Help me choose the right tires: Kinda Track Day-ish, but not really

Help me choose the right tires. I posted this yesterday in my 2024 Integra thread and I got some good suggestions, but I wanted to throw this out to a wider audience.

I plan to do some events up at Lime Rock this year. Not regular track days, but not really autocross either. If you're not familiar with the Lime Rock FCP autocross deal, click here:  FCP Euro Proving Grounds at Lime Rock

Basically it's 25 guys, no cones, lots of driving time over several hours. I won't be competing for anything. The goal is just to get to know the car and improve my skills.

Prep will be minimal for the Acura: I'm going to get another set of wheels and tires and probably upgrade the brake pads. That's it, because I'm hoping to use two or three different cars up there this year.

I've lost touch with tire tech, so that's why I'm looking for suggestions. The car came with 235-40-18 Continentals. I'll probably stick with the same size, but the original tires are essentially brand new and they have a 400 treadwear rating, so it doesn't make sense to destroy them on the first day out. I'll probably pick up another set of wheels (stock Civic or Acura 18s, or maybe aftermarket, don't really care) and I plan to run TPMS sensors in them. From what I understand, genuine Acura sensors are only $25 each now, so I will try to use those.

Obviously, I don't need to win any track days here, but I'd like to improve the grip, with a halfway decent lifespan. This car isn't my daily driver, so I'm not too concerned about wet weather performance. I've had the car for about eight months, and I've only put 1,400 miles on it. I plan to use it more this year, but I doubt that it will see 10k miles. I don't plan to trailer the car to Lime Rock (45 miles each way). I'll probably leave the tires on for most of the summer, but I'd also swap the stock tires back on if I take the car on a road trip or two.

Suggestions?

Well if you're looking for "streetable" track tires, the main ones that come to mind (and I don't know if they come in that size, haven't checked) are the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's and the Bridgestone Potenza Races. If you're just looking for typical enduro-style track tires, the Continental ExtremeForces seem pretty good. If you care more about price, then the Maxxis VR1's seem like the ticket.

I've been very happy with my Kumho V730's and the price is good also.

Firestone Firehawk INDY 500.

These are by far my favorite tires. Great on the street and durable on the track.

RT615k +'s have been a winner for me for that last several years. Good tire, most of the grip of its big brother, consistent and wears well.

Question - what happens if it rains at one of these events? Will you still attend, or will you stay home? If you do attend rainy events, do you want one tire that will still work in the wet?

In reply to maschinenbau :

I would stay home.

Not interested in spending a day in the rain. I'm constantly getting wet at work, and don't want to deal with that on my day off.

Continental ExtremeContact Sport and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are the proven recipe for this use case.  Almost as grippy as some 200tw tires, hold up to track use without chunking or wearing too quickly, do well in wet conditions.  About the only thing they don't do well is cold temperatures below freezing.

No one's gonna say Vitour p1? 

I'll show myself out.

Hankook rs4 are inexpensive, are quite grippy (won LOTS of champcar races), and wear like iron compared to the other 200tw tires.

While I would tend to go for an extreme performance tire, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s are closeout priced at $122 right now. That's tempting. Otherwise the Kumho 730 or Falken 615K are both under $200.

I have been happy with the Michelin PS4 for a very similar use case. (If I remember right, the PS4S is the all season and the PS4 is the summer tire) We did a trackcross, a handful of autocrosses, and a hillclimb tour, with no severe wear or chunking and a decent amount of grip. Not going to comment on overall mileage wear, as my car is a heavy AWD that blows through regular tires faster than most cars, too.

Vitour P1 lol

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

While I would tend to go for an extreme performance tire, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s are closeout priced at $122 right now. That's tempting. Otherwise the Kumho 730 or Falken 615K are both under $200.

I really liked the Indy 500s, I had them on the Javelin. Same with the Falken 615K's, I had at least 3 sets of those (and a set of the OG 615s). I had a set of Kuhmos that came apart with less than 500 miles on them that TR replaced. 

Even though you said no wet, I've been pretty satisfied with the Continental ECS for year-round daily (south) and track duty. Even did a track day in the rain recently. PS4 is basically the same type of tire. They are definitely not as fast as 200TW tires, but they last way longer and not crazy expensive either. Just depends on how fast you want to go. 

Lots of good suggestions so far, Hankook RS4s will last ages on track and aren't bad on the street but need some heat in them to get sticky.

Continental ECFs (what I have on my Toyobaru right now) are similar to the RS4s but maybe don't last quite as long and they're expensive, also the tread pattern is pretty minimal, the upside is that they have good cold grip unlike the RS4s so they're also good for autocross.

Continental ECSes are a milder more street-oriented variant with plenty of tread but still decent on track.

Firehawk 500s are on the lower end of the grip spectrum you'd expect for a 200TW tire but they're very streetable, they tend to get a bit melty on track though.

PS4Ses (which I think is the summer variant? Had these on my Toyobaru previously) have great street manners and are decent all-rounders for track and autocross use but they tend to chunk on track days.

I haven't tried RT615K+ myself but I hear they're a good autocross tire that also holds up decently on track.

I'd recommend against Cup 2s if you're doing primarily street. They're a 180tw tire and have immense grip but evaporate quickly. 

It's only been one AutoX day so far, but I've liked the RT660s I put on my turbo NB a couple weeks ago. 

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

While I would tend to go for an extreme performance tire, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s are closeout priced at $122 right now. That's tempting. Otherwise the Kumho 730 or Falken 615K are both under $200.

Where are you seeing them on closeout for that?

In reply to Appleseed :

Tire Rack is showing them for that price in the A-Spec size (235/40-18). However, it does appear not every size is on closeout.

brandonsmash said:

I'd recommend against Cup 2s if you're doing primarily street. They're a 180tw tire and have immense grip but evaporate quickly. 

It's only been one AutoX day so far, but I've liked the RT660s I put on my turbo NB a couple weeks ago. 

The new Sport Cup 2's are 240TW and may be different from the old compound you're referring to.

The PS4 and PS4S are both summer tires, the PS4 replaced the PS3 (and is in the process of being replaced by the PS5, I believe) and the PS4S replaced the PSS (pilot super sport).  PS4S is the faster of the two.

PS4 AS is the all season version.

PS4S is my tire of choice for a daily driver kind of sport sedan (I live in California, so no snow), I have a set on my Audi right now.  Lots of grip, good feel, excellent at rain, and quiet.  That said, how hard are you going to drive it?  A heavy-ish, mostly stock FWD car with limited camber is going to chunk any street tire if you pin it to the grip limit and hold it there, and the Michelins are an expensive tire to do that with.

I'm disappointed that none of you has linked this tremendous resource.  We've tested all these tires, with summary results listed here and links to the individual tests to drill down for more info. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/track-tire-buyers-guide/

Since it's an autocross format, pick something that does not need much warm-up. 

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

I plan to do some events up at Lime Rock this year. Not regular track days, but not really autocross either. If you're not familiar with the Lime Rock FCP autocross deal, click here:  FCP Euro Proving Grounds at Lime Rock

Basically it's 25 guys, no cones, lots of driving time over several hours. I won't be competing for anything. The goal is just to get to know the car and improve my skills.

That sounds amazing.  What's the cost for an event like that?

Appleseed said:

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

While I would tend to go for an extreme performance tire, the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s are closeout priced at $122 right now. That's tempting. Otherwise the Kumho 730 or Falken 615K are both under $200.

Where are you seeing them on closeout for that?

TireRack in the OEM size.

In reply to nderwater :

It's pricey, but you get a lot of seat time for the money.