Best 185/xx/15 tire with treadwear 140+, considering the 1.7 for the next AX Options

[siverson]

Well, I had a good time at the SDR autocross this past Sunday, but I came to realize two things:

1. I need to get a lot more autox driving in. I think I'm utilizing my heavily modified 3.6 car to about 10% of its potential. Oh well, it's fun to smash the "go" pedal. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif) The results aren't posted yet, but I don't think my best timed run of 1:15.00 is going to be very impressive for my car. Nine (my car) was ashamed to have me drive him home.

2. I always forget how much -waiting around- there are during autocrosses. Only 9 runs total (given the Super Bowl ?!?!), or about 13 minutes of driving, but I was there for 7 hours. Track days/weekends sure are a lot better seat time to waiting around ratio.

Anyways, it got me thinking - maybe it would be fun to enter both of my 914s next time. Do they care if you do? (seems like it would be quite an advantage to be able to learn the course more).

My 914 1.7 is dead stock with no sways, original shocks (really, only 27k miles on the car), and 165 tires. I have another set of wheels already with 185/65/15 tires on it, but the treadwear is 400 or so. Having said that, and not like I'm really going to go out and buy a set of new tires to autox the 1.7, but what would be the best tire in the AS/S class? They allow a "stock" tire up to 185 wide with a treadwear no less than 140.

http://www.pcasdr.org/img/2006/Rules/Drivi...Booklet2006.htm

-Steve

[Aaron Cox]

falken azenis are a nice AX tire.. but under 100 treadwear says 200.... but it lies.....

a nice dual purpose tire are Yokohama AVS ES 100. nice on the street, kinda sticky for an AX.

kumho has some ok tires too....

[DanT]

Falken Azenis Rt615 is a very highly rated tire for SCCA stock classes.
200 tread wear....street tire....Sorry Aaron.
I have heard nothing but good things about this tire.
Very close to an R rated tire with out the under 100 tread wear.
Not sure what sizes are available but they do come in 205x50x15 (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

185 tires are going to be tough to find in anything but "Flintstone" wear ratings. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)

[Trekkor]

Yes, the Falkens are fun to run.

I'd say take the pts and not be concerned with what class you are in. Have fun driving.

Here's a shot of my old one's.
I think one of the advantages they have over other street tires are the huge tread blocks. Less tire squirm.


KT

[anthony]

I say just drive on what tires you have. Who are you trying to beat besides yourself??

QUOTE

original shocks

I think I'd buy a nice set of Bilstein HDs before spending money on extra tires.

[Tobra]

Nice thing about the Yoko ES 100 is that it comes in a lot of sizes. Did not like the Kumho Ecsta that I had once they got some wear, they started to want to wander.

[DonTraver]

I put a set of Toyo T1R's on my RSA, love them, tried them out on the street and track. I think treadwear is 180. I'm planning on putting them on the 6 in the next couple of months.

One other thing I like about the Toyo's is the sizes, they come in 10mm width increments, most of the others come in 20mm increments. Really helped in reducing the inherent understeer on the RSA.

By the way, NICE CAR.

Later, Don

[jhadler]

The Flakens are great as they have a VERY stiff sidewall construction much like a full blown DOT race tire. But the compound doesn't take to getting hot very well. The BFG is better at handling temperature. That being said, the Falken would ideal for a 1.7L autoxer, low weight, low power, easy on tires...

I'd be surprised though if you anything sticky in a 185... Kelly rockmasters and the like most probably...

-Josh2

[Howard]

QUOTE (trekkor @ Feb 6 2006, 10:59 PM)

Yes, the Falkens are fun to run. I'd say take the pts and not be concerned with what class you are in. Have fun driving. Here's a shot of my old one's. I think one of the advantages they have over other street tires are the huge tread blocks. Less tire squirm. KT

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif) Unless you're in it for the money (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)
And yup, each lap is a little slower as they heat up at the track, not a problem AX or street driving.

[lapuwali]

My advice would be to wait a season before you do anything to the car. Once you can set times within 2-3% of the winners in your class (i.e., about 2 seconds on a 60 second course, 1 second on a 30 second course), THEN start putting on tires. IMHO, the driver is 99% of the picture, tires are 0.75%, and everything else you do in a stock class is 0.25%. I certainly disagree with Anthony that shocks should be replaced before tires.

When I AX'd seriously (quite a few years ago), I ran an experiment. After running the full event on Yoko R008RSII AX tires (the hot tire at the time), I swapped on my Yoko street tires during a fun run, and only lost 1 sec on a 60 second course. This would have been the difference between 1st and 8th that day, so the AX tires were very worthwhile if you're gunning for a win (and I won that day), but it was still only 1 second. If your times now are more than a second or so on 60 second courses, swapping tires won't get you a trophy. You have to learn how to drive first, and you can do so very effectively on the your 165s.

[grantsfo]

Go with the Falken RT 615. They dont make a 185 width in 15. They make a 195/50/15 and a 205/50/15. If you dont mind the slightly higher rpms the 195 might be the ticket with a stock 1.7.

Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 is an even cheaper tire that performs quite well. 200 treadwear They come in same sizes as the Falkens.

I noticed that Yokohama makes an Advan A043 in a 185/55/15. Again thats a little short so rpms would be up a bit. I dont know much about this tire, but I'm willing to bet its decent.

I like the Falkens because they arent enough tire to hide your driving mistakes but they allow you to go fast enough to explore differnt lines and carry a little more speed than a stockish 400 wear tire.

[J P Stein]

QUOTE (siverson @ Feb 6 2006, 09:45 PM)

My 914 1.7 is dead stock with no sways, original shocks (really, only 27k miles on the car), and 165 tires. I have another set of wheels already with 185/65/15 tires on it, but the treadwear is 400 or so. Having said that, and not like I'm really going to go out and buy a set of new tires to autox the 1.7, but what would be the best tire in the AS/S class? They allow a "stock" tire up to 185 wide with a treadwear no less than 140.

Not likely around here, but who knows?

Stock with no sways....I gots a pic of one of those