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FK8 Anybody running 18’s for track days?

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I’m very much considering getting a set of 18’s as dedicated track wheels. Whilst I love how agile the car is on the factory 20’s there is basically nothing available in track dedicated rubber except for the furiously expensive Cup 2’s which can still roll over at lower pressures. I considered a set of FK2 19’s but again availability of track focused tyres is scarce and expensive.

My aim here is maximum bang for my buck. Tyreleader have a set of Oz super turismo’s in 18x8 ET50 for £1050. A set of Nankang NS2Rs are only £450 in 245/40/18. If I’m not mistaken that gets me fairly close to the factory geometry but means I can save the 20’s for daily driving/wet days. I have no intention of modifying the car any further and I’m not interested in extracting minimum lap times (I’m much to cack handed for that) I just want to have fun during the day without worrying about £200+ a corner tyres overheating and rolling over.

Apologies for the rambling post, I guess my question is what would you do/have done and have I overlooked anything?

P.S. I’ve only used the stock conti’s so far. But I figure with their soft sidewalls PS4S’s have to be worse for rolling right?
 
Loads of guys in the US run 18's it's one of the first things most of them do, it's also got people over there complaining why Honda haven't put 18" wheels on the limited edition since it's advertised as more track focused?
Almost everyone agrees the 20" wheels like you say are not really good for the track
 
Loads of guys in the US run 18's it's one of the first things most of them do, it's also got people over there complaining why Honda haven't put 18" wheels on the limited edition since it's advertised as more track focused?
Almost everyone agrees the 20" wheels like you say are not really good for the track

Why are 20” no good for track, roll over? My only concern with going smaller is that it encloses the brakes which overheat. I’m looking to change mine to shave a kg or two!


James, Arcam on here did multiple track days on the MPS4s and rated the highly for wear and general performance over Contis.
 
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its not that the 20" perform badly, its the limited option for track tires and the price for 20" the market has a lot more options for 18" (from what ive been reading)
 
Why are 20” no good for track, roll over? My only concern with going smaller is that it encloses the brakes which overheat. I’m looking to change mine to shave a kg or two!


James, Arcam on here did multiple track days on the MPS4s and rated the highly for wear and general performance over Contis.

Yeah Mick R hit the nail on the head, it’s tyre cost and availability. I love the way the car drives on the 20’s but as far as I can tell the Cup 2 is the only track focused tire available in the standard 245/30 size. GT3 on here had them roll over which isn’t ideal at £1k a set.

Saying that I’m leaning towards giving both the Cup 2 and PS4S a go before I get another set of wheels. I’ll pull the pins from the strut towers and get as much camber as the stock setup allows and keep a close eye on pressures and see how it goes.
 
ran cup2 on oem 19s on my fk2 - thats really the minimum tyre. didnt see any rollover issues and they faired far better than ps4s's. i'd say a max of 2 days for the outter edge of ps4s's before you've killed 'em. cup2's didnt show any problem on outter edge.
cup2's also not an all-year tyre. they really struggle (worse than csc6) in cold (<10c) & wet.
i'm trying ar1's on 18" tomorrow at donington. looks to be cool and likely damp/wet at times so see how it goes.
 
Just ordered a set of Cup 2’s so I’ll see how they get on. Did you go for a 9.5J wheel and a 265 tyre Veehexx? Do let us know how you get on.

Fan, TD’s have been running since the 1st. I have Donington booked on the 13th Jul.
 
yeah, Donington opened up on 1st june, Javelin ran events from 2nd i believe.

AR1's were phenomenal. nothing but praise from me there and i actually felt like the weak point in the car. very noisy on the road and don't grip well in the damp but that's to be expected for semi's. different league than cup2's. assuming they wear as well as they have done (still over 4mm on 5mm new, on all 4 tyres) i should see 5-6 days on them if i rotate 'em so the best is on the outer front corner.

i'm on 8.5x18's, 235/40r18. nankang said 235's on 8.5 which is nice, since it's a pretty common size in 18". ar1's are wide so don't look undersized on the wheels. Tyres from driftworks which is the cheapest i could find at £165/ea. i could probably go to 245's but rarer size so more ££.

means i can go back to around £110/ea road tyres and actually have better performance in all conditions.

these 18's are being swapped between winter & track tyres, reserving the 19's for road-only use. just too expensive to run 19's on the track

i did have to call the day early at 2pm though. oil cooler started to leak after lunch so car now off road pending the new bigger oil cooler.
 
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Sounds like 18’s are a no brainer then. I was thinking 9.5j wheel with 265’s but that’s probably overkill on an otherwise standard car. Will use these cups up and then get a set of 8.5j 18’s and 235 AR1s.
 
I have 18" alloys and they were fine. Does not diversely affect the handling. And tyres are a LOT cheaper on that size as well which is a bonus.
Deffo recommend them as a cheaper option. JUst make sure there at least an ET45 profile otherwise they will rub on the arches a bit.
 
Anyone in the UK with 245/40/18 on 18 8.5J ET45?

Just had some Cup2's Fitted on the OE Wheels at 255/35/20 and they're fabulous, but I'm thinking about downsizing the wheels as I've had 3 / 5 buckle even with upsized PS4S.

Hoping that with something like the Cup2 for summer use in 245/40 I should be able to maintain the sharpness, at a lower cost in wheels and tyres whilst also gaining access to a much wider (And cheaper) variety of all season / winter tyres when the weather turns.

That being said, I'm thouroughly enjoying the rediscovered sharpness after the PS4S So I'd rather not make a massive sacrifice in terms of handling - As long as it's still neutral in balance, I'd be happy.
 
Anyone in the UK with 245/40/18 on 18 8.5J ET45?
I have had TeamDynamics pro3 18x8.5 et45 with PS4's 245/40/R18 on since August 2018, there is a slight negative difference in handling from the 20's but the cost of rubber, parking up curbs and pot hole dodging out weighs the small loss in handling.
So definitely not as sharp as the OEM 20" but I have never felt its unsafe and won't be changing back any time soon
 
Anyone in the UK with 245/40/18 on 18 8.5J ET45?

Just had some Cup2's Fitted on the OE Wheels at 255/35/20 and they're fabulous, but I'm thinking about downsizing the wheels as I've had 3 / 5 buckle even with upsized PS4S.

Hoping that with something like the Cup2 for summer use in 245/40 I should be able to maintain the sharpness, at a lower cost in wheels and tyres whilst also gaining access to a much wider (And cheaper) variety of all season / winter tyres when the weather turns.

That being said, I'm thouroughly enjoying the rediscovered sharpness after the PS4S So I'd rather not make a massive sacrifice in terms of handling - As long as it's still neutral in balance, I'd be happy.
I have had Apex EC-7 Anthracite 18 x 8.5 x ET35 with 245x40 Michelins on mine from day 1.
Very happy, no punctures or damaged wheels, after almost 10.000 miles, tyres are less than half worn.
 
This is a great article on running 18's on the FK8:


If you can get a set that are as close to possible to the OEM Scrub then you will be ok.

I ran OZ Superturismo 18x8J on 245/45 Yoko's on the last car and there supplied by OZ as the correct fitment.

You can use this to check how far out the wheel will be:


I am back in the market and doing the same research I di before. Situation is the same, there aren't many wheels that fit the car correctly unless you want to upset the handling or have it adjusted.
 
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