Opinions on Gen1(79) Wheel/Tire combos for running Road Course
 

Looking to pick up a set of wheels and R compound track tires for a Gen 1, I was curious what size wheel/tire setups folks have had some success with lately.

Primarily for HPDE's and similar events.

Panasports are pretty much the wheel everyone uses. 13x7 with 225/50/13's on them. Tires are very much up to your preference. I have Kumho Victoracer's and love them. They are very sticky, cheap, and last forever! Next year though I am going to try the new Hoosiers...everyone seems to be running them now. I run with EMRA, not SCCA. Check with your sanctioning body to see what wheel and tire sizes you are allowed before you go plunking down any money!

225's on all corners? Anyone running staggered setups with slightly wider tires in the rear.

None that I have seen.

Racing tire choice
 

I have to agree with the set up. That's exactly what I ran except with Firestones. Didn't last as long as some others, because they had a softer rubber, but stuck like glue on a dry track. I found I had to drop back to 60s for wet traction on my 79. The wider tires gave me too much rubber on the ground and the car would hydroplane when it was partly cloudy!! The car is balanced great from the factory for using same sizes on all corners. I tried some 45s on the back and the rear traction was a bit better, but I couldn't break the rear loose as easily for drift turns. It was actually faster around Limerock by almost 4 seconds with all the same size.

Since you aren't talking about racing, per se, but rather driver training, perhaps R-compound tires are unnecessary? Really, the objective (IMHO) should not be ultimate grip but access to the limits of adhesion. Certainly you want a sticky tire, but an R-compounds might not be the best learing tool. Also, the steep expense of racing rubber could keep you from changing tires as often as necessary. Just throwing that out there...your mileage may vary (YMMV).

For economic considerations, I recently bought some 14x6.5 rims off eBay ($53 total) and a set of 195/60R14 Falken Azenis Sports ($56 each, including shipping). The Falkens run wide for their nominal size and are very sicky (200 UTQG) with massive tread blocks. Further, the rims have less offset, providing a wider track. Since camber is very limited with the stock suspension, narrow tires with a wider track can be as effective as wider tires and stock track, since the outside of the tire is forced to do most of the work. Anyway, I am very optimistic that this setup will work well for HPDEs...and I'm driving them daily on the street and loving them (just returned from a 2,400 mile drive to Fontana and Las Vegas. Awesome in the mountain passes of southern Oregon and the Grapevine into the LA Basin). Suprisingly quiet, too.