Heat Cycling for DE Track Tires

[MikenOH]

Originally Posted by thstone

I would suggest that it depends on where you are in your DE driving career and what your goals are. Of course, a novice doesn't really need r-comp tires but many drivers progress through basic DE to advanced driving and time trials where every 1/10th of a second counts. In this case, the drivers skills have become high enough that they can "out drive" performance street rubber.


In my case, I moved to r-comp tires on my stock street Boxster after about 25 DE's when I was at the top of my stock class (based on lap times) and felt held back by the grip limit of street tires.

Well said--if you do enough DE's, track your lap times and mod the car to better your performance, eventually you will want to try r-comp tires at some juncture.

I've done DEs for 10+ years on the 986/987 platform and used max/extreme tires during that period ranging from PS2, Mxx3, KumhoMX, Kumho XS and Nitto NT05. All--save the MX--were good tires for DEs...to a point; at some juncture street tires overheat during a session--just like the Falken 615--and your driving pleasure during the session falls off as they get greasy.

The XS and Nitto were the best of that bunch, but on our new 981S I've gone to the NT01 mainly to max the handling/braking of the car during an entire session, but also for longevity--I'm expecting more heat cycles from the an r-comp tires compared to a max. performance street tire.


You may have a situation where you need to drive to the track on your "track" tires you because you don't trailer the car; that is where the extreme perf. tires really shine--like the RE-11. They perform well at the track and they can get you back home without drama if you get caught on a wet road. They aren't cheap, though--about the same price as the NT01.