Tire gurus, I need your help!
First let me explain, my current setup consist of a stock R1 Suspension with SSR Integral A2s (17x8 and 17x9) with Bridgestone RE71 (235/45 and 275/40). I noticed today, that the inside of the front wheels or unevenly warn all to hell. Just the very inside of the front wheels, my car hasn't had an alignment for awhile, and since I'm running different size, directional tires, I can't rotate them.
First question is, what the hell caused this? I have a few guesses, but before I purchase new tires, I want to fix the problem first.
Now to the other part of my problem.
Which tires to purchase? I'm looking at the cheap @$$ Kuhmo tires to replace the front, but don't really want to have those as my main tires both front and back for the long hall. Yes they could be used as a stop gap, but this is what I'm looking for help from you guys.
Being my current setup with the SSR's and rim sizes (with a 40mm offset, I believe)
What tires would you recommend? I love the S03's but they don't come in what size I currently run for the front or the rear, so I could only run them on the front or back. Should I switch sizes now? What sizes for my rims would you recommend?
I'm looking for high performance street, along with something that can handle a few Auto-X sessions.

I hope to someday run 18X10 with 285/30/18's at all four corners, but can really afford the coilovers nor the custom wheels at this point. (What the hell happened to M2/AD coilovers anyway???)

In the meantime, I want to get some stiffer lowering springs, preferably Linear, does anyone make Linear ones for the FD, besides RB? I will more than likely add Racing Beat Springs with the Stock low mileage R1 shocks or perhaps Blisten hard shocks, what do you guys think of this setup.

Sorry for the long post!
Thanks for the help guys.

 

Tires wearing on the inside could be due too too much caster. Or you may have too much camber. Usually the fronts wear on the ouside from turning. The first thing I would do it have it aligned at a good shop. I've been pretty happy with Sears. They have this huge machine they put the car on and mount reflectors on the wheels. The machine pulses led and as they bounce off the reflectors, it tells the computer where the wheels are. Its pretty cool and they only charge like $50. I had them do custom specs for me off of Pettit's website. Unless you know of a race shop that does alignments, this is probably your best bet. As for tires, I like Toyo Proxes T-1S's, but not sure if they come in that size. The Bridgestone SO-2's are supposed to be cheep now if you can find them cause the SO-3 came out. As for springs, don't go too stiff with the stock shocks or the car will be under dampened. I've lowered a mustang cobra before and a celica gts. Both resulted in a bouncy ride because the shock didn't ahver enough rebound dampning for the sriff spring. The mustang was espeically bad. Though the R1 shocks are pretty firm, so you might be able to get away with it. Ask around.

 

M2 discontinued the coilovers because they were having problems with Ground Control supplying them fast enough. They have a new setup now by DRM, but I don't know much about it.

 

Find a shop in your area that does alignments for race cars. Some of your local autox'ers should be able to refer you to a decent place. Tell them what kind of driving you want to do, and they can hopefully find a decent compromise setup for you.

Of course if you just want to even out that wear pattern, you can just take those turns a lot faster

 

Thanks guys, I forgot to mention the alignment. I'm looking into that right now. Pettit specs sound good? I still need recomendations on tires as well.
Thanks

 

I would guess that a 265/40-17 S-03 would stick better than most 275/40-17 tires. I have those S-03s on the back of my car, and they hold 370 RWHP all the way through second gear. They go up in smoke in first gear, but I don't think there is much I can do about that. The S-03s are outstanding for braking and acceleration, and have a lot of lateral grip as well. 275 is a bit wide for a 9" rim, too, so 265 might be a better choice anyway.

I'll be trying some Toyo T1-S tires in the same sizes (the front is 245/40-17) when the S-03s wear out. I found a barely used set for less than $500, so I picked them up for when my current tires wear out. I think you can get both the Bridgestones and the Toyos in 235/45, too.

Cheap tires perform like cheap tires. Get good tires and enjoy your investment in the car to the fullest extent. The Toyos are very good tires at a great price, and even the S-03s are not very expensive compared to competitive tires in the same size.

-Max

 

Here's what I'm thinking of now.
Ground Control Coilovers with Blisten Hard shocks.
Potenza S-03's 235/45 17's up front and 265/40 17's

Its a lilttle more than I was looking to spend, but then later I can go to 18X10 and have ride height adjustable, I like the AD, but think they are a lil over kill for me and what I want to do, as long as too much for the bank account.

What do you guys think of this setup?
What spring rates would you recommend?

 

Problem with the Bilsteins is they are not adjustable, so you won't be able to change the settings depending on the kind of driving you want to do. I could be wrong on this, but I've heard they don't last too long on the FD's. Kelrx7r1 said his wore out fast. The Tanabe pro street setup is nice, and can be had for around $1600 with new pillow ball mounts. Its also 8 way adjustable. Mazdaspeed is another option but I'm not too crazy about that dual rate spring it has. Konis with the ground control setup would be a less expensive but good setup too. I have 550lb front 450 lb rear springs, and while pretty hard, they ride is acceptable. I might wven step up top 600/500 or 650/550.

 

I can't win!

 

Looks like I'm going with some TEIN's and some S-03's, should make for a good improvement. There goes my tax refund.
I'll order and the next few days and install them over one of these weekends. I'll take pics and post a write up.

 

Inside tread wear could be caused by too much negative toe. It could also be caused by too much negative camber. Caster isn't a tire wearing angle unless it is extremely out of whack. If your caster was that much out then your car would handle like ****.

If you can find a shop with the reflector type heads that mount on the wheels then that would be best. That is the newest machine right now. Good luck.