Pilot Sport AS3 on track

[lvsranch]

Coming up on my second track day in the 2000 Boxster I bought mostly for this purpose. My first one was right after I bought it and I was not familiar with the car at all, the brakes left me after the third lap and I coasted the rest of the day without any aggressive driving at all. So now for next weekend I am on my new EBC yellow pads and Motul fluid and I am looking for more spirited corners.
My question is; I am still on the street tires that came on it, Pilot Sport AS/3, Can anyone give me some insight on these tires on track? Pressures maybe? Character traits early on and late in the day? Possible rain?
I will be getting some dedicated track tires, but I am out of time and money for this go round. I am an experienced driver, racing a Miata for several years and track days galore in a Miata, but my Boxster is new to me. I'd like to say this forum has been a wealth of knowledge for most of my research in maintenance and prep so any help with this is greatly appreciated.

[Gelbster]

Suggest you use the "Spider Charts" on Tire Rack. That is an expert test-based evaluation - not just anecdotes.

[Topless]

AS/3 is a good rain tire but not well suited for continuous lapping as they overheat quickly and then get sloppy. In 200tw I recommend Hankook RS-4, Dunlop Direzza Star Spec, Bridgestone RE-71R as worthy replacements. All tires are a tradeoff but these are better suited to your intended use.

[lvsranch]

Thanks for the replies, I did do the tire rack charts and the Michelin site, but I like getting some input from guys with experience, anecdotal though it may be. I bring a very accurate pressure gauge and IR thermometer and play with settings but I find people better at it than me often can give good insight. Plus street tires can be lots of fun if they're good and set up right.

[lvsranch]

Just a follow up for anyone interested. The Pilot Sport AS3 tires performed very well this weekend. I started with recommended pressures of 29psi front and 36psi rear. This felt a little sloppy in the rear and a little pushy in the front. I adjusted the front to 33psi and the rear to 38psi for the second session, though they had not returned to their cold pressure settings this felt less pushy in front and seemed to allow me to better throttle the rear around to compensate. They were fairly new and it doesn't look like I put much wear on them although I did not measure tread depth. I would guess another 2 or three track days still left. With the new brakes and fluids being the only changes from bone stock to my boxster she held up well with temps in the low eighties, though there was definitely some brake and rubber smell in the air. The yellow EBC pads were good but mostly felt like a street pad that was getting the job done as best it could. I think next event I will look for a more aggressive pad. Lots of heavy hitters out there this weekend at Sebring and I admit to being just a little intimidated in my stock Boxster but the car handles extremely well and there was a lot of satisfaction in learning a new car and finding the sweet spots.

[Boxstard]

Originally Posted by lvsranch

Just a follow up for anyone interested. The Pilot Sport AS3 tires performed very well this weekend. I started with recommended pressures of 29psi front and 36psi rear. This felt a little sloppy in the rear and a little pushy in the front. I adjusted the front to 33psi and the rear to 38psi for the second session, though they had not returned to their cold pressure settings this felt less pushy in front and seemed to allow me to better throttle the rear around to compensate. They were fairly new and it doesn't look like I put much wear on them although I did not measure tread depth. I would guess another 2 or three track days still left. With the new brakes and fluids being the only changes from bone stock to my boxster she held up well with temps in the low eighties, though there was definitely some brake and rubber smell in the air. The yellow EBC pads were good but mostly felt like a street pad that was getting the job done as best it could. I think next event I will look for a more aggressive pad. Lots of heavy hitters out there this weekend at Sebring and I admit to being just a little intimidated in my stock Boxster but the car handles extremely well and there was a lot of satisfaction in learning a new car and finding the sweet spots.

Interesting report. I got the same tires. Do you have 205/ 255 combo, or 225 front?

[steved0x]

I wish I would have asked what color your Boxster was, I walked around Sunday morning and saw lots of 986 boxsters but didn't know which one was yours... Were you lined up for the orientation laps at the beginning? If so I probably saw it, there were 2-3 boxsters in that line.

Originally Posted by lvsranch

Just a follow up for anyone interested. The Pilot Sport AS3 tires performed very well this weekend. I started with recommended pressures of 29psi front and 36psi rear. This felt a little sloppy in the rear and a little pushy in the front. I adjusted the front to 33psi and the rear to 38psi for the second session, though they had not returned to their cold pressure settings this felt less pushy in front and seemed to allow me to better throttle the rear around to compensate. They were fairly new and it doesn't look like I put much wear on them although I did not measure tread depth. I would guess another 2 or three track days still left. With the new brakes and fluids being the only changes from bone stock to my boxster she held up well with temps in the low eighties, though there was definitely some brake and rubber smell in the air. The yellow EBC pads were good but mostly felt like a street pad that was getting the job done as best it could. I think next event I will look for a more aggressive pad. Lots of heavy hitters out there this weekend at Sebring and I admit to being just a little intimidated in my stock Boxster but the car handles extremely well and there was a lot of satisfaction in learning a new car and finding the sweet spots.

[Quadcammer]

Originally Posted by lvsranch

The yellow EBC pads were good but mostly felt like a street pad that was getting the job done as best it could. I think next event I will look for a more aggressive pad.

I find them quite good. What issues were you finding?

[thstone]

Originally Posted by lvsranch

The yellow EBC pads were good but mostly felt like a street pad that was getting the job done as best it could. I think next event I will look for a more aggressive pad.

In my experience, EBC Yellow's perform exactly the same as the Pagid Orange RS 4-4 (both are "real" race pads).

The next step up would be Pagid Black RS 14 or equivalent.

[lvsranch]

Boxstard- Yes I have the 205 fronts
SteveD- I was the black #501 at the corner near the bath rooms across from the tower. I wish we had spoken too. I did not do the orientation laps.
Quad&stone- I just wasn't getting a full on feel from the yellows. I was looking to be able to bring the grip on really hard at the start of braking and then modulate a bit as I tried to figure out how to trail brake into the turn. They seemed to have a softer initial bite and then as I got on them harder to slow, the feel was "unsure" and so I was fully committed to setting the car in order to have a controllable corner entry instead of a "best" corner entry. I suppose it could have fluid or hose relationships, but I run Hawk brakes on my Miata and love the feel, although that has taken years to sort completely out.

[steved0x]

I saw it! My guess might be that the ebc yellow didn't match the all season tires, were you finding that that you were getting into the abs very easily?