Which 205/50/15 semi slicks?

rossint · Postby **rossint** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 4:05 am

R888's are a much better all round tyre, what tread pattern the NT01 has wears away pretty leaving just the 2 grooves running around the tyre. I've dríven my car in pretty heavy rain on the road on NT01's and never had a problem but you have to be careful. On the track they're fine with a damp track but as has been said no good with standing water. The question of legality is a good one though.

deviant · Postby **deviant** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 9:22 pm

Found some pictures of what happens to an S-Spec on track that has been overheated and appear to have been run with an aggressive alignment:

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 9:45 pm

So, if I get a second set of wheels for the road, what size track tyres/wheels can I fit in the car?

I seem to remember it's take out the passenger seat, one wheel sideways behind where the seat was and two lengthwise where the seat was, plus one in the boot.

Can anyone confirm this works with 205/50s s and/or with 225/45s?

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 9:56 pm

Get a towbar...... :wink:

...... or a roll-bar......

..... or use the boot! :mrgreen:

Trackphotos · Postby **Trackphotos** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:06 pm

davekmoore wrote:So, if I get a second set of wheels for the road, what size track tyres/wheels can I fit in the car?

I seem to remember it's take out the passenger seat, one wheel sideways behind where the seat was and two lengthwise where the seat was, plus one in the boot.

Can anyone confirm this works with 205/50s s and/or with 225/45s?

Can confirm it's possible with 15x8s, 205/50/15s in my NB, just barely. Would need to get a pair of 10L fuel cans to put in the footwell rather than my single 20L.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:15 pm

Thanks for the great pics. Is there anything a little more, erm, stealthy at all?

deviant · Postby **deviant** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:18 pm

Just buy R888's and be done with it :lol:

Trackphotos · Postby **Trackphotos** » Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:46 pm

Although I did go to the effort of testing to see if I could fit them in the car, I don't bother with my NT01s. Drive on them to the track, not worried about wear. Road driving wear will be nothing compared to the damage you'd do in a day on track, and I don't believe anyone who says you waste heat cycles on the road. They'd be lucky to break 45 degrees, Nitto's suggested temperature range is 60-105c, optimal temp 93c. I was trying to get mine around 29psi hot at Lakeside last Monday, and never got over 70C on return to the pits, never getting below 30psi hot even with bleeding. Granted I only got 3 and a half sessions in before I ended my day sideways at 100kmh, but the point is that it takes a lot of hard driving to get them properly hot.

I wouldn't bother swapping them on at the track until they're too bald to drive on the road to the track.

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 12:17 am

Trackphotos wrote:Although I did go to the effort of testing to see if I could fit them in the car, I don't bother with my NT01s. Drive on them to the track, not worried about wear. Road driving wear will be nothing compared to the damage you'd do in a day on track, and I don't believe anyone who says you waste heat cycles on the road. They'd be lucky to break 45 degrees, Nitto's suggested temperature range is 60-105c, optimal temp 93c. I was trying to get mine around 29psi hot at Lakeside last Monday, and never got over 70C on return to the pits, never getting below 30psi hot even with bleeding. Granted I only got 3 and a half sessions in before I ended my day sideways at 100kmh, but the point is that it takes a lot of hard driving to get them properly hot.

I wouldn't bother swapping them on at the track until they're too bald to drive on the road to the track.

If you do fit them at home though I'd still suggest taking at least 2 extra wheels. Either the extra two that you keep are keeping in rotation or two with street tyres which you can chuck on as fronts for the drive home. I wouldn't want to rely on the kindness of others if I shred a tyre.

I think you're on a good idea getting second a set of wheels, you can get semi's which you can wear out until they are corded and you'll always have a safe set of tyres for the road - Best of both worlds

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 7:09 am

Just be aware that R Specs on the road need a little heat to grip, no heat and they are like ice.

Trackphotos · Postby **Trackphotos** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 8:58 am

Magpie wrote:Just be aware that R Specs on the road need a little heat to grip, no heat and they are like ice.

That's overstating it. Compared to when they're hot yeah, but they're still grippier cold than any road tyres. At least as good as my RSRs were.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 9:04 am

I found that with the FZ201's before the last Time Attack day where the car was covered in frost that they were not very grippy. Not to mention using W5 pads on the front when cold. Again when I have used 888's and DZ03's the same situation. However not with the 595 RSR's, they were a bit better.

Like anything, drive to suit conditions and your choice of, amongst other things tyres/pads.

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 9:46 am

Magpie wrote:I found that with the FZ201's before the last Time Attack day where the car was covered in frost that they were not very grippy. Not to mention using W5 pads on the front when cold. Again when I have used 888's and DZ03's the same situation. However not with the 595 RSR's, they were a bit better.

Like anything, drive to suit conditions and your choice of, amongst other things tyres/pads.

Do you think street tyres would be gripper in the frost?

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 11:24 am

Road tyre compounds are a compromise, just like road suspension hence road tyres will work better at lower temperatures but not at very high temps. R Specs are designed to work in a very narrow temp range.

Even once I got some heat into the tyres they would still break grip if I did not take it easy. As I said drive to suit conditions.

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 3:11 pm

Magpie wrote:Road tyre compounds are a compromise, just like road suspension hence road tyres will work better at lower temperatures but not at very high temps. R Specs are designed to work in a very narrow temp range.

Even once I got some heat into the tyres they would still break grip if I did not take it easy. As I said drive to suit conditions.

Hmm ok, I don't really have any problems with semis in cold weather but I don't have any direct experience with the semis you are talking about either (I run Z221 softs on my Evo and NT01's on my MX5).

IMO they aren't that much worse in the cold on the road than street tyres to the point they are too dangerous to drive to the track and they are way better on the track in the cold once they have heat into them which isn't a long process if you have the right compound/pressures.