[J COOPER]

I'm taking my Mini Cooper around Brands Hatch tomorrow. Can anyone advise me as to the best tyre pressure settings? I've got rid of those awful run-flat tyres and I am now running Michelin Pilots at the front and Yokohama A539s at the rear.

Many thanks.

Jay

[dietcokeplease]

I run at +5 to +7 psi over standard for tracks. Take a footpump and accurate gauge along. At the end of the session only reduce the psi by whatever amount you added over standard as the rest of the excess pressure can be accounted for by the heat from track sessions.

[J COOPER]

ok thanks for that. Can anyone point me in the right direction for one day insurance cover for a trackday?

[Tonyt3]

take everything your told about tyre pressure with a pinch of salt - some swear higher pressure, some say lower - I say start with it as normal and adjust it to suit your style - just make sure it doesnt get tooo high - the heat can add 20lbs quite easily, especially at somewhere like Brands.

Dont forget to get bak to normal pressure before going back out on the road.

[J COOPER]

ok now i'm confused! lol

[dukesantos]

For high speed track running we have always increased our pressure, but not drastically, usually about 4 psi to start. Autocross is a different story and requires a lot of trial and error depending on the tires, course and car setup.

[greyghost2004]

This works for me . Cold settings

front 36
rear 34
cold
205/40/17 toyo ra1

[dietcokeplease]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tonyt3

take everything your told about tyre pressure with a pinch of salt - some swear higher pressure, some say lower - I say start with it as normal and adjust it to suit your style - just make sure it doesnt get tooo high - the heat can add 20lbs quite easily, especially at somewhere like Brands.

Dont forget to get bak to normal pressure before going back out on the road.

Not sure if I agree 100% with you there Tony!

At a place like Brands, the tyre would be subject to quite extreme forces compared to faster tracks like Silverstone or Donington. Therefore running at standard pressures is going to generate excessive heat because the tyre sidewalls will be distorted in the bends. In the wet a softer set up such as standard may be OK.

Most car manufacturers have 2 tyre settings. The first is normally the standard setting of 2 passengers and a small amount of luggage and the second is normally 4/5 passengers and maximum luggage load. They also recommend the second setting if you are planning sustained high speeds over 100mph such as on the autobahn. If you track the car in the dry you should at least maintain the higher setting to prevent excessive heat and the possibly of a blow out.

I've found that when I've used standard settings then the tyre tread blocks start to seperate and there are noticeable cracks from the rubber being pulled apart.

[Penguinracer]

I'm with you Dietcoke!
I was taken to the track by a pro-race driver - he said with road tires you've got be running them at very high pressure on the track to reduce sidewall distortion under extreme cornering loads.

We're running Yokohama Prada Spec 2 s (215/35/18) at around 37 - 38 psi cold - happy to have them in the 42 - 44 psi range hot.

When we ran a tuned Rover SD1 at the track many years ago (Quaife Diff, Toyota Supra g'box, hot 3.5 engine, aftermarket suspension, 4-pot brakes etc) this pro-racer said pumb the tyres up to 42- 44 psi COLD! Admittedly they were 60 profile tyres back then - but the advice holds true.

We're getting even tyre wear across the face. Sidewall distortion is the enemy of the road tyre at track days! I can't understand peole who run their tyres at squidgly low pressures in an effort to increase contact area. It's not just the size of the contact area, but also its SHAPE which counts.

Don't even talk about Formual 1 - they're running nitrogen (which hardly expands at race temperatures) & they rely on their tyres to act as the suspension for their cars which exhibit massive variations in apparent mass during the course of a lap due to the influence of downforce. Hence they run very LOW tyre pressures.

Tim

[roland2003]

Hi guys ,pressure will rise 8-10psi at the front during first session. If you start with recommended pressure on the first session then let out say 6psi out the front and 2psi out the back for the next session (assuming within half an hour) that should suffice. Personally I run 27 cold in the front and 23 cold in the rear. I will let a couple of psi out the front after the first session. I run Toyo R888 205-40-17 and I have just found out that the RECOMMENDED cold pressures from Toyo for a car the weight of the Mini is 23-27 psi (cold) . So I had it right all along.
Check out Toyo Tyre & Rubber Australia Limited
Best Regards Roland GTT

[E74778]

Quote: Originally Posted by roland2003 (original)

Hi guys ,pressure will rise 8-10psi at the front during first session. If you start with recommended pressure on the first session then let out say 6psi out the front and 2psi out the back for the next session (assuming within half an hour) that should suffice. Personally I run 27 cold in the front and 23 cold in the rear. I will let a couple of psi out the front after the first session. I run Toyo R888 205-40-17 and I have just found out that the RECOMMENDED cold pressures from Toyo for a car the weight of the Mini is 23-27 psi (cold) . So I had it right all along.
Check out Toyo Tyre & Rubber Australia Limited
Best Regards Roland GTT

Hi Roland,

I am finally getting rid of the Dunlop 205/45.R17 run flat tyres on our MCSC GTT 230 tomorrow and I am having 205/45/R17 Toyo Proxes T1-R tyres fitted instead (old man and I need the comfort). Could you advise me on the tyre pressures I should run at the front and back, current pressure is 2.2 Bar all round.

Al.

[TimCrighton]

For road or track?

Mid 20's is the ball park - and a couple of PSi higher in the front than the rear probably, but for track use I'd suggest running the pressures level all round as the fronts will generate more heat and therefore increase more in pressure.

[GTT 280]

Quote: Originally Posted by roland2003 (original)

Hi guys ,pressure will rise 8-10psi at the front during first session. If you start with recommended pressure on the first session then let out say 6psi out the front and 2psi out the back for the next session (assuming within half an hour) that should suffice. Personally I run 27 cold in the front and 23 cold in the rear. I will let a couple of psi out the front after the first session. I run Toyo R888 205-40-17 and I have just found out that the RECOMMENDED cold pressures from Toyo for a car the weight of the Mini is 23-27 psi (cold) . So I had it right all along.
Check out Toyo Tyre & Rubber Australia Limited
Best Regards Roland GTT

I guess this goes for the Goodyear GSD3's also, and nearly all non-runflat high performance tyres.

27 or 28 PSI at the front
23 or 24 PSI at the rear

.. i assume this info is correct regarding axel weight and torque settings for wheel bolts:

Axle Weight: Front: 890 kg Rear: 760 kg
Wheel Torques: 120 Nm

Cheers,
K.

[zoooooom]

In the dry I run 25psi front and 40 rear depending on the track, nothing like standard