[Mahler9th]

I started in 1987 in an N/A 944 on street tires at Lime Rock (worn out Dunlop SP3s... remember those?) No AX... straight to the track. I became interested in all of this in grad school in southern New Hampshire.

Anyway, once I knew I was gonna be at it for a while, it made sense to get a second set of wheels and sticky DOT r compound tires. I later moved to the 951 platform. Eventually I had two sets of track/AX wheels and one set for the street... by my second season.

I am a bit of a dino so many of the tires I used are NLA. I got two sets of scrubbed RA1's back in 1996 or so at a pro event and enjoyed them... back then I normally ran Comp T/A R1s and Hoosiers. By the time I got out of the 951 and moved to the 911, I was running Victoracers and Hoosiers on track and in AX. I had liked those RA1's, but they were more expensive than the Kumhos and not as fast as the Hoosiers.

I have never been a believer in the idea that running for a while on street tires as opposed to sticky DOTs helps you learn better. Never. Not in all of the years I have been driving and instructing. It really depends on too many variables to me. It certainly did not work that way for me or my wife. We were able to calculate that if we were going to do a fair number of events, it made financial sense to use sticky DOTs, and use street tires for the street. My wife was a little behind me on the curve, but she adjusted in nanoseconds to the sticky DOTs-- it did not affect her curve-climbing experience once bit. And when we went from a 360 bhp, 3000 pound 951 on Hoosiers, to our current car, a 1950 pound 911 on big sticky slicks, she was on pace pretty immediately. Of course we both felt that there was no weight in front of the 911 (there isn't)... but we adjusted to the grip of the slicks and used it immediately.

To me everyone is a bit different in terms of how they learn. What I suggest to students now if they are ready to move to sticky DOT tires is that the RA1 is a great place to start on a second set of wheels-- great grip/longevity versus $$. Or if they still make Victoracers they aren't bad... Then if you need/want more grip, move on from there to one of the currently favored go-really-fast DOT r tires.

I think the "you'll learn better on street tires before going to sticky tires" argument is not a rule for everyone. It depends. I do not buy the similar argument that some put forth that it is better to learn in a "momentum car." Or that you are better off in all cases doing AX for a while before going to the track. Or you should do several years of DE before goin' racing. It just depends.