New tires and long trip

[JayG]

YThe date codes are only on 1 side of the tire, so they maybe on the inside of the other 2.
5 years is a little old, but if they don't show any cracking, you are probably fine

Running racing tires with a street setup car may not be the best thing. It can lead to higher G force in cornering and possible oil starvation. Also depending on what car class you plan to run in, racing tires could put you in a prepared class instead of Street Stock. That's not a big problem if you have other performance upgrades like suspension, etc. Without the other mods, you most likely will not be competitive in a prepared class against well prepared cars. Also race tires are not cheap and don't last that long

I would disagree in that some street tires will survive trake uses fine. The Dunlops and RE-71s definitely. The RS-3's do run well on the track and street, but I have heard they will heat cycle out before the tread wears out if tracked

The RE-71s are great on the track and street, but while rated at 200 TW, they wear out much faster than that. People have told me they are more like 100 TW

The Dunlops are just a shade less sticky than the RE-71's but last much longer and don't heat cycle out

Yes, having a 2nd set of wheels for track/AX uses is a good idea. Get 17" wheels, the tires are a lot less expensive in 17 vs 18

Do you plan to drive your car to the track or trailer it? That will play into what tires you uses as well.

For what it is worth, I went with the Dunlop Star Spec for my track/AX tires. in 17" (255/40 & 225/45) it was around $850 for the set including mounting and balancing and I can drive the car to the track

[gpope]

Jay G,

I don't plan on trailering the car. I just got the Boxster in August so I have not done a track day yet so haven't got bitten. I have the 17's now and there is no cracking on the tires. I think I will keep them on for the beginning of the season and see how long they last. This car is bone stock so the point about not running race tires is something I have not read before, thank you. My shop recommended changing them sometime next year so I will see what happens and make the call before my trip.

Thanks for all the replies!

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by JayG

The RS-3's do run well on the track and street, but I have heard they will heat cycle out before the tread wears out it tracked

I can add a data point, I ran my first set down to the wear bars, and I think I could have gotten another track weekend out of them but there was rain forecast at that event, so I got a new set installed. I did 8 track days with them over the period of a year, and also kept them on as my street tires with around (this is where I am guessing) 6,000-8,000 miles of street driving. I just left them on all the time. In fact they never felt better than on the last track day I did with them (but I had also gotten my first performance alignment so that may be it)

This is in FL, when I was in NC I kept my Sumitomo HTR Z III on all the time but only went through one winter with them and if it was really cold I didn't drive that day. The previous owner lived in PA and he drove the car as his DD and use the Sumis year round.