I am going to the track for the 1st time on Sat. I have the 2k1 anmniversary wheels (17") on my car which are very heavy (about 24 lbs w/o tire?). Should I switch to the lighter stock 16" SE rims that came with the car (19.6lbs w/o tire)? The problem is that the 2k1 wheels have the V rated rubber for more grip and the 16" have crappy H rated rubber. Which tires should I run at the track? If I smoke them (16s) b4 I launch, will it heat them up enough to get grip? At how many psi's do you run at? Which tire/rim combo will give me better times? I'll run the car up there at about 1/4 tank of gas with the subs, spare tire, and jack taken out. What tricks do you guys use to prepare???

so many dam questions - sorry about that

 

40lbs for 17" isn't heavy IMO. My 16" Kosei's with shaved rubber are 39lbs. My 17" Borbets are 48lbs.

Anyway I'd suggest the crappy H rated 16". Once you drop the air out they'll grip better.

Reason I say that is I dyno'd last weekend. 15" 42lb had +3tq compared with 16" 39lb combo. The rotational mass thing seemed more important than overall unsprung weight.

 

I agree, go with the 16s and drop the psi down to about 25. Try to burn more gas. I usually have the little gas warning light on by my second run

When you get there, let your car sit for at least 25 minutes with the hood up to cool down. Keep the hood up between runs.

 

I wouldn't suggest you do a burn out, not on street tires. Maybe a quick "scratch". I know that's one of my problems in the past. I usually did a burnout everytime I get ready to race. I thought it would help heat up the tires for better grip, but in fact, it actually gave me no grip.


As far as tire pressure, I think you should play around with it a bit to see if it helps. I'm still trying to find a good psi to race with. Although in my experience, when I left it at 35psi and when I left it at 25psi, there wasn't any difference in my time.