Andrew

The Kumho Victoracer is the spec tire in my formula vee class. They last forever, and are great. Only need to buy tires every two years! (Now, the formula vee is also super light, etc. But in my opinion these are great tires)

ilovepotatos

Yeah.....my tire choice is either that Yokedog, or whatever I can find for 14.95 at Canadian tire...on a stick...

PsYcHo_Pilot

They last forever, and are great. Only need to buy tires every two years!

wel, u obviously dont drive hard out then mate, 2 years, my gosh, how thick is the rubber, tractor style ??

Andrew

Well, the idea of the series is to be able to race on extremely low budget. I'm sorry if I can't buy new tires all the time, but these ones still work as long as I need them.

I guess maybe I know how to control a car on weak tires a little better than you?

ilovepotatos

That's kinda funny. Get a brand new RX-8, then put on some tractor tires. With the price of the 8 being so high, that isn't unrealistic.

PsYcHo_Pilot

ha ha ha ah.
yeah, but i bet u dont live in a country with VERY windy , mountanous roads, and rain 2 out of 3 days.
bad tyres = slide, crunch, hospital, and i dont like the latter part,
but hey, if you can get tham to last that long, good on you,

ilovepotatos

You're right.
I may live in Canada, but I live in Victoria. We get the best weather in the country. Mild summers, mild winters.

ricdanger

Can vouch for A032R by Yokohama for track use. Have them on the Malibu Stacey (the MX-5) and are really grippy until the track get's wet. When it's wet I just leave my road wheels on (Bridgestone RE-711 - now discontinued but a fantastic tyre in all conditions). The A032Rs take a good minute to warm up so yeah, agree with the person who said they're not ideal for auto-x.

Can also vouch for Falken Azenis... I have them on the MX-6 and the grip levels are incredible in all conditions considering they're a cross-over street/track tyre. If you can only afford one set of wheels the Azenis are a good bet.

I've tried the following road tyres:
Toyo Proxes T1S - ok... not as good as RE711
Pirelli P6000 - yuk - no grip - lots of sideways fun in auto-x tho!
Dunlop LM701 - worse than yuk - I think they're just a cheap local Aussie model.


Other track tyres I've tried include:
Dunlop D-01 - same grip but better wear than A032R - at a price


One thing that concerned me when I saw the 8 at the Melbourne International Motor Show on the weekend was that they're fitted with the very average Bridgestone RE-040... wtf??????

Would much prefer S-03....

I'm getting a second set of wheels for the RX-8 and will probably throw some A032R boots on them for track days.

randyc

Best street tire for me is the Toyo RA1s. I ran them for a long time on my MR2.

Wear very nice. Good in the wet (when they have tread( and very fast for the track AND autocross (when they don't have tread).

My only Fast Time of Day in San Diego was in a 130hp stock car on a set of RA1s. They are faster than most people think.

ilovepotatos

I wonder how fast you guys could go while eating pizza?
The race of real life...I'd call it...

randyc

If you eat too much pizza, it slows you down.

I once autocrossed in a ProSolo while answering my cell phone. I learned you can't really use a cell phone with a helmet on. Eating pizza would also be messy in a full face helmet.

cagefreak

i personally like Toyo TO1-S's and Falken Azenis. I've used both on RoadRacing but never tried them for Autox.

RacerX7FB

I've had Bridgestone Potenza RE-711s on the RX-7 and did well, they didnt last long though... now I have RE-730s. What the 711s did..the 730s do better. For an RX-8...choice would be S-03s or some Pirelli P-Zeros. Track use.. Hoosiers!

neofreak

iTrader: (1)

RE730's on the last two RX-7's I've had, very happy with them.

I'll probably try S03's next. (Still have quite a bit of tread left, even after a couple track days)

Don't ever get Falken Ziex's, they were terrible.

Air America

I'm with neofreak, Falken ZIEX's started out as great tyres on my 94 civic Si and ripped through the wet handily (Crosscountry from Southern CA to Southern CO with Rain nonstop from the AZ border...good for a mix of 70 in the wet to 125 on dry) Sticky enough in a variety of conditions. However they wear unevenly even when rotated and cambered properly due to the unorthodox footprint on em~ it makes for road noise that should be reserved for monster trucks and construction equipment (seriously thought the motor was giving out on me) so yeah...avoid those :D

And yes ricdanger, "The Malibu Stacy" is the most hilarious description of the MX-5 I've heard so far, it fits it well.

Cheers!

wakeech

i want to revive the thread, and mention that somewhere (waaaay back in that jungle of OT threads) last week i read babylou say that he didnt' like the TS-1's as their sidewalls are overly pliant (a lack of steel belts or something?? some kind of support structure, i'm guessing) which is one of the main reasons they're so light...
so, apparently this soft sidewall really doesnt' do the tyre any favours in steering response, and is a big reason Lou doesnt' like it... so, any thoughts on this?? it's suppost to be a very capable tyre... what other kinds of tradeoffs are made????

randyc

I don't think steel belts involve the sidewalls. Not sure.

But you can fix sidewalls with more pressure. With the old BFG R1 tire, that sucker had very stiff sidewalls and many people raced on them at 24psi. Some even less. On the Toyo RA1s I mention above, I race on them at 48-50psi.

eccles

'Tis true. I put a set of T1-S's on my Miata after my second set of Michelin Pilots died. While they had plenty of grip, and never caught me out, they never had the same positive feel of the Pilots. They took a tad longer to turn in, and just never felt as "connected." Nice tires, and a good price, but I'm not sure if I'd buy them again.

wakeech

interesting, interesting... man, it sure sucks there's so little info on tyre manufacture and technology on the net... soooo little of everything :D

Quick_lude

What tire pressures were you running at? On my Pirellis p7000Z summer I run about 44-48 psi front to prevent rolling over..
The Pilot is a very good tire no doubt.. Very expensive though.

eccles

I used to run 32 all 'round on the Miata. The Pilots, and later the Falken Azenis, worked great at that pressure. I could stiffen up the sidewalls of the T1-S's by pumping them up to 40+, but the ride suffered markedly.

I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of sets of Pilots for our two Miatas for under $75 per tire, but you're right, they were impossible to justify at full price.

Mazdaspeedgirl

ah HA! I was wondering what pressure you used, but forgot to ask!

I just got some new T1-S's when I was back in Austin (aggressive alignment is bad juju for highway driving, especially since I drove to Austin-1000+ miles). DJ hooked me up with them for 75 bux each! shhh...those are friend prices.
We also got to drive his Mazdaspeed Protege while waiting to get the tires/alignment. :D

So did you run 32 in the Azenis when autoXing? Did you only run 40 psi in the T1-S's when autoXing?

eccles

No, I ran both the Toyos and the Falkens between 40 and 44psi for competition.

Mazdaspeedgirl

Wow. That's all the way up to max, right?

Okay, one more question and I shall bother you no more......What did you run in both tires on the street? Are there any effects over a long period of time if I run high high pressure on the street?

Thanx!

eccles

Yeah, it's pretty well up there. At those pressures, you start to sacrifice ultimate grip for sharp turn-in. With my years of competition driving on loose surfaces, I have a fairly well-developed ability to balance the car at the limits of adhesion and to catch and control a slide if I exceed them, so I find a nice sharp steering response suits my driving style and abilities best.

32 all 'round on the street. Running higher than the specified pressure will tend to cause greater wear on the center of the tread than at the edges, but the difference will be hardly noticeable unless you constantly run 'em over the mid-30's.