Tires! 

Kinja'd!!! by "Not a Sunburst Miata" (moezsayani)
Published 09/12/2017 at 22:35

No Tags
STARS: 0


Sup y’all. I just found out my tires are too old to run the track at MSR in October. Currently running BFG Comp 2 that were made in 2011, but the tires can’t be older than 5 years.

So, this is a good excuse to get new tires. I want something that isn’t extremely grippy but will still hold up for track use. I want enough slip for me to learn proper car control at AutoX and track days. Some other guys have recommended the Direzzas and RE11A. Any other recommendations?


Replies (12)

Kinja'd!!! "gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
09/12/2017 at 22:53, STARS: 0

There are LeMons teams running tires that were discontinued in the 80's. LeMons runs at MSR.

There’s a disconnect here.

Kinja'd!!! "Not a Sunburst Miata" (moezsayani)
09/12/2017 at 23:02, STARS: 1

The Drivers Edge is the group I’m going with. They’re the ones that set that restriction.

Kinja'd!!! "61hp" (61hp)
09/12/2017 at 23:34, STARS: 0

Just put Firestone Firehawk Indy 500, the new ones not the Ovals, on our Fiesta ST. I like them a lot better than the BFG Comps, more grip but not too much grip, that I got to beat up at Octane Academy. Bonus they are cheap.

Kinja'd!!! "WRXforScience" (WRXforScience)
09/12/2017 at 23:38, STARS: 1

My recommendations are in this order:

RE71r’s aren’t too expensive, and they are progressive at the limits. You have to drive pretty hard to find their limits though.

Nexen Sur4g are supposed to be good, cheap tires for both track and autox. I’ve seen people put down competitive times with them.

The Hankook RS4 are a little slower, but cheaper than the Bridgestones and they should wear better. The RS3 was the go to tire for wear and heat management back in the day.

I also know a couple of guys who like the Falken Azenis as a cheaper alternative tire for both track and autox.

Federal 595 are super cheap, but they aren’t competitive at autox and you have to make sure to get ones that are at least 200tw or they don’t count as “street tires”.

I tried a set of Kuhmo v720 's last year, but I had them delaminate on me, so I wouldn’t recommend them.

I just ran the 3.1 at MSR Cresson this past Saturday for the first time. I had a blast. Having run the 1.3 is beneficial, since it’s the most technical part of the track.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I was on my 245/40/17 RE71r’s. They held up for all 6 of the 30min sessions I did. I ended up with 160mi on track and used 20gal of gas. All 3 gas stations in Cresson ran out of 93 octane, so we had to buy 87 and 100 and mix them (100 octane gas is $9/gal).

Kinja'd!!! "Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
09/13/2017 at 00:02, STARS: 0

I thought the point of track days was to wear out your old tires. Not to destroy new expensive tires.

That being said I was looking at the Firestone Indy 500's and they were $75/tire for my car and seemed like a good value in performance tires.

Kinja'd!!! "gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
09/13/2017 at 01:07, STARS: 0

Haters gonna hate. Or sell tires, one or the other.

I suppose it’s not a terrible thing. LeMons cars have pretty high standards for occupant protection vs production models.

Kinja'd!!! "pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
09/13/2017 at 06:27, STARS: 0

you made tyres last that long?

how?

Kinja'd!!! "Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake)
09/13/2017 at 10:25, STARS: 0

For autocross you should just get a 200 TW tire. Anything higher will probably just be frustrating, and I’ve noticed weird an annoying wear issues with tires that aren’t really made for track/autox use.

Right now Bridgestone RE-71R or BFG Rival S are the leading tires. RE-71R is great for autocross but I’ve heard some complaints for track use as they are designed specifically for autox, they heat up very quickly which can be a problem at a track. I haven’t heard a lot about the Hankook RS4s, but the RS3 was a fantastic tire that didn’t quite have the ultimate grip of the RE-71R but gave you better wear and temperature regulation. Might be worth exploring the Nexen NFera Sur4g, but I have heard they get really greasy and loose and don’t make a lot of grip.

TL;DR for autox it depends on class, but the RE71R is THE tire for most people now. Check out the Hankook RS4 because if it’s similar to the RS3 it’ll be a good balance. Don’t mess with anything that isn’t an “extreme performance” tire, ie stick to 200TW.

Kinja'd!!! "Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake)
09/13/2017 at 10:28, STARS: 0

I haven’t tracked yet, and I don’t know anyone that does track work in cars, but what you described sounds pretty accurate. Someone told me the Nexen’s are terrible autox tires, which is disappointing since I was hoping they’d be decent for a cheap alternative to RE71Rs. A few people ran Nexen’s in my class at nationals and weren’t super competitive with the Bridgestone’s but who knows what all factors in.

When the RS4s came out I heard a few complaints that the sidewall was too soft and they weren’t particularly grippy, but idk if that was car specific. The price in my size at least is jacked, they’re more expensive than RE71Rs so I have zero incentive to try them. I LOVED the RS3s, used them for 3 years of autox.

Kinja'd!!! "WRXforScience" (WRXforScience)
09/13/2017 at 12:17, STARS: 0

I remember the days of the RS3, they wore like iron but would heat cycle out eventually. You’d have to toss them with tread left and feel bad, or run them till the cords and fall off pace for the last quarter of their life.

With the number of autox and trackday events that I’m doing, I’ve been going through 4-5 sets of tires a year. My past 6 sets have all been RE71r’s in a couple of different sizes.

I’m going to try the Nexens and the Falkens next year for the less competitive events that I do and see how I like them. My last set of “cheap” tires was the Kuhmos and they delaminated on me and only lasted about half as long as I expected (still about 75% as long as RE71's, but they were noticeably slower).

I know a couple of local guys who’ve tried all the tires I listed, the closest to the RE71's at autocross were the Nexens (I’ve got a friend in an STR Honda S2000 who has put down winning runs at competitive events on the Nexens). I’ve talked to guys who run the Falkens at the track and they were happy with them. They aren’t RE71's but they aren’t too far off.

David Whitener (runner up in STS this year and 4 time national champion), tests tires for Grassroots Motorsports and I run with him regularly. His tire testing session this year should happen some time between October and January, which should give us some more insight into all these tires.

All of the tires I listed are a step up from a normal street tire and will perform as well or better than the expensive “performance” tires that many enthusiasts run on the street.

Kinja'd!!! "Not a Sunburst Miata" (moezsayani)
09/13/2017 at 13:15, STARS: 0

Its a track/autox set only, they’ve got 4 track days on them and I could probably squeeze out one more if I had to.

Kinja'd!!! "Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake)
09/13/2017 at 16:10, STARS: 0

Interesting, I’ll be curious to see how you feel about the Nexens.

I was eyeing them to use for local events and save RE-71Rs for traveling. I’m on my seconds set of RE71s for the year, though my first set probably has 30% life left. In my size they are in the $330/tire range, so saving a few hundred bucks with Nexens is tempting.

Of course I learned that the fastest Mustang in FS this year was running wider rubber on the rear, so I will switch to that before next season. That will leave me with 8 RE71s for 2 wheels, so I won’t need to buy fronts for a while.