You might be able to get by on the $600 if you go with street tires. and they will last a little longer. But once you get addicted to the grip, its hard to go back.

The last set of R compound tires I bought (a month ago) cost me right at $1100 shipped, mounted & balanced. I also got the car aligned but that was $110 extra (my car is too low to easily get it onto the rack). And prices go up with the price of oil. I will grant you that they are Kumho 315-35-17 but the Nittos you would likely use are probably up to around 160-170 each at least...without any shipping etc.

The R compound tires (general statement here, I know there are exceptions) start to go away after about 5 or 6 heat cycles. The racers with good sponsors only use em once (or twice at practice)...but we arent trying to set any records. My Viper buddy pitches his tires after 5 heat cycles, whether or not they have any tread left. My experience has been that I can get about 4 events (4-5, 20 minute sessions=1 event) and I run them righ down to the cords. Some tracks are worse than others. For example, Memphis is really easy on tires.

YMMV

Bock

"Well there's your problem!"

If you want to save money and can handle not setting any track records, then start buying takeoffs for tires. You spent $1100 on new tires. Wouldn't you rather spend $400 on a set that someone else qualified on? They may only last 3 events, instead of 4 - but you're still saving thousands on tires per year!

Toyo RA1s suck ... but they suck for a long time. ! can go a whole season racing on 6 tires.

Rotate the spares into the mix, flip them and pay attention to which tire takes the worst pounding at a specific track.

It takes diligence, but R compounds can last longer than 5 or 6 heat cycles.

Also, tune and practice on scrubs. Save the good stuff for the race.

You might want to consider getting some budget friendly Hooser Grand Am Cup scuffs. They are dirt cheap and last a long time. In fact, you probably won't wear them out before they get old. They are far from being the best performing tire (so I'm told), but for track days who cares. I can't afford to use street tires for what I pay for them ~$250 a set. I even get them mounted by the team that I get them from for $20 / set.

I've have 3 track days on my set (that’s it?) and I really can't see much tread loss, except a little on the corners since I have them squeezed on too small of a rim. Another guy that has gone to the track many more times than I in the last 2 years is still using the same set on his mustang. I'm guessing that he has 8-15 track days on them and they were scuffed when he got them.

If you are competing you might want to pay the extra coin for something better, but for OT I don't see why you'd want to. There are some people that say they suck, which is fine, but they grip better than street tires and cost a lot less. I've never tried anything else, so maybe I'm really "missing it", but I can't see spending 1k on a set of tires for what I do at this point in time.

And they are pretty light. My 275/35/18's weigh 44 lbs mounted on a 20.5 lb wheel

As far as my track day costs go:
$150 3ballsracing.com or waterfordhills.com I haven't tried NASA yet mostly because I'm finding cheaper events and I'm waiting until the car and I are ready for TT.
Gas: $163 driving a car w/o OD getting 15 mpg on 93 octane to and from an event that is 2.5 hours away. MPG w/ tuning will get better, but I was also babying the motor at the last event since it is "off".
Brake pads: $180/5 I must be babying these things b/c I have 5 events plus street miles on XP8's and they are still half there. C5 rotors are holding up fine so far.
Tires: cheap, see above
Food: $6 one meal. 3balls gets pizza for lunch
Hotel: none
Incidentals: who the heck knows. $112 for a WBO2 sensor this last time.

Ok heres a good change to the thread. You are getting hooser grand am scuffs, which are 18". How about 274/40/17's (that what I run on stock 2000 SS wheels now) I have upgraded to 18" rims for the street but ASSuMEd that the 17" rims would cost me less for open track tires.

so here are some ?'s

1) where/ how did you find your source?
2) does any series run 17" tires that can be gotten for cheap?

I'd love to find someone to beg used tires from, that is one of (but not the most) expensive parts of the budget.

I get mine from Dean Martin at Rehagen Racing. I can get you his email address tonight. If you can find a local source you won't have to pay for shipping which will be roughly $25/tire.

They used 17's on their older mustang. I'm not sure if they still use them or not, but he charged more for 17's since there was more demand for them. The 18's were cheaper.

I have them squeezed onto a 9.5" rim now but they call for a 10-10.5. I have 10.5" Z06 wheels in the basement waiting for tires.