Slicks for 17" wheels

[Mr Flat Six]

Wow thanks for the very informative post. I love hitting the mountain roads near me but I'm rather new to the sports car thing and have a lot to learn. I was more of a bike person and know a lot more about bikes than cars. I don't push it very hard at all on the street because of this and have been looking to get into autocross or driver education to become more skilled. My tires are fairly new and I feel like I'd like the grip a 255 would add but I have a lot to learn. I appreciate the detailed explanation.

[jonasjmac]

Thanks for replies. The car is strictly a track car as initially was planning on racing spec boxster but time nor money allows that currently. So now this a TT/DE car, so I'm not tied to any spec rules. The other benefit of the squares seemed to be allowing rotation of the tires to prolong the wear. So it appears running the squares would not necessarily require changing up suspension, gt3 control arms, even though eventually plan is fully upgrading suspension and sways from the current ROW setup.

[jakeru]

Originally Posted by jonasjmac

Thanks for replies. The car is strictly a track car as initially was planning on racing spec boxster but time nor money allows that currently. So now this a TT/DE car, so I'm not tied to any spec rules. The other benefit of the squares seemed to be allowing rotation of the tires to prolong the wear. So it appears running the squares would not necessarily require changing up suspension, gt3 control arms, even though eventually plan is fully upgrading suspension and sways from the current ROW setup.

Well, it sounds like as a driver's ed car, you would be driving it on the street to get to the track. Not trailered to events. Is that correct?

If so, I would suggest a slick would be inappropriate for your application. You should be looking at probably dot-legal radials in the ultra-high or "max" summer performance category, (https://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/perfCat.jsp?perf=EP) or possibly in the more durable of the r-compound categories
(E.g.: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/perfCat.jsp?perf=STRT )

I'm sure you'll find plenty of 17" options that fit whatever wheels you happen to have or prefer.

Since you're not competing, finding the "best" tire isn't really that important. So, don't sweat it... have fun!

[jsceash]

If you can get your car to the track without driving it there. The Hankook Ventus Z214 is an inexpensive choice in a slick tire 245-40-17 set of 4 are under $800 I turned some really good track times last year on these tires. I run the 18" size. The catch is I'm also running allot of (-) camber -2.5 to -3 with about 4" front and 4.5" rear ground clearance.

If you can't and have to drive to the track. Try the Nitto NT01 or Toyo R888. are as close to a slick as you can get and drive it on the street to the track.