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Originally Posted by thstone

My advice is not to jump to Hoosier's any time soon. You didn't mention what brand/model tires you have now, but ask yourself if your track driving is ready for a tire with tons more mechanical grip that reqiures you to push the car fairly hard to get enough heat in it to grip in the first place and a fairly abrupt limit that will let go without much warning in the second place.

An alternative is to learn your track driving skills on street tires until your driving skill is better than the tires - THEN upgrade. The time to go to Hoosier's is when you are driving hard enough to get the tires up to temp; know how to manage tire pressures based on the track, your driving, and the weather; and are comfortable sliding the car around at 80+mph and recovering from such a slide without drama.

So rather than pop for a new set of Hoosier's, buy a set of Kumho Ecsta XS or Hankook RS-3 ($800 and can be driven on the street and the track) and use the extra money to pay for more track days to improve your driving skills.

+1
Street tires and stock suspension for the first year. When you are the fastest guy in a stock Boxster, it's time to buy sticky tires. Save the Hoosiers for National PCA TT Championships when 1/10th is the difference between 1st and 5th place. Remember that Hoosier R6s are dead after 1 weekend of use. One big spin in your first run session on them and they are hopelessly flatspotted and useless. It's a real fast way to burn a lot of Benjamins.