iDrive

Also don't forget that they are able to run a light rear bar because of the stiffer spring rates. The combination of spring and bar must be able to put the power down without developing the dreaded inside tire spin.

Dave

2012-LS134

Absolutely. The whole system is linked together. Change any one parameter and it has knock on effects with everything else. Tire pressure, shock stiffness, spring rate, tire camber, tire width, tire side wall stiffness and on and on. In the competitive world of auto racing every little tweak can make the difference between wining and not.

The $43,465 or $48,465 question we are all asking ourselves is how close did Ford actually optimise the suspension system? Sure, it really handles great, we and all the car magazine editors agree. But given the design compromises on the production car such as no camber adjustment, engine overheating, rear axle oil venting do we think Ford has given us a suspension without an understeer bias? Time and experimentation will tell. In the meantime, the Blue koolaid doesn't taste as sweet as it did a few months ago, but it is still very good and with time and a few tweaks it will be awesome.

PTRocks

Well with respect to ride height, they wanted to lower the rear more, but lost grip as a result. Probably because someone felt LCA relocating brackets would have been too expensive to use.

Fenderaddict2

Udersteer? Calling the car a cow rather than a pig in handling?

2012YellowBoss

This is not for the experts.

For the people that want to hit the track for a few HPDE days and have some fun without burning a lot of money I have now hit the track with three sets of tires. This is my impression so far, I am not driving super hard but I do push it as much as I can.

The factory tires are great, stick very well and did not get badly beat up on one track day, six 25 min sessions. They are expensive to replace.

I used a set of Nitto 555's for two track days, while I never felt overly confident with them they held on very well and I had no problems. They took two sessions to heat cycle and after that they ran fine. They show very little wear after both days (11 runs) runs. They also come in most sizes and you can get close to the factory height.

I just finished a run with the Nitto NT05's and for my level they were not that much better (if at all) then the 555's. It took four runs before they were heat cycled enough to steer the car when I wanted it to go. They also have a lot of edge wear for just one day, that may be just my inexperience but like I said this is for the inexperienced drivers. It also felt to me to have more body roll since the sizes are way different then the factory tires. The car in general seems to work much better staying close to factory height.

So for the beginners that will do just a few days for fun, stick with the factory tires if you have the money. Otherwise get a set of 555's or something like them until you learn enough to go out on expensive tires. Start small, save your money, have fun.

5 DOT 0

Great info Scott, I'd like to try the NT05's or 555's on my 19's but they only come in 245/40 and 275/35 sizes. Not sure I want to run skinnier tires at the track. I'll probably go with the Hankook V12's and save the Pirelli'$$$ for the street.

Jza1736

+1, I already have the hankooks. I'm going to get the 302s rims eventually. First track days are 9/12 & 9/13. Hopefully by then

5 DOT 0

You'll have to let me know how they work. My first scheduled track day is 9/24 not including Track Attack on 8/31.

smbstyle

funny you mention that with the NT-05s; the outer edges on mine are pretty much completely rounded off.

Jza1736

If I get them b4 9/12, I will let you know. Otherwise, I'll be using the Pirelli's

2012YellowBoss

Left side
First two front and then rear






Right side front


rear


I don't know if it was just my driving but the wore pretty good for one day at PBIR

CO_VaporGT_09

My NT05s are wearing fairly well, getting nearly no shoulder wear in the rear (starting pressure about 28, hot around 40), and the expected or typical amount in the front (about -2 deg camber, start pressure 31, hot 42 or so).

You have to expect to wear the outside corners, unless you have a great deal of negative camber both front and rear. I need to have my tires swapped on the rims, so I can use the other unused corner now. Which is why the square setup is so nice, especially with a non-asymmetric design tire. Can potentially put the tire on all four corners, though it's more involved with swapping the tire inside/outside.

Depending on the prices for the sizes you're looking for, the upgrade from the Hankoo V12 to the RS-3 might be worth it for greater grip-- about $40 difference in price, half the UTQG. People I've talked to have put the NT05 a bit better than the V12, and the RS-3 is between the NT05 and the NT01 in wear and performance. The RS-3 is just a bit more than the NT05, at least in the 265/35-18 size.

cloud9

Scott, you're wearing the shoulders of your fronts as expected with the factory level of camber. I'm still cording the outside edge of my front tires first, but I've gotten the wear fairly even across the face at negative 2.2 degrees camber. Even though the edges started to cord they were full slicks across the face of the tire so it's pretty close. I'd say at -2.4 or -2.5 it would probably be perfect, but I don't think I'd like the way it will handle on the street so I'm leaving it for now. As for the rears, you should flip them on the rims after 2-3 track days to even the wear. Make sure you check the face for wear patterns. I found I was running too much pressure in the rears and wearing the middle. I started at 33 cold, then 32, so now I'm dropping to 30 this weekend. When hot mine are going up to the low 40s. I'm running the fronts at 32 cold and that seems to be just right for the Nitto 555RIIs. Bottom line, you need c/c plates if you're going to be tracking this much and want your tires to wear more evenly. The other thing you should be doing is rotating them side to side and running them "backwards" to even out the wear. Your left side tires will always wear faster on a clockwise course.

I'm not sure about the Hoosiers but I'll find out this weekend. I think I'll start with cold pressures of 32 front and 30 rear. The Boss is a heavy car for R6s so needs more pressure. I also like the feel of Hoosiers with higher pressure.

I just checked the registrations and we only have 35 cars for the 3 day event. They normally run four run groups with 4 25 minute sessions each day. Due to the low car count we're only running 2 run groups so it'll be 25 minutes on, 5 minute shift change, then back out. It's going to be like an Enduro! I'm not sure two full sets of tires will be enough

JScheier

On the M3 I ran Hankook RS-3s the last several months before selling them. Very good and cost effective tire for track use. Took a day for them to come in (mold release)... but after that they were an excellent choice. I also have run Dunlop Direzza Star Spec and Yokohama Advan AD07 and AD08s. Any of these would be an excellent choice for a track tire with my preferential order as follows:

Yokohama AD08
Yokohama AD07 (discontinued)
Hankook RS-3
Dunlop Direzza Star Spec

Digital_Synapse

Good info in here.