Looking at the available R-compound tires, aside from the Pirelli'$, I see that Hoosier makes the R6 in 265/35/19 (front) and 295/30/19 (rear). Looks like you would need a 10" wheel for the 295's, so a set of LS wheels would work well, or the 302S wheel.

Question is, using stock camber, will the wider tire clear the strut and fenders (rolled from the factory - nice touch)? According to the tire specs on the Tirerack site, the stock Pirelli's PZero's have a section width (sidewall to sidewall) of 10.2" for the front, 11.6" for the rear. The LS's stock PZero Corsa measures 10.2" front and 11.7" rear.

The fatter Hoosier's measure 10.4 up front, 11.5 rear. In theory, the rear tire should clear, but the front Hoosier measures .2" bigger than stock. It does not sound like a lot, but that is 5mm, maybe enough to rub a strut or spring when the wheel is cranked.

Now I am also thinking whether I would really want to run the Hoosier with stock camber, especially on a staggered setup where you can't rotate front to back...

B-

 

I am assuming this is for pure track use, yes? If so, R6's are a fantastic tire. Don't last long at all, but phenomenal grip.

 

This. It is easy to go through a set in a weekend if you're aggressive. And you are going to cord the outer edges FAST with the stock camber. I shudder to think what a set of 19" R6s cost.

 

2nd that on stock camber. Wow these cars will eat tires on a road course unless you get some camber dialed in (I'm somewhat used to the opposite side of this problem, eating street tires on street miles with too much camber).

Just picked up a set of the Continental Challenge spec tires to try, each have 3 practice sessions on them + 1 heat cycle, so we'll see how many more cycles they survive under my car and driving style.

 

So, is there a good setting somewhere in the middle to help at the track without eating tires and making it less streetable?

 

Adjustable caster-camber plates and dedicated track wheels/tires are what you need. I start at -2 deg. camber on the track and go from there. Depends on your driving style, the track, the tires, etc. - there just is no single answer. Suspension setup is pure voodoo :-)

 

Thanks for the responses.

Yes, most definitely dedicated track tires!

The R6's are actually hundreds less than the PZero Corsa's, but they probably would not last as long.

The issue with adjusting camber back and forth is that you usually need to adjust toe at the same time.

There is not really a happy medium between a track and street setup. Beyond a degree you will prematurely wear the inside of a street tire, especially a soft one.

I believe the Continental tire used in Grand Am is actually made by....Hoosier.

Please post any other track tire experiences or ideas, especially LS owners with the R compound Pirellis.

B-

 

Camber plates are all that is needed. You dial in more camber at the track when you're going to run, then put it back to a street friendly amount before you go home for the day.

All the ones for the 11+ are pretty expensive though. Cheapest one is Maximum Motorsports at like $340.

 

+1 for Maximum Motorsports plates - and they do caster as well :-)

 

I wouldn't get hung up on finding a caster adjustment. Mustang comes with 7+ degrees of caster from the factory so you really don't need any more.

 

All good info thanks, I figured there was no easy answer to that question. I have zero knowledge with this, I know a little bit about a lot of things, an expert on nothing but alignment has always been a mystery for me

 

Don't forget that you also have to change the toe settings after every camber change. Not as easy as the camber change.

 

Exactly, this is a concept that some peeps don't get, and it is hard to adjust toe w/o an alignment rack. The Longacre toe measurement tools can get you close, but you may end up prematurely wearing your tires out due to scrubbing, never mind the potential for darty handling.

A partial solution is to make friends with the manager at your local tire/alignment shop. I go to the same place for race tire mounting, alignments, inspections, etc. and they start giving discounts w/o even asking. I also tip the tech doing the alignment b/c I am pretty **** about it.

Another tip - I also sit in the car while the tech does the alignment so that the suspension is under load. After all, that's when you will be driving it.

 

I've been using the Longacre toe plates for at least 6 or 7 years, and it isn't as hard to set toe as you make it out (especially with a friend helping). Sure the settings won't be as precise as done with a professional on an alignment rack, but you can definitely get close enough to where you won't end up prematurely wearing out your tires do to extreme toe settings (unless you choose to set them at an extreme level, as I do sometimes for autocrossing).

 

I agree, I think you can get set it close enough. The part that's not so easy is to get to the tie-rod ends to make the adjustment. If we were talking about a 4-wheel drive, then pretty easy but not on a Mustang.

 

Cool, that's good to know. Sounds like I need to practice using the toe plates!

 

Definitely. There is a lot of jacking up and trial and error involved, especially at first, but if you record for example, how much each turn or half-turn of the tie rod equals in changing the amount of toe, it can be easier in the future.

I was fortunate with the Mustang, that when I dropped it and installed the camber bolts, it gave me the amount of toe out I wanted for autocrossing, and I didn't have to change my toe settings. On some cars I've had, increasing the negative camber gave me toe in, instead of toe out like on the Mustang. It will be even easier when I install camber plates to switch back and forth between street and autocross settings, by just adjusting the camber plates at the top. Unfortunately I don't want that much toe out when I run track days (but I still want as much negative camber as I can get), so I will have to adjust toe at the tie rod ends for track days.

FWIW on the Hoosiers, I've had 3 or 4 sets over the years, mostly the autocross compound, but at least one set of the roadrace compound, and I wouldn't use them except for competition where every tenth counts. Way too expensive and short-lived for just running track days. I love the grip though.

 

I have this exact setup on 302S wheels. 19 x 9 and 19 x 10 with machined face. I was surprised the 19" R6s are not much more than the 18s......which is like saying the caviar isn't much more expensive than lobster I have yet to run them but will try to run them in a couple weeks at Brainerd. I'm waiting for my lap timer to come back from repair in Italy (don't ask ) so if I don't have it, I'll just run my Nittos. I'd like to know if they actually make a difference in my lap times before burning them up.