Congrats Serge on such a long lived and successful thread!

 

I think I've contributed about 2,500 of those views. Keep it going.

 

Thanks for the nice words guys!


Testing new tires

The track season has started and my set of R888's is bald and has seen too many heat cycles. I made the decision to go back to street tires and have selected the same set that paradocs98 has on his new Forgedlines: 255/35-19 and 305/30-19 Yokohama's AD08R. I know the diameter is (slightly) inferior to the OEM specs, but so were my previous R888 sets and it has never been an issue + I'd rather have lower profile tires for the track.

It may seem weird to walk away from r-compound tires, but I have a couple of reason's:
-if you spend any significant amount of time at the track, r-comp tires are a costly choice to save you 1 to 2s per lap (my previous sets could last for about 3 weekends)
-I have read and been told multiple times that you should only move to r-comp once you have a perfect command on the car in all circumstances (= you can drift the car anytime you want without breaking a sweat ). Going to stickier tires makes you faster but you may be missing some of the learning that you would have if you stay longer on street tires. That alone made me feel like going back to street tires this time and re-assess my skills.
-Except for local track days at Road Atlanta, driving to the road on (baldish) r-comps and being away from home without another option in case of rain is far from optimum.

I opted for the AD08R because they are supposedly more track oriented than Michelin PSS (do not become 'greasy' after 15-20 mins and would have broader shoulders/stiffer walls). The PSS's are great tires and I have been very happy with them on the track before but the change in grip through a session -even if not dramatic- is noticeable.

I'll be at Barber MS next week and will report how well the AD08R did on the road and the track.

If I find myself going back r-comp tires eventually, I will have to pick one of the two following solutions:



OR



...I think I prefer the first one

 

Serge- you are an inspiration to us all. I remember back a couple thousand threads, an S4, Golf, Cayman, other 911's etc. Even throughout the track wreck, E36, E46, kids, Tail of the Dragon, you are driving the car the way it was meant to be and Porsche should be sponsoring you. Thanks for keeping this post going!

 

Thanks Kevin. i am just sharing the fun I have with my hobby, enjoying the feedback and new ideas brought up by other forum members. Long life to 6speedonline !!!

 

Ok, this may sound like a stupid question. I am leaning toward these wheels to do track duty with Michelins in the summer AND wear winter tires in the cold months. I don't care about aesthetics so much around the track, but for the several months of cold weather around here I don't want to look nerdy. Do you see any additional "unsightly wheel gap" with the 19" set up compared to your 20's? The measurements on Tire Rack show them to be close, but I am hesitant.

And what size tires did you run?

Thanks!

 

There is a bigger gap with these wheels than with the standard Porsche setup for 19". I am running lower profile tires (35 at the front ant 30 at the rear instead of 40 and 35 recommended by Porsche) because there is no other option for R888s and because I would rather have smaller tire walls for the track anyway.

Here is the overall wheel diameter for the front for instance:
-Porsche setup for 20" rims (245/35-20): 26.75 in - 679.50 mm
-Porsche setup for 19" rims (235/40-19): 26.40 in - 670.60 mm
-My setup with R888 on 19" rims (235/35-19): 25.48 - 647.10 mm

As you can see, the diameter of the wheels on the picture is ~ 0.9 in - 23.5 mm smaller than what you would have with the Porsche recommended tire sizes for 19" rims, hence why my wheel gap is pretty big.

Otherwise, the gap (diameter/2) difference between standard 19 and 20" setups is only ~0.18 in - 4.5 mm which is not a big deal IMHO. In my case, it is ~0.6 in - 16.2mm , which is too much to please the eye (but I do not care about it for the track). For a mixed track/DD use, I would stick to the recommended Porsche size.

Hope this helps

 

^^ This was a great help. Thanks for all the effort!

 

Serge, congratulations on the milestone and this epic thread!
As others have noted, your experiences are inspirational.
Thank you.

Oh, the eye-candy.... You and the car look quite lovely, when did you have the sex change?

Just kidding.

 

991 finally spanking Godzilla

OK, it costs a lot more, it is a Turbo S and we are in the Carrera section, but it felt good to see a 911 leaving Godzilla far behind.


PS: I am no GT-R hater and have a lot of respect for it but I could not resist

 

good to see that all is right in the world again!

Beautiful Blue on that 991TT.

The other thing is that as the laps go on, the GTR gets worse and worse. You're not going to see one lapping all afternoon.......

 

Serge, are you still happy with the AWE exhaust? I'm thinking of getting one soon.

 

Yes, still extremely happy with it. It does not get old. I find myself driving in loud mode at least 50% of the time. It is definitely louder than the PSE but not too loud. Getting lot of thumbs ups vs bad looks when I tried more aggressive options (side muffler bypass etc.). I think it is definitely the best value for money option currently available

The tailpipes are a nice touch too. Thy are bigger/shinier than Porsche's but without looking oversized or sticking out like others. In your case, you could even consider the black diamond tips. They would be a great addition to your 'black & white' theme. Just saying'

 

Sigh...I was hoping you were going to say it has worn out its welcome. I've added it to the cart about ten times now, but haven't pulled the trigger. I'm torn on the black tips. I have the AWE on my S4 and haven't been as big of a fan on the tips. I may just put the factory ones on the AWE.

 

LOL. Not happening anytime soon!
Go ahead and click on 'checkout', you only live once!