911Königin

I need new rubber. What are your thoughts?

Gary R.

By slicks I assume you mean DOT rated tires like Hoosier R6's? I would ask your instructors or current coach(es) what they think but I was on R6's from Day 1 (other than my initial DEs with my new 997S). That's what my mentor wanted when he built me a full race Stock D car to learn in.. so that's what I did. If Hankooks are in your size and you go to DOT race rubber, go with them and save some $$. If your car isn't fully caged with all possible safety improvements, worry about that 1st.

gbuff

test

Coochas

If you are running with PCA there may be restrictions on running "slicks" if you are in an instructed group. Here in NCR/NER I believe you must be solo to run even R-compound tires and certainly slicks unless the car is shared with someone in a higher run group.

J richard

For a drive it to the track good dot rubber, Nitto NTO1 or I really liked the Direzza Star Specs, and not just for the spangly name....

Gary R.

I had 3 of those Direzza's tread bubble badly and one split on my wife's street BMW, Dunlop didn't want to hear about it, never again... never wore one out, just kept replacing them with 50+% tread left!

gbuff

Karen, I'm not sure of your experience level or what you've done, if anything, to your suspension, but if you are in one of the lower run groups I'd stick to streets. There are some really good tires out there right now that you can drive to, on, and home from the track, and if it rains you won't have to worry about changing your slicks out. Also, the relative lack of grip and the way that streets "sing" to you compared to slicks will let you feel and hear when the car is approaching the limit more readily. The aforementioned Direzza StarSpec (NOT the DZ101), the new BFG Rival, Yoko AD08 which has just been updated, and my favorite, the RE11A from Bridgestone are some examples.

YMMV--
Gary

philstireservice

Hoosier R6's are DOT's and not a slick. Hoosier does make a slick, called the Radial Slick. Fast with a lot of grip, but with a short and expensive life.


A better track day tire would be the Toyo R888. Good grip, good life and good in the wet, not too mention can be driven to the track.

JackOlsen

I would do a search on the Toyo R888 before you spend any money on them. They are widely disliked.

If you are driving on the street, the Nitto NT01 or Toyo RA1 are about as sticky as you want to go. Softer, and you'll be throwing away a lot of money every time you bring the tires up to temperature.

But there are a lot of great tires that are slightly down the track-street spectrum from the RA1/NT01. And keep in mind, if you can work on making the car and the driver (and not just the tires) faster, you won't be simply 'buying faster lap times.'

cavlino

+1 on disliking the R888, I used to run RA1's and only got the R888 when I couldn't get RA1's. I never bought another set of Toyo tires after that. Apparently Nitto's are actually Toyo's at least that's what a few folks that sell tires tell me. I didn't buy the Nitto 01's that are on the rims I dove on earlier in the month they came with the wheels I acquired. But anyway I drove on them for about 25 minutes and they performed the way I remember the RA1's would perform which is very well. But as said by a few others if you are still in the steep learning curve you want all the tools you can get and street tires are one of those tools since they speak to you when you are pushing their limits.

JackOlsen

I Googled it. Nitto was founded in 1949, but has been a subsdiary of Toyo since 1979. Toyo Tire & Rubber Co Ltd sells tires under the Toyo and Nitto brand names.

dan212

Be faster than your equipment. Don't put on particular tires just to make you faster.

(Some exceptions apply where street tires are actually holding you back. But you need to know you have reached that limit)

cavlino

Thanks for the confirmation.

IcemanG17

way to open ended question to give an honest answer...

However I raced my old Lemons 928 on the new Dunlop DII (new star spec) last month and was IMPRESSED.....excellent grip over two days racing with minimal wear too

certz

+1 - there are several very good street tires mentioned above. If you are not better than your tires, then going to a DOT slick or other r-comp just means you are going to be going faster when you run out of talent. But, if you really are ready for r-comps then look at Hankook and BFG as well as Hoosiers and don't forget you are about to incur a steeper tire budget.