Track Tyres

[Beejay]

Still trying to decide which tyres are a good compromise between DOT legal, grip and cost.

The Khumo V710 tyres look great, but I think the almost slick surface puts you in race class at the Nationals.

Advan A048 looks good, but no wide sizes in 17".

Does anyone have experience with the Khumo V700? Price looks good, and they would not fall into race class at the Nats.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....del=Ecsta+V700

Cheers,

Ben

[Wazza]

Hi Ben,

I went for the KUMHO ECSTA XS ( KU36)......
I thought it looked like it would handle either street or track.

AND...they came in nice FAT sizes in the 17 inch .

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Model=Ecsta+XS

Bob Jane had them here in Australia at $275-00 a tyre ( Fitted ) ...

(Strange !! it was the same price for the 255/17 fronts, as the 315/17 rears ?)




Cheers,
Warren.

[boxhead]

Ben, I have the same as Wazza, they feel great on the street (but anything would when comparing to my old tyres).
Can not give you an on track report.

[Towmaster]

The Kumho Ecsta V700 (V70A) is tyre designed for the track but is road legal. The KU36 is a tyre designed for road and occasional track use. The V700 is a very stiff sidewalled square edged track tyre. They are not very comfortable for general road use. V700's are very good on the track, I did a 1.08.0 at the nationals on the Friday practice with a mild 302. I wouldn't recommend them if u are mainly driving onthe street..

[boxhead]

I am pretty sure he is looking for a track only set, so good feedback Towmaster

[Beejay]

These will be for track only, so I would like to get the stickiest tyres I can that meet the regulations for the Nationals and Shelbyfest.

I think the V700s look the best so far.

Ben

[400TT]

Ben, my brother also runs the 17" V700's on his GT40 when street legal track tyres are required. He runs 225 & 315.

He put down some great times in the sprints, hill climb & go-to-whoa at the last Cobra Nationals with them. So they work well enough hot and cold.

Good value for money.

[REPTYL]

If your worried about how your classified at ShelbyFest, keep this in mind.

It's looking like Shelbyfest 2012, any cars with a treadwear rating softer than UTQG 140 will be in the race class.

[Beejay]

Jason,

What happens if most people end up in race class?

Will all the classes then mainly be determined by engine size?

Cheers,

Ben

[Kimbo]

The V700 has a UTQG of 50, this would definately put it in the race class at Shelbyfest.
A bit of a shame, the tyres sound pretty hot, but my car (standard engine) would look pretty silly in the race class at Shelbyfest.

Kim

[Dimis]

When done... my car would also look silly in race class.
But I figure that's cos I'd be driving, and nothing to do with the tyres.

[Philm]

I am not sure how the new classing for Shelby fest 2012 will go, and as Ben has mentioned I think "race class" will be the majority of entrants.

My take on this is that many years ago Race or R spec tires were very expensive with only a few options.

I understand that in the past the well to do owner could gain an advantage over the typical owner who ran more available and affordable "street" Tires.

I think times have changed and if you look at Wassa’s post, a set of R spec tires is on par or even cheaper than quality street tires.

I have purchased a set of 15s street tires recently and they were more than a set of 17s r spec.

A separate issue would be with the advances in technology, availably and better pricing I would think that an r spec tire should become a standard on cobras rather than the exception.

So with all this I feel the class would have worked 5 years ago but in 2012 the rational is outdated.

Just my opinion.

Phil

[Towmaster]

I definitely think a good set of R spec Tyres is a necessity on a cobra. Think of the power to weight ratio the majority of our cars enjoy and the sort of Tyres that manufacturers put on their cars that have the same ratio.
5 years ago most cobras ran a big balloon rear 15 inch tyre because they looked good & were readily available. From what I understand now you can't buy them in oz anymore?? Or they are really hard to come by so builders of new cobras are forced to fit the more affordable 17 inch options.
Just my ramblings...

[Beejay]

I currently have old Sumitomo tyres on my billet rims, they have seen some track time in 13,000 km but still have plenty of tread left. Unfortunately they are a few years old, and have gone pretty hard.

My next set of street tyres will definitely be much stickier ones, I would prefer to wear them out than have them go hard.

Currently thinking of going for Hankook Ventus R-S3 tyres for the "time to play" rims.

Cheers,

Ben