Planning to start autocrossing soon, so that means the cheap all-season tires I have on right now have to go. I'm looking for a performance street tire, something for the autox and summer driving. I'm probably going to be stuck with the stock wheels so that pretty much limits me to Sumitomo HTR200 or the Falken Ziex 512. Any thoughts or experiences with either of these tires? Any other suggestions? Keep in mind that budget and inexperience rule out any R compounds. Thanks.

 

I just put a set of Ziex 512s on my GSL-SE, though I haven't had'em long enough to give thoughts on them.

They were mounted and balanced yesterday, and are still off the car. I'm waiting on rotors to do a complete brake job before I put the wheels back on the car.

 

I am using the Sumitomo right now 195/60/13, they are pretty good for street tires, but they would have too much side wall flex if you want to use them at autocross. I pumped those up to 37 for daily driving but it still flex if you go hard cornering. The best tires for autocross are usually the R compound tires, which doesn't last that long.

 

Hmm....alright. I've heard about the soft sidewalls for both the Falken and Sumitomos. Anyone else?

 

Jusy about any 13" street tire will have sidewall flex. Pumping the air pressure up to near 40 PSI will help, but not eliminate the problem. The downside to this, is they will feel like bricks on the street at that PSI.
The sidewall height is the primary reason for the flex. This is why most newer cars come with 16-18" wheels, and lower aspect tires. Ride comfort is less with this setup, but sidewall flex is also less. Tire & wheel weights are also heavier in this type of arraingment.
This leaves few tire options for those still running stock rims, and is compounded by the fact that aftermarket rims are few and far between to fit our odd bolt pattern cars.

 

Unfortunately, in the 13" size there are not any tires that are a good street / autocross tire. If you can, I would suggest picking up an extra set of stock rims (cheap) and find set of used R compound tires. Places to look for used R compounds include various SCCA forums and your local SCCA region newsletter. Here are a few links:

www.improvedtouring.com
www.sccaforums.com
www.specracer.com (SpecRacers use 13" tires)
http://www.scca.org/Inside/Index.asp...gionalSites&~=

I am not sure where you are and if there is an SCCA equivalent Canadian club, but you could also look there.

 

How do you like them on the SE? I wanted some Ziex 512's on my Miata, but the local places were sold out when I went to get them, so I had to settle for some Kumho Ecstas. The SE is going to need tires sooner or later, though.

 

I have Ziex ZE-502's in 205/50-VR15 on my '83. They are pretty decent tires. I have added over 10K to them, and a few track events, but they still have decent tread left. I am prolly gonna go with Kumho MX's or SPT's when these are gone.