Best dual use tire?

[NINaudio]

Looking for recommendations for a good dual use summer tire on stock wheels. Looking for something that's good in the rain that can handle a handful of HPDE's (3 to 5) yearly. Continental ECF's look like a decent choice, but the closest they have to stock sizes are 265/35/19 for the fronts and 295/30/19 for the rears, but 295 seems like it would be a bit too big for the stock wheels. @razorlab I know this was discussed in the track thread, but I haven't been able to find that info buried in there.

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[Rensuhlo]

Here is a list of all the major tires with a focus on the 200tws. But the ECF would be in your best interest. People put 295s on the stock sets.

 

[ky.supra]

Looking for recommendations for a good dual use summer tire on stock wheels. Looking for something that's good in the rain that can handle a handful of HPDE's (3 to 5) yearly. Continental ECF's look like a decent choice, but the closest they have to stock sizes are 265/35/19 for the fronts and 295/30/19 for the rears, but 295 seems like it would be a bit too big for the stock wheels. @razorlab I know this was discussed in the track thread, but I haven't been able to find that info buried in there.

I have ECS02 on my summer wheels. Last year was my first season on them, did a couple of road trips, back road driving, two track days - no issues in the wet or dry.

 

[AHP]

ECF are one of the best true dual purpose tires, IMO. They're on the slower end of a 200TW but they last forever and they actually work in the rain. But.. a few misses on sizing and they are expensive.

 

[bushido]

i also thought of ECFs but i have no interest in neither 295s nor 30 sidewall, so.. i think PS4S are fine? they're comfy for every day, great in the rain, and i use them at the track.. handle well enough where porsches and V8s can't keep up. i would say stick with these and get some camber plates

 

[Vertex]

As @bushido said, I would highly recommend PS4S. They're probably the best summer performance tire that also performs on wet pavement as well. They are not a 200tw tire but you should get a good amount of use out of them especially only running 3-5 sessions a year on them.

Obviously they are not going to grip like a 200tw tire but I guess it depends on what you're looking for. I don't see you going more than 1 year if you're using them to cruise around plus do those 3-5 track days a year as well. With the PS4S I'd expect more than a year of use

 

[tomfree]

My use case may not be quite relevant...but I've run several of the tires discussed on a couple of different cars in the last 3 years. My $.02

- Michelin PS4S - Did OneLap in a Cayman S on these. Road manners were the best, quiet, good in the rain, sidewalls not terribly stiff. On track, they were easy to overdrive, but very predictable and communicated well. They're not cheap, it's an ancient tire model, but they still just work.

- Conti ECS02 - Used these in '23 on the Supra in OneLap. Similar to the Michelin - quiet, good in the rain, rode decent, and wore like iron. They had a ton of life left on them after the event...and when I trashed them to mount this year's tires, they were still plenty usable. On track, I felt like these didn't feel as good - didn't communicate well. I also overdrove these, but I probably expected too much from them. VERY popular tire this year in OneLap, I'd say more teams ran these than any other tire. The PS4S has held that crown for years, but this seems to be the heir apparent. Another note, a lot of Lemons (and other crapcan racing ) teams are running these as rain tires.

 

[ArmenLS1]

How bad are the ECF's when it comes to tram lining on bad roads?

 

[NINaudio]

ECF are one of the best true dual purpose tires, IMO. They're on the slower end of a 200TW but they last forever and they actually work in the rain. But.. a few misses on sizing and they are expensive.

I guess the question then becomes will going with a larger diameter up front and a smaller one in back when compared to stock size upset anything?

 

[AHP]

I've run PS4S on a few different cars and generally liked them as an all purpose tire with occasional light track use. The main issue I've experienced is they don't hold up well on track if you're going hard and have insufficient (like less than -2°) camber; especially on front tires. They have a bad tendency to roll over and peel the shoulders off. My wife's 135is did this to 3 sets of fronts until we did control arms and tension rods. I've also seen it with the C8 when guys track them without the proper track alignment.

 

[BrodoFratgins]

I have ECS02 on my summer wheels. Last year was my first season on them, did a couple of road trips, back road driving, two track days - no issues in the wet or dry.

Were yours pretty burnt out after all that or did they still go for a while? I haven't run ECS02s before but I'm considering pulling the trigger on them.

My DWS06s on my BRZ held up for a while, hoping they'll be the same.

 

[ky.supra]

Were yours pretty burnt out after all that or did they still go for a while? I haven't run ECS02s before but I'm considering pulling the trigger on them.

My DWS06s on my BRZ held up for a while, hoping they'll be the same.

They still have a lot of life left. I have the DWS06 plus all-season on my stock wheels, they will be on their 3rd season once I put them back on during the colder season.

 

[razorlab]

For novice driving, the ECS, PS4 and DWS (less so) will do "okay", but anything other than novice pace and you will absolutely destroy the tire like @AHP showed.

 

[Rob_SER]

For novice driving, the ECS, PS4 and DWS (less so) will do "okay", but anything other than novice pace and you will absolutely destroy the tire like @AHP showed.

really depends for what purpose you are going to the track as well. If you go to have fun and not beat records, they can do the trick.

Personally I have the Continentals ExtremeContact Sport 02 on my GR86, done 4 track days between last year and this year. If your performance expectations are realistic, they will work. Although, I have a decent alignment with -2.2 camber at the front and -1.8 at the back.

I'm used to 200TW that I ran for numerous years on my GT4, so definitly not in the same performance ballpark, but I still enjoy myself.

Bonus, when rain starts pouring, you'll be faster than anybody on track.

 

[NINaudio]

For novice driving, the ECS, PS4 and DWS (less so) will do "okay", but anything other than novice pace and you will absolutely destroy the tire like @AHP showed.

I wouldn't even consider the DWS for my use case. I feel like I've still got a lot to learn yet, but I'm getting faster every time. Is there a tire you'd recommend?

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