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The best compromise track tire (meaning can still be driven on the street) available today is the Pirelli Trofeo R. Standard issue on the McLaren P1, 675LT and other track focused super cars. I've run them on my 987 race car and they are very, very good. There is no better dual purpose tire available, but be ready to spend big $ in 997TT sizes.
If you can accommodate a means of transporting your 2nd set of wheels to the track and back, then you can look at the Hoosier R7, Hankook Z214, BFG R1 and other similar tires. These are DOT-legal 'semi slicks', which basically means very sticky R compound rubber with a slick-like tread pattern (or lack thereof). These are dedicated dry track tires, not for use on roads (although still technically legal) nor in the wet.
Before I purchased the track-dedicated 987, I was running the Bridgestone RE-71R's in OEM 997TT sizes on my 997TT. They were good tires for my purposes as a 'newbie'. As someone without much track experience, the RE-71R is a great entry into sticky tires. You're not likely to be pushing these tires to their limit in a 997TT for the first few track days at least - I sure wasn't. They're cheap and should last you a decent amount of sessions / heat cycles provided you're not hammering them.
Here's my track setup, allowing me to run semi-slick R compounds without a truck & trailer combo. I have Michelin PS4 tires on the oem Cayman rims to get me to and from the track, which double as rain duty tires when applicable.
Good feedback and nice setup! This year was my first year with my built 997 turbo on the track. I quickly moved from novice group to advanced group here at Mid OH. I went from stock Pirellis with 20 inch wheels on my first run. I know dumb setup but I was a newbie and didn't know what I was getting into. I then quickly swapped them out for track wheel Forgestar 19 inch setup with the Potenza tires. To your point above, in the run group I'm in and the pace I'm driving, I've exceeded their grip ability. I can probably get another track day or two out of them, but will need to change to one of the ones you recommended. I've heard many strongly recommend the R888Rs or the NT-01s but wasn't aware of the R888R issues. I trailer my car to the track, so have the ability to swap tires/wheels if needed.
Another vote for Nitto NT 01. I've gone through a couple sets and they grip very well in dry. I've also tried Toyo R888R but switched to Nitto after reading about on track failures. The R888R gripped just as good as the NT 01. Neither of these tires will do well in the rain or wet. I would not run street tires on a dry track even when starting out as a novice. More experienced drivers might tell you it's better to start on street tires to better learn the limitations of your vehicle. I disagree.
I agree with your disagreement While the idea of experiencing the limits of adhesion at lower speed is a good one, if the street tires start chunking or otherwise failing or becoming unpredictable because they are not up to track duty, that’s worse. The great thing about NT01 is they have no vices. Durable, predictable, moderately priced, won’t heat cycle out, can be driven to the track, and still plenty fast for most people. Sort of like a spec Miata of tires. The only real downside vs some of the others is that they need to get up to temp to work and don’t have the same absolute grip, so they are not ideal (I.e, fast, the other benefits still apply) for a combo track/autocross tire.
10-25-2018, 12:45 PM
While the idea of experiencing the limits of adhesion at lower speed is a good one, if the street tires start chunking or otherwise failing or becoming unpredictable because they are not up to track duty, that’s worse. The great thing about NT01 is they have no vices. Durable, predictable, moderately priced, won’t heat cycle out, can be driven to the track, and still plenty fast for most people. Sort of like a spec Miata of tires. The only real downside vs some of the others is that they need to get up to temp to work and don’t have the same absolute grip, so they are not ideal (I.e, fast, the other benefits still apply) for a combo track/autocross tire.