That's a very good point Mark. It could really simplify my decision process...

 

^Yup. Pick a tire and optimize the setup, and more importantly your driving, around that tire.

And, ask yourself some pragmatic questions, such as:

If you can only afford one tire (i.e., no rains) how comfortable are you with the idea that, if it rains, you will be WAY off the pace - not just slower than the Subies, but also the RX-8s and BMWs that happen to have a decent rain tire?

If you are not comfortable with that scenario, then the 'Kooks probably aren't for you.

I suspect this is why so many people run the Dunlops.

 

In that case it has more to do with the cost than anything .... otherwise they'd have different wet/dry tire sets

.

 

Not really - the 'kooks are in the same ballpark as the Dunlops, price-wise. But again, if that's your only tire, you better make sure you are not worried about competitiveness in the wet.

 

There's a lot of wisdom buried in there.

The top tires are all close enough in performance (at least in the dry), that if you lose, it won't be because you're on the wrong brand, or because you picked the 255 over the 265. That's my opinion.

Of course, if this thread is to be believed, all of the tires we're talking about here are about to become obsolete anyway.

 

I seriously doubt they'll make it past the exclusion list ...

 

With many talking about the stiffness requirement that the 17" 265s might not give on a 9" rim, what are everyones thoughts on a staggered setup with the softer side-walled tires in the rear, where getting on the power early is a boon? I've had some great success on Dunlops (and Yokohamas) here in the Atlanta Region and though I want to do some testing with RE-11s (due to Bryce and their general widespread success) and the 17" R1Rs (Matt Glagola has had great things to say about them on his STR S2000), I would also love to test 255s Dunlops on the front and 265s on the rear. The 255s (on a 328is) are already on the edge of fitment in the front, but the rear has some room to play width due to the lack of steering angle changes. Atlanta is a reasonably fast region (we had 2-3 courses the required a 2-3 shift over the course of last season) and that extra .4" might give me some speed to limit the shifting on the longer courses we see at National Tours.

I know Chris Connant tried this last year with his E30 M3 (245/255 for the same reasons as me) with moderate success (still been meaning to ask him how the Kuhmos performed on concrete, in the heat of Nationals). Thoughts?

 

While not a horrible idea in concept, I wouldn't want to start off with staggered set-up.

The RX-8 can easily swallow max width tires front and rear, so if someone did go with a staggered set-up, it would be to tune around a handling vice of the car. Personally, if I tried it, I'd go 265/35-18 in front (for the short & stiff sidewall) and 255/40-17 in the rear.

 

Well, I decided to get the Continental Extreme Contact DW as my daily driver tires. Getting them mounted up today. Hollis has said good things about these tires in the wet, especially in standing water.

So I'm leaning even more towards the Hankook RS-3's...but I really wish someone would test the new Falken RT-615K tires.

 

Cool, good choice on the Contis, I'm thinking of doing the same as DD tires.

Although, it's worth pointing out that Andy reccomended the Contis as standing-water tires, not necessarily tires for use when it is simply cool & raining, which are conditions the R1-Rs (or perhaps one of the other contenders) excel.

 

Agreed. I'll definitely be lacking an intermediate rain tire, but as I'm just doing local stuff and maybe a divisional and/or NT, I should be fine.

 

This isn't Formula 1. You either need deep tread or you don't, especially on 140+ TWR tires

 

Agreed, Conant did smaller up front because that's all he could fit. If you run smaller tires, it's for the gearing, and we have RWD cars. (also I'm guessing Conant would have been better off 245 all around, given his motor)

I plan to experiment with 265/255 and even 265/245 this season.

 

Given the allowed suspension modifications that makes no sense to me, but have at it ....

 

Hey, I was trying to be nice to our 'guests'.

This would be way down in my lists of things to try to fix a handling issue on an RX-8. BMWs are a different animal though...

 

I thought it was nice enough not to call it a dumb idea ... oops

 

"Who do I look like? Kissinger?"

 

srsly, in Stock maybe because of the rules limitations

I know the E36 chassis well. All the right parts are out there to balance the handling properly. Tires are expensive consumables to address it otherwise.

 

Got the Star Specs mounted and the BBK installed and I love it!

First event is tomorrow, will let you know how I do.

 

^-- You'll probably go slower...because of your AMAZING BRAKE TECHNIQUE!! :o lol Good luck man. Curious to hear your feedback.

 

Buying my Star Specs today... been one of those weeks though, temps got back down to freezing the last 2 days. I just KNOW, the day I get them on, it's going to snow

 

I plan to order my RS-3's in another week or so. My RPF1's look so lonely w/o tires mounted on them...

 

Thinking of going the same direction. RS-3 listed as 2 lbs less then the Star Specs. RPF1's are 3 lbs less than my current wheels. 5 lbs less per corner is looking pretty good to me. I'll keep my star specs as dd and rain till they wear and then get a set something good in the wet for dd.

 

And he finally makes up his mind

 

Tire weight didn't play a part in my decision, but the "handling characteristics" of the tire.

In the end, my final two choices were the RE-11 and RS-3. The RE-11's have a number of positives going for them, but I was concerned that a number of respected drivers described their "at the limit" handling as being edgy. The RS-3's should be a much easier tire to "read" at the limit. The fact that they also happen to be one of the best UHP tires for putting power down early at corner exit is a great bonus.
Ha ha. The new Continental tires I picked up to drive to events on, made my decision a lot easier.