im looking for a set of tires that i can run on the street but will still be competitive autocross tires. i was thinking Yoko A008 but i cant find anyone that sells them. i also heard that you can go from the stock 205 to 215 or 225. something like that. im just getting into the sport so any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks
Troy

 

I suggest BFG Gforce KD or Bridgestone S03. Also Falken Azenis (sizes are limited).

 

I've got the Falken Azenis Sport tires on my daily driver, and they would be hard to beat in terms of price/performance. They are sure-footed (not squirmy) and sticky, and they are absolutely dirt cheap. Give them a try if you can find a suitable size. They even ride pretty nicely and aren't as noisy as I expected. I am really happy with them.

-Max

 

woah, the Falkens are cheap i think i might give them a try, has anyone done a wider than stock tire on a stock rim with the Falkens. like i said, it used to work with the A008's but....

Troy

 

Autocrossing is 99% driver skill and 1% equipment...I've had my skin waxed by another FD Rx7 driver running on crappy all-season tires with a UTQG of 400...I'd say that if you're not in the hunt for a trophy, everytime you're out at the cone wars, then better tires are a waste of money Great autocrossers are BORN! You just can't practice and get better. You're either really good, or you're marginal regardless of the tires you're running...ok sermon over As you can probably guess, I suck *** at autocrossing

 

i know that autocross requires mad driving skills. but as i have been told over and over, the best way to drop lap time is to get better tires. and interestingly enough, the Rex that i race was my dad's. and he has 3 trophies under his belt. so i figure that the car was competitive, the driver was competitive which means that if i dont place, then its my fault not anything else. thats why ive been practicing and yes, it does help if u have a good teacher.

 

I vote for S-03's. Good street/AutoX tire with full tread depth and high traction/stability/handling rating.

Go to Tirerack.com and compare all 3 tires mentioned above. The BFG KD's don't come in anything smaller than a 17".... so you can rule those out. And the S-03's are priced well at around $150/tire.

I have the S-03's and love them.

GNX7

 

Yeah, I hear the S-03s are outstanding in the wet! Glad you're having great results with the S-03s...I haven't read a bad review of them from anyone!

 

I have to disagree here. I think auto-x is more like 70% driver, 30% car. There's no way I could put down as good or better times in my friend's Civic than in a Z06 ... or my FD. And you can get better .... like all forms of racing, the more seat time you get, the faster you'll be. With regard to tires, at first it won't make a difference. Your lines will be bad, you'll brake too early or too late, you'll lift when you're not supposed to and not lift when you HAVE to, you'll try and late-apex a turnaround and end up in the grass .... well, you'll see.

BUT ... when you get better at picking the right lines and so on, you will most definitely notice the difference between tires. I'm currently running with the BFG KDW's and I like 'em a lot. REALLY sticky in the dry ... but once they break loose, you're done. I ran with some Dunlop SP8000's, and I didn't like them very much. And they wore down way too fast. I just bought a set of Yokohama AVS Intermediate's for my other car/beater and they're good tires (especially at $75 per). I've heard nothing but good things about the BFG KD's and the Bridgestone S03's ... but kinda pricey if you ask me. Just keep in mind, you'll probably be needing a new set in about a year.

Oh yeah, and definitely run a wider tire if possible. The change from the 225/50's to the 245/45's was like night and day. I had more grip, could get on it a lot earlier, and the car felt a lot more predictable.

 

Ahh, you must be a good autocrosser

 

Good, maybe. Definitely not great .... yet.

 

I beg to differ, at my autocross before last, I was on crappy no name tires. I came in last place. I finished 9 seconds out of first place, and 6.5 seconds behind the next to last guy. I got a set of Falken Azenis, and changed nothing else on the car. This time I still came in next to last, but I was only half a second out of second place. New tires dropped my times by about 7 seconds. If you are autocrossing and want to be halfway competitive, you have to have good tires. Period.

 

last time i checked the falken anzeties do not come in 225/50/16....

 

quite right... they dont.. and they dont come in 205/55/16

i'm assuming you have stock TII rims...

I wish they had them... i would've gotten them 2 weeks ago...

Now i have no idea what tire I'm going to get... i wish tirerack shipped USPS instead of UPS, since i live in Canada. Because i want the YOKO AVS intermediates. but with duty, taxes, shipping... i owuldn't be saving a whole lot.

I was going to get the sp8000... but i've talked to 2 people and they say don't.

I was thinking about TOYO proxies T1-S
but at that price i might as well splurg and get s03... which is out of my budget

 

The AVS Intermediates take a while before they get grippy. You could shave them, but if they're daily driver tires, then that might not be such a good idea. Like I mentioned earlier, the BFG KDW's are good tires and they're in between the AVSi and S03's in price. Also, the Firehawk SZ50EP's are awesome tires for about that range (~$120 ish). The Bridgestome Potenza RE730's are also very good tires for their price range. The problem with the AVSi's and other tires like it (Goodyear GS's, etc.) is that you've got to burn off a good amount of rubber before they really start performing for you. But hey, there's nothing wrong with a few burnouts and/or donut runs. Or a powerslide lunch ..... Just FYI.

 

Yes, any good UHP tire would definitely benefit from shaving if you plan to use the UHP (ultra high performance) tire for sports competition

 

Ziggy682,
Just out of curiosity, how is the grip with the Aziens in the rain.

 

Maxcooper...

How are the azenis sports in the rain? because from what i understand they don't last too long and are poor in teh rain...

if you want decent rain grip and decent wear life... i think it should be the falken beta fk451 as a better choice.

 

why don't you check out the Toyo proxie ra1, the y work really good and aren't to high priced.

 

For the most part stickiness is inversely proportional to lifespan.

The Azenis is the tire that is closest to bridging the street/race tire gap. They're the tire of choice in various So Cal "Street tire" auto-x classes. It's the one I recommend, even if it's not available in the exact size you're looking for. Excellent grip, decent lifespan, and the price can't be beat. Unlike some other tires (RA-1, Victoracer, etc.) the Azenis do have some water-displacement in the tread design, so they won't be terrible in the rain, at least not until they're work down to slicks.

There's also the "Medium-R" compound tires like the Yok A032R and the Toyo RA1. I don't believe either of these are sticky enough to be really "competitive" and they won't last very long either. But they are stickier than S-02s, S-03s, BFG KDWs, or any other street tire, and last longer than real R-compounds.

If the car isn't a daily driver, you could drive to/from the track/auto-x on Kumho Victoracers or Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. Both are serious R-compound DOT-approved tires that are bested in grip only by Hoosiers.

 

I love my Yokohama AVS Intermediate's, they are great and quite sticky. They are made out of an older formula tire compund so they do wear quickly. They have a tread wear rating of 160. The Azenis are madee from a new compound and are supposed to be ask sticky, but have a higher tread wear rating. Anyone know what the tread wear rating is for the Azenis?

 

While I'm not an autocrosser, I've heard mention of the Kumho Ecsta (sp?) in autocross circles. I got some primarily because they're relatively inexpensive and they're really sure-footed in ice, snow and rain.

 

I don't know, as I haven't driven on them in the rain yet. I don't expect them to be that great, but they should be better than my old bald tires. You can always just take it easy when traction is low -- I've driven at least 10K miles in the snow in my T2 and FD combined. The only problem I ever had was with my FD in heavy rain with absolutely bald A008RSIIs on the back -- scary skating around on the highway.

I have some S-03s on the FD now that are hands down the best tires in the rain I have ever experienced -- better than the touring tires on sedans that I have driven. I didn't get them for that, but I was blown away when it started raining hard while I was on the highway after installing them.

I think the treadwear on my Azenis Sports is 220 or 200.

-Max