|
i kind of disagree with noel, getting good on street tires does not mean you will be better able to go faster on race tires. race tires can be pushed to 95% and feel comfortable, street tires start feeling inconsistant at about 80% of there max. i had a older corvette that i raced on street tires and switched to race tires with no other changes. the race tires were much faster obviously but i was also able to drive much closer to the max grip of the tires and feel confident. that was the big difference to me, not the added grip. driving ability counts far more than tire grip. i think carrol smith suggested it is wise to learn on a properly set up race car with low horsepower such as a formula ford. the reasoning is that you can focus on driving rather than adapting to the uniquness of a particular car. the skill you learn in getting a fwd production car on street tires does not translate to a well prepped race car. the skills learned on a race car will always translate to a street car and you will know what needs to change on the street car to make it faster on the track. i have been racing production based cars for the past 10 years all in different states of prep, going to skip barber's school and driving there formula cars (admittedly on street tires) was an eye opener and something i should have done years ago.
-matt
|