9707vette

Setting up 97 C5 for track only. I can get used 01 GM Z06 wheels for $500.(seems fair, great condition)
1. What is the size of the stock Z06 wheels? Front 17X?, Rear 18X?
2. What is the largest tire that will fit on this wheel?
3. Anyone want to weigh in on the following tires
A.Kuhmo Ecsta V700
B.Kuhmo Ecsta V710
c.Toyo R888
D.Falken RT-615

will be doing coilovers, T1 next month, followed by brakes in the fall.

Remember this is track only - HPDE / TT car

Thanks

bobmoore2

Front 17X9.5, Rear 18X10.5.

Front -275 width is about right. You can go to 285, but it might rub on the inner fender liners at full steering lock.
Rear - 305 is a good fit. 315 is OK, but a little wide for the wheel (the sidewall bulges a little).

A. Kuhmo Ecsta V700 - The best R-compound in this list. Great cornering grip, but they also wear faster than the other ones in this list. Hoosier R6's are also a top-tier R-compound. You'll get endless debates on whether the V700 or R6 is the best.
B. Kuhmo Ecsta V710 - This is an R-compound that you can drive to the track. If your car will be track only, this is too much of a compromise for you.
C.Toyo R888 - A good R-compound. Not as fast as the V700 & R6, but R888's will last longer. They will also put less strain on your hub bearings & other hardware.
D. Falken RT-615 - I've not heard anything about these. Folks on the forum just don't talk about them. As I recall, the tire comparisons in magazines always rate them pretty low.

acrace

I think that bobmoore2 made a typo. The V710 is the faster (and as he points out, the faster wearing) of the two Kumhos listed.

waktasz

v710 is sticky, fairly fast wearing r-compound tire. I use them for autocross in 295/40-17 and 315/35-18 sizes on stock z06 wheels and stock suspension. They don't rub anywhere.

The v700 actually has some sort of tread, and needs to be shaved to use in the dry.

The rt-615 is a high perf street tire, popular with the import scene. I'd rank them up there with the B-stone re01r, Yok ad07 and Dunlop z1 star specs as the top tier of street tires. (these are used a lot in SCCA Street Touring class autocross)
I don't care what anyone says, these are much better performance tires than anything Toyo has ever come up with, save for the RA-1 and possibly their new releases

9707vette

Are you refering to the falkin? They are considerably less expensive than the others. I need to get at least a full season 20+ track days under my belt before I look to tts or alike. If they offer marginally less performance than the others on my list is it a good choice for my 1st non-stock street tire to get more grip while building miles?

I've had guys tell me to jump rite into Hoosiers ( I think R6) immediately.

Any thoughts?

waktasz

For a street tire, the Falken rt-615s are a good choice. They are fairly cheap and also pretty sticky. I think you should decide whether you want to run an r-comp or street tire first, then narrow your choice down from there.

IMO I'd look at the Hankook r-comps in the c50 compound if you are looking to get lots of tire life out of a tire and want to take the jump to r-compounds. I used those for an entire summer as a daily driver, ran 20+ autocross events on them and sold them with about half of their tread left. This was with the treaded z211 though. The new z214 don't have tread, so you can't drive them on the street, but they have the same choice of compounds.

They are not the fastest possible compound out there, but they are cheaper than any Hoosier, and will definitely outlast them.

City Goat

Consider the Nitto 555R2