxious to see how much better they are.

When I race I use 275/35/18 Toyo RA-1s because that is the American Iron class tire. It's very similar to a Nitto NT01.

 

[isrboss]

I just had my first track day in the Boss with 285/35-19 RE-11's square, and I feel these tires did really well. Drove to the track, had four 20 min. sessions (7/10's), drove home. Tires look great after and I only had 400 miles on them prior to tracking. Full tread I expected to mess em up bad, but it didn't happen.

 

[KBBOSS1086]

I just had my first track day in the Boss with 285/35-19 RE-11's square, and I feel these tires did really well. Drove to the track, had four 20 min. sessions (7/10's), drove home. Tires look great after and I only had 400 miles on them prior to tracking. Full tread I expected to mess em up bad, but it didn't happen.

I ran the RE11's for about 6-8 days last year (running about 8/10ths) and about 5000 street miles. I still have them on the car and the front outside edges are fairly worn. The middle and inside of each tire is above the wear marker. On all but the last track day, I did not have any neg camber in the front. I think if I had the outsides of the fronts would look much better. They will last a long time with -2 to -2.5 degrees of camber. They are not the stickiest street tires out there but they do grip fairly well and are a good value for the money. Keep an eye on your front air pressure. I was seeing a 15lbs+ increase in pressure on the fronts after a 30 minute session at Watkins Glen until I figured them out.

 

[Roadhouse]

I have been using take-off 275/35/18 Hoosier R6s for my last two track days and they are awesome. I buy them from jbracingtires.net for about $100 a piece. They will probably last me another day then I'm thinking about trying a 285//30/18 or 295/30/18 R6 square set up. My street/wet tires are 275/40/18 Nitto NT-05s and I bring them to the track as well. They perform great for a street tire in my opinion.

 

[isrboss]

I ran the RE11's for about 6-8 days last year (running about 8/10ths) and about 5000 street miles. I still have them on the car and the front outside edges are fairly worn. The middle and inside of each tire is above the wear marker. On all but the last track day, I did not have any neg camber in the front. I think if I had the outsides of the fronts would look much better. They will last a long time with -2 to -2.5 degrees of camber. They are not the stickiest street tires out there but they do grip fairly well and are a good value for the money. Keep an eye on your front air pressure. I was seeing a 15lbs+ increase in pressure on the fronts after a 30 minute session at Watkins Glen until I figured them out.

With your pressure jumping that much you were in need of more front grip. I had a 10.75psi jump from cold on the right front, but Homestead is 70% left turns, I avg. a 9.5psi hot increase on the others. I wish I would have taken track surface temp, next time. What did you find the best hot pressure on the RE11's? So far taking temps across the tire I found with my setup(I don't have oem boss suspension, -1.75 deg camber frt, approx. -.30"f/-1.35"r, 285/35-19 RE11 square), front 43-43.5 hot psi run 170-190*, rear 42-42.5 hot psi 160-170* worked pretty well. Front tires were within 11* hotter inner edge to outer, rears within 9* inner to outer. I think I'm going to shoot for 43.25psi front and 42.25psi rear hot, and adj. from there.

 

[KBBOSS1086]

I'm not on a square setup with the RE11's (265/35/19 on the front and 285/35/19 rears). I wasn't able to take temps. I did notice that the fronts tended to rollover a great deal whenever the hot pressure was over 40lbs so I that was the number I shot for. Most of my track days on these tires were at Watkins Glen and NJMP (Lightning). The Glen is faster and tougher on the front tires...also more right handers so harder on the left front. After figuring out how to not abuse the fronts I ended up starting the right sides at 31lbs and the left at 29.5 front & 30 rear which would put me right at 40lbs at the end of a 25min session. At Lightning I was able to start with 33lbs Right and 32lbs left and end up at 40lbs at the end of each session.

I switched to Hossier A6's (295/40/18's square) for the track this year so I don't have any recent data on the RE11's. I got a couple sets from the Hoosier sale in March. They are an awesome tire but won't last long enough to buy again at retail prices. Once I use up the two sets I got I'm going to try the Continental's (likely 285/35/18's square). I'm just not sure if I'm going to got for new ones or take offs.

 

[blacksheep-1]

With your pressure jumping that much you were in need of more front grip. I had a 10.75psi jump from cold on the right front, but Homestead is 70% left turns, I avg. a 9.5psi hot increase on the others.

Do you keep a set up book? if so you need to estimate the hot pressures and then adjust the cold pressures to make up for it. I have seen a car that all 4 tires were withing a pound hot, you also need to determine the recommended hot pressures and not exceed them. IT doesn't hurt to put a tape on the tires once in awhile either to check for size. If you find one that's too small (3/4 inch or more) jack the pressure up and put it in the sun, but you need to check on it a lot because you can "overgrow" them, especially bias ply tires.

 

[j3st3r]

I run the Continentals too...love them....but get them for a lot cheaper then $800/set.

18x10




Used the black wheel weights

 

[KBBOSS1086]

I run the Continentals too...love them....but get them for a lot cheaper then $800/set.

Where are you buying your conti's from? $800 for a new set is about the cheapest I've seen.