I need some new track tires, so I started looking for bargains. I just track the car for fun, so I don't need the fastest tire available. I just want something that will hold up to track use and will last for at least a few weekends.

My brother saw some Dunlop SP Super Sport Race tires on special in a Tire Rack ad in Grassroots and gave me a call. He gets to co-drive when he visits me out here on the West coast, and now that my car is running again it's time to get back to the track.

The Dunlops are only $129 each in 265/35-18. I normally get 285/30-18s for the 18x10" track wheels, but the 265s have a bit more sidewall (25.1" dia versus 24.6" for the 285/30s) which is a welcome difference, and the cheapest 285/30 is more than $70 more per tire. They also have a bit more of a tread than most R-compounds, so they might remain usable if the rain comes out.

They also have 265/35-18 Pirelli PZero Corsa tires on sale for $140 each. But I couldn't find any really good comparison info, so I just went for the cheaper Dunlops. If anyone has any info about the Dunlops or the Corsas, I am interested to hear it. Especially if you have used both and can give some comparison info.

For anyone else looking for 18" track tires on a budget, these Dunlops and Corsas seem like a great bargain.

-Max

 

Crap. Mods, I tried to post this many times without success and then heard that a short subject and body will work to get the thread created. Then you can edit it after the thread exists. But I guess it doesn't rename the thread on the edit. Please change the thread title to "265/35-18 track tire deals from Tire Rack". Thanks!

-Max

 

Please post some feedback here once you try them out Max. It's difficult to go by the feedback on the Tire Rack.

 

that's right! I've been wanting to hear feedback on these tires. More street friendly R-compound tires...and a bargain too! I only wonder about driving them in the rain tho. Hope these two tires are more rain friendly than other Max-out R-compound.

 

I'm trying but I get proxy errors too...

 

Fritz Flynn ran a set of these in 285/30/18 on the Killer Bee when i was at VIR. He seemed to love them. Not the fastest "R" out there, but VERY durable and long-lasting.

And FWIW, the only car I issued a point by all weeked to was an E46 M3 with them on it, while I was on Khumos (for the first time).

 

Thanks for trying.

How am I going to chide people for lousy thread subjects while I have this "t" thread in here?

-Max

 

The mods must be asleep Max. Not to change the subject, but please PM me when you get a chance regarding your new engine. I believe you opted to run Evans and are also running the large CWR oil cooler setup. Just curious to know how things are working since the rebuild. Hope to see you at SS8 in October!

Tim

 

Max,

Contact Nick at N-Tech. He gets scrubbed Dunlop race slicks for very short money. I'm talkin' $75 per corner!

Gene

 

I recall hearing that these tires are very old leftover stock of Dunlop from Europe, that theyre trying to clear them out, and that Dunlop will be introducing a new R-compound stateside.

 

Thanks for the tip, Gene. I'll try that next time.

I'll take leftover stock.

They weigh 26.2 lbs. They also seem to be nearly as wide as my 285/30-18 BFG R1a tires. The tread is not quite as wide (less than a 20mm diff, though), but the section width seems to be about the same (comparing an unmounted Dunlop to the mounted BFG, perhaps not such a valid comparison).

-Max

 

Awesome, Max, I was looking at those tires too, but unfortunately don't have a separate set of track rims at this time. In my experience, Dunlop's high performance tires are usually quite wide for their nominal width. My 225 SP8000s were actually wider than my 235 Toyo T1-S.

 

They have a real tread if you get stuck in the rain. They look rather like street tires. I've been thinking that they would make some fun street tires for the price.

I'll get them mounted soon and then re-weigh my CCW wheels with them mounted so I can finally determine how much the wheels weigh. I might do it tomorrow, but there's still a bunch of tread on my old R1a tires. I might have to do a little street driving on those first just to avoid wasting the rubber.

T1-S are very narrow for their nominal size. My 245 Yoko AVS Sports were a lot wider than a set 245 T1-S tires I compared them to once. The T1-S is a great tire by all accounts, but the narrow width steers me away from them a bit.

-Max

 

Ha, right now, my car is still my daily driver (ok, not RIGHT now, as it has been sitting at Rick's Rotary for 2 months, LOL). That will likely change in the near future, making those Dunlops a strong possibility. At that price, how can you go wrong?

 

You can skip to the summary at the end if you don't feel like reading...

Got the Dunlops mounted today. What a pain! Local tire shops are apparently getting upset that people like me buy tires online and then bring them in to get them mounted. I had the four wheels+tires and all four new tires in the back of my DD '90 Integra. Dropped them off at local tire store and got an estimate for $64. They didn't have short metal valve stems, and the ones on the wheels have been leaky in the past. I think they might loosen and leak because there is no jamb nut -- maybe I should put a drop of threadlock on the new ones. Anyway, I went back home and hopped in the RX-7 to go find some stems and enjoy the ride.

I started at Super Autobacs since I figured they dealt with a variety of custom wheels. They had just what I needed and sold them to me at a great price. (When Super Autobacs opened everything was overpriced, but they have honestly turned out to be a good basic auto supplies store with the added bonus of having neat stuff to look at. I like Super Autobacs.) While I was there, I also asked if they would mount tires and wheels that weren't purchased there, and they said they would but only if you bring them in "loose" and they don't have to put them on a car. He said it would be $16 each.

I took the new valve stems back to where my tires and wheels were. They said they were going to charge me $25 each instead of the $16 they gave me as an estimate. I said no way and that I would be right back to pick them up with my other car. I went to pick them up and talked to the owner a bit. He said he would do it for $20 each. I wasn't going to pay any more than the original estimate, so I said no, loaded them up, and left. Perhaps I wouldn't have had so much trouble if I had brought them over on a less-busy day.

I stopped by another local tire store that I know has good prices, but they were closed. So I took them to Super Autobacs. They were hesitant at first and then said they would do it for $19 per tire. I said that the guy inside said $16, but then just decided to pay the $19 and be done with it. They rung it up and had me sign the estimate, which had another $1.75 each added on for tire disposal. Ugh! Just f-ing tell me a price and stick with it! I was tired of messing around with it at this point and so just agreed to pay it. They called me back in less than 1 hour and said they were ready and I went and picked them up. Finally!

The tires actually do have a wider section than the 285 BFGs did. The Dunlops have some rim protection, too, so they are actually a tad wider than the wheel, where the BFGs were actually more narrow than the rim edge. The Dunlop tread is slightly narrower, but not by much. The Dunlops look "correctly sized" for the wheel and don't look all stretched out or anything.

When I first got the wheels, they already had the BFG tires mounted on them. The total weight was 46.4 lbs, and based on Mark V.'s weighing of the same tires at 23.75 lbs, I figured the wheels were about 22.6 lbs each. But I was never totally sure. I weighed the new Dunlops earlier and found them to be 26.2 lbs, and I weighed one of the wheel+tires today after mounting and the total weight was 48.8. Yup, the wheels do weigh 22.6 lbs each. Hmmm.. maybe I should get some titanium hardware and send the centers back to CCW for swiss cheesing. I always have wished that I ordered the centers in black anyway.

Summary:
- getting mail ordrer tires mounted locally can be a pain
- Dunlop 265s are indeed wider in section than the BFG 285s after mounting, but slightly narrower in tread width
- 265/35-18 Dunlops look right on the 18x10" CCW wheels
- track model, normal hardware, no swiss cheese hole 18x10" CCWs do indeed weigh 22.6 lbs each + Dunlop tire is 26.2 lbs each = 48.8 lbs for track wheel+tire assembly (BFGs were 46.4 lbs each, a diff of 2.4 lbs)

-Max

 

Also, Super Autobacs has Toyo Proxes T1R tires in stock.

-Max

 

Did they balance out well? (didn't have to add a bunch more weights than your old tires?)

 

There are a bunch of weights, but no more than the R1a tires.

-Max

 

Gezz...Max. Let's see the performance impression already .... Just kidding

Local tires shops ALWAYS do that wiggling in mounting new tires. I've had the same exp. recently. But, I was lucky cuz the the first place I called told me about the disposal fee. However, most places charge different prices for the wheel's sizes. 18 is costlier than 17. I don't know if that's normal or just here in WA?

 

Yay! Finally got the title to edit!

 

Ugh, wish I found this thread earlier. Yes, the Corsa's are superior to the SP Race, and definitely worth the price difference. Both are awesome tires compared with normal street tires though.

http://www.nobleforums.com/images/on.../tires/gt3.pdf

 

Looks like an interesting article, but can you get a higher-res scan? I'm having trouble reading the lap time chart.

 

Thanks Damon.

Now I can get back to harassing people about having poor thread subjects...

-Max

 

I've always had the same problem with getting tires mounted and balanced. It seems that the estimate you get from local shops is never the out the door, 4 new tires mounted and balanced on your wheels price. Best deals I've found nearby are nearly $80 to unmount 4 tires and replace with 4 new tires and new stems.

Then they want to sell you that $12.50 each lifetime balance crap. Look buddy, it doesn't cost $50 to balance a dammed set of tires. I don't want a liftetime balance, I want a one time $5 balance. Nobody is willing to do that anymore and it's a friggen rip off. I had one store manager balance my tires anyway (I told them only to mount) and when I refused to pay the charges for balancing he went ape **** on me. He insisted I had to pay for it and I insisted I didn't ask for it and was not going to pay. In the end he had a tech remove the weights which I refused to pay for from the wheels.

I have never, ever seen a tire go out of balance. If balanced correctly the first time they won't need it again unless the tire itself developes issues, like flat spotting. If it's flat spotted a new balance won't fix that anyway.

It's so much better now that my buddy has his own tire changing machine at home and I can now remove and mount tires anytime for free I still have people try and rape me on balancing every time though.

 

If you use the tire rack mounting center locater you will not get hassled.