Which R-Comps?
 

I've had 20 days at the track this year with my stock '99 Boxster, mostly with the POC but a few days with other orgs as well. Mostly DE's but I am also licensed in time trials. Been running low treadwear street tires all year (Kumho Ecsta XS and Hankook Ventus RS-3). My car has a racing seat, 6-pt harnesses, and the BK roll bar extension and I have a SFI-rated driving suit/shoes/gloves.

I recently bought a spare set of wheels (225/45/17 front and 255/40/17 rear) and would like to move to r-comp tires for track days starting next month (and then upgrade the suspension to PSS9's, etc in the spring). I won't be running in any Boxster spec class (until I get the suspension upgraded) so I don't have to adhere to any particular racing tire make/model.

Typical tracks are: Willow Springs Big track, Streets of Willow, AutoClub Speedway Roval, Pomona road course, Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow, Spring Mountain, etc.

With all of that being said, what would be a well performing and reasonable lasting r-comp tire to try first?

This might be apples-to-oranges because I stick to autocross, but I've been using Nitto NT-01 tires this season, and I'm very pleased. I've got 10 events on them and probably 2000 miles of driving to and from, etc. It looks like the fronts will definitely go another season, and the rears might if I can take a bit of negative camber out.
The performance has been great- this year I scored my first FTD in a PCA event. I've set the car up with just a bit of oversteer, and the tires manage this well. No snap oversteer, no front end push unless I make a braking mistake. Unless I go to Hoosier A6's, I'll get these again.

I second the nt01. Great balance between performance, cost & longevity.

+1 on the Nitto

Yep, NT-01 looks like the best bang for the buck right now. I average around 10 track days on a set and they are good to the last cord. I have been running them since 2009 to good effect.

If your tire budget allows, the Hankook Z214 is a few seconds faster but wears out in about 3-4 track days.

Unanimous recommendations for a tire selection? Wow. This is indeed a rarity on the 986Forum - maybe even a first! :D

I'll get the NT-01's on order. Thank you all for the input. :cheers:

I did my first weekend on the Nitto NT01's with the POC at Willow Springs Big Track. Between the stickier tires and my slow but steady improvement in driving, I was able to take 9 sec's off my lap time from last May and was able to run in the top 2/3's of the Time Trial group ahead of many cars with more horsepower.

The first session I took fairly slow to scrub the tires in and let them start to get some heat. It was a cold day and I didn't want to make the rookie mistake of going out too fast on new, cold tires.

Second session, I sped up and got the tires up to working temp but didn't push too hard and then adjusted pressures after the session to 37F/38R.

By the third session, the car, the tires, and my brain were all sufficiently warmed up so I started pushing hard to chase down a few of the other cars. The tires were incredible, just tons of grip with a little bit of squeal as they were starting to get loose. Very controllable and relatively forgiving if I overcooked going into a corner.

The rest of the weekend went fantastic and the tires look to be in great condition afterwards with wear close to the sidewall arrows.

I'm hooked! :D

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...AfterSmall.jpg

Great to hear, I will put them on my list.

NT01 was designed with track events in mind, really good tire. I was considering it for my track/autox ///Monster this year, but they did not have the size I need.

I will be the one to break the mold.

I run Toyo R888's and Hoosier R6/A6 on both my Boxster and Z06.

Forget about the Hoosiers for now as that is very close to racing slicks. Try the R888's next season and they should grip even better than the NT01's With scrubs (used tires), I can easily get 5-6 track days out of them...double that with new ones.

For those of you who are even more advanced, I ran the Toyos on fronts and Hoosiers on the rear this season on my Boxster 18's (225/275), and this combo was surprisingly neutral with tons of grip and slightest understeer when pushed to the near limits.

The NT01 is a great tire. Currently run them on the boxster and have even logged a few thousand street miles on our BMW wagon. They do tramline like mad on the street.

Hoosiers are much quicker but wear faster and cost more. BFG R1s are in the same boat.

Unfortunately grip costs $$$.

Max

WTF is this!!!!:mad:

Stone how did you make your numbers??

Can you make some for me ....looks great

I have black paint so everything I stick on there causes problems

Thanks for the compliment! I had a friend do the side numbers and I did the hood and rear trunk numbers. The side numbers are a removable decal and stay on the car all of the time. The front/rear numbers are vinyl which are removed after each track weekend.

I'll see my buddy this afternoon (we're going karting) and I'll find out more details.

Great! I like the side ones as they look like the Porsche script! Your car looks great man!

I am always thinking about the bottom stripe in a gun metal colour for my black metallic.

Yep I am going to start karting so I can get some type of driving practice over winter......I drive a Jeep so it really screws me up when I have to climb back in the Boxster and start hauling around a track in spring