[cozog]

APEX ARC-8 19x10 ET 20 - $1816
Toyo RR 295/30/19 - $1200

I've done the racing thing (https://drivenasa.com/road-racing/ca...tang-challenge) and unfortunately, don't have time for it now. But I still love being on the track, foot matted to the floor, then braking as late as I can into T1. It's my therapy. But there is no trophy, no prize money, not even bragging rights and the end of the day in an HPDE weekend. So I don't care if I'm not "the fastest" guy on track. I just want to have fun and go the fastest I can given the limits of my car set up and my skills.

This set up checks a lot of boxes for me, most of all "cheap", new race tires. At $300ea, nothing else seems to come close. Other sized Toyo's are min. $400-$480. Hoosiers are $500-$600 in various 18"-19" sizes. And used race tires are $200 (unless you get a goo deal somewhere) and are USED. This means you have no idea how they will perform or how long they will last.

The 19" wheels bolt right on. No grinding. No spacers. No replacing studs. Note that the clearance of wheel to strut is about 1/4". Yes, it's super tight, but that is the only downside to this set up and that 1/4" won't change.

The square setup using new "slicks" will allow rotating and flipping on the rim. I'm hoping this will help make these tires last at least 3-4 track weekends, thus reducing my tire budget significantly. I'm giving up 10mm of tire patch (295 vs. 305+), but reducing tire cost by 25%-50%.

I tested a 3mm spacer to get more clearance, but this only gave me 4 threads on the lug bolts which is just not enough. Without the spacer, I had 7 threads to work with, which I think is adequate.The tire size is only off by 2%-3% compared to stock, so the computer has no problems dealing with it.


Suspension is set to -2.5deg camber front and -1.5deg rear.


I ran at Mid-Ohio for 3 solid days. I think about 15 sessions total. 90+deg temps. Tries to keep pressures high (38-40) to preserve tires and it worked well. The little wear indicator dots/holes along the outer edges of the tires are still there. I wasn't taking it light either. I messed around and did a 139.89 on Sat. and I'm leaving a little time on the track. I'm convinced that proper rotating/flipping will get at least 3 and probably 4 track weekends out of 1 set of tires.


This is just my experience and YMMV. But if you're like me, knowing there's no prize money to win and you want to maximize your track budget, I don't think there is a better solution.

[Christian1LE]

This is a great setup for sure, and the car will still be fast. Any money spent above this setup will provide minimal performance gains with the exception of Hoosier A7's.

Great option for people who are trying to drive on a budget. Another good option is getting the OEM SC3's from discount tire. It's about $1400 through there (or used to be anyways). But this option is a bit more expensive and you're going to damage your OEM wheels on track.

[ariZona28]

I'm currently experimenting with 295/30/18 RRs on my C5 Z06. I had just two days on them before our season in AZ ended for the summer. Seemed to work pretty good at 36 psi hot. I'm looking forward to this upcoming season starting in October. It sounds like you're aware of the unique tire mounting and rotation but I figured I post it for other guys if they decide to try these Toyos.

[DaveC113]

Nice setup!

I think if you're willing to replace the front wheels studs and use spacers going 11" width would be good too. Same tire size would be fine. I run 295/35/18 on 12" rims.

[cdrptrks]

Interesting, I guess I'll have to keep these in mind for the future. I'm surprised that the Toyo RRs will last that long considering they start with 3.6/32" tread depth and have a treadwear rating of 40 but let us know how it turns out. The NASA TT classification form does list them with the 300 treadwear tires so you could run more horsepower for a given weight if using them compared to other 200tw or lower tires but Hoosier R7 and A7 seem to be the most popular TT tires at NASA events near me. Ken Hill (who seems very knowledgeable) also says Toyo RRs last a long time and I think he also has a graph comparing them to SC3Rs somewhere in this thread: https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showt...9#post11223699. The lap time gap he sees between them and SC3Rs is similar to the one I see between SC3 and SC3R but I'm less experienced than he is.

So far I've been able to get slightly used takeoff sets of SC3 and SC3R tires for well under $1k each so I didn't consider alternatives but I imagine those will stop being available since Camaro production has ended. If 345/30/19 Toyo RRs will fit in the back of the Camaro then I could run them with 295/30/19s up front on my ZLE wheels but I guess it might increase understeer vs. 305F/325R tires that I'm used to.

Originally Posted by cozog

I ran at Mid-Ohio for 3 solid days. I think about 15 sessions total. 90+deg temps. Tries to keep pressures high (38-40) to preserve tires and it worked well. The little wear indicator dots/holes along the outer edges of the tires are still there. I wasn't taking it light either. I messed around and did a 139.89 on Sat. and I'm leaving a little time on the track. I'm convinced that proper rotating/flipping will get at least 3 and probably 4 track weekends out of 1 set of tires.

I went to Mid-Ohio for the first time last year for 2 days and 1:40.8 was my best lap on SC3 tires in mid 80s weather but that was before the repave so idk if it is a fair comparison to your 1:39.89 lap if the track might be faster now but also your hotter weather probably slowed you down more than me. I only get about 3 track weekends on a set of slightly used SC3s starting around 6/32" tread depth plus about 2k miles of street driving but Chin track weekends offer 6 hours of driving vs. maybe 4 hours for some other organizers so I guess track hours would be a more precise way to measure tire life.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=SuwTa9Tg2XI

I wanted forged wheels for peace of mind while on track so I ended up getting a takeoff set from a wrecked ZLE but I like the Apex 10 spoke design better and the forged versions haven't been outrageously priced during group buys and Black Friday sales. I've bent 2 OEM SS 1LE forged wheels and they were both able to be repaired for about $100 each. 2 of the ZLE wheels were bent when I received them too and they were also repairable. I would have more concern about possible wheel cracking after years of track use and repairs possibly not being doable and/or lasting if the wheels weren't forged.

Some people also like to change sway bar(s) with a square wheel/tire setup to improve the car's handling so you might want to consider that too.