Experienced road racers, what is your ultimate tire/slick on stock wheels?

I have 18x10 and 18x8s, would you go with a slick? Which one and what size? Or like the Hoosier R304? I am only interested in performance. I got some new 3 piece 19" for the street and I am looking for track only tires. I would keep the R compounds I have but I got a nail in one and they are saying I should replace both rears. Whatever, maybe I should just patch it.

You should probably also inquire about what suspension it is paired up with. Once you venture into the world of slicks you should also have a suspension that will allow you to take advantage of the extra "grip" as well as seat/harness setups. Just my $.02 but I think that would be more informative. Personally for me, the next set of tires after I get through with the SO-2's will be the MPSC tires paired with my RoWM030 suspension and 6 pt harnesses.

I have not driven "slicks", but I've got nothing but good things to say about Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. They probably give up a little grip to the Hoosier R-Compounds, but they offer great combination of good grip, treadwear and predictable breakaway. My previous Kuhmo V700's blistered on me and did not last as long or provide as much grip as the MPSC's.

Oh yeah, excellent point. I have seats and a harness bar sitting in my plasma room so I'll be doing that soon too. I am starting to think about just racing with the 19s. Have you heard anything about the Toyo T1-S? They're wider too.

I have a friend that "Cup" races a 968. He uses the Toyo's and likes them a lot.

yeow slicks?!?!?! i definitely want to do that too but before the switch you might want to add the oil starvation kit otherwise you might blow an engine. porsche says it's a must with slicks. no need for the kit with r compounds. i have dunlop ssr r-compound tires. they are on closeout at tirerack.com, $115~120/ tire! deal was soo good i got 2 sets. i am running 18x8.5/18x10 and they fit great. supposedly not as sticky and are not considered a true r compound but they communicate when they are about to give. over at the performance/racing board people have commented that MPSC need 8 laps to get to operating temps. kinda long, especially when you do a TT, 3 practice laps and 1 hot lap. if you want to get as close as possible to a slick with an r-compund tire then hoosier has the r3so4. it's a slick which has only 2 grooves at 4/32" depth. they have a 245/35-18 (but it's for 8.5-9.5" width rims, maybe you can squeeze them onto 8"ers, just ask tire rack.) and 275/35-18 for 9.5-11" rims. they also have 285/30-18 but for 10.5-11.5" rims.

The Michelins give up a lot of time to the Hoosiers. Like 2-4 seconds a lap. BUT, the Michelins also last a LOT longer than the Hoosiers, which is primarily why they're slower. I agree with the post regarding oil starvation. Slicks are a whole different world and can cause all sorts of issues from oil starvation to premature wheel bearing failure. There are a LOT more forces transferred up into the chassis with slicks. But they're fun!

If you want a good R compound the ONLY tire I race on is the Toyo RA1. Since I know you dont have coilovers yet, going with Hoosiers would be bad. Once you run a good set of coilovers and are able to adjust the camber and ride height appropriately, you can run a Hoosier. RA1 is a perfect tire though. The R compound is either on or off. You are either gripping or sliding. On stock suspension you have so much body roll that you are losing the effect of the tire and ultimately can be dangerous if they grab wrong and incur to much body roll. BTW I have a set of 19" Toyo T1S brand new if you want to run those on your street wheels. The T1S is great for beginner events, but more of a street tire.

I really don't see the logic in going to slicks. You're not competing for trophies or money and your safety equipment is good enough only for DE's and the casual time trial. You will do fine with MPSC's or RA-1's. You can't get enough negative camber in a stock 996 to take full advantage of even these tires. Have fun and resist the temptation of going to a race tire when this is obviously not what you intend to do.

sport cups or corsas.

Slicks probably aren't the right choice for me right now. So which would you take to the track? Either 225/265 Dunlop R on stock 18s or the 235/275 Toyo ProxesT1-S on 19s? The proxes will be lighter and wider, but will it make up for the softer R compound?

the suspension was designed for 18" wheels so i would say 19's for show 18's for go (although i have never tried my 19s on the track). FWIW, i have been told the dunlop ssrs are more like SUPER sticky street tires rather than true r-compounds. you can go with 235/265 and the 265s are actually more like 275s. you should also check out toyo RA1s in an 18" fitment. i think any weight advantage the toyo's have on 19s is lost when you compare the weight of your 18" rims vs. 19" rims.

Bowman, Hopefully this is all clear to you now. Like everyone elso I will throw in my opinion. Take it for what it's worth. Slicks - There are many different slicks that will fit on your car but camber will probably be a problem. Most seem to want quite a bit of negative camber on our cars. As Dan pointed out, you also have a very compliant suspension which will be less than optimal. I wouldn't worry about oiling problems unless you are very fast. If you want slicks I would find a racer that has a set they have run for a couple of races. Tires the big boys paid to recycle would be just fine for DE. Bottom line, probably not a good idea but testing some old ones would be fun anyway. Hoosiers - Without question the fastest R compound tire. Less camber worry here. You actually would want less negative camber in back than you have with a stock setup. You want more in front but they will work ok. If you were in the neighborhood I would give you a set of used ones to try. We only race them for 6-8 heat cycles. Get out your checkbook. They are just over $1100 a set and don't last very long. MPSC - I think these are a great choice for DE. They have pretty good grip and last a long time. You can actually drive these to the track. They would be my choice. All others are, from a racing standpoint, not competitive. A few people are racing with Toyos and Kumos but not many and none that I've seen on a 996. I have a set of the Dunlops that I bought for rain tires but I've never used them. If I were you, I would get MPSCs. 235 and 265s would be best with your suspension. Again, just my 2 cents and worth every penny. Jim

Hey Jim, great write up (as usual) but I do have 1 question for you regarding your size rec's. Why 235/265 vice 235/285 on the 18x8 and 18x10?

Most guys at the track with 996's use 17" wheels so completely forget trying 19". Move up slowly with your tires leaving Hoosiers for last. They are fast and fun but less forgiving and more expensive.

Dell, I could be wrong but I suspect the car will have much better balance with 265s in back. It should reduce understeer a little and allow Bow to move the back around a little as he gets comfortable with the setup. If he had coilovers and sways I might suggest 285s instead. I run 245/285 Hoosiers on my racecar. I used to use 305s in back but found the car to be much faster with less rotating mass in back. It's also much easier to rotate the car. Jim

17's? I have not seen a single 996 at the many track days I have been to wearing the 17s. Of course my tracks are limited to 2 road tracks here in Vegas so not a large sample. But, I think "most" is just the wrong choice of words (not being a grammar coach just trying to understand how you are quantifying). The car and the suspension was designed for the track with 18s, and I as well as everybody I have seen uses 18s. I agree with the 19's for show 18's for go statement.

Mitch, I've yet to see a 996 club racer, either stock or GTC, running 17 inch wheels. Maybe some do in DE to save money but I can't imagine them being anyones first choice. I agree about the 19s though. Maybe someday when there are more tires but not now. Jim Edit: Dell, you beat me to it!

Thanks Jim. Good point.

OK, I will qualify my statement. Yes, if you are racing and have a prepped car (especially either a cup or a GT-3) then all (or most) of these have 18"s for sure. But since I was giving advice to presumably an "older" 996 which will be used for DE only (otherwise he would have all the prerquisite safety equipment) I will stand on my previous statement with a qualifier. Most guys in my region with 996's (not including GT-3's or cup cars or race prepped cars) use 17" wheels for DE.

Still find that very odd that "most" of the 996 guys in your area use 17s. Makes no sense.

Well, it mostly has to do with money. The other consideration is usable torque. Unless you are redlining in 6th gear on the track, you will get more usable torque with a smaller diameter tire. Now I know there is a tradeoff with contact patch area but most guys here agree that the 17" has the advantage.

Great responses thanks everyone, couple more questions/comments For now I'll stick with the dunlops. They're prolly not quite as good as the MPSCs but it's close and they're way cheaper. Once I get more suspension work done and some strut tower braces I'll go to slicks. Have any of you mushroom patched a tire? I have plugged tires in the past on lesser tires and had no issues, but I thought this might be an option instead of replacing both rears? If I do have to replace the one with a nail in it would you get 2 new ones for the rear or just the one? I have about 2k miles on the Dunlop Rs.

Strut tower braces? Not needed.

Where is the wheel lock normally? I can't find it....

UH OH..... check all or your interior compartments, the toolkit, in the bag in front of the spare, hmmm .... where else.... if all else fails got to the dealer

yeah it was by the spare sorry. Putting on the 19s

PICS, PICS, PICS

I would agree with the comments/recommendations for the Dunlop SSRs. They're dirt cheap and good to use while you further learn/mod your car. Stockpile now before they're gone. Related to the comments on oil starvation, would anybody venture a guess as to a quantifiable limit, say in terms of G's? Possibly put another way, anyone want to venture a guess how much more G's slicks get over R compounds or over typical street tires (assuming that street/R compounds do not cause oil starvation)?

Just curious, why not? I was told that there is a bit of flex in the towers that becomes "noticable" when using slicks. I didn't really believe it but this guy knows allot about these cars.

I just ordered some Yokohamas A048, not sure how well they work, but people who use them as their track tires love them.I wish i could be more help, but I have only tried the factory Pilot sports and they worked well for me....But hey i will never drive the car like it can be driven!

The 996s already have a strut tower brace from the factory, you just can't see it behind all the plastic panels. The same part is used in the 996 cup cars. FWIW I ran 17" al last year at the track, there is a small but significant difference in the price of R tires, plus the wheels can be found dirt cheap. That said I'm about to pull the trigger on some new 18" forged track wheels (BBS or CCW).

Where is the tower brace? I looked and don't see one, neither front or back.

Thanks for chiming in Doug. I was out and not able to respond to mitch.

Hey Jim what exact size 245 are you running front? thanks

Really, I removed the plastic panel covering the battery and don't see anything bolted to the strut towers

SPR, I run 245/35/18 in front and 285/30/18 in back. It seems to be best for my car. Mitch, As I recall it's a combination of the strut towers being integrated with the fire wall (both front and back) and the angled brace that you see run from the strut tower to the firewall. In theory this eliminates the need for a strut brace. It's pretty much the same in stock cars and cup cars. A strut brace won't hurt and a few guys at the track have them but they certainly don't have the same impact they did on previous cars. Bow, Good luck with the Dunlaps. I'm sure they will be just fine. Jim

Just a quick note on the oil starvation kit. Having just blown my motor coming through the esses at Watkins Glen (and it was guessed that it may have been a starvation issue) I requested my mechanic sought the Porsche Racing upgrade to install in the new motor. He was informed by Porsche that the kit was no longer available and that it would not be produced again. Further enquiries through a different source confiirmed this but Porsche claimed that with the new crate motor (3.4 litre) was modified to overcome the starvation issues associated with my original motor. I have no idea what that means. As some insurance I am having the Brey Krause sump extender kit installed (I am still not sure why it will help but am praying that it is better than nothing). As to the statement that oil starvation is only an issue with slicks, I am not convinced that that is true. In my club (NER) we have had 3 blown 3.4 litre 996s (of a sample set of maybe 6 total) all running on "R" compounds and all most likely as a result of oil starvation. Not exactly absolute proof but enough for me to be concerned.

Someone else's post on a different site.................. The later 3.4 liter cars are better than the early ones as they changed the internal baffles. The 3.6 liter cars got additional oil pump capacity and as well the baffles. The 3.6 Powerkit upgrade took this even a little further with a second oil pickup point and a new baffle system. But, Porsche still recommends that if you use racing tires you should by the Porsche MotorSports Kit and install it. (Some engine disassembly is required). This may help... http://www.livermoreperformance.com/porsche_engine.html

You can still get the starvation kit, you just have to order the parts individually from Germany. I know because I just did it.

Would really appreciate more information on part numbers and process for ordering from Germany. I am very keen to insure against future failure -- if nothing else the last blown motor cost me 5 track days. Laurence

I would also be interested in any part numbers/process and any optional machining that could/should be done. Thanks...

toyo ra1 is "r" compound, i an not sure TS-1 is "r" compound. dunlop SSR really isn't very grippy for r compound. mpsc is very progressive and sticky and last much longer than hoosiers and you can drive to/from track. if you aren't racing, try RA1's. cheaper and last longer.