Due for new Tires, what should I do guys?

scruffydog

I have about 1 more track day left and I'm due for a new set of wheels.

My current setup is on my stock '10 Sports Rays:
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11:
Front: 265/35 R19 - $322/ea
Rear: 285/35 R19 - $313/ea
Total: $1329

I love the RE-11s. The stock RE50A I was able to get more miles compared to the RE11s, but for about 3000 miles less, the car sticks to the ground thru track SOOO MUCH Better. It handles really really well dry.

I track my car 4-6 times a year, I rarely drive my car as it costs a lot in gas and tires. I only drive my car once or twice throughout the week if I work on weekends or if it rains. Normally I ride my CBR to work.

I am having a wedding this coming summer so I'm trying to make the best decision with how I'll spend my money for the next set of tires and possibly a new set of wheels. I'm looking to spend about $1,600-$1,800 at most.

Option 1:
My initial thoughts are to get a set of used 18's that'll be dedicated for track. I'll prolly get some Hankook RS3s or RE-11s and try to hold out as much as I can with my current set of RE-11s and when it's due, I'll get a set of cheaper & less grippage tires like Hankook Ventus Evo V12.

Pro:
-I was thinking of upping the rear width from 10" to 10.5".
-Cheaper tires
-Better handling for track?

Con:
-For some decent looking wheels may cost more than my budget and may be heavier than my Stock Forged Rays unless I fork out a lot of money.

Option 2:
My second thoughts were to buy a set of used Sport Rays 19" with tires. I see a member selling a set w/ RE50A of 3500 miles for ~$1,600. This will temporarily hold me up and will allow me to have 2 sets of tires. 1 set of Grippy tires and 1 set of daily driving if needed that'll last me longer.

Pro:
-Looks good and are considered to be pretty good wheels (i.e. Forged, Rays, etc)
-Probably easier to obtain a great deal
-Tires will come with the package
Con:
-I'm stuck with stock widths, limitations of going more aggressive
-19" will cost more in the long run and I assume it's a less desirable for track as it weighs and cost more than 18"

Option 3:
Buy another set of RE11's or Hankook RS3

Pros:
-Probably the cheapest option for now
Cons:
-In the long run I am still in the same boat and be tracking on 19".
-I won't have set of dedicated tires/wheels for track and everyday driving, I would prefer to have something that can give me longer range for street. My RE-11 allows me to get less than 12K miles.

I know it's a lengthly post, but any advice would be appreciated! I'm open to hear any experience you guys have/had.

~Cheers

cossie1600

With the RE11, your annual tire expense is $1200 and you probably get one year on them.

With a set of 18s, your initial investment will be like $1200 for the 18" wheels, $1100 for the 18" racing tires (2 years) and $1000 for your daily driver tires (2 to 3 years).

Just don't buy 19" rims unless you plan to spend $1300 on Hoosier R6, very limited tire in that size

scruffydog

Thank you Cossie, you're always so helpful. By the way, I got another puppy recently. He's a Maltipoo. We now have 4 little guys.

scruffydog

Options, options, options...

Sounds like the less fun option but isn't gonna break my bank upfront. ~$1200/yr on tires only

Sounds like the option that suits me but I'm gonna have a hard time convincing my fiancee.
Racing Tires ~$600/yr + Street Tires ~$400/yr (assuming 2.5 yrs), but I have to fork out initially for another set of 18" rims.

I'll do some research on wheels first, hopefully I can find something decent used.

Cossie, I never owned a set of R Compound tires. In an ideal world, I'd love to track on R Compound, esp if that's the whole reason of owning another set of wheels so I could have a dedicated set of track tires & street tires.
But what do you think about tracking on Extreme Max Summer tires? Will it be more cost effective? I assume I'll get more track days with Extreme Max Summers over R Compound but I wonder if it'll be a more cost effective way? I ask this simply because I currently drive my car to the track. Thunderhill Raceway ~170 mi. one way, and Laguna Seca ~100 mi. one way and I don't have a truck/trailer.

Also, I have my camber set at -2.5 degree front and -1.8 rear.
0 toe front and factory setting rear. I would be concern I'd wear out the R Compound tire greatly just getting to the track.

OMGWTFBBQ

Buy a set of lightweight 18" wheels for the track and slap on some RS3/RE-11/AD08 or some even better race rubber.

Keep the sport package 19" with Evo V12s for daily.

guru

just picked up some te37sl's in 18" and im using the nitto nt05 and i can get tires for less than a grand. im running 295/35/18 and 285/35/18.

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cossie1600

They are so cute. My Yorkie is older, but she is still our doll and our Pomeranian is like my newborn's protector. Do you let them ride in the Z? My dog hates the Z because the seat slopes, not flat.

In the long run it might be cheaper to run two sets of tires, but it will take you 3-4 years to recover that. You might as well look at the $1200 as annual maintenance cost, you know what you are going to get out of those tires. 10K really is what you get out of them. I got 12K on my current set, but I only did 4 track days this year.

If you only care about racing and not looks, buy the cheapest lightest thing. I think you can get some 20lbs TSW/Enkei for <$250. Z is tough to find used due to the size and offset. I bought an extra set of 19s, but I can't find tires for it without spending $1200!!! I ended up using the 19s for snow tires. If you can justify the cost of 19" tires, buy the S tune wheels for $800.

If you have no trailer, do not buy R comps. You will burnt those tires off. In your situation, you are probably stuck with the RE11s or the RS3 for now. If you are going to get another set of RE11s, just buy 285s in the front. It's the reason why I built a trailer hitch for my car even though most people says I shouldn't.

There is no such thing as cost effective racing. What you can do is buy used tires if you want to save. If you browse around ebay, you will find some 285 35 19 for about $100 a pop with about 75% tread. You can piece yourself a set together if you are patient enough. RS3 are a lot harder to come by used.

*

scruffydog

I take my dogs for a ride whenever I can. I sound like a crazy cat lady but when I take my yorkie out, he stands up on the passenger seat with his head out the window 80% of the time and when he doesn't, he just sleeps in his seat. The seat is so low to the ground, they sometimes just walk on the floor and jumps back up to the seat. When I carry all of them to like a dog park or a car ride, I throw this giant doggy bed and they just lay there. =) Good times.

scruffydog

You said it. I should look at the big picture; 10K is really what I got out of my current set and I only tracked 3 times this year.

If I'm at the tracks, looks isn't my main concern as long as they go with car and simple enough. Ideally, I love the looks of Enkei Raijin in Gunmetal or TE37SL

but I'm just dreaming now when I look back at my budget. What typical offsets would you recommend me going with? I have a buddy with a E92 M3 and he's doing the exact same thing. He bought a set of cheap 18" and runs RS3 he upped the width to 10.5 in the rear. What are the offsets you recommend to go with that'll clear the sport calipers?
Should I go with F:18x9.5 R: 18x10.5?

I am so glad you mentioned that, b/c I almost bought another set of stock 19"s w/tires. 18"s are more common and have more option not to mention are slightly cheaper and better for track.

That's exactly what I wanna do someday. Tow a set of wheels and a small mechanic tool box. Last time I researched on tires, someone mentioned 285 on the forum for the fronts too. A sq. setup right? 285 all around. But I went with 265 because someone told me it'll be more agile with a narrower tires in front.

I also heard RS3s are much cheaper and handles better when warmed up, is that true? I'm also considering over the RE-11s.

Haha, my fiancee isn't too happy about me spending so much on my Z. Esp when my other car is a Toyota Prius. I drove 45K miles and it only cost us less than $400 for a set of tires. We're also planning a wedding right now for August, then kids in a year or 2 - which is why I wanna squeeze in as much of these expensive requests before hand. lol.

I really appreciate you taking the effort in writing back, it helps a lot! Time to hit up the classified sections....cheers!

cossie1600

The Z is so small that my Yorkie would jump from the front and back. She has jumped into the trunk before. The little bar in the back doesn't bother her.

This is my other pride and joy.

I was looking at those Enkei too, but I got lucky and found some cheaper wheels. I don't think you can go wrong with those wheels. For $1000, you can't beat it.

This is what I got.


Regarding the size, ideally I would like 305s all around, but I am not sure if it is possible to run that big on a stock Z or even a mild modded Z without any fender or body modification, plus you would need some crazy wheels to get that. Also just as a tip, a lot of the size in 18s will result in a car that is too low. Car might start scrapping everywhere without the right suspension.

This is how low a car with 285/35/19 can get under braking, imagine running an inch smaller with the 285/35/18s


Yes I run 285s on my car, been doing it for nearly two years now. The car just drives better. The steering might be heavier, but it feels better and it is faster.


The trailer is nice, I don't use it as much as I should as I still don't have the R comps I want yet. I do have to rework it as I might skip on the RE11 next season and go straight to R comps. It all depends on what I have to pay to the government in Feb.


It wouldn't surprise me that the RS-3 is faster, but they don't come in 285/35/19. I do not want to run a tire that is too small as I know the front lip will get scraped every time under braking.

My daily driver was a Prius, the OEM tires lasted 40K miles. Kid, marriage and dogs, I got those. That's why I have to do things on a budget too.

You can ask your fiance if she wants to do this to the Prius

scruffydog

It's so funny to find that we share similar tastes and values. I didn't know you have a Prius as your other car, I have a Gunmetal Gray one for my Fiance. I find it funny b/c the Prius like in the other side of the car spectrum to the Z.

I like TSW wheels you got. I'm gonna have to look into them. I'll try to see how much it'll add up for a set of 18x10 & 18x10.5? I'll have to read into the details in regards to weight of the wheels.

I'm still contemplating on the set of 19 Sport Rays with RE50A w/ 3500 mi. for ~$1525 someone's selling in classified, it just seems like a cheaper option compared to outting $1350 for a set of new RE-11 on pure tires. But if I did go with that option, I'd track with my current set of RE-11 and let the RE50A hold me up for 3 more track days and then possibly get myself a set of V12 for as daily driver which could last me ~3yr. But after the set of RE50A I'm back dealing with the same issue of forking out $1200+ per year for the set of RE-11s until I can get a trailer to go R compound. And even if I go R Compound, I'm gonna have to sell 1 set of my 19" to replace it with 18" due to tire selections.

Thanks for helping out again. I'm glad you're making it happen and enjoying your life. I admire you trailer you built, I would need to start looking into that. I love little side projects.

scruffydog

Were you able to mount 285 on your front 9.5" width stock Rays? I'd like to try that next time if I decide to hold out on a new set of wheels.

I currently have KW V3 coilovers and I set my ride height to almost the highest it allows - it still bottoms out on harsh bumpy roads. I'd be interested to see how it'll perform on the corkscew at Laguna in 2 weeks.

Cmike2780

If I were in your shoes, I'd spend it on a reasonably priced tires on the stock 19's and bank what's left over for a dedicated track tire/wheels set. Hold out and get every mile out of your current set. You could also go the opposite route and make the stock 19's your dedicated track set....then save up for an even nicer set for street use.

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cossie1600

Technically the Prius is my wife's car, I just steal it as she works from home. I have since given the car to my mom and wife is now driving a hybrid SUV thanks to the baby. I love the car, that's why I decided to let my mom use it instead of trading it in. We just needed a bigger car for our growing family.

I got the TSW for $120 for the pair, I now just need to wait on another pair. They are 10.5 wide. I will see if they can fit in the front later, been too lazy to play around with wheels and tires.

The 285s are on my front stock 9" rims, fits fine. I can tell you you won't like how the RE050a feels after driving on the RE11. How much tread do you have left on your RE11? I can pretty much run them till they cord before I have to toss them. You should be able to tell by how much groove on your outside tread. My 265/285 I got about 9K miles, I just replaced my 285/285 at 11K miles. I only replaced the front two with the rear two from my first set. They are still good, but I don't know if i want to buy fresh ones for next season just yet.