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thstone · 12-23-2013, 04:00 PM

As Topless said, unless you have the suspension setup (my Boxster Spec car has -3.5 deg) and the driving skills to make use of an R-compound tire, I'd suggest using a sticky street tire; you'll get more laps out of it and it will be more progressive and give some warning at the limit. Most R-compound tires grip fine right up until they don't, and this tends to happen without much warning.

Furthermore, the Toyo RA-1 is really a rain race tire and as such, it needs to be shaved to 4/32" if you're going to run it in the dry. Yes, this is shaving off HALF of the tread, which means half the life (welcome to the reality of track costs, my friend). If you run them unshaved (full tread depth), they will wiggle, squirm, and slide all over the place until they wear down.

If you're hard over about using a Toyo R-compound tire, then get the R888. It doesn't need to be shaved, has excellent handling characteristics, and you can run it down to the chord without too much drop-off in grip/speed. The most bang for the buck in R-compound tires is the Nitto NT-01; great grip, long lasting, and little drop-off until they are worn to the chord.

To find a great street tire that will work well on the track, do a search for your tire sizes on Tire Rack and then sort by UTQG (upper left box). Look for a tire that has a UTQG less than 240 or so.

I just took a quick look and there are several great tires listed in your stock size: Bridgestone Potenza RE-11, Yokohama Neova AD08, and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2.

Here is a link to that search: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?filtering=true&frontWidth=225/&frontRatio=45&frontDiameter=18&rearWidth=265/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=18&wtpackage=false

12-23-2013, 04:00 PM	#5
thstone Certified Boxster Addict Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 7,669	As Topless said, unless you have the suspension setup (my Boxster Spec car has -3.5 deg) and the driving skills to make use of an R-compound tire, I'd suggest using a sticky street tire; you'll get more laps out of it and it will be more progressive and give some warning at the limit. Most R-compound tires grip fine right up until they don't, and this tends to happen without much warning. Furthermore, the Toyo RA-1 is really a rain race tire and as such, it needs to be shaved to 4/32" if you're going to run it in the dry. Yes, this is shaving off HALF of the tread, which means half the life (welcome to the reality of track costs, my friend). If you run them unshaved (full tread depth), they will wiggle, squirm, and slide all over the place until they wear down. If you're hard over about using a Toyo R-compound tire, then get the R888. It doesn't need to be shaved, has excellent handling characteristics, and you can run it down to the chord without too much drop-off in grip/speed. The most bang for the buck in R-compound tires is the Nitto NT-01; great grip, long lasting, and little drop-off until they are worn to the chord. To find a great street tire that will work well on the track, do a search for your tire sizes on Tire Rack and then sort by UTQG (upper left box). Look for a tire that has a UTQG less than 240 or so. I just took a quick look and there are several great tires listed in your stock size: Bridgestone Potenza RE-11, Yokohama Neova AD08, and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. Here is a link to that search: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?filtering=true&frontWidth=225/&frontRatio=45&frontDiameter=18&rearWidth=265/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=18&wtpackage=false __________________ 1999 996 C2 - sold - bought back - sold for more 1997 Spec Boxster BSR #254 1979 911 SC POC Licensed DE/TT Instructor Last edited by thstone; 12-23-2013 at 04:06 PM.