tyre sizes and opinions

I'm looking to do a good few trackdays next year in the pulsar so I'm giving thought to tyres and wheel sizes now.

As I'm likely to be upgrading the front brakes too I will probably be going for 16" or/and 17" wheels. I'd like a set of slicks and a set of summer tyres and possibly something suitable for wet or damp conditions.

I've ran R888's on other cars and I know these would be great for dry conditions but the prices are now going through the roof. I know it's a contradiction to expect too much from cheaper tyres but what recommendations has anyone got about sizes and types.

I'm currently looking at these as I can find them at reasonable prices
Nankan NS2-R in 215 or 225 45 17
or Toyo R1R in 205 45 16
or T1-R 215 40 17

a set of used 16 or 17" slicks from fleabay should also be possible.

I run the toyo T1R on a 205/45-16 all year round and find them a good all rounder. Done a few sprintdays on them and the tyres were the least of my problems.
One tyre im looking at trying is one of the new Hankook tyres as heard nothing but good things, think it was the ventus v12.

I know NS2R's take a lot to get heat in to them & are no good for road use.

Im running T1R's at the min & don't rate them atall, Side walls feel very week, Going to change them I think

I was running Goodyear Eagle F1's & they were amaizing on the pulsar... But Goodyear have stopped making them in the fast road/sport tyre now & only make them in a eco friendly tyre so probably like plastic gokart wheels

Anyone rate Verdastiens?

if ur used to the r888 it'll be tough to come back to a street compound

toyo r1r - gets greasy after heating up, lets u get away with a lot of overdriving , but probably the best rain tire i've driven
hankook rs3 V2 - great tire, gets better as it heats up
bfg r1 rival - very durable long lasting tire, after a few laps of heat they're good
bstone re11a i have not driven, but i've had a set of re11's and they're great street tires, and good in rain as well

Michi pilot sport 3 suit my fast road and aggressive street racing driving style. Feel very good even after long b road blasts and i know its not the track but when i say b road blasts i mean racing kit cars and sports bikes

So I'm ruling out the T1r's, the ns2's maybe an option
R888 are too expensive so already ruled out

I will check out the prices of the hankook's..

Michi pilot's, someone has deep pockets

Lol i ran budgets on many cars inc the R big mistake. I am not saying you are running cheap stuff

Massive beliver in stopping power and grip over power these days so big spender on rubber. I have alot of 16 inch wheels and tarmac tires which i am yet to try

Can't beat a set of s/h slicks for dry use obviously, they are on another level to 888s but downside is there's so much grip that it's not good for your transmission as I've found on a few occasions

For wet use believe it or not the best tyre I've found and used was Infact a budget Marshall tyre  the grip levels were that good in the wet you hardly knew it was wet if you know what I mean, but if it starts to dry out they are crap as overheat very quickly when pushed hard.
Nanking are a good all rounder but you need to get a bit of heat into them but even in the wet they heat up nicely with a bit of persuasion then there very good

I heard federal rsr's were a budget track tyre,are they any good???

houghy_1 wrote:I heard federal rsr's were a budget track tyre,are they any good???

Yeh ive heard good things about RSR's aswell... Hows things Matt? Any further with your R?

im running rsr's on my tvr, wouldn't say they are budget price though

grip levels don't seem overly good either as the thing kicks and slides all over the place lol

Do 205 or 215, 45 profile tyres fit without rubbing or am I limited to 40 profile with 17" tyres?

Gaz GTiR wrote:

houghy_1 wrote:I heard federal rsr's were a budget track tyre,are they any good???

Yeh ive heard good things about RSR's aswell... Hows things Matt? Any further with your R?

Hiya pal,yeah I'll get there eventually,I've got a few boxes of goodies to bolt on aswell as a forged engine off bob to pick up :-)
The whole shell will get restored one day but for now I just need an R ba v k on the road. So I'm looking late spring ish.

Nice 1, I can imagine your missing it now the amount of time its been of the road, Mine came of the road in july coz the box blew & im already having withdrawal symptoms... Ill have it done for april ready for the good weather.

Have to meet up when its done & go for a drive out & get to some meets

Gaz GTiR wrote:Nice 1, I can imagine your missing it now the amount of time its been of the road, Mine came of the road in july coz the box blew & im already having withdrawal symptoms... Ill have it done for april ready for the good weather.

Have to meet up when its done & go for a drive out & get to some meets

Defo matey