Stock R33 Rims Decent For Track Day?

[siddr20]

Hi All

So i recently sold my buddy club p1s 17*8, 17*9 and so now i have stock rims.

I have used the p1s at wakefield last time and i loved it.. 255s on the rears, and 235s front really suited it well..

Reason i sold the p1s was coz i needed the money for something else important.

Anyways, so i have now stock rims with crap threads. Will get new rubber front and back, but nothing too costly. Maybe 100 each max

So my question is, will stock rims be alright for the track day? Or will i be sliding etc?

I currently have stock suspension with just lowered springs, however the car still handles fairly well.

The car will be tuned with pfc before track day, so i will be pushing a bit more power than last time i was out there.

Still stock turbo etc.. just exhaust, fmic..

Cheers

[evil_weevil]

I have only ever used my 33 and 33 gtst rims out on the track

(32 for daily - 33 with semi's for track)

my tyres are 225 wide and I havent had any dramas/issues

just monitor the pressures through the day.

100 bucks, you wont get any decend rubber, perhaps for the size of the rim, get some federal 535's

I paid around 140 each I think from payless tyres @ Chatswood and they lasted pretty good when I did a few driver days.

Whens the next wakie do you are doing?

[siddr20]

How much did the semi slicks cost you for 225s? also which ones?

So in terms of rim width you think its fine? So you didnt feel like its too narrow?

Just driving stock rims now, i feel like they are way to narrow when going around corners..

-

Umm well the nov calandar hasnt been published yet on their website. So whenver theres an open day i will go..

Once few of my friends finish uni exams etc.. We just gotta pick a date when we all free and go..

[evil_weevil]

When you pick a date, post it up!

Well, I havent had any wider tyres on my car so my judgement is very small! however though Im happy with how the car goes with these tyres/rims.

I paid 190 each for some r888's from St George tyres early on in the year and that was on special

225/45/16

[siddr20]

Howd you fine those semis at wakefield?

I might just get some t1rs perhaps for the stock rims.. hmmm

what you reckon?

Coz i have used t1rs at wakefield and i had no troubles.. got them sitting in the garage, but obviously cant fit them on stock rims..

[BHDave]

As long as you aren't expecting to set any records, the stock wheels and reasonable street tyres will do fine.

A couple of things worth considering: 1) make sure they are an appropriate speed rating, you'll probably hit 160+ at the end of the straight without a problem. 2) Expect to over heat them so they will likely feel a bit greasy after a few laps 3) If they are new and have a lot of tread blocks expect to feel the car walk around on the tread. 4) Throttle control is going to be pretty important as you will cook the tyres easily on corner exit.

I did a day on nankangs recently. Thats what i noticed.

[evil_weevil]

sid - I've never done wakie, just OP GP/south and EC on my street tyres and they did hold up - but for not much longer after!

[Nismo_God]

i got tiny lil semis on my 33 stockies and they held up fine.....205/45/16 from a lotus.....

im selling my set, 4 Kuhmo V700 on stock rims for $500 plus throwing in 2 spare semis when these wear out....

[siddr20]

1) make sure they are an appropriate speed rating, you'll probably hit 160+ at the end of the straight without a problem.

I will check for this..

) Expect to over heat them so they will likely feel a bit greasy after a few laps

umm you mean normal street rubber doing this?

I had no problems with t1rs front, and Advan Ad07s on the rears..

4) Throttle control is going to be pretty important as you will cook the tyres easily on corner exit.

wow no idea what you mean by this sorry

[siddr20]

pm sent nismo god..

[siddr20]

sid - I've never done wakie, just OP GP/south and EC on my street tyres and they did hold up - but for not much longer after!

what you mean for not much longer after?

[BHDave]

umm you mean normal street rubber doing this?

I had no problems with t1rs front, and Advan Ad07s on the rears..

wow no idea what you mean by this sorry

You can overheat any tyre. If you are pushing on street tyres you will start to melt them at the edge of the tread blocks. On wakefield the front passenger side tyre gets worked hard and you will see little strips of melted rubber hangin off the inner edges of the treads after a session. And T1r's and AD07's aren't exactly $100 tyres.

If you try and accelerate hard out of a corner on cheap narrow street rubber, particularly with little suspension work done, you will spin up the wheels. At wakefield you will almost certainly have problems coming out of turn 2 and heading up the hill, out of turn 4 across the top, possibly out of turns 7 and 8 (fish hook) and almost definately out of turn 10 coming onto the straight. Remembering that the more you spin the wheels, the hotter the tyres get, the worse the grip is, and so it's more likely that you spin the wheels......

Admittedly i was lapping in the low 13's on the nankangs so I was asking a lot of them. In the initial sessions I was all over the place, once i got used to them and smoothed out my driving a bit they came good and were fairly consistant.

[evil_weevil]

what you mean for not much longer after?

I did about 2 track days on them and 2 motokhanas and a supersprint at bathurst - after 5th event on them, they were hopeless even on the street and when it was raining I didnt want to drive the car at all on those tyres - totally destryoed them!

My thoughts - buy Brenden's rims with semi's and keep them as your track tyres only

Just be easy on throttle and wait till after apex/car is straightening up to get on the gas - will be easier on the streeters

[Beer Baron]

the biggest cost in any wheel/tyre combo is usually the tyres by a long way. consider if you do trackdays at 8 or 10 a year you will need 2 or 3 sets of new tyres are year. so I would get some decent second hand wheels. some 33 GTR wheels are good. the 33 GTST wheels have a few things against them. not much air to the brakes compared to other designs. they are very narrow. they are heavy. they are cast. on the upside they are dirt cheap. but seriously if you are going regular track days you are looking at $2000 a year on decent tyres minimum so shell out say $1000 for some nice second hand 17X8/9 wheels, they will last for years and years.

but if you are just out there to have a bit of fun, then don't worry about it too much and just run whatever you have/can afford.

[evil_weevil]

Actually,

thats prob the most important thing, cooling. Hmm....dam you BB, another thing I'll be adding onto the list of more things!

[siddr20]

Makes a lot of sense now!!

Thanks for all your help!!

A lot of thinking to do before i go to this track day

I got a month and a bit, so im hoping i have some enough coin to buy a set of rims..

Will see what happens..

cheers all

[evil_weevil]

Mind you though Sidd - if your not going to be doing track days/sprints every month, its not a major issue.

I do normally 1 day a month (well, works out to be that a year!) and I dont have any issues with the rims.

However if I were going to be doing the club sprint series with the SSCC next year Id be looking at better rims, lighter and more cooling

[scathing]

So my question is, will stock rims be alright for the track day? Or will i be sliding etc?

Who's to say that sliding isn't alright?

In all seriousness, if you're just starting out on track work its good to keep your limits lowered. Learning how to drive your car at the limit is a lot easier and safer when you're not going fast, and so if/when it breaks away you've got more time to react and the cost of failure is lower.

My recommendation is to go call up the usual motorsport tyre shops (Gordon Leven, Garys, etc) and find out if they have any used R comp tyres in your size. Chances are they'll be shagged, but they'll be cheap and they'll have good heat resistance (compared to regular street tyres).

I picked up a set of dead Advan A032Rs from Gordon Leven in 235/45 R17 for $80 a pop. They were practically on the indicators, and they had about as much grip as a set of street tyres. I did 3 track days and there was almost no wear exhibited. However, I could go flat out for the full 15 minutes of the track session and they never overheated, unlike if I'd bought Nankangs or some other street tyre and tried the same thing.

Don't expect to set any lap records on them, and there's a good chance you'll be hanging the tail out, but they'll be better at handling circuit loads / temps than buying some $100 Nankang's or Wan-Li's. If you're not planning on daily driving on these wheels, their tread depth won't be an issue.

Once you improve your track craft and start hunting for tenths, then maybe look at going to a wider rim and getting fresher R-Comps. But, for now, I'd say they were fine.

Edited October 9, 2007 by scathing

[siddr20]

^^ Well its going to be my 2nd attempt at wakefield this year..

Who knows, i might go again twice next year.. But i deff wont do it every month, coz i couldnt afford it plus i have uni and work..

Im gonna try and find a good set of rims before track day.. If i cant, then i will stick with the stockies and just use some street rubber and just have some fun out there..

I was just so impressed with my last set of rims/rubbers..

anyways it sall good..

Thanks for the help and suggestions everyone..