Why I Hate Track Tires

[Soichiro]

If you want to go fast at the track you need sticky tires. BUT if you want to have fun perhaps other options are better.

After much thought I decided my goal at track events was fun, not speed. I love the feel of sliding my car at the limit. The speed of the slide doesn't seem to matter as much as the amount of slide. So for last weekend at Roebling Road I used a set of all season tires on my car. These tires were great. They sing to you - they screech and scream and yell as you approach the limit. They start to slide, then slide a bit more, then slide a lot more, then let go. Hard tires like these are made for fun! At one corner a Viper dropped coolant in front of me and though I had a big moment I caught it before I left the track. Did I say this was fun :--)?

My experience with track tires (Kuhmo V700) was very different. These allow higher cornering speeds but unless you are staring at your speedo you don't notice it. They give no warning before they let go - one moment you're sticking like glue and the next you are sliding off the track. Not my definition of fun.

DISCLAIMER - I crashed recently on track tires and my opinions were partially formed by that incident. I know that if I had more skill I might be able to exploit the stickier tires - but I don't, and I'd rather have fun going sideways with the skills I have than lapping a bit quicker on stickier tires.

 

[DONYMO]

Interesting. I live in Suwanee, GA and have a 1992 twin-turbo NSX running the Kuhmo ECSTA street tires. I've run one track event at Road Atlanta on them and had a great time. I was going to try the V700's, but I may reconsider after reading your notes. What exactly happened?
Could you really notice the extra "stickiness"?

 

[Andrie Hartanto]

The R compound tires have significantly more grip than any street tires. Generally most of them give less warning than street tire does.

For beginners, I would definitely recommend to stay with street tires as long as u can. Moving to track tires will definitely makes u go faster (faster lap time). But moving too soon will hamper on your improvements. U will excel much faster by staying with street tires longer. Once u master that, do move on and use R compound tires.

Practicing in the rain is also one of the best way to move ahead fast.

 

[Soichiro]

Donymo asked for my accident details - here they are. I crashed at turn 6 at Road Atlanta. The car oversteered dramatically on turn in when the tires let go. I caught the initial slide but did not catch the 2nd slide. I did not remember to put 'both feet in' which might have helped big time (by scrubbing off speed and not sliding as far). I left the road backwards and hit the wall between turn 6 and 7. Video shows I lost control around 80mph but we slid a long way before impact which was probably around 30mph.

 

[DanO]

Sorry to hear about your excursion at Road Atalant—that’s one hell of a fun track!

I tend to agree with you about street tires being “more” fun at the track. It’s true that street tires have a forgiving grip envelope than do track tires. Street tires tend to hold pretty good even past their peak grip, that’s why they are more fun to drive, because after peak traction if you load them more, they will still grip 80% as opposed to a track tire which loses grip quickly when loaded past their peak and hence the SURPRISE spin around. I know at least one accomplished driver who only drives street tires on his car and slides around all day long.

Personally, I don’t find driving on street tires very challenging once I have figured out the track. I like using them for NSXPO when I just want to go out and have fun and learn the track and don’t care too much about people passing me. But on my local track it’s a different story. I really like the challenge that track tires present the driver; one really has to be in tune with the car get max performance out of track tires—I find this challenging and rewarding. But my local track is safe from concrete!

But whenever I get in a car with street tires I get out saying “man that was fun!”

DanO