Recommend an inexpensive tire for track/HPDE

I need a new set of tires for an upcoming HPDE with my GTPP. These will be used primarily for track and rarely on the street.

I'd prefer an inexpensive tire. For HPDE I'm not too concerned if I give up some time to a more expensive tire. I've seen good reviews for the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires, but not much discussion about track use.

Does anyone have feedback on using the Firehawk Indy 500s on the track?

What other tires should I look at as an inexpensive track tire?

Those will be fine. Especially as a novice.

I was going to run those on my last car but my buddy who sells a lot of tires told me I probably wouldn't be a fan, considering the tires I normally run.

I ended up with PS91s, which had pretty poor turn in but they did communicate well and they wore like iron. I had to actively work to destroy them in my normal fashion. They were cheaper at the time but that was in a 235 (on my RS).

A lot of non track oriented tires will overheat and wear very quickly on the track. So those bargain $150 tires may not be a bargain for track use.

To maximize tire life be prepared to rotate them between sessions (bring a jack and torque wrench to the track). It helps if you have a square setup so you can rotate front to rear.

^and may feel like garbage under the car thus not inspire confidence and reduce the fun factor

I think the RS4 is a great tire for HPDE and wears pretty damn well for how communicative it is to the driver.

Where are you?
PM if Centex
Ive loaned out a set of heat cycled AS3. They only fit my rear now so they are burn out duty and track loaners now. Lol.

I tracked on Conti DW tires and got within spitting range of arguably cars on slicks at AMP on those days. Learn to drive on the Indy tires if you're a novice. Then step up.

It's HPDE, not a race.

sigintel said:

Where are you?
PM if Centex
Ive loaned out a set of heat cycled AS3. They only fit my rear now so they are burn out duty and track loaners now. Lol.

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Thanks for the offer, unfortunately I'm in the Carolinas.

Has anyone tried Nexen N FERA SUR4G - SIZE: 275/40ZR18 for track use? It is the cheapest extreme summer tire I've come across, but only in this size. It's between the cost of Indys and RS4.

Great tires.

The new Conti's are fairly cheap...compared to MPSS or most of the others. I like the DW and the new ones are supposed to be better. Added bonus is they are daily driver friendly.

lizardman said:

Has anyone tried Nexen N FERA SUR4G - SIZE: 275/40ZR18 for track use? It is the cheapest extreme summer tire I've come across, but only in this size. It's between the cost of Indys and RS4.

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They work fine but wear faster than the RS4. They are closest to the RE71R

lizardman said:

Has anyone tried Nexen N FERA SUR4G - SIZE: 275/40ZR18 for track use? It is the cheapest extreme summer tire I've come across, but only in this size. It's between the cost of Indys and RS4.

Click to expand...

I have a set and they definitely seem to wear faster than the RE71Rs. I'm running them on my EBPP on 9" wide wheels to remain DStreet autocross legal. Cold pressures are 45f/43r to prevent roll over which is working well on the "narrow" wheel. We've used them for one autocross weekend and then the SCCA Targa Southland (which included track days at three tracks in three days), probably 2000 miles total. They look like my RE71Rs did after over a year of two-driver autocrossing.

The RS4 will last MUCH longer than the Nexen (lots of crapcan endurance racing teams seem to love them) but it's also significantly more expensive. The Indy may be tough to beat given the price for a DE tire that will last for a while.

As others have said, the Conti's would be a good choice. I've run 2 sets of the new ExtremeContact Sport. They're relatively inexpensive compared to others in their class and you'll get decent performance and wear with hard driving. And they perform well in the wet.