Real "race" tires vrs. "DOT" race/auto-x tires?? Options

[Mueller]

as copied from the GGR rules book:

Tires:

i. Street tires: Any street tire/wheel combination may be used. Tires   must be DOT approved.

ii. Race Tires: Race tires may be used, but may not be mounted on wheels wider than seven (7) inches or one inch wider than stock, whichever is greater. This leaves open the possibility of cars being competitive on very large street tires.

given the choice, what would be better and more cost effective??

wide street tire/wheel
or
7" wide rim with race tire

are there DOT tires "close" to being a race tire???

[Demick]

Truthfully Mike, I'd encourage you to simply run street tires for the first year or so. You won't be competetive anyway for 2 reasons:

1. It takes awhile to get the car handling sorted out and to your liking
2. You need to learn how to drive (no offense intended). Being a 'good driver' on the street doesn't mean crap when it comes to the autox course. Being competetive at the autox simply takes some experience and time behind the wheel.

I think that you learn much faster how the car handles at its limits with street tires. This is helpful both in sorting out the car's handling as well as your learning how the car handles. I ran for 3 seasons on street tires before making the transition to DOT-R tires.

Yes, you will be faster with DOT-R tires, but since you aren't likely to be competetive either way (at first), you might as well save the $700 and learn on street tires. Besides, it's always a convienant excuse as to why you aren't competetive! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Demick