Used Race Tires for Track Days?

The 200tw vs R-comp thread got me thinking.

Has anyone used race take offs for track days?  I'm currently running Yokohama A052's for autox.  I don't think these would be ideal for Track Night in America type events.  

I know there are plenty of cheaper 200tw tires out there but $125 a piece for used slicks is hard to beat especially in the sizes I'm running.

https://usedracingtires.com/collections/in-stock/18

Any downside to this? 

They do wear faster than regular street tyres, so you will have to pay to get new ones mounted more often. And of course, they're not very good in the rain. But aside from that, there aren't too many downsides.

I will say that it does pay to get your car aligned so that you are within (or at least close to) the manufacturer's recommended specs so you can get the most life out of them. A few years back, one of my friends put Continental slicks on his S197 Mustang GT for a DE weekend. The outside shoulders of both fronts were corded by the end of the first day. If he had even the tiniest bit of negative camber up front, he could probably have made them last for a few more days.

What size? There's nothing specifically wrong with it, but I'd bet spending about double that on a set of rs4s would get you more than double the life, plus saving money on tire mounting.

I used to get 2.5 to 3 race weekends from a brand new set of Hoosiers on an ITB VW. The FWD arrangement meant frequent rotation to get that much life from them. Three weekends would represent roughly 135 race speed laps. I'd go through two complete sets of tires in a season. Then I switched to a SpecMiata and our local club championship was based on a spec tire, a Toyo RA1 IIRC. Six tires lasted me two complete seasons, so I was miles ahead on costs by using those instead of dedicated race rubber, 6 Toyos vs 16 Hoosiers, and the Toyos cost less to begin with. If I were to go do track days I'd be looking at 200TW tires.

This is the reason I enjoy running spec miata sized wheels, dirt cheap and plentifull take offs 

79rex said:

This is the reason I enjoy running spec miata sized wheels, dirt cheap and plentifull take offs 

This right here.  All day long, this.

SM-7s are faster than any 200 tw tire on track all other things being equal.  And if you aren't driving to the ragged edge, that extra grip just translates into being safer.  

A few years ago I did a track day with a friend.  Both driving Miatas of roughly similar capability, I was on SM-7s and he was on Toyo Proxes (140 tw, hottest thing around at the time).  I was around 2-3 seconds faster than him around NCM, and he was a better driver than me at the time.

I have  a friend who used nothing else for track days.

Never heard of a problem

I used to do this frequently, but the current crop of 200TW UHP tires is really compelling.  Direzzas last a looong time.  You're kinda banking on the r-comp takeoffs being 'fresh.'  They don't survive winters very well, there's not a whole lot of racing going on currently, and it's spring.  When were they used and how were they stored?

R-comps can look great and be hard as a rock.  

This is exactly why I just bought a couple tire machines for at home. I got a pair of take-off SM-7s for free along with a set of Hoosier H2O rain tires And I turned around and sold the H2Os for $80, and ran the SM7s for two weekends. they probably have about one day left at this point so I will probably sell them for $50 and actually turn the profit on tires. 

That said, if you're paying $200 for a set of used Hoosiers, you'll probably get two to four days out of them, whereas on a brand new Hankook RS4 you can expect seven to eight in my experience. Mostly shoulder wear because FWD is the issue for me. 

I've got a new set of coilovers on the way, so I'll be tuning that stuff with a set of new tires. Don't waste time trying to chase chassis set up issues on used and strangely worn tires. Especially if they didn't come off of your own vehicle.

I mount my own tires so that isn't a factor.  I would be running like a 280/650/18 or something close to it.  18x10.5" wheels.

I don't see me getting a ton of track days in this year so if a set of takeoffs would last 2 or 3 events, I think that is all I'm looking for.  They wouldn't be legal for Time Trials anyway so just something to get seat time without burning through my AutoX tires.

RS-4, enjoy life. Unless you're trying to win HPDE. 

I ran used road race slicks in time trials (Solo 1) and in practice sessions. I figured if I could deal with them turn decent times on used tires then new tires would be a breeze.