Re: Best wheel/tire combo for the track? (archive)

My M5 is exclusively a track car and I have tried several different wheels and tire sizes. Currently I use 17 inch by 7.5 E36 M-Contour wheels for street driving and as a set of rain tires at the track. I use 225/45 17 inch Bridgestone RE71's because they are cheap and perform fairly well.

My track wheels are 17 inch by 7.5 Revolution competition wheels (www.revolutionwheels.com). I think that 17 inch wheels work a bit better but you may not notice much difference at the track unless you are really pushing it.

As for R-Compound tires I have used everything. The tire I like least is the Kumho V700 because the M5 seems to wear them out prematurely. The Toyo's definetally last longer than any other R compound except the Yokohama, but other than the Yoko, the Toyo's seem to have the least grip. The Yokohama is the worst tire in terms of grip of the bunch. As for the g-Force R1's, they are no longer made and except for the Hoosiers, were my favorite tire because they had very good grip (hence they don't last as long as the others). Most people that knock the R1's don't like them because the older R1's were better but I haven't used the older ones.

I recently did my first track event with the Hoosiers and have to say that hands down they outperform everything out there. My only concern is how long they will last. Looking at them after I took them off the car, it appears that they will be used up rather quickly. People tell me that they get an entire season or half a season out of tires such as Toyo's and Kumhos but their definition of a half season seems to be 2 or 3 ttrack events whereas my definition is 7 or 8 events. Most of these comments also come from E30 owners whose cars are much lighter and better balanced.

Your best bet is to try the 16 inch wheels first and then go to 17's. Forget about 18's even if you make the modifications you will loose speed due to drag and also scrub off more speed in the corners even though you might have a little bit more grip. I also don't like the staggered approach some E28 owners have taken. Go the same width all around and don't go over 7.5 or 8 inches tops.

Hope this helps!

Jon Kofod
BMWCCA National Capital Chapter
1996 750iL
1995 F355 Challenge
1988 M5

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