errance

Hello,

I'm a novice driver, doing half-a-dozen HPDEs a day in my daily driver C6 Z51 coupe. And I have to drive the car back-forth to the track.

Should I use my Z51 runflats on the track? I'm wondering because they are so expensive to replace. Should I go with cheaper tires like the Michelin PS2, BFG KDW,... ?

My main concern is safety. Has anyone been saved on the track by runflats? Can they make the difference between a safe track exit and a big crash?

Thanks for any advice.

AU N EGL

Use what you have. Dont go overboard ( sic ) too soon.

ANy tire you use will be worn down faster on the track then on the street / highway with the same milage. So that does not matter which tire you have.

I did my first 11 HPDes on street tires.

errance

Oh, I'm not planning on going overboard with track-only tires. I'm just a novice, ok with street tires.

Like you said, driving on the tracks wears the tires fast. I'm just wondering if I want to be wearing down $1600+ GY runflats or $1000ish BFG. And my question is more safety and cost-oriented than performance based.

c4cruiser

Half-a-dozen a DAY You mean a year?? Chances are that you will wear the stock tires out after 6 track days depending on the track and how you drive the car.

As far as safety goes, a run flat should not be that big of a concern. The track surface should be smooth and free of debris so the chances of picking up a nail or hitting something that would otherwise result in tire damage is not that big. Off-track excursions may cause some problems but if you shoud hit a wall, tires will be the least of your worries.

Go with what you have and once the OEM tires are worn out, then you can think about a tire that will have better high-performance capability. Pay close attention to tire pressures before going out and check them after you get back into the pits.

Cost is always a concern/issue when you do track days or HPDE events. Expect a much higher wear rate on brakes and rotors, not just your tires. Just preparing the car for the track can quickly add up.

Where are you going to be doing track days? Pacific Raceways or PIR?

errance

Yes, half a dozen HPDEs per year, not per day

I'm going to be doing mostly Pacific Raceways, with hopefully one run in Portland and maybe a couple runs in Bremerton. I've gone through Proformance so far, so Pacific Raceways is all I know, but I want to venture out.

I'm getting a set of motorsport repro wheels. My thoughts are: put the expensive GY runflats on the repros and drive them daily, and put some non-runflats street tires on the stock painted wheels for the track.

That way, I use better-performing cheaper-to-replace tires on the track, and use runflats for daily commute and road trips.

My only concern is: what if I blow a tire on the track. But you have a good point, c4cruiser. It's not super likely.

Did it ever happen to anyone?

gonzalezfj

If you are buying repro wheels, here is what I would do:

1) Take the runflats off the original wheels and put them on the repros for daily use.

2) Get a set of Goodrich KDs and mount them on the original wheels for track use.

I had a set of KDs on my 98 Coupe and ran them a couple of times at Pocono. They are quite grippy, safe at any speeds you will see in an HPDE and less money than the runflats.

After you have a few HPDEs under your belt, you can think about going to R compounds (Hoosier R6s or the like).

MAKE SURE you have prepped the brakes in your car. This means changing your brake fluid to a good DOT4 fluid and putting on high temperature pads. I like the Hawk DTC-70, but there are several good manufacturers of race pads.

mlongo99

The problem with using your OEM wheels for the track is tire choices. There's very little available for the 19'' rear and they're not cheap. You'd be much better off with rear wheels off a C5.
Case in point: they don't make them in that size. They do make a KDW that fits, which are similar to those OEM runflats, but a bit grippier.

errance

Yeah, I was thinking about the BFG KDW as track tires, since they're almost half the price of the Z51 GY runflats.

About using C5 rears on a C6... doesn't it mess up TC, AH, speed measurement,... ???

mlongo99

The tire's circumference will determine if those things will be affected. TC/AH is fine if the ratio of the front to rear tire circumferences stays the same or close. People say that 2% difference is ok. You can see if others are running the same size tires as you would then plan to.


If you were happy with the Supercar tires, and you're happy with the price of the KDW, then try them out and don't worry about more track wheels. I put them on my car a couple months ago and took them to the track for the first time yesterday. I was happy with them, and felt that they were at least as good as the supercars. You can always get other wheels later if you feel the need to use something stickier.

StArrow68

As far as blow outs at the track, in 4+ years and about 100 events I've
never seen one. Not a high probibility. I have a C5 coupe, run flats on
the stock wheels and a set of Z06 wheels with non-RF's for the track.
I'm supposed to change over but do enough track days that I've been
running on the track tires for over 6 months. They are cheaper to wear
out.

I don't know if the C5 Z06 wheels fit over the C6 brakes but if you can
get them they will maintain the size difference needed to keep the AH
happy. The TC doesn't really care and running in Comp mode is better
anyway on track if you don't want the system off. I run with it (AH) on
and as noted by the guy that supplies my brake pads, I must not get
into it too much since my rear pads last much longer than my fronts.
Key is to be very smooth and brake in a straight line, not the fastest
way around in the long run but plenty fast for weekend warriors.
Randy