What tires are you running? Recommendations?

[PJWANNABE]

I dunno - I have put 10K miles and run 5 track days on my P Zero tires and they are worn more on the corners but nothing like that. I probably have a another couple of thousand miles left on them. Checking your tire pressures on track days frequently, and rotating them afterwards, is key.

thats crazy...10k and 5 track day?! I dont know any tire that lasts that long! been driving in the rain?

I start them at 29/30 psi when I arrive at the track

I usually maintain 38 PSI in the front and 35 PSI in the rears at track events. That seems to keep the wear from getting down onto the sidewall. I am more of a smooth momentum driver than a corner dive bomber, which I do purposely to keep down the tire and brake wear.

 

[CaliMR]

Does anyone else use the trick where you put some grease pencil on the edge of the tread to read the rollover? I use it to get my baseline then adjust pressures to feel and balance. It probably isn't as good as pyrometers but it is an easy, cheap method to get it ballpark and since it is based on rubbing off you don't need to lead foot off the track to maintain temps, it doesn't matter if pressure drops since you are using relative pressure not actual numbers if that makes sense. The downside is that it only shows peak rollover. I start a little higher pressure than I expect to want and then let it out to push the wear toward the edge. I also re-apply in the same spot each session, so I know if the heat later in the day is upping the pressure.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Did anyone say Dunlop Direzza Star Spec yet?

 

[PeteInCT]

Good tire for the price. Better than the Corsa's IMHO. Not at the level (or cost) of PSS's.

 

[zzyzx]

Did anyone say Dunlop Direzza Star Spec yet?

The original post was about 19" wheels. Direzzas, perhaps one of the best tires you can get, don't come in 19". 275/35-18 is the largest you can get and frankly, that's too small (both diameter and width) unless we're talking R-compound tires.

 

[Grant 302]

I dunno - I have put 10K miles and run 5 track days on my P Zero tires and they are worn more on the corners but nothing like that. I probably have a another couple of thousand miles left on them. Checking your tire pressures on track days frequently, and rotating them afterwards, is key.

thats crazy...10k and 5 track day?! I dont know any tire that lasts that long! been driving in the rain?

I start them at 29/30 psi when I arrive at the track

I think PJ's right...and 29/30 is not going to get your pressures where they need to be if you like to plant the front. You're probably not seeing more than 36 hot that way.

The chalk or grease pen marks are a good idea, but I can see in the pics that there is wear about half way up the sidewall. That's way too far.

As for the wear, I have the same P zeros as the Boss fronts on my Brembo GT and I got 4 track days and an auto-x plus 7,000 miles before they were on the wear bars in the center.

Looks like the Corsa tires in the other pics are also suffering the same fate...

I've just mounted a pair of BFG Sport Comp 2s...can't comment on how they perform yet but I should have them on track in a couple of weeks. Size availability is spotty for the Boss rears, but the fronts seem to be in stock.

If these don't work for me, then I'm looking at PS2s or PSS.

EDIT: Forgot to mention about the stock camber possibly being a problem too. Lack of camber plus low tire pressure would kill the outside edges quickly.

 

[fduboss302]

So you guys recommend camber plates without any other suspension upgrades?

 

[PeteInCT]

You can run them without any other mods with no problem. There was a huge difference in the overall handling capabilities of my LS by simply adding plates, wider rubber (285/305) and lighter 18" wheels.

 

[CaliMR]

I think PJ's right...and 29/30 is not going to get your pressures where they need to be if you like to plant the front. You're probably not seeing more than 36 hot that way.

The chalk or grease pen marks are a good idea, but I can see in the pics that there is wear about half way up the sidewall. That's way too far.

I was more talking about Pete's tires, yeah DD GT's tires are rolling over too much. I had the same type of wear as DD GT on my old car because the tires had soft sidewalls (RE050's) even at 50 PSI especially in Turn 2 at THill. The chalk is useful when you start at high pressure and back them down which is what I usually do to get my baseline for the day (1st session is a throw away as far as times, I just use it to set up the car). With DD GT's amount of rollover, it should be able to be felt in the car as the grip is lost when the sidewalls touch pavement. I could tell my sidewalls were on the pavement when the tires started to skip and I would just back down corner speed since those tires were already above max pressure. But DD GT is running low pressure so he can add more to fix it.

 

[VoodooBoss]

So you guys recommend camber plates without any other suspension upgrades?

While you have the front struts out you should install the Ford Racing P springs front and rear.

 

[Sesshomurai]

So you guys recommend camber plates without any other suspension upgrades?

While you have the front struts out you should install the Ford Racing P springs front and rear.

Or if you want a lower drop I think there are "K" springs.

 

[Grant 302]

So you guys recommend camber plates without any other suspension upgrades?

And ruin the opportunity to spend other people's money?!

The plates can be done alone, but as Rick suggests, some parts can easily go on at the same time. Especially with the fronts.

Regarding the P spring suggestion, I'm not sure that they are well paired with the stock Boss shocks. And pretty sure that the car would be 'loose' with the stock sway setup too.

Lemme know if you want to ride in my GT to see how the P spring + Boss struts/shocks feel.

 

[oldbossman]

I have run the following set-up for 5 track days now and still have enough tread for at least one more track weekend:

Nitto NT05 all around:

275/35/18 front
305/35/18 rear

hot tire pressure around 32-33 PSI. they have good grip and when they let go it is easily catchable. I plan on buying them again.

I purchased a set of Enkei PF01 wheels for the track as I liked the better selection of tires in 18" sizes and these wheels are a lot lighter than the stock 19". The suspension is stock at this point although I am considering camber/castor plates as the car seems to start plowing more than i like when pushing it hard.

 

[drano38]

oldbossman,
I also run NT-05, but 285/35/18 square setup with Enkei wheels--Strano front/rear bars installed.
Yes, they work well, give good feedback (squeal like a pig before letting go), and like you said, are controllable when they let go.

I got 42 sessions (no, thats not a typo!) on my first set. But in reality, they were gone at about 30 seasons. The last weekend, I got no squeal from them in turns, and got to thinking they just didn't have the grip they should. Put my spare set on between sessions, and instantly decided the first set was well past their life.

I run 39 psi front/37 psi rear hot. Scott ran them lower pressure and liked that. To me, they seem mushy that low. But we're all different, so use what works best.

Camber plates are highly recommended for tracking to save your front outer tire edges.