Well after just over a year with my 2006 350Z I finally got a weekend day off to hit up an autocross. I had a great time and ran the novice class STU. I am on stock wheels with cheap 225 front and 245 rear tires. Those matched with the open diff ... Lol well let's just say I had a lot of fun and can't wait till the next one. No the issue is TIRES OR DIFF FIRST!!!! Really no budget for either one right now and if I pull the money together it will only be enough for one or the other.

 

I would save up money for tires and learn as much as you can while you kill the tires you have now. Driving with an open diff can help smooth out your throttle inputs too. (If you make an effort to control inside wheel spin.)

 

Congrats on doing your first solo event! As far as the rest, don't worry about it too much. Get as much seat time as you can, and learn how much your inputs affect the car. Learning the most effective lines make a huge difference and smoothing out your driving will make more difference than either tires or diffs at this point in your career.

 

Thanks ..... I agree on seat time! I have a pretty good feel for the car but getting used to the cones was tricky the first few times. I have raced off road most of my life but never on the street so it was a fun experience. I am not going crazy on setup but I think the tires were holding me back from being able to push the car and my own driving skills. The open diff was kinda ruff on the slalom ... And the sweepers. I was thinking I would had to have new sticky rubber with an open diff and burn off those new tires!!! But I agree with Z1 and the tired will help give me more steering and traction ... Then finess the throttle with the open diff and be as smooth as possible.

 

I would not get new tires until you kill the ones youn are on now with seat time. Then I would try to have money ready for tires.

 

I have another set of rims 18x10 1/2 and just need to buy tires for them. This is a 3rd car for my family but I do drive it a few times per week. So I will drive the stock rims with 225 front and 245 rear on the street ... Then when I do autocross I will install the 18x10 1/2 setup. The car pushed a lot and I would hate to change sway bar settings on the car to compensate for lack of tire and traction. As of now the car has ...

Bilstien shocks
Eibach sport line springs
Hotchkis front and rear sway bars
Power grid end links

 

The problem is that good tires can mask bad inputs. Your driving will improve faster on crappy tires. Jumping straight into the fast tires could basically turn bad habits into muscle memory as you learn.

 

Thanks for all the input ... Much appreciated