Lightest weight track wheels

Is there a consensus on the best tire size for an 18/19 inch wheel setup for the track?
Depends on if you are running slicks or regular tires. If you call Greg from Greg’s race parts he can tell you because he knows both answers.
I will be using slicks so I have to find out myself. Did you pick what wheels you are tracking with yet?
 
One thing to consider is most manufacturers when stated from a weight that is for the smallest width on that size. When I was looking for wheels one stated from 18 pounds for the 19s but in our width it was 21.3. I would get them to show the wheel on a scale and commit to a weight in writing. For that kind of money they wanna be super light and strong.
 
Never thought to ask that question since the wheels will be a custom size. It will be interesting to see what the weight difference will be compared to other wheels in the same size and width.
 
Is there a consensus on the best tire size for an 18/19 inch wheel setup for the track?
To retain as much of the OEM geometry, I was thinking along the lines of 245/40R19 and 285/35R19 on custom ordered wheels with the same width and offsets as OEM wheels. For the 3.5 liter Emira V6, that would be 8.5x19 ET57 5x114.3 and 10.5x19 ET54 5x114.3 (the rears will be different for the 2 liter i4 Emira).
These tire sizes are available for the Yokohama AD09 and Bridgestone RE-71RS where I live, in addition to some local options like SHIBATIRE R23. Not as many options as the 18 inch, but doable...
 
To retain as much of the OEM geometry, I was thinking along the lines of 245/40R19 and 285/35R19 on custom ordered wheels with the same width and offsets as OEM wheels. For the 3.5 liter Emira V6, that would be 8.5x19 ET57 5x114.3 and 10.5x19 ET54 5x114.3 (the rears will be different for the 2 liter i4 Emira).
These tire sizes are available for the Yokohama AD09 and Bridgestone RE-71RS where I live, in addition to some local options like SHIBATIRE R23. Not as many options as the 18 inch, but doable...

I just replace my tires after 3 days at the track. I'm trying the Continental ExtremeContact Force. They seem decent. I did a track-ish alignment with -1.5 camber. I think the fronts are only -1.3. I'll see if that helps my sidewall wear.

I had a bear getting them installed. The tirerack installer didn't honor the price. He wanted $600 instead.

Do you have a wheel source? What is a good target price? If I brought the tires and wheels in, I'm sure I'd get a better price.
 
Do you have a wheel source?
I was thinking about asking one of the Hong Kong based forum vendors about the wheels. As for tires, I would recommend sourcing them domestically. I don't think Shibatire ships internationally.
 

Interesting video. What he's not taking into account, or at least he didn't say it, is your ability to accelerate (i.e. 0-60) is a function of weight to power ratio, and tire traction. Assuming tire traction is whatever your tires can handle, your weight to power ratio can be improved by reducing weight. This makes it easier for your car to get moving. The extra benefit of unsprung rotating weight allows you to make approximately similar improvements, without having to remove as much static weight. This is where the benefit ratio came from.

It takes power to turn the driving wheels, and get the weight moving. If you make it easier to turn the driving wheels, you can get moving quicker even if the car body weighs the same. You make it easier to turn the driving wheels (unsprung rotating weight) by reducing that weight, which is typically smaller amounts than removing body mass weight. This is the ratio effect. Both will improve your acceleration, but it's typically easier to remove unsprung rotating weight, which also has additional benefits that just removing body weight alone doesn't provide.

In addition to acceleration and braking, there's also the need to control the vertical movement of weight. If you have a 50 lb wheel that suddenly deflects upward, the spring and shock has to manage that, which takes time. If you reduce that weight to 35 lbs for example, the same spring and shock has less mass in motion to control, so it can control it quicker. It's like in baseball where a batter is standing in the on deck circle, swinging 3 bats. He's tuning his muscles to manage that weight, but when he gets up to bat, he only uses one bat, but since his muscles were just tuned to manage 3 times that weight, they can now swing one bat quicker. That same reflex speed works on car suspensions, which is why it's beneficial to reduce wheel and brake rotor weight. There are more benefits than just acceleration and braking.
 

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