Question: What 200TW Track Day Tire Should I get for a 17 inch Wheel?

[Economatic]

I have a quick "what size should I get" question that I'm sure a tire & wheel guru can easily answer.

I'm finally graduating to a ~200 TW tire for track days. I'm looking at either going for the stock size of 205/40R17 or if I can bump that up to 215/40R17 or more (doubtful!). I'm sure sizing up is dependent on tire brand/model. Here's my setup:

Wheels: 17'' Sparco Trofeo, so I think that is the stock size 17x7 with 47mm offset.
Suspension: Bilstein coilovers with front dropped about .75'' and rear .5''. Front camber is maxed out with camber bolts at about 1.9*.
Uses/Goals: Tires will go on my track day only wheels and I'm balancing getting as much grip as possible but I also drive 100 miles each way to the track (more when going to new tracks) so I'd like to get a few miles out of them.
Budget: Yeah, I'm on one. The cheaper the better but I'll spend what I have to to get the right tire.

I don't have many tire shops in my area so I'll probably purchase through Discount Tire and that pretty much gives me four options for sizing up:
YOKOHAMA ADVAN A052
Falken AZENIS RT660
Falken AZENIS RT615+
YOKOHAMA ADVAN NEOVA AD08 R

Does anyone have thoughts about these options options? Any other sizes or strong recommendations to consider, even if it is in the stock size?

FWIW, I did a track day last weekend and asked as many people I could about their tire preferences. R888R's came up a lot and it sound slike they wear slowly so maybe I should get those and stick with the stock size...

 

[FiST Mag]

I'm running the YOKOHAMA ADVAN A052, 215/40R17. Great tire, but probably the most expensive. You won't be disappointed. For price and to save a little cash, I'm going to try the Falken AZENIS RT660, 215/40R17 next. You won't know what you like until you try it.

 

[Lays]

RT660, in 205 or 215/40/17. A052's are not so great without a lot of camber. They also wear out insanely fast.

 

[Woods247]

RT660 unless you have tire budget for A052. The A052 is lighter but unless you’re competing it’s probably unnecessary. Both fit better on 17x7.5 or 17x8. They are really wide for a 215.

 

[Woods247]

I ran the RT615K and RT615K+ for years on track. They last forever but have nowhere near the grip the RT660 has. Just make sure you properly heat cycle the RT660 after you buy it otherwise it might not last long. You can have Tirerack heat cycle them for you to save time. It’s totally worth it if you only have one set of track wheels.

 

[Lays]

I ran the RT615K and RT615K+ for years on track. They last forever but have nowhere near the grip the RT660 has. Just make sure you properly heat cycle the RT660 after you buy it otherwise it might not last long. You can have Tirerack heat cycle them for you to save time. It’s totally worth it if you only have one set of track wheels.

What all goes into a proper heat cycle? Get it up to operating temp, then let it fully cool down?

 

[ronmcdon]

I guess it depends on your preferences.

Do you want to have the fastest times or do you want to have the tires last longer, so you don't spend so much if you plan on doing more track days?
I stick with the Z3's due to a decent compromise between performance and tire wear. I want something a tad faster than 300tw tires but won't break the bank as much in the long run. But if you are going with fastest time, my guess is the A052's are hard to beat.

Also maybe this is less relevant to some but I like doing double sessions during track days. Seems kinda depressing to go out and settle for 4, 20 min sessions, so I like going for 2 back to back 20 min sessions. Not sure if the 660's would be consistent, but the Z3's hold out very well for me and did so this past weekend with close to 90 degree weather in the desert with back to back 25 min sessions. My lap times didn't seem to be negatively impacted on my second sessions.

They are pretty close to being done now but if I had to guess they could probably survive another track day, so pretty happy getting 5-6 days out of of them. No autoX just HPDE.

 

[akiraproject24]

I cant speak to tracking as I dont but I grabbed dunlop direzza Z3 in 215/40/17 based on some recommendations like the one above i.e. tread life, overall performance. They pretty for now.

 

[Economatic]

I guess it depends on your preferences.

Do you want to have the fastest times or do you want to have the tires last longer, so you don't spend so much if you plan on doing more track days?
I stick with the Z3's due to a decent compromise between performance and tire wear. I want something a tad faster than 300tw tires but won't break the bank as much in the long run. But if you are going with fastest time, my guess is the A052's are hard to beat.

Also maybe this is less relevant to some but I like doing double sessions during track days. Seems kinda depressing to go out and settle for 4, 20 min sessions, so I like going for 2 back to back 20 min sessions. Not sure if the 660's would be consistent, but the Z3's hold out very well for me and did so this past weekend with close to 90 degree weather in the desert with back to back 25 min sessions. My lap times didn't seem to be negatively impacted on my second sessions.

They are pretty close to being done now but if I had to guess they could probably survive another track day, so pretty happy getting 5-6 days out of of them. No autoX just HPDE.

Good question, I realize now that I did not mention overall preferences and goals for the car.

I'd say I'm looking for a balance between performance for HPDE sessions and tire wear with a slight nod towards wear. I'm not chasing lap times. And I do not have a trailer so I have to drive the car to the track.

I'm mainly using the FiST to cheaply increase my track day IQ and do my best to not be the absolute slowest guy out there. I'm really luck in that I'm a member of a track about 100 miles away and my track days are 7 hours of open lapping. That means my session times vary but rarely go beyond 20 minutes.

But...if there was a perfect tire for me it would perform well on track while being able to do some highway miles without excessive wear. I know, those are mutually exclusive wants.

 

[ronmcdon]

I think you can't go wrong with the Z3 as a safe choice. RS4's are good too but they have not been so consistent with supply earlier in the year. 615+ should be good in similar regard.

I have 660s in my daily driver that I don't track and surprisingly those are a really fun dd tire, they just wear fast and can't say if they are good for the rain or not because it almost never rains where I live in socal. I don't think it'd be a bad idea to try tracking 660's. I would if I weren't broke. personally as someone who isn't so concerned with the fastest lap times, never saw the value of running any of the advan 200tw tires or the re71's for that matter.

 

[KKaWing]

A buddy of mine with a Supra just finished an auto-x day, a time attack day and a general lapping day on the RT660's and he's loving them. They wear well unlike the self sacrificing RE71's, and has grip for days. He got 1st in class at gingerman if that's any sort of endorsement.

 

[Woods247]

What all goes into a proper heat cycle? Get it up to operating temp, then let it fully cool down?

Exactly. Do that that once and they’re good to go. Some suggest letting the tire sit 24hrs after the first heat cycle. That’s what I typically do and it seems to work well.

 

[Woods247]

Good question, I realize now that I did not mention overall preferences and goals for the car.

I'd say I'm looking for a balance between performance for HPDE sessions and tire wear with a slight nod towards wear. I'm not chasing lap times. And I do not have a trailer so I have to drive the car to the track.

I'm mainly using the FiST to cheaply increase my track day IQ and do my best to not be the absolute slowest guy out there. I'm really luck in that I'm a member of a track about 100 miles away and my track days are 7 hours of open lapping. That means my session times vary but rarely go beyond 20 minutes.

But...if there was a perfect tire for me it would perform well on track while being able to do some highway miles without excessive wear. I know, those are mutually exclusive wants.

Thats EXACTLY why I ran the RT615K+ for so long and still use them on a set of wheels. They can easily handle the drive to and from the track, they’re quiet and perform pretty well in the rain when they have good tread left. They are definitely not the fastest tire but they’re perfect on 7-7.5” wide rims (215/40/17) and have consistent grip from the first lap to the last, throughout their life. They’re really great dual purpose tires. Everything else 200TW wears faster in my experience.

 

[Economatic]

Thanks for all the replies. This is very helpful!

Full disclosure, when I started this thread I was leaning towards RT660's. On Saturday I talked with an instructor I've worked with a few times who is also an endurance racer. He hasn't run the RT660's personally but said those who have run them were impressed by how the tire performed and said they might be a good choice for me from what he's read and heard. They also ticked the box for my budget.

BUT...I'm really liking what @Woods247 said about the RT615K+. That might be the winner considering how they wear and if it's well-behaved on the road in terms of noise. I also would like to make it up to the The Ridge, Pacific Raceways, and/or PIR this year where there's a good chance I'll deal with rain.

I'll probably be mulling over this for week or two before I make a decision but I'll check in and let everyone know which direction I go. Thanks again for all the feedback!

 

[ronmcdon]

Never ran the 615+ but did use the 615 probably 15 or more years ago on an eg civic. Totally solid tire. They were pretty hairy in the wet and with some reckless driving totalled my car on a mountain wet road. Traction in the wet seem to give without warning. Without rain they gave great feedback in the limit and were easy to drive on the street or track. vs using kumho mx could drive pretty ok in the rain in NA miata.

 

[ronmcdon]

Thanks for all the replies. This is very helpful!

Full disclosure, when I started this thread I was leaning towards RT660's. On Saturday I talked with an instructor I've worked with a few times who is also an endurance racer. He hasn't run the RT660's personally but said those who have run them were impressed by how the tire performed and said they might be a good choice for me from what he's read and heard. They also ticked the box for my budget.

BUT...I'm really liking what @Woods247 said about the RT615K+. That might be the winner considering how they wear and if it's well-behaved on the road in terms of noise. I also would like to make it up to the The Ridge, Pacific Raceways, and/or PIR this year where there's a good chance I'll deal with rain.

I'll probably be mulling over this for week or two before I make a decision but I'll check in and let everyone know which direction I go. Thanks again for all the feedback!

I think you can't go wrong with any of these considerations. They will all get the job done. 660's you will have more fun driving in the street given how responsive they are. Think of it like you are trying different tyres like you would a different wine, restaurant, vacation destination, etc.

 

[Woods247]

Never ran the 615+ but did use the 615 probably 15 or more years ago on an eg civic. Totally solid tire. They were pretty hairy in the wet and with some reckless driving totalled my car on a mountain wet road. Traction in the wet seem to give without warning. Without rain they gave great feedback in the limit and were easy to drive on the street or track. vs using kumho mx could drive pretty ok in the rain in NA miata.

Yeah they lack wet communication when approaching the wear bar for sure. The 615k+ is definitely an improvement over the older 615k but when they get close to the wear bar, wet is sketchy at speed.

 

[kevinatfms]

Another few options are the NS2R in 205/40R17 and the Federal RS-Pro and or RS-RR in 215/40R17. Both are cheaper than the other offerings and still have the 200tw compound. I have run both of the Federals and they are hard to beat for the money.

 

[akiraproject24]

Another few options are the NS2R in 205/40R17 and the Federal RS-Pro and or RS-RR in 215/40R17. Both are cheaper than the other offerings and still have the 200tw compound. I have run both of the Federals and they are hard to beat for the money.

Anytime I see the federals on a car I cant help but think what a sexy looking tire.

 

[kevinatfms]

Anytime I see the federals on a car I cant help but think what a sexy looking tire.

They remind me of Bam Bam Bigelow from WWF/WCW. Nice tire but the tread pattern is so cheesy. Flames do not belong on a tire in any capacity - molded in or the tire actually on fire.