i have a self imposed tire quandary and looking for suggestions.

i'm running (225/40 & 295/30) pirelli rossos on my stock 18" wheels on my 02 TT and the rears are close to needing replacement. the front+rears have about 5k miles on them, including 10 DE track days. i will hopefully get to 10 more track days before the year is out. i use the car on occasional weekends but a good amount of the miles i put on are driving to and from the track (and on the track).

the easiest option of course is to replace the rears with rossos and be done. however i'm mulling options and this is what i came up with.

A. replace rears with the more affordable sumitomo htr z III with the aim of replacing the fronts eventually with sumitomos as well. would this work or rather would the mismatch be an issue on the track/road? the 295/30/18 sumitomo's have a 24.9" dia.

B. switch to tires (all 4) that would be more fun on the track, still street legal and safe to drive to and from the track (esp. if i run into some rain). i might switch back to the rosso/sumitomo's in winter for whatever minimal driving i do.

for B. above, after reading through a good amount of previous posts here and elsewhere, the options seem to be MPSC, Yokohama neova ad48, Nitto NT-01, Toyo RA1 or Toyo R888. not sure whether the dunlop direzza or hankook v12 would choice here.

your thoughts much appreciated. i would give up some performance to hold on to some $$.

many thanks.

 

I just put sumis all around on my car. I replace the P zeros. All can say so far (only 400 miles on them) is wow. A lot quiter than the P zeros. All four w/road hazzard from tire rack was cheaper than two rear P zeros. Grip so far seems to be the same (haven't really pushed it yet). While driving in Mexico I was at 130 and had no problems. My rears were down to the wear bars. I just held on to the fronts in case of an emergency.

 

I'd likely get all four the same tread. No real reason, my way of thinking... Does anyone know if this is valid?


BTW..I have sumi's (see my supertire plunge thread) and love them....best bang for buck IMHO for the OEM size out there...


JB

 

You definitely want the same tire type front and rear.

MPSC is a track tire. Great for that. If you drive your car to and from the track, and you use MPSC's, you better pray that it doesn't rain. I remember one trip back from Mid-Ohio in the rain going 35 mph on I-70. I trailer the car now.

I have Kumho Ecsta's in stock sizes on my car for the street (MPSC for track). They have 12k miles on them. Fronts look new. Rears look to have another 3-4k on them.

Jon

 

Get a roof rack for carrying dedicated track tires to and from the track and run the Sumi's.

 

I put the Sumi's on also and because they were so cheap (600 for the set) I also bought and installed a Tire Pressure Monitoring System. The TPMS is worth the money.

For the street these tires are great and actually I am very impressed. Quite. I was running Yokohama Advan Neova's which, imo, are close to the best. They grip like hell on the track, so I hope I am not disappointed at the track.

I am headed to the track next week and curious to see how they perform. I am a novice at best. Let you know.

If you start to track the car more than 10 times a year I would do what ttboost suggested and buy dedicated tires.

Also, haven't seen any reviews, but Tire Rack now has Hankook's that fit. They are a little more than the Sumi's

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

 

i recently purchased Yoko Advan AO48. They are a "R" compound tire but have a tread pattern to whisk away water. I have used them on the street and for 3 track days. They have plenty of grip and do not show signs of any excessive wear. This tire works great for me as the car is not a DD, but I do go easy if I am caught out in the rain.

 

I have Kumho Ecstas on my car and for around town they seem great. I have only had them for a month though.

 

many thanks for your suggestions. unfortunately towing a tire trailer or tires on a roof rack isn't an option, well for now anyway. i've just ordered a set of michelin sport cups and look forward to the glen in a couple of weeks. suspect i'll switch to them sumitomo's when i'm done with my track events. incidently there's a good amount of discussion on toyo r888's on the racing & DE forum on rennlist.

 

I still have the P's.... Never went to anything else. Sounds like I am missing something. Only changed them one time so far. I wouldn't mind a tire with less noise on the highway. Can't speak about any kind of track stuff. My track is the cloverleafs on the highway...... My P's allow me stick passengers against the window so I guess I'm good with them...

 

PS2's are quiet. Last a relatively long time when just used on the street. Excellent traction wet or dry.

 

Kumho XS are great unless it is wet, when they are like slicks. Personal experience.

My suggestion is the Yokohama Advan AD08. I haven't tested them yet but the AD07 was 2 secs a lap faster around Sebring than PS2's and the AD08 is a better tire especially in the wet.

Peter

 

post for future use...good info guys, had not thought about the track tires, plan on keeping the Porsche dry so ps2's are not in the game anymore.

 

I have PS2 Great traction on dry, but very slippery on wet

 

sumis are great on the street, rain or shine. they aren't bad on the track. they chunk under heaving braking, and don't grip at the level of mpsc's, but they will teach you to be a better driver as they demand smoothness to work well at the track, where better and more expensive tires let you drive like a clown with no consequenses.