Recommendations for street/wet track tire

[porsche735]

I have a 1973 911 with 3.2L engine and 8x16 front rims and 9x16 rear rims. What tires do folks recommend for a decent street tire (just driving to and from events) and to use as a rain tire on wet track weekends? I have found the following tires support 225 front and 245 rear widths:

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus
Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position
BFG g-Force Super Sport A/S
BFG g-Force Sport
Yokohama AVS ES 100
General Exclaim UHP
Fuzion ZRi

Based on tirerack testing, it seems that the Generals or Yokos would be a good choice. Recommendations (besides Toyo RA-1s which I run as dry track tires...)?

Thanks,
Chris

[racer]

imho, very few of those would be much fun on a wet track. Street? fuzions are good, The pole positions are good too.

the hang up about wet "track" use is, just how wet? A hot "R" comp tire with tread (ie, full tread RA1 or MPSC) would be quicker, assuming a warm track and no standing water.

Unless you are racing, and time matters, I'm not sure I would bother swapping from the RA-1s you currently use UNLESS it is nothing but pure standing water, cold track with no signs of a drying line.

I think you will also find many who do use RA'1s as their "street/track" tire during the season.

[Flieger]

Can't comment on the wet driving but I use the Yokohama Advan A048s for canyon carving. I would say they are sticky enough for track days. Treadwear rating is 60.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Kumho Victoracers are a "wet" type tire that work well. I drive mine to and from events with no problems. 265x16 in the rear with 225 x 16 in the front

[Evan Fullerton]

Hoosier wets are the answer if you want to go fast in the rain but are not street drivable. Anything is going to be a compromise in the wet short of a wet slick but for just damp conditions R-cops work quite well. If there is serious standing water you will need something with some tread. I did a AX/DE in the rain this year and went out the first secession on Nitto NT-01s and they were drivable but hydroplaned very badly when ever you hit a puddle. You could get around the course most of the time if you didn't push too hard but they were very scary and took some balls as when you hit a puddle mid corner you would slide tangentially until you hit a dry patch. Great for learning car control but a little scarier than I really wanted.

The second session, I ran my Toyo Proxes 4 street tires and was really amassed at how good they were. I don't have a whole lot to compare them to as far as driving fast in the rain but I was very happy with their performance. Wheel lift in the rain though was the nail in the coffin on wanting to raise the rear pickup points though.



And some video of me enjoying the low grip YouTube - Evan and Eric in the rain Evan driving Both my passenger and I are instructors but I am still surprised nobody came over and told us to knock it off.

[KTL]

The Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD-3 is a pretty darn good rain tire for track use. Unfortunately 205 and 245/50 (which is a bit taller than we'd like) are the only 16 in widths they offer. However a friend on these drove away from us very quickly with us on our fairly decently-treaded R comps at a track day a few years back.

That said my second set of wheels for the racecar are Toyo RA-1s. They do very well as intermediate tires for wet use. The nice thing is that when the track dries out mid-session or mid-race, you're not going to destroy them like you would with a set of true R comp rains like the Hoosiers.

[VFR750]

Not sure why you discounted the RA-1s. RA-1 are fantastic street tires, rain or shine. Street driving should get good mileage.

If you read the paperwork, all summer tires warn of getting below freezing, just like the RA-1. So you get no cold/wet benefit choosing the summer tires.

Based on the ambient 22F-28F temps during our first run on 11/12/10 (Lime Rock DE) They stick fantastically on a very cold track. I was very surprised at how fast we got going during that first, cold run. Later that morning, ~45F, I set my fastest lap time ever.

[porsche735]

Yeah, we run the Goodyears on our 2002 cab. Awesome rain tires! But, as you say, no such luck on the 1989....
We do normally run the RA-1s at full tread for rain days, but I want something a bit more dedicated as my RA-1s are pretty much never at full tread...;-)
At this point, I really am looking at the General's... Sounds like nobody has had any experience with them...

Thanks,
Chris

[racer]

Of the tires listed, I run Fuzions on my 944, year round. They work well in rain, damp conditions. I have yet to overheat them on a track though

[J Richard]

Dunlop direzza sport z1 star spec. I put these on my street/track RSA primarily for the street but I've run two track events with them, and they are really good tires both on the street and track, suprising amount of grip, good treadwear, and fine in the wet. If you ar only driving to and from the track then I'd just get a full tread set of RA-1's and then run them as a second/rains. But if it is a street car as well I'd take the direzzas over any type R tire for dual purpose.

[michael lang]

my last set of street tires were the Bridgestone RE-11s. they weren't bad at all as a street tire. I did use them as a track tire because I wanted to get used to what my car felt like when I was at the limits of traction so I figured the best way for me to get there was to step down to a street tire. I won't know if my strategy for driver skill development has worked until this spring when I can get back on track but at the end of my last event this past Nov. my instructor had driving with the advanced group so I'm suspecting it made a difference.

[petevb]

One should never mix tire brands...

I suggest you consider mixing brands front and rear:

Continental Extreme Contact DW 225 55 16 front
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 245 50 16 rear

This would let you get nearly top-tier max performance rain tires front and rear- quicker than either the generals or the toyos in the rain, I believe. The tires are well matched on paper, so I believe you'd get away with it. The only thing that would make me nervous is if they go off at different temperatures on the low side- if you're driving in 40 degree weather and the goodyears go off but the continentals don't then things might get entertaining. You'll want to pay attention, but I suspect the tires are well enough matched you'd have no issues.

I'd do that or the toyos. If you want to get serious you could also get the toyos and grove them.