[craigawoodman]

Finally got around to (meaning had the cash to, and physically had to) changing out the Dunlop D03 Dizzera track tyres. These were two years old (rears) and had about as much grip and the physical properties of a house brick. Don't get me wrong, when new, they were magic, but could get too hot and lose grip, but you could feel it.



So, after doing the "what's next" rounds, I have fitted Yokohama A050's. 235/40R18's front and 265/35R18's rear. Only issue was that they are not made in a 285 rear (that I was running with the Dunlops), only a 295 which would have been too wide with the 21mm spacers that I run. Once on the car, I will check clearances and see if I can run the 295's without spacers, but the shock clearance will most likely be an issue. Front and rear are medium compound.



The club here in WA has a lot of people running these in soft compound for autokhana's with great success.



I will provide an update in a month on how they performed on the track.

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[Dubai944]

Be very interested to hear how they work for you, especially if you get to run in the wet. I have looked at these as possible damp/wet tyres for a second rim set. Slid straight off a slightly damp track at Lakeside last time out on my big slicks like I was ice skating!

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[craigawoodman]

Just so long as you don't out brake yourself and hit the wall at the end of the straight - been there and done that.

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[Dubai944]

Funny you should say that...



second lap out on first session, cold slicks, damp track. Bit slippery in the carousel but otherwise grip felt good elsewhere. Upped the pace a bit, and was focusing on whether I had got the car quiet enough to avoid getting black flagged again under full throttle. Through the kink at 220. Hit the brakes and nada. Pretty much no grip till I got on the gravel, managed to get the car turned to avoid taking a hit on the nose. Damaged a bit of fibreglass, but the rest will buff out <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />



Dumb. I know better, and should have made sure the tyres were a lot hotter. Certainly was exciting though and I don't have enough crash videos so good to get one with my new camera!

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[craigawoodman]

Dubai,



Sounds oh, so familiar. I had the "oh s***" moment pretty much as soon as I put my foot on the brake pedal. It just didn't seem to want to stop (and mine was late in the day, chasing 0.1 of a second to get under 60 second for a lap when the car was N/A). I had an internal debate on the best way to put it into the wall, and chose side on, reasoning being that the nose of a 968 is bloody expensive and if you didn't hit straight it would bend the chassis - so bloody expensive.



I just caught the tyres, but managed to literally put the car sideway into them, so got every panel on the passenger side. No real damage to the panels, it was that soft a hit, but the tyres were painted white, so I ended up with a black and white car on one side and lots of little scratches everywhere. That got, the nose, front guard, passenger door, rear quarter panel, rear bumper and both lower sills all re-painted. I had to get both lower sills done as it would look silly having one with no stone chips and one with lots. I now know, to just wait 12 months and it will all even out.



Bloody embarrassing. Also slows you down for a while.

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[MC968CS]

Craig, you bringing those new tyres with a 968 attached to Bathurst at Easter for the event?



P.S - the rubber is good. On my fourth set.

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[Dubai944]

What are they like in the wet?

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[MC968CS]

Pretty good for a semi slick - I dont think comparing them to Hoosier H20's though would see them come out on top.

Hankook have the other gun semi slick these days. The Ventus TD.

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[craigawoodman]

MC,



I am coming across the country for Bathurst. I am effectively doing the reverse trip I did two years ago, leaving Perth and moving back to Brisbane via the Easter run at Bathurst. At this stage, leaving Perth around the 18th of March, spending a week or so catching up with family and friends in Newcastle, then down to Bathurst and after, up to Brisbane.



Although having driven East to West across Australia 3 times (and once from Adelaide on the train), this will be the first time West to East.



I used to travel out to Norseman when I worked out there and have driven from Adelaide to Newcastle, but not the Nullabor section. Hopefully this will be my one and only West to East crossing until I retire and have lots of time and a caravan to do it with.

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[Rap]

Any suggestions for a new DE'er for racing tie and rims?

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[flash]

cheap ones. you're going to burn them up very fast for the first few times out, as you learn the car and how to corner. no point in wasting expensive tires in the learning process. once you stop plowing into corners and spinning out of them, then you can move on to better tires.

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[Cloud9...68]

Yeah, I would stay away from racing tires for awhile, for a number of reasons - while they do have greater ultimate grip, they're much less forgiving than street tires, they wear out much faster, and they're expensive. A good high performance summer tire, like the Sumitomo HRTZIII (not sure I have that exactly right - I hate tire naming conventions - very hard to remember), should do the trick for awhile. What diameter rims do you have? Things get complicated in a hurry going from 17" to 18", and tires (at least the ones I've priced) seem to take a step function up going from 17" to 18".

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[flash]

yes, but lightweight 17" wheels are hard to come by, and usually cost more than say a set of hollow spoke 18's. so, the net cost is not that far apart.



so, once you've learned to find the balance in the corners, and you aren't chewing up tires as much, then it's time to take advantage of what a better tire can do for you. until then, it really doesn't matter much what you have on there. you're going to shred them fast. i always recommend the least expensive decent tire you can get, and learn on that. that way, you can spend the money on more seat time and instruction. bang for the buck and all that.

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[DaveN]

Get a set of OZ wheels for the track. Relatively cheap (1500 or less a set) and about 17.5 lbs a wheel.



http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelClos...toModClar=

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[Rap]

both cars 16 only using one car

Dave, tire rack says this not available for my car.

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[Rap]

although a sport edition cup 4 is for$167

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[craigawoodman]

It all depends on what exactly you are doing on the track. A tyre for a circuit will be different to a tyre for a hill climb/motorkhana event. Number of laps, time on track, etc all factor in. With an R-spec tyre, you also get to choose what compound you want. Pressures also become much more critical, along with warming up the tyre to get it to work properly.



Depending on the tyre, the break-away might also be more sudden, so finding a tyre that "feels" right and communicates with the driver is also a subjective thing.



R-spec tyres also do not last a long time. Once they have been heat cycled, you really only have around 12 months use before they go hard and lose grip.



If you are running on a long track for more than 5 laps, you may overheat road tyres, which will dramatically lessen their life.



It is also good to start with new tyres and watch the wear pattern and heat pattern across the tread. If the whole tread face is not heating up and wearing evenly, then you will need to change suspension settings to utilise the entire tyre surface (which will provide more grip and better tyre life).

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[MC968CS]

If really starting out, try Dunlop Direzza D1 star spec and use them on both track and street.



Then get a set of track rims and fit Toyo R888 for you first true (cheap) semi slick.



Then try those rims with good (dearer though) semi slicks, when you hit the limits of R888's.



Happy driving.



!



[quote name='craigawoodman' timestamp='1361879557' post='139223']

MC,



I am coming across the country for Bathurst. I am effectively doing the reverse trip I did two years ago, leaving Perth and moving back to Brisbane via the Easter run at Bathurst. At this stage, leaving Perth around the 18th of March, spending a week or so catching up with family and friends in Newcastle, then down to Bathurst and after, up to Brisbane.



Although having driven East to West across Australia 3 times (and once from Adelaide on the train), this will be the first time West to East.



I used to travel out to Norseman when I worked out there and have driven from Adelaide to Newcastle, but not the Nullabor section. Hopefully this will be my one and only West to East crossing until I retire and have lots of time and a caravan to do it with.

[/quote]

Cool Craig! See you there. Cant wait actually, what a huge event! Not sure if cracking 2:42 (pb) is a go for me, but will try. Have you got those HP issues with belts sorted? If so I'll waive you past up the hill and down the straight - but gun for you across the top :-) !

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[Rap]

MC968CS, I have them on the white car and they worked well at Pocono and the Glen! That car will no longer be tracked so its the Yoko advan that are on the other and waiting to be tried out. Seems the consensus is to be stay on street tires before making the switch over to racing if the ability and pocketbook allow. Although I am considering going up to 17 or 18's

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[craigawoodman]

MC,



Given the mantra of go lower than 2:40 and go home, I think I will be taking it a bit easy. I might even try to get into the regularity bit. I think I was doing around 2:42 or so last time I was there, so if I don't have to push it, so much the better. It would be good to have at least one lap where you cut loose and see what it can do, but once you find a rhythum, it is hard to get out of it - and pushing is sometimes not always quicker.



The car has not had a good work out for nearly two years. I have only done one true track day in that time - at Barbagello. All the rest have been more like motorkhana's, with one car on the track. You spend all morning waiting for what is effectively 8 minutes of driving.



I put on the race suit a couple of nights ago - I need to lose some weight between now and the end of March - it is snug.

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