ngoldrich

On my 996TT I only drove R compound Kuhmos everywhere on the street. I never ran normal street tires. Fortunately I never had a problem. Kuhmos had a lot of tread.

Norm

Bill Gregory

In general racing pads don't work as well on the street as street pads, however, I've used Pagid Oranges for both street and track usage in 4 differerent brake configurations, and they have worked fine on the street. Of course, when cold (which is most of the time on the street), they can squeel like a goosed pig.

M758

Yeah,
MPSC, Yoko A032R, Toyo RA-1, Kumho Victoracers & V700. All of these tires are fine to drive on the street if you have tread depth. I know DE and racers that do this all the time.

For these tires the risk of punctuire is only little more than for a normal road tire. The wear rates are not much on street such that if you just drive to and from the track they are just fine.

Drawbacks are mostly centered around tread depth.

On most of those tires the work great all the way to the cord. So to get the most value from teh tire keep running it till you see cord. Problem is that if you do that how do you get home? If the distance is short and conditions are dry is not that big of a deal. If it rains or you have long haul then it can be.

Thus you may be forced to replace your tire long before the guy that trailers his car or changes tires.

The other obvious downs side is sucks to get a punctiure in a race tire. You can't (should not) fix it and often I will happen at the worst time. I personally hate running uneven tires. IE 3 half worn tires and 1 new one really sucks. Yet this what happens with puncture in one.


Now driving Hoosiers, or Kumho V710's on street is dumb since they are much thinner and have so little tread to start with.

JCP911S

Use steel one for the track.... they will take the abuse and are safer anyway. Alloy nuts can strip the the threads... especially if they are over torqued

BTW if you are worried about the looks of your alloy lugnuts, get one of those soft-lined sockets. A reqular socket (even a good 6-point) will really bung up your alloys after a few uses

911

Right now, the MPSCs are my street tire. So, far it hasn't been a problem driving them on the street, although I don't really drive the car that much (i.e. regular commuting), but will do the weekly beach drives. I've driven to the track twice and it hasn't been a problem. Here in SoCal (well, with the exception of this year), I really don't have to worry about rain.

RSAErick

So, what constitutes a "heat cycle"? Do the tires have to reach a certain temperature to count? Does street use not count as a heat cycle? I assumed that the life of these tires often come down to the number of heat cycles, rather than the tread depth. No?

RJay

Driven Dunlop SSRs to and from the track twice 100 or so miles each way with 5 on track days. Probably had around 500 street miles on them before that. Last time came back in the rain. Only one slight scare with a deep puddle. Might have been just as hariy on street rubber. Could certainly do it a few more times. Biggest irratation is that you pick up a lot of track rubber and the car thumps around on the highway making the trip relatively unpleasant. As stated above, I'd never try it on Hoosiers, but I've done it on Toyos, SSRs and Kumho 700s with no problem, although the 700s would definately be a challenge in the rain.

Hubert

If they're not nearly slick R compounds (kumho v710s, hooisers, et al) you shouldn't have any issue in driving up to an event on the more "streetable" R compounds (eg, RA1, V700, A032R, et al). You should be mindful of your surroundings, however, and if you live in a rainsoaked part of the country, a spare set of wheels/tires should be part of your track to-go kit.

Flying Finn

I'll drive MPSC's to Sebring (about 3 hours drive) and as already said, wear is not an issue.

However liek i.e Terry said, grip is not good when wet. Every time I've driven back from Sebring (and last weekend from Homestead) it has rained and then it is very slippery...

Not when it's slightly wet but when little more, you're aquaplaning all the time so you need to take it very slow. Not a problem but little PITA 'cause you need to drive so slow (if the trip is veryu long).
I'll do it all the time though.

DGaunt

My personal Experience is with Yoko 032R "R" compound tires on qa '76 911S.

After 700 miles of road use, I arrived at Mt. Tremblant with the mold spew '****' still present on the reat tires. For reference, I do not drive the tires hard on the street. It is my feelling that this compound does not get hot enough at street speeds and cornering loads to get 'sticky'.

YRMV.

Brian P

I've used one for several years on my boxster. Never had troubles.

Brian P

I believe this as I'm fairly convinced that the Dunlop SSR's are actually street tires.

stuka

I have many friends who used to do this.... until they got a nail in one of the R tires, and had to sit out on the DE.

Now, all of us pretty much drive to the track in street tires then change them there for this reason.

Heddok

Thanks- by the way, could you post pictures and a description of your trailer hitch?
Brad

Brian P

Alas, I took the hitch off the car, so the best I can do is give you a description of how it worked and show you pictures of it off the car. The hitch was held on primarily with a big bolt that goes into the tow hook hole (behind the license plate) and it was prevented from twisting by putting two bolts in the aluminium bumperettes (behind the black rubber covers). When the trailer ball isn't in, the hitch setup is fairly stealthy.

Oh, and the original makers of the hitch was EVO Motorsports, but I haven't been able to find a picture on their website for quite some time.