General Jack

Getting ready to run at an upcoming event at COTA and I'm looking for a good tire option. I plan to leave on the tires for 2 HPDE events (4 days total) and maybe a trip to the drag strip over the next couple months with limited in-town driving throughout. Not expecting much more life out of them than that - anything else is a bonus.

My current thought is pilot sport cups. Any other recommendations? I have the OEM 5 spoke wheels, car is a stock 2011 997.2 turbo. I've done many HPDEs over the past 8+ years in various cars including a handful in the turbo, but best tires I've run are super sports.

cstyles

Michelin pilot sport cup 2 or Dunlop RE71R are probably the best two street tires with serious track capabilities. The Cup2 is OE on the GT3, GT3RS, GT4, etc... and the RE71R is also OE on the GT4. Similar or equal amounts of grip to the Cup2 but at a lower price point. Anecdotal reports are that the RE71R last longer than the cup2 as well.

Either way, can't go wrong with these two tires. The only way to go better than these are straight R compound tires.

LexVan

Cup 2s are a very good choice. Also see if the Yokohama AD08R is available in your sizes.

bondjockey

512bb

You can not go wrong with Cup 2s. Just be careful if temps ever fall below 40. At around 20 and below, they will crack and will have to be junked if you as much as roll the tire!

But in any temps above that they are awesome tires.

General Jack

Thanks for the replies, good information!

XPC5

RE71Rs have worked well on our car. 4 days of track time, around 1k street miles, and less than 1/2 worn. For a track grip level, the streetability (noise, ride etc) is very good. I was surprised, as quiet as pilot supersports we had used on our cayman, but with even more grip. This is on the stock wheels, stock sizes, but upgraded suspension.

nzskater

Love the Cup 2's and ran them solely for over a year. Now have Cup 2's on track wheels and Pilot Sport 4S on my road wheels.

Nate Tempest

I'd be interested to hear a comparison of those in terms of wet and dry grip. The big thing about the 4S was supposed to be that it added wet grip compared to the PSS without sacrificing dry. (Although obviously dry grip of a Cup 2 should be considerably above both.)

nzskater

Can only talk to the PS4S in the dry and on the road, as haven't driven my car much since putting them on and then only in the dry. I can say that they're much less slippery when cold compared to the Cup 2's, but to be honest it has been nearly two years since I ran PSS so can't really remember what they felt like.

matttheboatman

Here has been my experience with the following tires, quantified various terms:

Streetable track tires:
* Michelin Cup 2s- cost: expensive / grip: excellent / street handling: fair / street rain: poor / wear rate: fair / cold weather: poor
* Dunlop Sport Race Maxx - cost: expensive / grip excellent + / street handling: fair / street rain: poor / wear rate: poor / cold weather: fair
* Bridgestone RE71Rs - cost: reasonable / grip: excellent ++ / street characteristics: ?

Trackable Street tires:
* Continental Conti Force Contact (limited sizes) - cost: moderate / grip: very good / street handling: excellent / street rain: excellent / wear rate: good / cold weather: fair
* Michelin Sport Pilot - cost: expensive / grip: very good / street handling and rain: excellent / cold weather: good

Winner? Depends what you are looking for...

jkfuel

Cup 2s have been great! Be sure to get them before the Springtime when they tend to disappear from inventory.

DaveCarrera4

etchhead

Rambler_13

Another vote here for the RE-71Rs. They are noisier than a normal street performance tire but not enough where it bothered me in daily driving. I remember being kind of a Guinea pig when these first came out a couple years ago as everyone was touting MPSSs for all-arounders at the time but they were on back order forever so I had to try something different and these were just new to the market. I bought them hoping they would be a nice alternative to the Michelins but was astonished with how much more grip they had on the track and was so glad I didn't get the MPSSs. The Cup2s might have more track grip but probably not as daily-able as the RE-71Rs (although I've never had Cup2s so I can't say for sure). I've also tried the MP4Ss and they were ok on the track and improved over the MPSSs on the street. I still prefer the RE-71Rs to the MP4Ss overall. The RE-71Rs looked badass too, they had a very square profile. My indy said he had a hard time getting them on due to the sidewall strength.