We Are First Settlers!

Howdy! I am a new member and an Autocross novice. I have a 1986 944T that is in good shape and runs strong. I have attended a "cone clinic" and a SOLO PRO introduction DE course and am hooked on running my 944.

I am currently running on street tires (surface is cement with a little sand blowing around) and was wondering what you all thought about investing in some race tires, what I should be running on and what kind of wheels I should use. At driving school my name was drawn from a hat and I won 20% off on Hoosier tires which opened up a whole new area of exploration for me. Some questions (which you may find amusing, but be patient with me please) from the new guy:

For starters, what is (are) "R compounds" (frequently heard at the autocross events)? Also, as I looked at the Hoosier catalogue I saw slicks, tires with tread, many and varied sizes and designatons. At the autocross I have observed tire changing that included wide, slick tires and some with one or two lines of thin tread in the center. Whats what and why?

My 944T has wheels that are wider in the rear than the front. When serching for rims and tires will I need to stay with that convention, or would regular 944 rims with appropriate size and type of tire work?

Lastly, for now, does this sound like a worth while investment for the 944? I would like to improve my skill and my times, like I said I am hooked! Thanks, Mike

Mike,

"R compounds" refer to "DOT-R" tires which are basically road legal tires with a racing tire rubber compound. Basically very sticky rubber that is soft and will wear quickly. These are the tires you see with a very small amount of grooving rather than conventional tread. You could drive them from home to the autocross as long as there's no substantial rain. Full race tires are the one's you'll see that are "slick" and are not at all suitable for the road.

Stock wheel configuration on the 944 is a staggered setup meaning the rears are wider than the front. Theoretically, you could go with the same size front and back so that you could swap them front to back but you would be giving up a lot in size as you would have to go with the smaller front as the back would not fit in front. You can, however, go a good bit wider front and back than stock given the correct offset. Newer 993/996 "Cup" wheels are popular. You would have to do a search for the combination that works.

As far as the special tires I'd suggest you'd learn more car control by starting with very high performance street tires on your stock wheels. Once you can overdrive those with skill you can start looking for special tires.

Just my 2 cents.

Chris

Thanks Chris! I have until November on my discount for tires so there is lots of time to keep learning (slow process, my times are getting slower as opposed to faster). First rule, have fun still applies!
Mike