Went over my RS one last time last night in preparation for Laguna tomorrow and discover a crack on one of my rear Nitto tire!! My rear tires are pretty worn out and I thought I could squeeze in another track event ... I guess wrong. I called at least 5 shops and the earliest I can get it is tomorrow afternoon

I need to find a set of Nitto NT01 315/30/18 near Sacramento area or next to Laguna Seca. Any help is greatly appreciated

 

crack? wth?

have you checked with your local bigO tires? they sell nittos.

 

Oh god, I check with every single tire dealer and no luck. Someone offer me all season winter tire lol ..... HELP!

 

going back to PSC? how did the crack occur?

unfortunately, normal tire shops rarely stock up on rcomps.

 

Tires are getting bald and I think that is why they cracked - likely by running over road debris .... still no luck in finding them. PS2 is going to suck tomorrow

 

Sorry to hear that...
Note to self: "Always do your tech inspection 5-7 days before the event"...

I've had the same issue earlier this year. Installed my track wheels the night before and on close inspection, one tire was "not good enough for me"...
So back to street tires, did the day on PS2...

It makes you work on different stuff: The game I played was to not fight the tires. You end-up being super smooth, like you're driving on eggs. Slower but working on consistency and minimal input.

See you tomorrow!
Rich.

 

Sorry to hear man.. I was a vicitim of my own stupidity today.. Had to pull my rears off to fit an exhaust and found cables showing on the inside of 1 tire.. I was going to go over it all tomorrow for a saturday race.. Luckily i found the tires i need..

 

Yes, it's always good to tech the car couple days before your event. Funny thing is that I inspect the tires and brakes couple days ago and they were fine. I did bed my brakes couple time since then - I may have came across some road debris which gouged my tire. Will see you tomorrow at Laguna Rich

 

get some sleep! )

 

look who is talking lol

will call you when I am at SJ to make sure you are awake

 

It was nice meeting you very briefly today. Sorry I was instructing and driving my sessions. I guess we were on opposite phases ;-)

We passed your wife a few times with my students (Golf GTI and Mini Cooper S). What a beautiful looking car to follow on the track ;-)

Hope to have more time to chat next time around.

 

Hi Rich

It was nice meeting you yesterday eventhough it was brief. Wife and I came by to say bye before we left the track and you were not by your car - likely instructing. I remember the GTI and Cooper S and wife actually did really well yesterday and learn to look ahead to the next turn instead of the deer in the headlight tunnel vision. It was less like work and more fun for her for the first time

Glad you like my RS - it's green color is hard to miss. Hope we can meet again on the track

As you know I decided to run my Nitto despite of the crack on the tire. I inspect the tire closer Thursday night and the crack was not deep and no signs of lift. It's still not confidence inspiring for sure. I check my tires after each session and the crack did not widen - but I found a dear friend uncle screw when I pull off the track into the pit lane after my fourth session. Uncle screw was about 3 inches long and it was stuck in no other tire than the one with the crack! lol

After I found the screw, I decided someone is telling me loud and clear it's time to wrap up the day and limp home. It was a good thing I check my tires after each session ... and glad I did not chose to push my luck further. The weather was great! I actually drove in my T-shirt for the last two sessions. Track was cold and slippery in the morning. I lost count how many spun on the second session in my group. Needless to say I tip toe through the day because of the tire but fun regardless

Kept the screw as a lucky charm ...



I quit early so I don't have to expalin to my son why daddy's car look like this lol

 

That must have been a bummer heading to the track knowing the tires are less than what you want them to be... but you did the absolute right thing pulling out early in spite of there still being time to fling your baby around the track more... its the constant battle of knowing when enough is enough.....

Just out of interest what sort of alignment figures are you running mate? Obviously very different from track to track and depending on driving ability and preference but just interested to know your track set up...

 

Am also already shopping for a set of rims to be used just for the track. Once these are purchased will be looking to get a proper set of rubbers for the track rather than using the Corsa semis (which I do love). Wonder if Nitto's are available in Singapore.... hmmm

 

I recognize that car your boy is standing next to. That's a cool little shop there in Petaluma. A place for me AND my wife! She goes to her side and I go to mine!