I have a set of OEM 18" wheels (06) that I'd like to run r-compounds on this season for auto-x. I'm worried about what sizes will fit. I was hoping to run them on all 4.

I really wanted to run 245/35ZR18 - Ecsta V710's:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes....del=Ecsta+V710

I know these will work in the rears. Will I have any problem running these on the fronts?

If not, what should I run?

 

you can run up to 285's on those rims and not rub - PDX_Racer runs those sizes on the OEM 18" track wheels...it'll take a great tire installer, but it's been done.

 

No problems running those, and locally you might do fairly well. Nationally, you'll need 275 Hoosiers or 285 Kumhos. You need a good tire mounter to get the fronts mounted -- the rears are not really any problem.

 

I've run 245/40/18 on all four corners on stock 06 wheels with no problems. I liked it better than the staggered setup.

 

Cool, so I should be all set then if I get 4x 245/18's

 

Yes. And what's with the avatar of Ballmer?

 

Yes, for motorsports, you should run a "square" setup (same size all the way around). I've tried a 245F/285R setup, and while it works, the fronts are really easy to overheat.

 

HAHA long story, but a few of us take quite a bit of humor out his dancing. It's all over youtube of course.

 

If you run a water bottle on them for hot days does it make difference? The potenza's got the same way, really really greasy.

Theres a certain amount you can avoid, they just get hot, but I am just curious if I run water on them during my non-crew shift if it will make a difference.

 

Since we are a two driver car, I attempt to keep the tire carcass from overheating. That means I start out spraying the tires on the 1st run and until we're done. It does help.

If you are going to run another heat but most run groups will last long enough to cool the tires to ambient temps for the inactive cars.

BTW, some of the STU guys were experimenting last year with iced towels on the tires. It was real messy and their cooler was pretty large. Since Alabama is kind of warm starting in May I was contemplating using them. Has anyone on this board tried it with Kuhmos??

 

I co-drove at Nationals w/ PDX_Racer and we would spray the rims (inner portion) and tire sidewalls...this cooled the tires down super fast - no greasieness during our runs!

 

Yes but the Nationals were pretty cool and tire temps never got into the greasy range. I'm talking about 90+ air temps and who knows what the asphalt is running. That's when we end up using 3 gallons of water in 6 runs. I was wondering if anyone had tried the ice towel treatment.

 

A lot of that was simply to keep the brake heat from transferring into the wheels and then into the air inside the tires -- and heating the carcass from the inside. I've been doing this (sidewalls and wheels) for quite some time, even in 100+ degree days (but it's a "dry-ish" heat...).

I've never seen the "cold towel" treatment, but we get some warm days up here in the PNW. I'd think that ice water in the sprayer might work well unless the humidity is pretty high.

Oh, and we were spraying tires from the first run, we didn't really "catch up" until the third run by spraying the tires almost every minute. The second runs were "interesting..."