[sr71000]

Hi All. I've had my 2007 speed6 grand touring for about a year now and I am finally going to be taking it up to the track (autocross). I have winter tires on the car right now and I'm looking to get a set of tires for this summer/track. I have about $1000 to spend and the factory rims to reuse. I don't know what is best, but I need summer tires and track tires. I can either get something dual purpose or two separate sets. Not sure what would be more cost effective.

Thanks for any help guys!

-Kevin

 

[slvrblt]

If your budget is $1000 total, I'd find one good set of summer tires. You'd be hard pressed to get both a set of summer tires and a set of track tires for $1000.

The Dunlop Star Specs come to mind. If you want to spend a little more than a grand, I've heard good things about the Yokohama Advan offerings.

 

[sr71000]

Any recommended place to purchase said tires? I'm not too hard core so these don't have to be the absolute best. I'd rather spend less than $1000 but that's my absolute max.

Thanks guys.

 

[IHeartGroceries]

I had Nitto NT-05 for a short while (very short while).
Badass tire. In fact, they'd be more at home on a track than the street.
Check out NT-01 too.
Falken makes some good, affordable tires great for track and street.
If you have $1k to spend on BOTH sets, you can forget about getting anything worth a damn.

 

[sr71000]

The only yokohama tires I could find were $1600+ and I couldn't find any dunlop tires for that size. I found Nitto 555 but from the reviews they aren't as nice as the Nitto 5 or 1. I did find some Falken Y rated tires. Wondered what you guys thought.

Falken FK-452 Tires at WheelsNext.com

I've also heard a lot of people recommend Dunlop Direzza, but I can't find any look like they'd fit this car. Again, the only places I know to look for tires is wheelfire.com and wheelsnext.com. Anyone have any other places I should check out or tires to recommend?

-Kevin

 

[sr71000]

Just found tirerack.com. I had forgotten about them. Any opinions on these?

Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08

Should I stick with the stock rim for performance?

EDIT:

Found this also. Any opinions?

http://www.wheelsnext.com/tires/Falken-Azenis RT_615K.html

 

[Egierda]

Falken 615s
Dunlop Star Specs
Federal 595RS
Nitto NT05


All of the above are (potentially DDable) reasonably priced weekend warrior track tires. You won't get very good daily mileage out of them but that's the trade off you make for increased grip. Happy tracking.

 

[highwayrun]

Consider the Fuzion ZRi. Tire Rack had a good comparo with it, Star Specs, Kumho XS (?), and a couple others. The Fuzion is very cheap but its wet weather numbers were killer, and very close to its dry performance, if I recall right. I was set to buy Star Specs, then the Kumhos...then I read the article.

I've only done one event on the ZRis after being out of the sport for a while but managed 3rd fastest time overall, on a wet autocross track, in a stock car.

I'd also buy a set of wider rims to accept wider tires.

 

[Arinzeuno]

Sumitomo HTR Z III are among the cheapest, highest rated and have never let me down.

 

[sr71000]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the input. I never expected such varied responses. I've got a lot to research and look into. Got some work to do to get this thing track ready! Tires, then strap or mounts for the transfer case! Too tired to do any more tonight though!

Thanks again and if you have more to add, keep it coming.

-Kevin

 

[IHeartGroceries]

What about the General Exclaim UHP?
Seems like everybody was running a set of those a couple years ago. Always seemed perfecrtly decent for an affordable street tire.

I ran Nitto NT555s too. Not a bad tire at all. But, no. Nothing like the 05's. The 05's are the best tire I've personally ever had on a car. But I'll be damned if those bastards didn't last 12k miles.

 

[E.M.S.]

i had the advan AD07's on the car when i bought it and then put the AD08's on my rx8. very predictable, amazing grip and they give you plenty of warning when they start to let go as they have progressively less tred onto the sidewall. these were amazing tires that i had planned on being duel purpose tires but the car was totaled before i got to that step. tread should last you a summer and season as mixed purpouse tires.

 

[FORZDA 1]

If you want tires that can win at autocross and be very good on the street, decent in the wet, the Dunlop Star Specs have no peers. I've run them for a good while on my Speed6 and won TFW with them on Speed3. You can't buy a better street/track tire at any price.

 

[AtTheDriveIn]

If you want tires that can win at autocross and be very good on the street, decent in the wet, the Dunlop Star Specs have no peers. I've run them for a good while on my Speed6 and won TFW with them on Speed3. You can't buy a better street/track tire at any price.

How long do you think the tread life on these are? I've been wanting to get a set for this autox season.

 

[E.M.S.]

the Dunlop star specs are amazing. drove another RX8 with them and similar suspension mods and it was amazing even compared to my advan's. the only thing is they wont last you if you plan on autoxing alot. not to worry they last just fine on the street but autox is tough on tires and the reason the dunlops are so good is that they have a pretty soft compound. if you can afford tires every summer and don't put a ton of miles on your car during the warmer months then the dunlops would probably be my choice. i forgot about these.

 

[FORZDA 1]

How long do you think the tread life on these are? I've been wanting to get a set for this autox season.

It's impossible to say as it depends on how much you scrub/slide them. If no wheelspin or excess understeer, they should last at least a full season (estimate an event every other weekend) of autocross and "spirited" street use. If you "autocross" on the street, tire life will be much less. The only way to know it to try them.

 

[jvoss65]

Having two sets is a fantastic thing if you can swing it. $1000 total budget is tight though. Perhaps look for a second set of used rims?

 

[AtTheDriveIn]

It's impossible to say as it depends on how much you scrub/slide them. If no wheelspin or excess understeer, they should last at least a full season (estimate an event every other weekend) of autocross and "spirited" street use. If you "autocross" on the street, tire life will be much less. The only way to know it to try them.

I think I might pick them up. I really don't do any hard driving on the street involving skid marks. No wait, I lied. Sometimes the occasional race from a dig at a stop light/sign may happen, but it's not like I burn them out. The only hard cornering I will be doing is during autocross. They should last me more or at least as much as my Khumo ASX's did. Like you said, the only way to find out is to try...