I posted this to the wheels/tire forum but didn't get much feedback, so I'll try here. Sorry for the crosspost:

I bought my FD primarily for weekend driving, autox and light track (HPDE) duty. I have a few options in terms of wheel/tire choices with what I currently own and I'd like some opinions as to which might be best for my needs.

Currently running 16x8 (non stock) wheels with Toyo Proxes T1-S tires. Adequate for daily driving and hold up okay on the track for my level of skill but not enough grip/traction. Easily breaks rear traction in lower gears autoxing for lots of power oversteer entertainment.

Option 1: Get Falken Azenis Rt-615 for stock FD wheels that I'm not currently using for anything. Tires are now only $108/ea at vulcantire. I'm concerned about the relatively small footprint due to stock wheel but it'd be a huge tire improvement over what I'm running now.

Option 2: I have a set of Forgeline 17x9/17x10 wheels with 235 and 275 wide Potenza S-02s already. While these aren't the same class of tiire as the Azenis they're definately would give me much more contact patch and I wouldn't have to spend anything.

Recommendations? Thanks!

 

In this thread there is a link to the Grassroots Motorsports comparo on tires.
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=531694

in regards to what you want to do...why not get a trailer and run race tires.

It also depends on what class you are in. If you are in SS get the stock wheels fitted with race rubber and keep your forgelines as a daily driver.

 

Yes I have already read that thread. I wasn't asking which tire was better, I was laying out specific options that were available to me and asking for critical comment on them.

I am so tired of hearing "have you searched" in every post I read on this board. I think it's going to be the death of this forum. If you don't have an answer, don't reply. It's that simple and will prevent people from becoming discouraged with asking legitimate questions.

 

A trailer isn't really an option where I live right now, so I'll just continue to drive and change my wheels when I get to events. As far as Autox goes, the club I run with doesn't use classes, they assign a handicap based on your past performance only, so tire/wheel choice is free.

I think I should make my "search" rant part of my sig. Don't take it personally I just am tired of reading it in every post 600 times a day ;P

 

I'm also looking at a good tire to use with in street prepared. Unless I can convince my lazy brother to haul a spare set of wheels and tires to events, I'm looking at something I can drive with on the street.

 

I would run some 18x10 CCW's with 285/30/18's all around with Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. They are 100% streetable with about a 6K mile life, great for HPDE once they warm up after 1 lap, and dont' get too greasy.

For AutoX you really need an AutoX tire that warms up quickly. Meaning a tire you put on at the track as they will wear out too quickly on the street.

I don't think the 235 and 275 wide Potenza S-02s are a competitive combination even if you are only doing it for fun.

 

I don't take it personally, I just get tired of the same questions or questions that can't be answered.

Damonb runs stock sized tires and gets times close to the ZO6's if not better. On rain days he runs his Kuhmo's and still flies around the track.

I run 18x9 and 18x10 and a RX-8 with Falken Azenis was killing my times!

I think Azenis on the stock are a nice cheap alternative that lets you burn your tires and still let you have your Forgelines for daily driving. I think this gives you the most bang for the buck.

If your dead set on performance and don't mind the extra cost, put some Falken's on your forgelines.

Good luck!

 

Another thing, you can substantially change your set up and performace without changing your tires. Where were you losing traction? What are your alignment settings and tire pressures? Did you try to change those first?

 

The stock size tires work pretty well on the FD. Having stickier track specific tires makes a MUCH bigger difference than changing your wheel size alone. Try some R compound tires on your stock rims and see how you like them. If you're not satisfied then try some wider wheels and tires.

I've run both 225/50-16 and 245/45-16 R compounds of various types (Toyo, Yoko, Kuhmo) on my stock rims for years now with good results.

 

Alignment is factory, I played around with pressures over the course of the day eventually lowering the rears 5 psi over the fronts which seemed to give me a bit more control. Mostly just losing traction on the exit of a turn under power, the rears tend to kick out a lot, but I attribute that mostly to my street tires (T1-S) and unfamiliarity with the car itself. I want to leave the car essentially stock + reliability/cooling mods for now and try to get the most I can out of it before I go upgrade happy.

While I'm not ready for the R compounds yet, I could do what you suggest and get sticker tires for the stock wheels now and if I find that's not good enough, I could always get a serious tire for the forgelines later. Considering I have stock power and stock suspension I get the feeling that if I just upgrade the tires on the stockers to the Azenis that should get me by for now.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

I've had pretty good luck using BFG KD's on stock wheels...