I just got some new 19" wheels and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on tires that will be good for both street and track driving. It's been difficult trying to find high performance tires in 19"....and nearly impossible to find a decent prices. So any help would be much appreciated.

Maybe sizes would be helpful? I'm looking to get 245/35/19 and 275/35/19. And it would be good if I could find a set for less than $1000, but I don't know that that's going to be possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

you're best off going with dedicated street tires and then finding a track set of wheels and tires.

i can get you a good deal on some NITTO NT555 for the street.
i can get you some Falken 452s as well.

PM me if you're interested.
i'm local and i can setup a package deal for tires, mount and balance.

-DRU

 

Bridgestone RE01R

They make 245/35/19, though they make 275/30/19 (sorry, didnt have any 275/35). They're pretty agressive. I dont think you'll have any problems with the VDC/ABS at all going with those.

 

I agree with both of these quotes. ^^^^^

 

Stay away from those Nittos...garbo...

 

Damn, seriously? Cause that's what I got. Meechin said he had them on his car and he loved them....gave me a good price, so I went for them. Unfortunately I've been too busy to really try them out and have only done some mild daily driving since I got them.

Ehhh, I figure it's just one set of tires and I can try something new once I wear through them. But hopefully they're no too crappy....why is it that you didn't like them?

 

I ran them in 245/35/19 on some 19x8 wheels on a previous car. Soft sidewalls rolled over in the corners, so they felt like shit. They also sucked in the rain.

 

The RE01Rs are good. I have the FK452s and I LOVE them.

 

There's a wide range of tires that may suite your need.

First, if you're looking for street-able track tires, Nitto NT-01R and Toyo R888s are good choices. If your miles are limited on the street, and the majority of the time you'll be spending on the track, these are great tires that will work well with full tread. Meaning no need to shave them, and no need to worry about rain. They do get hard as hocky pucks when cold, but since you live in what I assume is Sunny California, I wouldn't worry about it. Mixed street and track use, they'll probably last about 10,000-12,000 miles, between 8-12 days of track schools (4 session, 25 min ea) Open lap days and/or time-trial events maybe 6-8 days, full-on club race, probably at least good for 4-6 heat cycles.

Now, if you're driving your car on the weekends mostly, and driving the car to and from events on these tires, and probably do ~80% street miles and ~20% track miles, take a long hard look at Bridgestone RE-01R and Yokohama Advan Neova AD07s. Both are "street tires" that have stick like low-end R-comps. They're about as close to R-comps as street tires will be, and the rate of wear shows it. Don't expect these tires to last much longer than 15,000-18,000 miles driven moderately. You're not going to be "competitive" on these unless it's autocross, so for time-trials, go for R-comps. For DEs and track schools, or just open lapping days, they'll provide plenty of fun. However, these tire may cost as much, if not more, than R-comps.

If you're looking for STREET TIRES and the majority of your miles are racked up on the street, the car's a daily drive, but you want to take it to 4-8 events a year, Michelin Pilot Sports 2, Bridgestone Potenza POLE POSITION RE050A, and Goodyear F1 GS-D3s are good choices that gives you every day comfort, decent performance and life on track, and moderate wear for the street. You can probably easily get 20,000 miles out of these tires with some care. If you're in a DE environment where the "E" stands for "Education," these tires will serve with consitent grip and fair amount of feedback, and they're a lot easier to learn how to drive relatively fast on than R-Comps. I've seen "students" with R-comps that are in our system (BMW CCA Pacific Region) for years that can't progress past a certain level. The really fast drivers all learned how to drive fast on street tires then switch over to R-Comps later in their career.

However, I agree with the other assessment that you should get a set of dedicated track rims for a set of dedicated track tires. If you go to more than 10 events in a year, it'll actually save you money from having to replace your street tires twice a year.

This is all assuming you mean "track" as in road courses, not ovals or drag strips. Also assuming you mean track as road course on racing surface, not the "210 E --> 605 S --> 10 W --> 110 N" public "race course."

 

Thanks for your input....good information! My car is my daily driver and I plan on tracking it some throughout the year, but by no means is it ever going to be a dedicated track car. I already bought a set of tires, so I'm going to try these out for now, and when I need my next set, I'll definitley look into some of the options that you and others have mentioned.

And this comment made me laugh:

I most certainly do NOT mean ovals or drag strips....or freeways. But I've seen people confuse these for the track, so I understand!

 

If you don't mind me asking, which tires did you get? I've used, driven on, and beaten up just about anything under the sun, and can probably give you some tips on what pressure to run them at and how to manage them on track or on auto-cross courses.

 

I got the Nitto NT555's.

 

I don't have any personal experience to relay on the NT555s, but from some anecdotes collected from fellow instructors in the club/org I work with, the feedback isn't the most flattering.

But hey, you may like them. I'm currently on Continental ContiSportContact I (you read that right, first generation Contis) and I for one can't figure out why everyone hates these tires. I had a student ask me if these were R-Comps after a ride, they can't be THAT bad.

These may be very similar to the Toyo T1-Rs in compound, if so, initial tread squirm is what you need to worry about. They (the T1-R) were difficult to drive on at first but once you've put a few thousand miles on them they get stickier. And stickier, as the tires wear down. Initial turn-in is a little vague, so you may want to start out with higher pressure to aide turn-in, especially for auto-cross. That is, if these are anything like the T1-Rs (Toyo's the parent company of Nitto, and they share same compound from time to time but different construct). T1-R seems to like higher than typical pressure (like 40-ish hot instead of 37-38 hot like I typically run on other tires).

 

Dru (Meechin) has them on his car and he said he likes them. I haven't really had a chance to play with them much (been busy, so daily driving only). I saw some mixed reviews on them, but it seemed like it was people either driving Camrys or driving through rain....neither of which seem like ideal conditions. But I'm in hot, sunny socal, so I don't really have to worry about rain....I just need some time to really go play with them (would certainly be preferable to play with them on the track rather than through the canyons....at least for me anyways).

But either way, it's only one set of tires....and if I hate them in 12,000 miles or whatever, I'll get new tires.

Are you an instructor for one of the groups that puts on track days?

 

wet traction does suck with the nitto nt555's. i have them. i've heard good reviews of the falken 452's and T1R. i'm goin to try and go with BFG KDW2's next time since i've had great experiences with them on my bro's car.