Autocross "street" tires, Falkon vs. Bridgestone vs BFG Options

[billd]

Any opinions on this board on the best autocross street tire (DOT tire, treadwear > 100)? The SCCA guys I talk to swear by these new Falkons but I have no experience with them. I personally have had good experience with S-03s and with the BFG TA/KD. Has anyone on the board tried the Falkons?

[DanT]

Bill,

Looking for that over 100wr street tire for next years rules? I have heard good things about the falkens.

I am looking at minimizing my overall points by only making mods that are actually going to help the cars cornering performance. increased HP is not going to happen with the 4 banger.
Lower points means competing against less powerfull cars. don't want to run into any turbos in my class. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wacko.gif)

[billd]

Dan,

You've got it. I'll probably keep my 2.0L at 300 points and run in AX16 next year. I was planning to make it a Bi or Bp car, but now once I do springs and sway bars I bump up 2 or 3 classes. Not to mention the stickies are 3 classes by themselves, so a Bp car would probably wind up in AX8.

[hmeeder]

I've been running the Falkens for the past 2+ years and tried several others (Bridgestone, Yokos, Dunlop and others.) For wear, the falkens are far superior, they stick like crazy and dollar for dollar, the best tire for Autocrossing. Caution: do not drive these things in the rain, you'll wet yourself. Horrible bad weather tires.

[Trekkor]

Falken's are a really nice choice (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)

KT

[DanT]

Actually not quite that High. Ken Holladay and Jeff Williams are in TT11.
Right now the way I plan on building my car I should end up in TT13.
944 turbos and lots of 911s, and stock Boxsters. I could kick but on any 2.0L BP 914 on the big track using just street tires on the Box. That seems fair?!
oh well, its supposed to be fun right.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

[Dave_Darling]

Third the recommendation for Falken Azenis tires. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif) I've got the old compound on my 914 (thanks Grant!), the new one is supposed to stick a little bit better. The BFG KD tires are supposed to be roughly on-par with the old compound Azenis (with less NVH) but are much more expensive.

Took 7th out of 27 at Santa Rosa last weekend in a Bi car with Azenis on it! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)

--DD

[MattR]

Has anyone seen the tire data from falken azines rt215 or rt615s? Im really curious what it looks like and how it compares to the others.

[Dave_Darling]

Last year, Grassroots Motorsports compared several hard-compound "ST-class" tires. The BGF KD and the Azenis (older 215 compound) came out just about even. One driver posted his fastest times on the BFGs, the other on the Falkens. The BFGs were much more expensive, but made better "daily driver" tires, primarily because they offered less NVH (noise, vibration, harshness).

Just recently they tested another batch of ST-class tires, including the Azenis 215 and the Azenis 615. The 615 was clearly superior to the 215, which was significantly better than any other tire tested (though they didn't have the BFG KDs in this one). The 615 dealt with heat better, but did still fall off when it warmed up. They figured that spraying them with water between runs was still a viable tactic with the 615s.

--DD

[maf914]

QUOTE (Dave_Darling @ Oct 5 2005, 10:16 AM)

The 615 dealt with heat better, but did still fall off when it warmed up. They figured that spraying them with water between runs was still a viable tactic with the 615s.

Hmmm..., That's interesting. I thought you wanted to heat the tires. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/idea.gif)

I've been watching too much racing on television. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

[grantsfo]

I have run 5 sets of Falkens 3 sets of 215's and 2 sets of 615's. Great tires! The 615 does handle heat better than the 215. Although I have to say I only had once case of my 215's getting too hot. 95 degree day on a two lap AX run with a front wheel drive car. By the end of my second run my tires got a little "greasy".

New 615 is an outstanding tire. I replaced my Boxster's SO3's with 615's and I feel the difference in grip. Its like having r compound tires on the car. Great in the wet, especially when the pavement is just wet with no standing water. The compound seems to stick better than others to wet surfaces.

[chilli]

Here is a little more on the rt615, the rt 215 are discontinued.


http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm


mike

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/driving.gif)

[billd]

Thanks all. Here is a link to the Grassroots Motorsports article comparing tires. It shows the Falken 615s to be the clear winner among street tires. Its less conclusive about R-compounds.

http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com/image...15_tiretest.pdf