Got any favorite tire choices for street legal autocross/track car. I was looking at Nitto NT 05 or Hankook Ventus R-S3. I would like good traction with medium wear. Thanks.

 

How much experience do you have?

 

Just getting started.

 

i like the nittos they are priced right and are sticky for what they are i have the NT01s and like them as well

 

A lot of autocross guys like Toyo as well. And they are wider than nittos.

 

For road racing, I'v tried a bunch of them:

Toyo 888- Terrible! Got real greasy when hot. Wear was fast and irregular. I only used them about 3 week ends, and then got rid of them. Won't ever use them again.

BFG R1: Good tire, and had good grip when warm. Couldn't over heat them. They require more pressure than other track tires. Didn't work well on my light weight car because of the stiffer side walls. But I think on a heavier car like a Camaro, they would do well.

Hoosier R6: Very fast and very sticky tire. But, they don't last long. They'll heat cycle out pretty quickly, and your lap times will show it. You'll only get 2-3 fast week ends out of them. After that, you can still use them, but you'll be pretty disappointed on your lap times. If you only plan 2-3 week ends per year, or have a good tire budget, this one is the best.

Kumho V710: This is my favorite tire. They're not the fastest, but they're the most consistent tire I'v tried. I can make them last almost an entire season before they start to slow down.

Testing done by Grass Roots Motorsports doesn't rate the NT05 very well. But they were pretty happy with the Ventus. I would try the Ventus, but they don't make them in my size.

And, I think the Ventus is directional (?) - you can't swap left to right. That matters. Some tracks will really eat up one side over the other. If you can't swap side to side, you'll wear out that side really quick. Especially if you have different sizes front and rear.

The other issue with a good track tire is the amount of camber needed to make them work well. The Hoosier needs about 2-3*. If you've worked over your suspension enough to get that much camber they'll work for you.

OTOH, if your suspension is mostly stock, you'll never get enough camber to fully utilize the Hoosier or Toyo. You might get enough to use the BFG's. The Kumho are specifically designed for cars that are camber challenged. They work well with <1* of camber.

But, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

 

If you are just starting you need to be on plain Jane cheapo street tires for a while. I would run at least 16 sessions on track on the cheapest NEW tires you can find. I ran my first 2 events on Maxxis MA-V1's and had plenty of grip for a greenhorn on HPDE days.

I then went to Nitto NT-05 and stayed on those for two years, ten events or so. This is an excellent trackday tire. They like lower pressures to start(31F/26R on my heavy 99 Z28) wear is very good, feedback is excellent(they talk to you very well). Put a square setup on the car so you can rotate and flip the tires on the rims to get more life out of them. Most start this tire with too much pressure and they overheat and get greasy very quick, took me a little while to figure that out.

Alot of people stay on this tire because it's very good. They are the best bar none for the dollar spent.

 

kuhmo ecsta XS?

i hear lots of good about this tire...particularly in the bang for the buck department.

 

I dont think anyone has suggested it yet but BFG Rivals.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=g-Force+Rival


But since you are new you should get some junk tires to learn on then switch the following season.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....TRZ3&tab=Specs


I won a Kuhmo contingency and will be running these for street tires/rain day tires this summer.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....odel=Ecsta+SPT

 

Here's another vote to start out with street tires that communicate well. If you're just starting, like me, you'll appreciate tires that will squeal and otherwise warn you before losing traction. Don't know what your car looks like, but if you don't want it to look like the Frankenstein in my footer, you'll want to avoid unintentional off-road excursions. The previous owner couldn't quite grasp that concept. Thank all that's holy he only had a 7-cylinder SBC 305 motivating the car at the time. With slicks. Nuts.

With a good driver (not me, yet) and on 245/50R16 Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval street tires, my Trans Am runs down or holds with much more expensive cars (C5 Z06, C6, M3, 911 GT3). The next tire set? Likely to be Continental Extreme DW 275/40R17. They're cheaper than most and well rated at Tirerack.

 

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like I should just run out of date Bridgestones I got off of Ebay for right now.

 

kumho escta XS tires are awesome for autocross in street tire classes. I believe toyo has a new street tire class autocross tire thats suppose to be great also.