What are some of you road course guys using for tires? Now that I have a second set of wheels I would like to get tires just for the track.

 

MPSC s

 

Depends on your track experience. Street tires are more than enough in the beginning, they provide a progressive safety envelope. When you can make 'em scream around every corner then you're ready for R compounds. R compounds are not very forgiving, they will give you practically no warning as they get past their safety envelope. They will just brake loose and you'll spin. Slicks, like Hoosiers, are even worse.
Having said all that, Michelin Sport Cups are excellent as are the Perelli Corsas. But if you really want some grip, there is no substitute for Hoosiers(R6), they're like freakin crack.

 

Hey Doug. I have absolutley zero experience at this point. Thanks for the suggestions. I want to buy a set of tires anyway. Sport cups seem to be very popular. What do you think of the scca events at the dog track? I'm looking into it.

 

If you mean autocross, I wouldn't waste my time, just my .02.
For real track action check out the PCA events up at TWS, you can learn, a heck of a lot from those guys. Also, the Porsche Sport Driving School in Birmingham is awesome, albeit very expensive. Don't waste your money on R compounds just yet, use your street tires in the beginning. But if you must, then I think there are some cheaper alternatives to the Michelins (Toyo, Nitto, Dunlap...).

 

Todd,

If you are going to do it right the first time see if you can get your hands on a set of Hoosier R6's. Heat cycle them properly and you will get a plenty of track time out of them.

 

I'd never, in one million years recommend a new HPDE student to use Hoosiers, or any other DOT slick.

Run on your MPS2s and go learn. They are very forgiving, will "talk" to you long before you get in over your head, and aren't as expensive.

Slicks require lots of experience and will bite you hard if you are inexperienced. They don't "talk to you" like a regular performance tire, and will cause snap oversteer and will also hinder your ability to learn.

Stick with OEM tires at least until you move into the Intermediate/advanced level if you truly want to get fast quicker...

Mike

 

I totally overlooked Todd's post where he says he has zero experience. MPSC's are probably the way to go at this point Todd then step it up to R6's with a little more track time. When you are ready to make the step up let me know and I can point you to a local supplier.

 

You could also try the new Toyo's 888 used in the SCCA World Challenge Series. Do not forget to order them "shaved".

 

Yeah if you order full treaders you might as well be on a regular high performance street tire.

 

My 2c's... Get as many track events as you can under your belt with your next set of street tyres (PS2's are good), take the same care in tyre pressures at the track with them as you would R specs though as you will wear them real quick. When you are ready for grippier rubber you will probably want a second set of wheels to have ones for the track and ones for the street as the track rubber is not fun on the street - noisy. I am happy with my 19's for the street with PS2's and my stock 18 turbo twists for the track with Toyo R888's.

 

Ditto - stick with street tires.

I've watched quite a lot of expensive rubber being wasted on beginner drivers.

I'm intermediate blue-solo/yellow-ish and I'm still on RE01R tires. I'm destroying the tires at this point, but they are incredibly good for what they are.

You're going to wonder how/why drivers in lesser cars with lesser tires are passing you like nothing.

Second TWS, fun track. The Drivers Edge puts on good events there.

 

Just a couple of points...

I agree with everyone above regarding R-compound tires at your skill level. Worse than a waste of money, it will keep you from learning, and make your mistakes come at higher speed and potentially higher cost.

If you are talking about autocross, then R-compound tires are the wrong choice. They are designed to be used hot, and you'll never get them warm enough to work over the time of an autocross. MPSCs have a higher operating temp than R6s - they usually take at lest two laps on a road course before the start to work. This is another reason for a newbie not to use R-compound tires - you have to be able to feel what the tires are doing as they warm up, and this is a skill you don't have yet.

Jon

 

I just ran a full season on Michelin PS2's and wanted to buy R-compound tires for next season but the chief instructor for my region told me to stay on street tires for now. Even though he promoted me from green to blue, he said I would be better off on street tires awhile longer.

 

Here's the other issue... You won't get a full use out of those tires until you can get the suspension dialed in properly and the factory components/ adjusters will simply NOT get you there.

I killed two sets of MPSCs due to not being able to get enough negative camber into the suspension with the OEM tires. You'll know when you're "there" and need to upgrade tires. That's when you'll also need to upgrade suspension components!

Mike