Track Setup on Base 18's?
 

What's up everyone? On a bit of a tight budget this year as far as buying new wheels goes so I'm debating whether slapping on a good set of street tires onto the stock base 18's is a good idea. Searched the forums a little and I'm not really getting any good information. Anyone have any experience running these at the track? I'm guessing 255/265F 265/275R or so? Maybe a square setup? Stock wheels are 18x8F, 18x9R for reference. Any and all input would be great. Thanks guys.

TTT. Nobody has any info for me? :confused:

my track setup for the base 18's is:

Front: 245/45/18
Rear: 274/40/18

Sumitomo has tires in this size for $600 SHIPPED, but they squeal a lot and don't have the highest traction. They DO however last quite a long time.

I used stock size tires for the first set on the track and used BFG G-Force comp 2s and was very happy with them. If tracking is new to you watch your tire temps, I let mine get to high at first and it ate them up.

If you want to spend a little more I really like the RE-11s that are on it now.

Thanks for the input guys! Osborn does the staggered setup make for really bad understeer?

Not track, but I used base 18" wheels to autocross last season.

245/40/18
275/35/18

Not sure if I would go much wider than 245 on the 8" front, might go 255 but that's about it.

Is your car a sport?


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Yes, 18" base wheels clear sport brakes


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I'm aware of that, I tracked them for over a year.Sorry,my question was meant for the OP. I was asking because if it's not a sport it has an open diff and is a much larger concern of over steer if the inside wheel starts spinning. This had me ridiculously close to smashing the car into the wall coming out of turn 16 at Sebring.

Heya there.... staggered (OEM size) does NOT lead to understeer. At least from what my butt-dyno says. I mean who wouldn't appreciate more front end grip... but clearance becomes an issue quickly.

Generally speaking, under/over steer is more readily controlled with anti-roll bars, more so than tire sizing.

Not to say that you can't modulate the car w different size tires... but i don't recall many of us having a tire sponsor... or lap times... which would be effected by the changes you speak of.

I agree sway bars help a lot but tire size and compound also help. osbornsm, are your forgestars OEM sizes?

There is nothing wrong with using your wheels. If you're going to DD the car, use some RE-11's, Toyo Proxes T1's, or the BFG's. If you drive the car every-so-often then throw on some Toyo R888's.

Go learn to drive the hell outta the car. It'll do way more than you think.

No, it's a base. That's why I'm worried about understeer/oversteer. Plan on getting a Quaife differential as soon as I can to fix that issue.

Yeah, I have Hotchkis sway bars, GTspec 4 point cage/strut bars, and KW V3 coilovers. So hopefully that will help out a lot.

Looks like I'm going with some RE-11's in 255F/275R. It is still my DD.



Thank you guys for the input!

Good choice on tires. Don't push the open diff to hard, it came close to making a mess of my car. The Quaife is great.


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I hate to disagree, but yes, staggered tires do CONTRIBUTE to understeer. They of themselves will not CAUSE it, but given two cars which are identical, one square, and one staggered...the staggered one will tend to have more understeer.

I agree with the second part of the statement though...

Tracy Ramsey