SMF tires

[CrankyOldMan]

So with the addition of the Blitz S/C, that will put me in SMF. Yes, I'm not going to be competitive there with the limited mods that I've done, but I build my car to what suits me and then run locally in whatever class I land.

So the question du jour is, do I run with Proxes R1Rs in the legendary 195/50R15 size, or do I go whole hog and step in to R-comps? My preferred tire dealer doesn't explicitly carry Toyo, but does get most of his stock from tirerack.com. I'm inclined towards the R1Rs because the 140 treadwear will last longer, but I will be swapping tires at the track regardless.

Oh, and they will be mounted on these dirty little orphans:

[Viperoni]

FWIW, I found that the R1R's in 225/45/15 didn't last *that* long, I feel like my RS3's wore better. The R1R's, in a 225 anyhow, are WIDE. Tons of rubber contacting the pavement.

[xnamerxx]

Viper you bought the wrong size. The magic tires at the 195s.

Cranky,

Street tires don't stand a chance in SMF. Get Hoosier A6's if you want to be "fast" if that's not a good tire choice go with the hankook z214 or BFG R1S tires. All street tires will be crap compared to those. But if you want long wear street tires will do it, go at least a 8" rim and at least 225 rivals/rs3/z2 or whatever peformance tire you choose.

[CrankyOldMan]

Hmm, it looks as though I may have painted myself into a corner with these rims. I had bought them with the intention of mounting R1R 195's--they're only 15x5.5--so anything wider than a 205 is asking for trouble. I'm also somewhat limited by budget (hence the used wheels) and looking at the available R-comps makes me a bit light headed.

As far as "not standing a chance" I don't intend to win. I just run for fun on the local level.

[xnamerxx]

I've been told the 195 R1Rs would be really slow on any rim narrower than 7". If it were my money I'd grab a set of Dunlop Z2s they have a super stiff sidewall that should handle the narrow rim better than the soft side walled Toyo.

[Jason@SportsCar]

Originally Posted by CrankyOldMan

Hmm, it looks as though I may have painted myself into a corner with these rims. I had bought them with the intention of mounting R1R 195's--they're only 15x5.5--so anything wider than a 205 is asking for trouble. I'm also somewhat limited by budget (hence the used wheels) and looking at the available R-comps makes me a bit light headed.

As far as "not standing a chance" I don't intend to win. I just run for fun on the local level.

If you want fast and durable go with the 205-50-15 BFG R1-S. If you start to get serious then you need to look for a 13x9 wheels and get into a set of 255-40-13 Hoosier A6.

[cali yaris]

If you start to get serious then you need to look for a 13x9 wheels and get into a set of 255-40-13 Hoosier A6.

I ran those and they were great. When I switched to the 4.3 final drive, I had to move back up to 15's. Even my 15" Toyo R888's are faster than those 13's with my current gearing.

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally Posted by Jason@SportsCar

If you want fast and durable go with the 205-50-15 BFG R1-S. If you start to get serious then you need to look for a 13x9 wheels and get into a set of 255-40-13 Hoosier A6.

I ran 205/50R15 DZ101s last summer and was pretty happy with them all around. There's lots of other things that I would like to do for the cost of R-comps and 13" wheels first, i.e. my gearbox build, since I can enjoy that on a daily basis instead of twice a month in the summer. =)

[justjesus]

and if you need a wider 15" wheel, you can stay on budget and get the TR Motorsports C1 wheel (Tirerack brand). They're avail in 7, 7.5, and even 8" widths.

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...int&tab=wheels

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally Posted by xnamerxx

I've been told the 195 R1Rs would be really slow on any rim narrower than 7". If it were my money I'd grab a set of Dunlop Z2s they have a super stiff sidewall that should handle the narrow rim better than the soft side walled Toyo.

Is there any real difference between the Z1 Star Spec and the ZII? The marketing hype seems almost identical, and they both feature rigid sidewalls.

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally Posted by justjesus

and if you need a wider 15" wheel, you can stay on budget and get the TR Motorsports C1 wheel (Tirerack brand). They're avail in 7, 7.5, and even 8" widths.

Crap, and I had written off Tirerack for inexpensive light weight wheels. That's a pretty decent deal, even if they only last a season or two. I can't imagine that something that light and inexpensive will take too much abuse.

[xnamerxx]

I never ran the z1s but I've been told by some extremely reputable sources that the 15" z1s don't compare to the z2s.

I can tell you I really like the z2s while they might not be the best track day tire, they wear better than anything I've used so far which is saying something. I've run Autox on them and found them to be about .5s slower than proper r1r but I completely hate the r1r so if I wasn't trying to "win" I'd run the Dunlop or some other stiff side walled tire on a narrow rim.

[justjesus]

Originally Posted by CrankyOldMan

Crap, and I had written off Tirerack for inexpensive light weight wheels. That's a pretty decent deal, even if they only last a season or two. I can't imagine that something that light and inexpensive will take too much abuse.

for autoX? Not much abuse on wheels, I would think. The set I have has been with the STC Civic at least 3 seasons.

STC National Champ Jeff Wong even has a set.

Good bang for the buck. I'd def get another set if I needed them.

Oh, and you can possibly get a discount through MicroImage. Check with them before buying.

[racerb]

Give the new BFG Rival a shot, if your looking to be Nationaly competitive, then no this isn't the tire, but want to have fun with a tire that will last, this is it!!

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....5GFR&tab=Sizes

As for wheels, I'd suggest a nice set of Kosei's, their light and plenty strong for auto-x and track events too and their just our size...

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/resul...rSpecial=false

racerb

[CrankyOldMan]

So I'm thinking more seriously about the Rivals now, after all the great reviews I've read. The next thing will be to sort out which wheels and what size Rivals.

My initial thoughts are to go with a 225/45R15 on a 15x8. I tried using a Miata as the "fitment" car on tirerack to get other widths and offsets, and may have some good options from Kosei or TR.

[xnamerxx]

I'll let you know how the Rivals are, I just bought a set of 205/50/15.

[racerb]

Originally Posted by xnamerxx

I'll let you know how the Rivals are, I just bought a set of 205/50/15.

Yeah I was going to suggest the 205s for our cars, 225s seemed alittle bit wide for the Yaris! I ran 205s on my 2,600 lbs. Celica without issues, I'm sure our 2,300 lbs. of Yaris want overwhelm them!!

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....5GFR&tab=Sizes

racerb

[xnamerxx]

Its not that the tire is wide its that my rim is only 7" wide so going wider is just a weight penalty and a loss in transitional grip.