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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Bruce Corwin, Bruce968@PorscheNet.com
NOR'EASTER Online - May 2001

Last month’s track day at NHIS was cancelled due to snow, but now the warm weather is upon us and it’s time to have some fun. I called NHIS to check on the schedule for “open testing” and Betty French directed me to their web site. To check the schedule, go to their site, www.nhis.com, and choose “schedule”. Unfortunately this month they only have one open testing date, which is May 3rd. They expect to have the June open testing schedule posted sometime in May.

One of the most important, yet tricky decisions to make for your track car is what tires to use. Basically there are three types: Street tires, DOT approved competition tires, and pure racing tires (typically slicks). Basically these choices range from street tires which have a hard compound with lots of tread, all the way to racing slicks which have a very soft compound with no tread at all.

Street tires have actually gotten pretty good, with some models approaching the performance of some of the DOT approved competition tires. The remainder of this column will focus on the choices available for DOT approved competition tires. These are tires that are approved by the Department of Transportation for street use, but are designed with competition in mind. Often these tires have a mere 3/32” of tread depth (the minimum legal amount). They are made with soft compounds with treadwear ratings below 100 (lower number = softer compound).

The choices for these tires are narrowing a bit this year. BF Goodrich used to be a real leader in this category with their R1 tire. A couple years ago they redesigned it, with the new model designated as G-Force R1. These were very good tires, but had some mixed reviews and BF Goodrich has now stopped manufacturing them. I spoke to the Tire Rack and they said they bought out the entire remaining inventory from BF Goodrich. They said they have a large inventory of these tires, but some sizes are not available. For what they do have though, the prices are quite good. For example a 245/45-17 tire was $170 and is now selling for $120.

The Kumho Victoracer V700 is the closest thing to the old R1 tire and has a treadwear rating of 50. It is a good tire, so long as you buy them shaved and heat-cycled. As I wrote about in my November column, these tires are prone to failure if not shaved and heat-cycled.

Hoosiers are great although there are many sizes they don’t offer, such as a 235 width for 17” wheels. Hoosiers come in two compounds: A3S03, which is a softer autocross compound, and R3S03, which is a somewhat harder compound for road racing, although both are listed as treadwear rating of 40. If you are a serious competitor and not planning on using these tires on the street much (if at all), then Hoosiers are the way to go.

Yokohama makes a DOT approved competition tire called the A032R. It has a very unusual tread design called “aquatusks”. They look really cool and have plenty of tread for street driving, even in the rain, but they are extremely noisy. The compound has a treadwear rating of 60-80, depending on size. It is not as soft as the Hoosiers or the Kumhos. So they’re noisy and not real sticky and hence, not all that popular, unless of course it is raining.

Pirelli has two models to choose from. The first is the P Zero C. It’s an asymmetric tread design with 8/32” tread depth, although it can be shaved. They are available for 15” to 17” wheels. The treadwear rating on these tires is 80. The P Zero C will likely be discontinued soon. Pirelli has a new tire called the P Zero Corsa with a softer tread wear rating of 60. It has an intermediate rain tread pattern that was used last year by the Cadillac team in the ALMS series. The tread is asymmetrical and unidirectional. This is a new tire that should be available in June and prices have not been set yet. Sizes so far are pretty limited with available sizes being 205 and 255 for 17” wheels and 225, 265 and 285 for 18” wheels. More sizes are expected to be released at a future date. You can’t get them at Tire Rack, only at smaller dealers like Wheel Enhancement, (310) 836-8908.

Goodyear also makes a DOT tire, but it’s only available in limited sizes. For example for 17” wheels, they only have 245, 275 and 315 widths. Various manufacturers make non-DOT approved tires (slicks) including Pirelli, Hoosier, Goodyear, etc. In our club, Hoosier and Pirelli are the most popular. Hoosiers are less expensive, but Pirellis last longer.

See you at the track!

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region