Track day wheels?

So those of you who track your cars, do you have a second set of wheels with track day tires on them? I have now done 3 weekends with my car. The first two didn't really do anything negative to the tires . I was slow and learning. On my third weekend my speeds got much better and I tore up my tires pretty well. Now I'm wondering if I should just replace the tires or get a second set of rims for track day tires . Probably some useful information I daily my car, so I run DWS06 tires, which I love. Great all weather traction that keeps me driving the car pretty much all year long in the midwest. I failed to let air out of my tires between sessions like my instructor told me too, which I suspect added to the destruction of my tires. My storage space for extra wheels is limited, but doable, but definitely one of the reasons I'm leaning away from it.

A second set of wheels and tires will provide many benefits including better performance. I would recommend a set of Apex or Titan wheels in 18”. They are specifically sized for your car in 9” front and 10” rear which is an inch wider than stock wheels. Apex has tire and wheel sizing recommendations for your car on their website. You will notice a BIG difference in traction at the track with a set of 200 treadwear tires . I’m sure you will enjoy driving with new wheels and tires much more. 😀

I agree with Greg, I would also suggest a tire like the Hankook RS4, these tires can be flipped on the rim, so when you wear out the outer edge just remount, at some point you will want Camber plates or different lower control arms.

I used to daily my old Cayman S , and did track days once every month or two. I only had one set of wheels and tyres. The car came with Michelin PS4s , which I replaced with Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3s once worn. Comparing the two tyres, my lap times improved by 3 seconds (Hampton Downs, NZ), which can't just be chalked down to tyres, as I am still relatively new to the track, so I would say dry performace is equal between the two. I can only comment on wet performance on the street as I havent done any wet track days. The Hankooks are noticably worse on the street in the rain, but you shouldn't be pushing the car hard in these conditions anyway. Feedback to me feels better with the Hankooks, I can feel how much grip each tyre has, and how close they are to breaking away. Looking at wear, including track days, the PS4s lasted 30,000km rear, 35,000km front, and with the Hankooks, I had done 15,000km, and the tread was at 6mm front, 4.5mm rear. I found that the PS4s would melt a little on track, whereas the Hankooks didn't melt at all. Wear was slightly more focused towards the inside edge, but I don't change my alignment between the street and track. In terms of price, the Hankooks were $1200 NZD for a set of 4 (~$680 USD), compared to the PS4s $4400 NZD for a set of 4 (~$2500 USD). Overall I would definitely get the Hankooks again. On my new Cayman , it came with Dunlops (Not sure what model, the car isn't with me to check) and they are absolutely terrible. They break away quite easily, but not in a snappy way. It just feels like they have very little grip. I will definitely be putting the Hankooks on it once they wear out. Tyre sizes: 235/40R18 Front 265/35R18 Rear

Yes, I run the Apex SM10 wheels in 18x9 ET46 and 18x10 ET36 with Nankang Sportnex CR-S. Those tires wear like iron, but they're gonna be **** in the rain. If you want another one that will be near as durable, same grip, but good in rain, you'd be OK with the Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS, but it's going out in a few months to be replaced by the RE71RZ. I have no doubt its wet performance will be comparable, but reports out of Australia say it's gonna be faster in dry and more durable.

I have an extra pair of grey Apex SM-10 wheels for the fronts. Let me know if anyone is interested in buying them

You absolutely destroyed the tires from likely too high pressure and overheating. All season tires are generally pretty bad on track as well. Here's a few quick tips and explanations: On any tire, you want to control the pressure when hot (and the camber, so alignment is important) so you have maximum contact patch while cornering = maximum grip & even wear The tire wears rapidly when it overheats. If you don't overheat the tire, street tires like the PS4s would actually last quite a bit longer than semi slicks / 200 TW tires (they will last several track days) Summer tires will DEFINITELY overheat if you push them hard in a few laps. All seasons - sooner, probably within 1 hot lap. So, if you wanna keep one tire to both daily and track it - get something like PS4s and cooldown after a few hot laps before going hard again. Make sure you have a proper alignement for the track. Even this would be a big difference to the all seasons. Realistically, if you enjoy the track - get a grippier tire on an 18 inch wheel and swap just for track day - performance and feel difference will be night and day and you actually save money compared to destroying your all seasons in a weekend if you push the car for more than a lap at a time.

Apex wheels and a tire like the RS4 will be a great place to start. We get 20 hours out of the RS4. The Conti ECF is a better tire but we only get 8 hours out of them.. Lots of 200 TW options these days. Apex EC-7RS is on sale right now in 18x9 ET46 & 18x10 ET36, rear colors are low stock but everything is available at the moment. The Conti ECF is available in 245/35/18 & 275/35/18, it's a little shorter than OE but works well. You can go wider on the tires but you'll need some suspension bits to make that work. Happy to put a package together for you if you don't have a local shop you're working with.

Just to follow up, all the $3k wheel recommendations were nice, but not really where my budget was right now. I found a set of 18" BBS OEM wheels from a 986 with good tires still on them. Once I wear these tires out, I'll look at replacing them with some of the suggestions made above.