Wow, this car is a handful!

I ran it at the Goldcoast DE event at Homestead raceway last saturday. Running a car I've never tracked, at a track I've never driven on, at night in the rain probably wasn't the smartest idea I've had in a while

With that being said, I really enjoyed it. The car had plenty of pull and the ridiculously high redline really made track work a lot easier. I did manage to get a couple dry sessions in during the daylight and the car was a lot of fun.

My biggest complaints were:

A) the ****e Pirelli tires that came on the car. I got the car with really low mileage so they were probably the original factory tires. Although they were great in the wet, their dry grip was marginal at best and would let go with zero warning. You'd be humming along and then, whoosh... the back was toyko drifting.

B) the car wasn't terribly easy to get in turned in and when you did it took a very precise throttle input to keep the *** end from chasing the front end.

Now, in the car's defense I was warned that the GT3's are hyper sensitive to alignments. And I had not had an alignment done yet despite being told by a handful of knowledgeable people that this is the first thing I should do. Also, I was running Sport Cups on the 996 which were light years better than these pzeros so I'm a little spoiled.

Looking forward to getting out to my home track (Sebring) where I'm a little more comfortable so I can really stretch its legs.

 

oh yes.
VERY sensitive to alignment.
i have it checked every months (i have 40 track days a year). you dont need to be so crazy, but do chk often.

 

Any recommended alignment specs?

Also, have you tried the R888's? I had been running Sport Cups on the last car but the pricing in 19's is off the charts for the michelins.

 

Deputy Dog congrats on the GT3! Since you do a fair amount of track days, why not just go ahead and get some 18's and put some Sport Cups on there just for track work?

 

I run the Toyo R888's and am completely happy. For the price and performance it's game over as far as I'm concern.
Now I will say I do not share the same experience and sentiments as you stated about the Pirelli Corsa's. I switched as you said because of the insane pricing of the Pirelli's and MPSC's.
Oh well one man's opinion.

So sounds like you'll be at Sebring Sept. 18/19?

Ranger

 

Way to go Dog! Alignment is huge on these cars and as Mooty already stated, have it checked often. I tried one set of the Pirelli Corsa systems then went back to the MPSC's after only 1847 miles!! Scary stuff those Pirellis, at least on my roads!!

 

yes, dont get R888
get nitto nt01

 

I went down to 18's on my last car just for the tire options. To be quite honest, I'm still reeling from the purchase of the car so 18's aren't in my future at the moment I will look at 18's at some point. I really like the OZ allegritas for the money. Rock solid and super light!

 

Yes, I plan on being there. Thats the combo gold suncoast event right?


You know, I didn't even look at what type of Pirellis I have on there. They could be pzeros for all I know. Although they were labeled left and right so that would lead me to believe they were corsa systems. Based on how they performed at homestead, I will not buy them again even if they were half price

 

Agreed. A lot of Sebring'ers like the R888's too. May give those a whack. The price is pretty reasonable too. Relatively speaking of course

 

It is my understanding you can't get them in 19's. Is that true?

 

I have been wanting to try the R888s. Question, my rear 18's are 12" wide. I would like to run the 315 R888 but the toyo website recommends a max of 11.5 width. Besides the obvious answer of no dont do it because they dont recommend it, is there a safety or performance issue here?

 

Sounds like they would be a bit stretched to me....

 

I too, found the GT3 almost undrivable on track with stock wheels, tires, and alignement. Scary times. Better tires go a long way to improving things.

 

I went out and looked. It has the stock pzero corsa system tires on there. Gaaahhbaaggee. Maybe they are just too old. I don't know. Plan now is to burn them up and look for better options. I wish the GT3 came with 18's instead of the blingy 19's.