Am I crappy?

[T-Bone]

lol----if I plan to solo and do lapping, Must I have r-compound tires? And, I own a 2003 Nissan SE-R V-Spec, am I crappy/slow?
(seeing the types of cars all you guys track)

[Dave]

your car is neither crappy nor slow, and no you do not need r-compounds to do Solo or lapping but they will make you a lot more competitive for Solo and you'll probably enjoy the lapping more too.

[LateApex]

I'm a little surprised at Dave's answer, but everyone has an opinion on this issue.....

Here's another take on it:

If you're new to driving on the track, stay away from R-Compounds for most of your first season. In general they are not forgiving enough for novices, and they will limit how much you learn to "feel" what the car is doing.

Even though you will likely shred some street tires along the way, you will gain an appreciation for the way your car feels (and sounds) at the limit. R-Compounds will not "talk to you" in a way that is meaningful when you're learning.

Anyone else....?

[Dave Barker]

I'm with Dave on this one. You won't want the superfast Hoosiers or likely Kumhos but Toyo RA 1 and Yokohama 032s will give you plenty of noise feedback. Also if you are lapping to any great extent you will overheat your street tires on any of the tracks we run ( with the exception of the Grand Prix track at Mosport which is quite easy on rubber). Also due to the fact that R tires are meant to take these higher temperatures, they will be predictable over a number of laps, something that even a high performance street tire is not likely to be if you are pushing hard. I would really recommend buying some used ugly rims and even used race rubber if you like to save money and don't run your fancy new street tires on the track.

As far as the car goes, the beauty of our car classification system is that virtually all cars are competitive in class. A spec V is not going to run up against a modified ITR. You should also note that over the past 2 years of this performance based classification system the top 10 cars have included completely stock cars ( on race rubber) as well as mild to wildly modified.

BTW the most important place to spend your money is on seat time.

[Dave]

LateApex has a valid point, though I think both Toyo RA-1s and Yok A032Rs are quite "talkative" r-compounds that give plenty of feedback with regards to where the limit is...plus (as Dr. Dave mentions) they'll last much longer since they're designed for track use while street tires really aren't.

Personally, I was nothing but frustrated when I did a weekend of Solo 1 on street tires, plus I chunked a set of very nice (and expensive) street summer tires in the process. My enjoyment of the sport increased hugely when I bought r-compounds, as did my competitiveness. But keep in mind I had a lot of Solo 2 experience before ever doing a Solo 1, so I had already developed a decent "feel" at the limit (though admittedly at lower speeds).

There are definitely differing schools of thought on this, and perhaps for drivers with no experience pushing a car to its limit of adhesion learning on tires with less speed potential than r-compounds would be a good place to start. But I do think doing so for too long will be an excercise in frustration, especially for drivers with good natural feel and talent behind the wheel.

[T-Bone]

Thanks for all the professional advice guys.
I've done a couple of lapping days at the big Mosport track, as well as Shannonville. I ran R compounds on Mosport and street tires at shannonville, r compound is definately the way to go.
My question was do I require R compound tires, but I guess not.

I hope to meet up with all you guys sooner than later, as soon as this shitty winter is done with.

Is there anything else I should be doing/getting ready for lap days and or pilon events???

thanks

[Carguy]

I started lapping on street tires and I wish I'd had r-comps all along. As a novice mistakes are part of the game and r-comps can help you enjoy your track experience despite small mistakes such as braking too late or entering a corner too hot. If (and when) you surprise yourself exiting a corner and lift-throttle you'll be happy to be on r-comps as you'll have a better chance of keeping the car on the track. IMHO loosing traction and recovering teaches you just as much as spinning out - just don't try to recover at all costs - both feet in is sometimes the only way to go. I don't have any experience with the Yoks, but on RA-1s I've found they provide all the feedback you will need. However, I agree with Dr. Dave and support LateApex's argument when it comes to other r-comps such as the Kumhos.

[Dave]

T-Bone, brakes are your friend. If there's one mod you should prioritize above all others for lapping or Solo 1 it's brakes IMO. Street pads will wear out quickly and potentially even disintegrate under the high heat conditions lapping/Solo 1 provide. Dirty brake fluid with a low boiling point (especially the wet boiling point) will cause your brake pedal to go soft or even to the floor in extreme cases. So my advice would be get yourself a good set of track-oriented brake pads and make sure you're running good fresh brake fluid and preferrably a fluid with a high wet boiling point (ie. Castrol SRF, Project mU, Motul, etc). There's nothing more frustrating than going to the track only to have your day cut short because of brake fade (or worse).

Solo 2 (pylon events) doesn't put a lot of stress on the brakes, though a good aggressive set of pads will help here too.

[Rob McAuley]

Although you will learn car control with street tires, you just won't be competitive.

They are great for lapping days and schools, but - as they are a free upgrade in Solo - you need R-Comps to be competitive.

The next best free upgrade is brake pads. You should start with an intermediate pad that you can just leave on the car. When you start to go through a set of pads in a weekend, go to a full race pad (or try one of WPFRI's new 3 way compounds).