Street Legal 200 UTQG Tires for HPDE
 

I’ve decided I want some tires with more grip for HPDE’s. I drive my car to and from the track, a car trailer or tire trailer are not in my future. My street tires are Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. My first choice for the track tires is the Yokohama A052. But, they are currently unavailable in my rear size, 265/35-18. My shop is going to contact their Yokohama rep next week to see what they can find out about availability. In the meantime, these alternatives are available in my sizes-Dunlop Direzza, Falken Azentis 615+ and Falken Azentis 660. I only have the Tire Rack tests and recommendations to go by. If the Yokohamas aren’t going to be available for a while, does anyone have any recommendations from these or something else available in stock Boxster 18 inch wheel sizes? Michelin Cup 2’s are also available but don’t seem to be too good in the rain from the Tire Rack tests.

Good grip in the rain and noise are considerations because I will have to drive to and from the track and do get caught in the rain on these trips. If I need to wait for the Yokohama to be available I can, the 4S is no slouch.

I use Cup2s. They are fine in the rain. I even do the odd motorway commute in them. Just drive sensibly an you should be ok.

Thank you! Since you’re from the UK I take this as a strong endorsement!

The A052’s are the cheater tire replacement for RE-71r’s. However, they don’t last nearly as long.

RE-71r’s don’t seem to be available in 225/40-18 and 265/35-18, otherwise they would be on my list too.

I have the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on my wife's car & I like them so much I will put them on my Boxster in a few months when those Michelins wearout.I always run Micheilins since I worked at a tire store in the '70's, Zero issues!

I run Cup2, for daily commute, to/from & on track. Even worked ok in the rain on track, very predictable. A great tire for this kind of use.

I've tracked/daily driven on RE71r, MP4S and most recently the RT660s for the past 4-5 years here in AZ. The RT660s don't heat cycle out as quickly as the RE71Rs. We don't get as much rain in AZ as you do, but I didn't have any issues with the RE71R/RT660s as long as you be careful. One thing to keep in mind is that with 200 TW tires it's not recommended (tirerack) to drive in weather below 40 degrees and to keep them stored in temps above 20 degrees. I would and am planning on getting the RT660s when my MP4Ss are ready to be replaced.

I've had the MPSS 4S on my car for the last 2 years I really like them. However the rears need replacement now and I am waiting to see what appears first. The tire cord or the MPSS to arrive from backlog. I have been waiting since January and now tires are about as smooth as a baby's azz. However they are wearing perfectly which is one of the things I really like about Michelin. I don't like thinking about potentially having to buy non matching tire.

Thanks for all the input, i've always had good luck with Michelin and I think I'm going to get the Cup 2's. They will be on a second set of wheels and will only be used for HPDE's and autocrosses. The other wheels with the Pilot Sport 4S will be my everyday summer wheels and tires.

I think you'll be happy with the Cup2. The A052 isn't super heat tolerant so it's not amazing for track work, plus the wear is indeed horrible. I like the RT660 a lot, they're very similar to the (now discontinued) RE-71R except they're worse in the wet. I think they're decent on the track, but a little more AX focused.

Pretty sure most of the lapping day & LeMons folk still stick to the 'ol standby Hankook RS4 for it's balance of grip and wear, plus consistency throughout a session. Indeed slightly less total grip than the AX focused tires.

Continental has a new 200tw lapping day tire (EC Force) if you want to be froggy and be an early adopter.

if you can deal with the noise on the street, there is no better DE tire in my mind than the Nitto Nt01

+ 1 on the NT01

you just have to be careful if there is a chance of rain :p

Thanks I don't think I want to to make 500 mile trips to VIR and Mt. Tremblant on really noisy tires, and I need to be able to drive on highways in the rain.

One solution could be scoring a second set of wheels :-)

NT01's are great tires for DE, but they ain't 200TW

Nitto NT01 is a 100TW tire and rears only come in 265-40/18 and 275-35/18. I wonder if they would last for a 500 mile trip to VIR, 3 days on the track and the 500 mile ride home.

I have a second set of wheels (actually now a 3rd set since I also have a set of 17s) but a trailer isn't in the cards. I'll use the second set of 18 inch wheels for HPDEs including driving to and from the track.

Easily. They dont wear much on the street. I get 10 track days on them

Consider a set of 17 inch wheels, 4 rears if you can swing it, for track use. Tires are a wear item and the 17 inch variety cost significantly less. Bonus of the square set up is you can rotate your tires as you will no doubt be chewing up the outside edges (based on not seeing camber adjustment in your mods list). re71 in 255 40 17 were recently on super sale from tirerack as they are being discontinued and I was glad to pick up a fresh set. I will likely try the Falken 660s next

17's are definitely the way to go for track use.

While square setup may have some advantages, it can also put you in a car class where you are less competitive. Things like tire size do effect what class you run in

Well I just got a set of 996 Lt Alloy Carrera wheels for pretty cheap and they're being refinished. I'm going to use them for my track wheels for now. Since I'm not wearing the outer edges of my tires yet, my shop didn't want to try setting my car up with more negative camber. Maybe once I get faster and start wearing tires on they outside edge instead of evenly they said.

Do the 17 x 8.5 rears fit on the front with 255/40 tires if the car still has factory springs rather than coilovers? If they do, I'll keep an eye out for a pair of rear Boxster S II wheels since I already have a set of those.

Update
 

So I ended up getting the Yokohama Advan A052's. With the 8 inch front rims up front and the 10 inch rims in back with 20mm spacers, they come out a touch more and look sharp! I had the wheels checked for trueness and refinished with metallic silver powder coating. Tomorrow I'm headed up to Watkins Glen for a 3 day HPDE. It will be fun to try them out!

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Nice! They should be beyond amazing on the first lap but fall off pretty hard after that. Let us know how they hold up after 3 days. Watch your shoulder wear as they typically like a lot of camber which you don't appear to have.

+1

Let us know how it goes on the Advans. I'm curious how it performs with the spacers; I recently removed mine for safety as I discovered a wheel shimmy at around 60MPH-70MPH.

Paul, your wheels came out pretty nice! I would 'like to suggest' installing the center caps it will make the wheels stand out better..

There is a guy on Rennlist that offers (non OEM..) center cap sets for about $50 bucks and they look pretty good (I got a set for a friend of mine's 997 and they look great IMHO, specially for the cost..

The 20mm spacers on the rear put these 996 wheels where they need to be on a 986. I drove 40 miles home yesterday from the shop on the highway and they don't shimmy at all. My preference would have been for a wheel that didn't require a spacer, but these wheels were too good of a deal to pass up!

Yeah, right now I'm on the stock alignment settings for the ROW M030 suspension. I've been on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires with no shoulder wear, we'll see how these do. I hope they feel good for more than 1 lap!

Thanks Gilles, I've got center caps, including a set of Fred's (Nine8Six) faux centerlock caps. I've left them off for now as I'm headed to the track!