The Hankook R-S4s I've been using for track days are a few years old and don't seem to have much grip. After a ton of reading and talking to other Cayman drivers I finally overcame my analysis paralysis ordered a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 in 245/40/18 and 275/40/18. They seem to have the best combination of grip, consistency, and wear of the 200TW group. We'll see.

 

I've yet to try the Supercar 3 but have been pleased with the Falken RT660. Pretty close to RE-71R.

 

The SC3 are supposed to have a slightly slower peak lap but be more consistent over a session.

I've seen a few RT-660 with delamination issues. I was at a track day a couple weeks ago and someone had the tread on all four tires start to split at the seam. There have been a couple threads about it on Grassroots Motorsport's forum.

 

The delamination issues are from people not heat-cycling the tires.

 

Well that sucks. Hasn't happened for me. Would this be covered under a warranty? I bought them from TireRack.

Not super important why... what's more relevant is this tire has to compete with other tires in its category, which AFAIK don't all have this issue.

 

This person was able to get a credit (not 100%) from TR.

I agree. I'd rather not have to worry about it. I'm not competing so that last .5 seconds isn't as important to me as it is to others.

 

Heat cycling track tires is an important step, just like bedding in brakes. The Falkens do seem to be sensitive to this, but I'm happy with mine.

 

I agree that it's important. I ordered the last set of Nankang AR-1s for my GTI pre-heat cycled. For now I'd rather just use a tire that's more resilient. The great thing about the tire market today is that there are tons of choices and none of them bad. They just have a different balance of pace, longevity, heat tolerance, etc. Pick your poison.

 

I changed the oil on my Cayman (and 3 other vehicles) yesterday and had a few thoughts:

1. The canister style oil filter is a PITA. It's nearly impossible to get it out without making a huge mess. I think I'll be ordering LN Engineering's spin on oil filter adapter before the next oil change.
2. I put 7k miles on this oil and it didn't look good. I'll be dropping down to 5k miles for the oil change interval and see how it looks.
3. I knew my tires we're getting old and I thought I had been keeping an eye on them but the rears are shot. The inner third is bald and the outer third have maybe 1/32"-2/32" of tread left.

I ordered a set of Michelin PS4S in 235/35/19 and 265/35/19 from Tire Rack last night. They should be here tomorrow. I'll be curious to see if they ride any better or are any quieter than the 5 year old PSS on it now.

 

the vulcanization process itself, in part, involves subjecting tire material to heat. so not too surprising if a procedural process involving initial use would have an effect on longevity.

 

When removing the canister oil filter housing I found removing it with a gallon Ziploc bag over it to be fairly mess free.

I used to use the LN Engineering spin on filter and it was pretty much just as messy if not more than the OEM housing since oil collects in the volume of the adapter and leaks around the oil filter canister when removing it. It's probably not a valid concern but I stopped using the adapter with my 987.2 because I was uncomfortable with the fact that the recommended oil filter is the same as the OEM filter for my Fiesta ST.... Also wasn't comfortable with possibly introducing metal shavings from the metal canister threads that I noticed floating around when filling the filter with fresh oil during an oil change. I used the recommended NAPA Wix filter. I believe implementation on the 987.1 is different, the recommended filter for that adapter is much larger.

 

A while back I was thinking that I wish there was a good place to store a quart of oil in the Cayman without it sliding around the frunk or trunk. Today I stumbled on this Porsche Mobile 1 Oil Bag at Suncoast:

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/PKM1OB.html



It has velcro strips on the back so it will stick to the inside of the frunk.

 

Nice find... and not too expensive either

 

I got the PS4S installed yesterday at America's Tire. I got home and realized that the nice aluminum valve stem caps that were on the wheels were replaced with new plastic caps. WTF? This is the second time they've done this to me. I went back and, of course, they couldn't find them. They found similar set in their box and gave them to me. I actually like them more but as I was driving home I realized that some other poor schmuck got ripped off too.

Anyhoo, about the tires. I was hoping that they'd be a little quieter and ride a little better. They are a little quieter but they ride a LOT better. They are smoother and feel a bit more flexible. I guess those 6 year old MPSS really were hard as rocks. It's raining tonight so I didn't press them too hard but they feel like they have more traction too.

It's supposed to rain all day today. Sounds like a great day to take a drive to the coast, right?

 

Tires over 5 years old, no matter how they're used or stored, should be tossed away...