Can't say about the track but I just replaced some Bridegestone runflats on my wife's BMW 335i (that came on it new) with Dunlop Direzza Star Specs and I immediately felt the difference on the road. I would think they would work quite well on a dual purpose vehicle.

 

How about the Yokohama AD08? It is ranked higher than Star Spec or RE-11 by Tire Rack for dry track rating.

 

(Hi Gary! Missed you at the Glen this year.) Opus, as you were posting, I must have been working on this one. The AD08s have surpassed the Star Specs!!

As far as daily driver/track tires -- I just retired the run flats on my daily-driver 135I and replaced them with Yokohama AD08s. I wanted a tire for daily driving and occasional track use. I took them out near full tread in the Friday at the Track (Summit Point) and was able to lap a bit faster then another instructor in a new M3 on Michelin race slicks.

Sorry forgot to mention, this was a 50 minute session, 78 degree ambient. Obviously full tread, no chunking or blistering.

 

I'd suggest NITTO NT01's they are great for what you are talking about.. ie. mostly track application.

I have the Dunlops on my DD 335i. They are GREAT tires!! But I have no track experience with them to report back?.. But they STICK

 

Thanks, and if Nitto made a tire I could use, I might consider it. But they don't. So my choices are:
1) replace my destroyed Michelin Pilot Sport Cups and hope I don't tear them up driving to/from the track or at the track
2) Bridgestone RE11
3) Dunlop Star Spec
4) Yokohama AD08 (my last choice as of right now)

 

What sizes are you looking for? 225/50 16 and 245/45 16?

BTW don't get too caught up on the tire sizes as printed on the sidewall. Look at the actual specs online. Someones 205 will be as wide as anothers 225.

 

I was choosing between Star Specs, AV08s, RE-11s and PS2s.

As money was tight, I though what the heck, I will try the new kid on the block and went with the Star Specs. They were the first ones put on a car at our local Porsche specialist tire shop. They have been great so far, 1 DE done, mondo grip. Wear is better then I hoped for.

They got greasy just before the cool down lap, but overall they were a good coin toss for me.

 

I've run two DE's with the new NT-05 - They have been great for street tires -

 

I overlooked one thing -- on your car, I would avoid PSCs. I tried them a few years ago and found that they heat-cycled out before the tread wore out. Initially, they will provide more grip then any of the other tires you have on your list; but, when they decide that they don't wish to work any more it will come as a surprise. I learned that this was due in part to the weight of the car. Admittedly your car is heavier since it is a cab; but, it may be on the light side for the PSC.

I suggest that you use the R888s, NT01s, or RA1s. They will all be more consistent over the life of the tire. Perhaps the reason that you are not finding NT01s is that the RA1s were going out of service. It seems that this evolution may be cancelled and the vendors may start producing the RA1/NT01 again because of the demand.

If you want grippy dual purpose tires from Michelin, the Michelin would be the PS2, not the PSC. I have tracked both. I was looking for DD tires for the 135I and after much research, I selected the new AD08s.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/....jsp?ttid=118&

Tirerack's latest review came out, and showed what we all wanted to see: RE-11 vs Star Spec vs Ecsta XS vs AD-08. They did Looks like an awesome new crop of tires any way you cut it! Of course, once again, TireRack goes and does something stupid like ranking extreme performance summer tires by noise and ride comfort. WHY, TIRERACK, WHY??

The Kuhmos look to be just phenomenal dry tires, but they suffer badly in the wet and just don't appear to be practical for a daily driver. But 1.01gs on the skidpad!!! I worry, too, about the AD08's temperature warning that you can destroy them even if they're sitting still if they get colder than 14F.

 

I used a set of RE-01R's for one Auto-X and one Hill Climb last year. Pure **** with no initial grip. I have used them for DE's and they are pretty good, it just takes a little time for them to get sticky. I currently have a set of RE11's that I have Auto-X'd twice. Much better initial grip than RE-01R's and much better turn in. I replaced a set of PS2's with the RE-11's and I fairly pleased. They ran about $300/set cheaper and are nominally faster (.5-.75 second on a 42 second course) in Auto-X. I haven't used them in DE's yet as I want to wear out the RE-01R's first. Turn in on them is not as good as the Michelins but ultimate grip is better and they are far more communicative at the limit than PS2's, they are pretty compliant too. I was looking at the Yoko Advan AD08's and Dunlop Star Specs at the same time and Damon talked me into the RE11's. So far so good...