New tires and long trip

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by gpope

Hi guys,

Next spring I have to buy a new set of tires. Current set has plenty tread but are 5 years old. With that said I will be going from Boston down to Smokey Mountains in June. I am afraid that i will eat the tires on the 2500 mile trip. Should I trailer down, suck it up and eat the tires or get 2 sets of tires. I also plan on doing a couple of track days next year. Any pointers?

I think a single 2500 mile trip isn't going to make a significant dent in the life of a tire unless you have a super sticky extreme summer type of tire.

In Boston, you probably wouldn't want to run a tire like that unless you plan to storage the car during the cold season.

Max summer tires like the Sumitomo are good for your first track days - I used them during my first two events.

Then I moved to the Hankook R-S3, still driving them all the time as my street tire down here in FL. These tires would probably not be good up north except in the summer. But they make a good track tire, as do the other crop of Extreme Summer/200 tread wear tires like the ones Jay mentioned.

If you plan to drive in the cold then a 2nd set of wheels/tires is probably a good idea, you can change them out and drive them to the track and back.

An all season tire like the Michelin AS/3 which is by all reports a great all season tire, is probably terrible on the track.

My son in his Miata had to use an all season tire for his very first track event and they got some serious chunking and wear even at his lower speeds and cornering since it was his first time...

[JayG]

Originally Posted by steved0x

I think a single 2500 mile trip isn't going to make a significant dent in the life of a tire unless you have a super sticky extreme summer type of tire.

In Boston, you probably wouldn't want to run a tire like that unless you plan to storage the car during the cold season.

Max summer tires like the Sumitomo are good for your first track days - I used them during my first two events.

Then I moved to the Hankook R-S3, still driving them all the time as my street tire down here in FL. These tires would probably not be good up north except in the summer. But they make a good track tire, as do the other crop of Extreme Summer/200 tread wear tires like the ones Jay mentioned.

If you plan to drive in the cold then a 2nd set of wheels/tires is probably a good idea, you can change them out and drive them to the track and back.

An all season tire like the Michelin AS/3 which is by all reports a great all season tire, is probably terrible on the track.

My son in his Miata had to use an all season tire for his very first track event and they got some serious chunking and wear even at his lower speeds and cornering since it was his first time...

+1

I have not tracked my 996 with AS/3's and I would not expect them to be particularly good on the track