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      12-25-2022, 01:33 PM   #1
PackPride85
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Drive to track on wheels or change at track?

Do you guys with a set of track wheels swap them out and home and drive to/from track on them or swap them at the track? I'm about 90 minutes from my track and just picked up a set for next season. I have an aluminum jack and plan on taking whatever wheel set I don't drive up there on as a back up either way. It would be a lot less painful to swap them out at home but unsure if I'm degrading the tires going 60 miles each way. Probably looking at 4-6 track days a year doing that so additional 720 miles a year on them.
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      12-25-2022, 02:41 PM   #2
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I’d avoid heat cycling them on the highway needlessly if it was me.
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      12-26-2022, 02:00 PM   #3
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I generally swap wheels at home the day before along with track pads. What tire are you running? That should influence your decision. I use 200tw tires which won’t degrade much on the drive to/from. I also don’t bring a full spare set with me to the track. If you’re using a 40-100tw tire I would probably do the change at the track to minimize wear/heat cycling.
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      12-26-2022, 02:06 PM   #4
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[QUOTE=MannyM5;29674602]I generally swap wheels at home the day before along with track pads. What tire are you running? That should influence your decision. I use 200tw tires which won’t degrade much on the drive to/from. I also don’t bring a full spare set with me to the track. If you’re using a 40-100tw tire I would probably do the change at the track to minimize wear/heat cycling.

Falken RT615K+. They are 200tw.
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      12-26-2022, 03:32 PM   #5
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I would be concerned about picking up a nail on the way to the track.
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      12-26-2022, 04:16 PM   #6
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[QUOTE=PackPride85;29674629]
Quote:
Originally Posted by MannyM5 View Post
I generally swap wheels at home the day before along with track pads. What tire are you running? That should influence your decision. I use 200tw tires which won’t degrade much on the drive to/from. I also don’t bring a full spare set with me to the track. If you’re using a 40-100tw tire I would probably do the change at the track to minimize wear/heat cycling.

Falken RT615K+. They are 200tw.

Those falken’s are a relatively durable, long lasting tire and quite street friendly. You won’t notice much additional wear driving 90min to track days on them. It really comes down to the convenience factor and personal preference. Sure there is also the risk of a nail on the Highway as someone mentioned.
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      12-26-2022, 04:19 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MannyM5 View Post
Those falken’s are a relatively durable, long lasting tire and quite street friendly. You won’t notice much additional wear driving 90min to track days on them. It really comes down to the convenience factor and personal preference. Sure there is also the risk of a nail on the Highway as someone mentioned.
The nail thing doesn’t really bother me as much since I’ve been driving to the track and running on my street ps4s tires anyway.
I guess i could always drive there on then falkens and just keep my oems in the back seat just in case.
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      12-26-2022, 05:12 PM   #8
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[QUOTE=PackPride85;29674629]
Quote:
Originally Posted by MannyM5 View Post
I generally swap wheels at home the day before along with track pads. What tire are you running? That should influence your decision. I use 200tw tires which won’t degrade much on the drive to/from. I also don’t bring a full spare set with me to the track. If you’re using a 40-100tw tire I would probably do the change at the track to minimize wear/heat cycling.

Falken RT615K+. They are 200tw.
For 20+ years I changed my tires trackside (was running DOT R's)

After I stopped chasing times I switched over to 200 wear cheaters, ie. Yoko A052's Re71R's and now the Falken's.



Now I do my pad and rim swap at home then drive up the next day..

I'm an instructor and unless I'm running on a set of track only DOT's I always like the extra time in the AM meeting my student(s) and socializing with others trackside. I also can pack up and leave sooner as well.

Enjoy the M2 on the Falken's!
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      12-26-2022, 05:28 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES View Post
For 20+ years I changed my tires trackside (was running DOT R's)

After I stopped chasing times I switched over to 200 wear cheaters, ie. Yoko A052's Re71R's and now the Falken's.



Now I do my pad and rim swap at home then drive up the next day..

I'm an instructor and unless I'm running on a set of track only DOT's I always like the extra time in the AM meeting my student(s) and socializing with others trackside. I also can pack up and leave sooner as well.

Enjoy the M2 on the Falken's!
Assuming you don’t bring a spare set with you then? Being able to pick up and go after the last session on a Sunday is also nice. I’d rather not have to sit there and let things cool off enough to not risk burning myself doing a wheel swap.
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      12-26-2022, 05:47 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PackPride85 View Post
Assuming you don’t bring a spare set with you then? Being able to pick up and go after the last session on a Sunday is also nice. I’d rather not have to sit there and let things cool off enough to not risk burning myself doing a wheel swap.
I would only bring another set if I was near the end of those tires life.

3 reasons:
More likely to pick up a puncture
Possibly cording one or more before the end of the day
If rain was in the forecast

Changing tires at days end on a hot summer day sucks...

I forgot to mention that I would still drive my car up on the street camber settings. Then once I got there I would move my plates over to the track settings I run...
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      12-26-2022, 06:00 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES View Post
I would only bring another set if I was near the end of those tires life.

3 reasons:
More likely to pick up a puncture
Possibly cording one or more before the end of the day
If rain was in the forecast

Changing tires at days end on a hot summer day sucks...

I forgot to mention that I would still drive my car up on the street camber settings. Then once I got there I would move my plates over to the track settings I run...
Interesting point on the camber plate adjustment. Wouldn’t that also affect your toe settings though?
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      12-26-2022, 06:02 PM   #12
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Rt660 maybe I would think about it, rt615 nah I would even daily the tire.
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      12-27-2022, 06:33 AM   #13
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Swap at the track! Sometimes weather forces you, but also prefer not worrying about something happening or putting any additional wear on the tires.
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      12-27-2022, 08:03 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by PackPride85 View Post
Interesting point on the camber plate adjustment. Wouldn’t that also affect your toe settings though?
Not if you had both settings marked on the plates.

I used to run about 2.0 for the street and 3.0 at the track or auto x. On the street setting I would run zero toe. I didn't care what the toe looked like for track days.
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      12-27-2022, 11:16 AM   #15
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For years, I packed my track wheels/tires on the rear seats and swapped them in the am track side. Between the work to do that and work with students, it all just became too much work for me.

These days I'll only bring an extra set of wheels if I think it's going to pour so that I can swap out NT01s to something better in the rain. Otherwise, I've just driven to/from tracks on NT01s with no issue. I think as someone else mentioned, unless you're running a tire that heat cycles, like a Hoosier or a true slick, performance tires like 200TW or R-compounds should be fine driving to and from the track.
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      12-27-2022, 01:45 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dvas View Post
For years, I packed my track wheels/tires on the rear seats and swapped them in the am track side. Between the work to do that and work with students, it all just became too much work for me.

These days I'll only bring an extra set of wheels if I think it's going to pour so that I can swap out NT01s to something better in the rain. Otherwise, I've just driven to/from tracks on NT01s with no issue. I think as someone else mentioned, unless you're running a tire that heat cycles, like a Hoosier or a true slick, performance tires like 200TW or R-compounds should be fine driving to and from the track.
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      12-28-2022, 07:27 AM   #17
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I’m the odd man out on most things, but I love the idea of a “good to go whenever” car. My M2 is my only car and I drive it almost daily (short commute). Left camber settings where they were and ran the car spring-fall with my Hankook RS4s on. By the end of the season, they were sketchy but still had a few heat cycles left.

Did about 6000 miles and 15 track days last year. Rear tires consistently wore before the fronts

I enjoy driving to the track with my tire pressure gauge and a change of clothes and then driving home. (I would not try this in any of my previous cars)
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      01-17-2023, 06:14 PM   #18
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I daily drive on Hankook RS4s. No tires to swap when you daily 200tw's
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