Robbmckerrow

I am shopping new tires for my 03 996 Turbo x50 and know that a lot of new compounds and tread designs have come out since the car was first issued. The OEM spec is no longer made, so what is the best recommendation for a street tire with an occasional track weekend (2-4x times a year). Thank you.

FRUNKenstein

What's your mindset with tires? Best performance, cost not a factor? Or best bang for the buck? Bought mine 2 years ago with a fresh set of Sumi HTRZIII's already on it. I don't track mine, but do occasionally autocross it. Based on the value and that I am generally pleased with them, I will probably stick with the Sumis come replacement time next year. I know a lot of 996tt guys run the HTRZIIIs.

mcbit

I'm still running OEM spec PZeros or PS2s and am perfectly happy with them.

FRUNKenstein

Hey mcbit! Where ya been?

Schnell Gelb

This may be a good starting point?
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...SortCode=54699

mcbit

Driving rather than writing, thanks for asking

Had some sadness in my life that I've had to spend some time dealing with.

FRUNKenstein

Sorry to hear that. Good to see you back, though.

Palting

2-4 track weekends a year is a decent amount of track time. Without going crazy with slicks, I would suggest the Michelin PSC2. I drive it on the street to the track, love it on the track.

Macster

My 2003 Turbo came from the factory with Continental tires. I do not know the N number. (I bought the car used with 10K miles in 2009 and the original Continental tires were replaced as part of the CPO process.)

The Continental tires were just fine but at some point when I need to replace them were unavailable and I went with another factory sanctioned tire for the Turbo: Bridgestone.

Bridgestone tires proved to be just fine, too. In fact I can't detect any difference between Continental and Bridgestone tires which is really the way it should be if the N rating has any validity.

For just a few track days per year I'd be more inclined to just stick with a good street tire. Unless you are an exceptional driver you will be the limiting factor on the track not the tires. Thus you get the benefit of a good street tire for the time, the bulk of the time, the car is driven on the street and on the track the tires will pretty good.

Be aware tracked Turbos are much more likely to suffer from failed coolant hose fittings -- these are epoxied into the block and can work loose and the engine can suffer catatrophic coolant loss on the track -- so you might want to think more about preventatively dealing with this possibility than tire differences at this stage.