What tires does everyone use for autoxing? I'm still running the stock bridgestone's but will soon be getting something better for my 17's.

 

I use Goodyear F1's GS-D3's on a roadcourse and it seemed to handle fairly well. However, I don't like these tires for drag racing, they are rather dissapointing trying to gain traction. Probably the best aspect of these tires is the wet traction handling is awesome.

I use the OEM sizes with these tires on my stock 17's. I believe they are slighty lighter than the OEM Potenza's.

If you really want a good auto-x street tire, you might want to look into Bridgestone S0-3's. I don't think they make stock OEM sizes for S0-3's, but you can always plus size your tires.

 

if you only have 1 set of wheels and would like a tire you can drive around on, use at the auto-x, and are reasonably priced, i'd look towards falken or maybe even bfg. bridgestones are mad expensive.

or you can just buy another set of wheels to mount some kuhmo race tires on.

 

I run only street tires in Solo2. Personally I like to know how my car will behave in an emergency situation and running the everyday tires at Solo2 gives a more accurate reflection of that. The convience and practicallity is also nice.

Last year and this year I ran Kumho MX - 245/40/18 all round. They're a great tire for the money ($132 each at Tire Rack over the winter). I get a whole summer and over a dozen Solo2 events (with 6-10 runs) out of them. I've even had success with them compared to runners with R compounds (a few FTDs, a class championship, and a 97 PAX at the Ontario Regionals). They definitely don't have R compound grip but they certainly stand up well compared to other street tires out there.

I'm moving on to a set of Falken Azenis RT-615 255/40/18 all round. GRM had them 8/10ths faster than the MX over a short-ish Solo2 course. I'm looking forward to trying them at the ZCCA event next week in Syracuse.

 

great suggestions. i'm planning on picking up some 19's as my everyday tires, then getting some good tires for autoxing only. i've heard good things about toyo t1r. i'm not interested in getting r compounds just yet.

anyone autox in san diego? obviously not since i've been the only Z there the last few months.

 

I started the year out on my Potenza OEM's, but wanted to be more competative. Since I figured on having to drive to the track on them, I mounted the Dunlop SSR Race tires in 235/40/18's all around. Great price, and good fit for my application. Nobody, I mean nobody, is using these besides me locally. I went from 86th to 11th in the points race so far in my first year. Most of the other guys are starting to pay attention, and asking me about them now.

I run CKR, where the technical course is king, so keeping the rears same as the front allows me to use throttle-oversteer to rotate in the slow, tight spots. It will also alow me to rotate the tires when ware becomes uneven. If you're just getting started, these will do you good. Maybe after I figure out a trailer hitch, I'll consider the Hoosiers or Kumos, but for now, the Dunlops are doin' fine by me.

 

You want Kumho 710s in 275/40-17 all around. Just remember to turn the traction control off.

 

Those are the same exact tires I will be picking up next week for some track days. Great price of $120 or so a tire on Tire Rack.

 

Yup, that's partly why I got them. I guessed I'd only get this year out of them, but after a trip to Cincy to compete, and three out to Louisville (about 2hrs), they're still showing nearly full tread. I used the Cincy trip for the first heat cycle, and I think that helped alot. They actually ride better than the Potenza, so I'm just leaving them on the car all the time now (not really a daily driver).

They scream a little more than the other R-compound tires, but I find that helps me locate the absolute limits of traction better. Last time out at EKU in Richmond (very slippery), I beat the pants off of everbody in a fendered car, and getting within .5 seconds of the open wheel CM's had several people going "huh???" I'm sure there are better tires out there, but I'm happy right where I am for now.

 

Just mounted up a set of Dunlop SS tires on my Redline track. Impressed with the grip and feel of this rubber, but unsure of cold inflation pressures on this 35-aspect ratio tire. Opinions on both street and track pressures would be appreciated.

 

Thought I'd post an update/review of the RT-615s.

I've run the Kumho MXs for two summers with a full set gone and this year's about 1/2 done. For the price ($132 in the winter at Tire Rack) it's hard to fault them.

However, I decided to try something new and hopefully get a little more traction. This week I had a set of 255/40/18 mounted all round (note that I've got four 8.5" Track rims on the car). I got them for a decent price of $178/each from Vulcan tire. The 255 is quite a bit wider than the Kumho 245. So much so that I had to get one of the larger fellows at the shop to bounce in my trunk while I examined how close the tire got to my rear fender with the 25mm H&R spacers mounted. They cleared, but with 1/8-1/4" max I wouldn't want it any closer!

While I haven't had a chance to really work the tires yet, I do have some observations.

For a tire with an apparently stiffer sidewall, the Falkens are not impressing me. I'm not sure if the weaker sidewall layout from the larger size that is contributing to this but there quite a lag in responsiveness - moreso than the MXs.

Also, surprisingly the tires seem to get more sluggish the higher the pressure. The guys at the shop put 45 psi in the car and I thought I was driving on ballons when doing slalom-like maneovers. They were harsh on bumps yet sloppy during high speed transitions. The sidewalls seemed to get stiffer and the ride improved once I bled it down to 34-35 psi.

The Falken reputation of easily building pressure/heat is well warranted. After a few minutes of spirited driving, the baloon feeling returned and was confirmed with a 5+ psi pressure jump. It's surprising considering there's a chunk of straightaways between turns to cool them off, and I wasn't really working them that hard anyway. At least double the pressure gain than the MXs. There's no way I'd lap on these things.

The Azenis are also noticeably heavier than the MXs and not that much quieter on the road.

The Azenis do have some good traits. There is more grip, especially in the longer faster sweepers, and the break-away is much more gradual and controllable. They also look pretty cool - although that's not much of a priority to me.

I think there's more performance in them than the MXs, but the characteristics are certainly different than what I was expecting.

 

I was considering them, but after reading the Grass roots motorsports write up on them and some other high performance tires I kinda figured they'd have heat issue's on a heavy car and they'd get greasy to quickly. I'd hate to enter a corner expecting to be able to carry a known amount of speed only to find out the tire's were too hot, rut row.

 

I guess Advan Neovas are supposed to kick ***, but also one of the most expensive. Good affordable options seem to be the Kumho MX and Falken RT-615. I've heard about the heat issues, but couldn't that be solved by wetting them down? (Not sure if you guys are running autox or track though) The Hankook RS-2 Z212 is supposed to be good too, but unfortuanately it doesn't seem to come in sizes that would work for Z's/G's.

 

The Falkens should be very good for Solo2 & basic street duty (I will report after some experience).

I wouldn't lap on them though, Kumho MXs are much better handling the heat.

 

Had a chance to finally Solo2 the Azenis today.

Overall they were quite impressive. After 10 weeks since my last event and running with new tires and dampers for the first time, I ran 2nd fastest overall (of about 35 runners) and only 8/10ths behind a 225 RWHP turbo Miata on Kumho R compounds.

I would believe GRM's analysis of almost 1 second improvement over the MXs on a 55 second course. Pressure increase was minimal, but you could tell they did overheat more than Kumhos street tires. The Azenis RT-615 definitely need a good 10-15 min to cool off between runs otherwise they get greasy and squeal lots.

Probably the biggest surprise was how little pressure they required. 36psi front & rear was plenty, compared to the 43 psi on the MX.

Additional setup info was Koni SA full stiff up front and full soft in the rear. Hotchkis sways full stiff up front and med in the rear. Tire size is 255/40/18 all round on 18x8.5" Track rims.

 

I ran 245/35/18 all around, and love them. I ran it for the last 2 autox events and spent some time on the street in between and will be out on the racetrack next month. Grip level was good, and wear was fair. Behave somewhere in b/t a nice street tire and R-compound. The only complain I have is they made the car sit too low to the ground, when I drive around town sometimes I would bottom out (ouch)
I did installed HKS coilovers with a 1.25" front and back drop thou.