Michelin Pilot sport A/S 3s ss
 

So I can't help myself. As I anticipate the delivery of my BRZ in October I continue to do research. Today I talked to someone here in Dallas who does tracking. He recommended keeping it stock but perhaps going with the Michelin Pilot sport A/S 3s ss tires for performance purposes (I live in Dallas, so the weather does not get too cold). He also said spoilers all around and a rear diffuser would add "down force" and that they look great if done right. He was fine with a catback for sound. He also wrapped it up by saying that one day if I wanted to really get serious and caught the "tracking virus" I would want the WRX STI as it is more modify friendly. Right now, I am looking forward to my BRZ and not doing any major mods just some fun stuff. I am starting to think seriously about tracking it a little bit. He said if I did it, I would get addicted. He also said I would probably want to get a different set of tires/wheels for the tracking time eventually.

Thoughts? Feedback?

I spent almost half a year researching and test driving cars so now that I have made my decision I am ridiculously excited. Please forgive me for that :)

Feel free to flame me and direct me to other threads. It just helps to write about my excitement.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25485

imo track it stock, aero is of minimal performance benefit to the average HPDE goer (aside from looks) and burn up the stock tires (you already paid for them and they are very durable in my experience) and do tons of reading before buying.

KISS applies here: keep it simple stupid. Messing around with aero settings, swapping tires, figuring out pressures and settings can be huge distractions taking away from what newbies should be doing: having fun and learning.

Budget for brake pads and fluid, on my second track day I fried the oem pads and boiled the fluid and was driving home with a spongy sketchy pedal. Depending on your skills you may be perfectly fine on OEM brakes for the first track day, but if you're comfortable at all with hard braking (actually utilizing the ABS) you'll probably use them up really quick. There's lots of threads on brake pad selection and different fluids that can be found.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39

Here's a recent thread, while hybrid pads were bypassed for this discussion they may be a good place for first timers to reduce the risk of brake fade for your first few outings.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94284

Other than that read read read and take every opinion with a grain of salt.

Edit: Like this one below :D
I believe I had a relative try PS AS3's, I think he destroyed them with a single day of autocrossing, heavy car with a big motor and a lead foot didn't do them any favors but when choosing tires they haven't come up on any short list I've seen. Again read read read everything you've asked has been answered by 100 different people in 100 different ways on this forum alone.

Don't forget to have fun
:burnrubber:

Evo liked the BRZ/FRS more than the Miata because if it's stock tires.. even though it was slower. Unless all you want are track times.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC4xAArXCTY"]Toyota GT86 vs Mazda MX5 | evo DEADLY RIVALS - YouTube[/ame]

Yeah.....that "tracking" guy is a weirdo.
You don't need downforce for our cars. Spoilers, rear diffusers don't make jack. It just looks cool. The truth is our cars are no where near high horsepower and fast enough to require down force.
As for tires, those are shit for "tracking." If you do plan to do some track days I highly recommend buying another set of wheels and tires with a utqg rating of 200 and lower.

You really don't need to buy anything to go for a track day. Just show up with your car in perfect working condition. If you do go, forget your ego, and ask for an instructor to ride with you for half a day. I'll also recommend you go to an autox event first. It's lower speed but more technical and a lot safer. No worries about hitting a wall or off track. All you'll do is just eat some small cones if you mess up.

After that then decide if you want to spend money on this car.

As for switching cars, it means jack. If your a great driver you can out drive anyone in any car. I seen 150 hp mitas out run 500 hp cars. The key is the dude in the miata has been on the track over 100 times where as the dude in the 500 hp car has only been out 3 times.

I had Pilot A/S3s on my GTI. Super sticky for all seasons, but if I lived in Dallas, I wouldn't bother with all-seasons. You guys don't get months below 40F, which is really the only time the A/S3s will be useful, relative to summers. I was making 290 lb/ft of torque in the GTI, and the A/S3s in a 225 width had just enough grip to keep things tame. Pilot Super Sports are cheaper and very sticky for street tires.

+1 for Super Sports. If you're not planning to drive it on ice/snow then there's really no reason to get the A/S 3s. Super sports are superior in dry, rain, and hold up to track days pretty well.

I actually had both a STi along with my BRZ for about 6 months and much prefer the BRZ on the track. It's slower, but so much more rewarding to drive.

If you're a track newb like I am, stick with the stock tires. They have a lower limit so you can get a feel for what happens just outside the envelope at lower speeds. They are REALLY chatty so you'll have plenty of advance notice.

As always, Strat's on point.

If you get the bug and are on a budget, oil cooler and pressure gauge before anything else. Just my $0.02.

I bumped into a forum member at the local garage who tracked his BRZ stock a few times. The only thing he managed to destroy were the brake pads and brake fluid. The stock tires looked very good still.

I'm on my 2nd set of Pilot Sport A/S 3 in 215/45/R17, first set was 87V and the new set 91W. Very good for occasional spirited driving on the roads even when the temp dips down to near freezing. Even tho the tread wear rating is much higher than Pilot Super Sports, they can still wear out quite fast if repeatedly driven very hard on the road (my friend took my car out for a spin once and drove it quite hard, and destroyed my tires within the hour).

According to STI only their front under spoiler / lip skirt and rear spoilers and gurney flap options would give you more downforce as they are wind tunnel tested, not sure about the side skirts and rear spats (don't think they do much other than looks). I don't think even the stock optional rear diffuser does anything in terms of aero. You can also look into adding the stock underbody aero panels for less drag. The stock rear spoiler is used to give less drag, not for more downforce.

Hmm... In that situation I would opt for a performance summer tire rather than all seasons... The Pilot Super Sports are quite good!

I'm leaning towards Michelin Super Sports for my year round tires, even though my BRZ will never touch ice or snow while living in Alaska.
Was contemplating the All Season set, but would rather get the MSS as i read they perform well in dry as well as wet conditions with excellent handling ability.
just haven't decided if i wanted the 17" set to throw on my stock rims, or get a 18" wheels and tire package to drive out with a new style.

Do the brake upgrades mentioned then get another set of wheels for track duty. Track time is very hard on tires particularly if the suspension is stock. I see extreme wear on everything from Porsches to S2000's. With dedicated wheels you could also use DOT race tires for your track day events. I have a race car for the track but if I was going to take my BRZ id probably look into getting some kind of clear bra. If you are doing HPDE days with other drivers on the track it can be very abrasive to the front of the car. I see some guys use painters tape but that looks pretty cheesy.