Boxster Track Day Tires
 

I have a 2000 2.7 with stock rims and Nitto Motivo tires. 205/50 front and 255/40 rear. I have had the car 5 years and do a lot of spirited driving in the mountains around Sacramento. I recently did my first track day with five 20 minute sessions. What I realized was the car has significant under steer and is very slippery on those tires. So I bought a set of used rims and now I ready to purchase a set of tires. I have pretty much settled on 225/45 fronts and 255/40 rears. The 225's up front should help my under steer. However, I am completely in the weeds on what brand to buy. I don't want to get tires that are completely above my experience and driving level because I want to learn to drive correctly. I'm about to pull the trigger and buy Toyo R1R's. I am on a limited budget and cannot afford to make a big mistake here. I can buy 1 set of track tires but I have to get the right ones. Any help for a 68 year old who's spending his retirement on tires?
VT:)

Depending on what class you are driving in, make sure the tires are legal for that class. Showroom stock, for example, typically requires that the wear rating be 200 or higher.

The other consideration is how good a driver you are. If you are a novice there's no point in spending huge $ on tires. Get some good Max Performance Summer tires and learn to drive.

You can get help from a Tire Rack sales specialist choosing the best balance between performance, wear and price.

I am in the same boat as you, but still haven't found a set of rims, so I am AXing on my street tires. When I find a great deal on rims I will buy a set of dedicated, more expensive, higher performance, AX tires

Thanks Anker. I bought a set of rims on Craigs list for $100. That was a real find. I had a lot of work to do with ajax and a green scotch pad but they turned out good enough top paint. Now I'm ready for tires.

I've been quite pleased with my Bridgestone RE71-Rs. These are a streetable r-compound tire which I can drive to and from the track as well as having a sticky tire on the track. They are directional, which means that they can be remounted on the opposite wheel giving longer tread life, especially important if you run often on the same track, be it clockwise or counter clockwise. Surprisingly, I found these tires through Costco (Canada) at a good saving!
On the other hand, if you are just starting out on the slippery slope, you may be well served by a set of Michelin SuperSports. There's lots to be learned on a decent set of street tires!
Have fun!

nitto nt01s!

inexpensive, last forever on a novice green driver (although outside will wear without a bunch of negative camber) and tons of grip. great tire.

I purchased 17" tires in the sizes you mentioned from Tirerack. They were Falken AzenisRT615K that were on a special price. Total price was $400 plus shipping. UTOG rating was 200. They received good reviews for Autocross (which is this old man's new passion).

Good luck.

+1 on Nitto NT01 tires. They have been great for me in dry conditions. In the rain, they are a real handful.

NT-01 for the win.

I just had 3 days covering 14 sessions at Roebling road raceway on the Maxxis Victra RC-1 in 255/40/17 and 225/45/17 on the OEM 17x8.5 and 17x7 wheels. Two things came to mind immediately when I received the tires:

• The tread really wraps around the sidewall, and it was curved, vs for example the square shoulder on a hankook r-s3 which wears off quickly. This might be good for camber limited cars. I was running them at -2.5 front and -1.9 back. Edit 5/21/2018 - The faster I got with these, the more edge wear I got and it seemed like they did need more camber after all.
• They are a little narrower than the equivalent sizes of Nitto NT-01. Some may say that I bad, but when running on the stock wheels, it might be good because it means the tire is not as pinched on the wheel which some say gives less sidewall deflection, rollover, and increased grip.

It was really hot (85-90F) vs last time I was at Roebling, and while I did not beat my previous best of a low/mid 1:28.x, I did get into the 1:28's and ran long strings of 1:29's, the most I had ever done. I thrashed these tires for 3 days in the heat, no chunking or anything.

The wear was good, and I drove to/from the track in them as well (maybe not smart but they have 2 pretty big circumferential grooves for water evac and dot compliance)

I'll type a review with some pictures and stuff later, but these may be an additional contender in the space.

SCCA member check the member benefits on the scca website for possible discounts, or also their facebook page, I got them at a 20% discount a while back.

Probably not the right tire fir folks with only 1 set of wheels, but a new option. Their new 200 TW tire only comes in 255/40/17 in 17" and I don't know about the 18's.

im interested in hearing more about these Maxxis.

Not much cheaper than NT01s without discount.

Re-71's are the go to tire for 200TW

And Discount Tire Direct always has some special, either $100 off $400 through eBay 2-3 times a year, and then the various Labor Day specials, July 4th, etc... If you use their card, those discounts almost equal the 4100 off $400.

I really wanted to do a side by side comparison with the NT-01 that same weekend but it was sooo hot and I didn't want to change my tires, I was lazy...

+1 on these bad boys. Never ran them on the box but loved them on Miatas.