I need new rear tires, and I'm kind of riding the fence on what I want to do.

I have the classic fitment 17" volks, with 225/255 PS2s. Awesome tire, absolutely love them. I put 4 on at 19k miles, replaced the rears at 26k, and the rears are evenly worn to 1/32nd at 36k miles. The fronts are ~4/32nds on the inside, 5-6/32nds on the outside. If I stick with PS2s going forward, I'll just replace them in pairs as needed. I can probably even get through another set of rears (8-10k miles) before the fronts are completely used up.

My dilemma is that I plan to start doing HPDEs in a few months, so I'm riding the fence on whether I want the to use same set of tires on the street and the track. If I only replace the rears, would the fronts even have enough tread to clear tech for an HPDE? Then again, PS2s aren't exactly the cheapest tires, and I have no idea how fast they'd wear on the track (Sebring and Homestead are the tracks in my area). I'm leaning towards the PS2s again, but should I consider something less expensive (star specs, or kumha ecsta xs)?

On the other hand, I could stick with PS2s on the volks for the street, and put dedicated track tires for my old rims. But they're the AP1 16", which I don't believe have ideal tire options. And I hate the idea of going from the 225/255 setup I love to something smaller on the old rim. I suppose I could get rid of those in favor of some 17" track rims, but that would be another added cost.

What would you do? What's going to be cheaper in the long run?

 

If you're just starting HPDE's, run street tires.
What I would do: Buy two new StarSpecs for the rear. The fronts at 4/32" min. tread depth shouldn't be a problem with tech.

You wouldn't lose all that much tire by going to track tires with the AP1 wheels. You can run 225/50-16 front, 245/45-16 rears with those wheels. *IF* you decide you want to go to R-compounds, that would be the cheapest way to do it, as you already have the wheels, and 16" tires are cheaper than 17".

But I'd wait until you get at least an event or two under your belt before dishing out ~$800 or so for track-only tires.

 

I would also recommend a tire like the Kuho XS or the Dunlop Star Spec. They are as close to an R compound tire as you are going to get. They are also going to work on the street.
If I can help just let me know.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

Dan, I think I'm going to follow your advice and stick with one set of tires for street/track for now. I'll stick with PS2s again this time, rather than mix/match though. Once all 4 are used up, I'll evaluate other tire options again.

 

That is what I would do.