Should I run with 2 sets of wheels for AutoX?
 

Alright, so I'd love input from people who are or have swapped wheels for AutoX's.

So, I live in Seattle and have been autox'ing in STX almost every weekend all summer. I've got 17x9 RPF1's and my stockers. Today, I'm racing on StarSpecs (245/45 in case you're curious) and they've gone around 100 runs now and are going strong. It may only be August, but I'm starting to think about wheels for the winter and what I want to do moving forward/next year. So, here are my current ideas, weigh in!

1.  
   • Continue to Daily Drive and AutoX the Star Specs
   • Put Snows on my stockers for the 2 weeks of winter I actually need them
   • Replace the Star Specs next season
   Pros
   • Only have to change my wheels once or twice per year (aside from swapping front to rear every couple weeks during AutoX season)
   • Cheapest option
   Cons
   • Daily driving will always be a concern for my autox tires
   • Current star specs have to last through the colder months (40f and rainy most of winter, a couple days of snow where I can switch to the stockers + snows)
   • Won't be very competitive during Slush Series
2.  
   • Buy a set of 18x8 or 18x7.5's and put all seasons on them
   • Daily drive the all seasons, put the RPF1's on the night before/at autox's.
   • Sell the stock wheels/tires
   Pros
   • 2nd Set could look better than the RPF1's :lol: (they look good, but there're better looking rims)
   • AutoX tires can be used for pure AutoX (don't have to worry about sustained wet driving, summers are pretty dry here)
   • Can run in the Slush Series on the All Seasons (3 or 4 event autocross tourney out here from Dec-March)
   • Don't have to get up early or pre-think driving in the winter (rarely more than 1-2" of snow, All Seasons do pretty good all winter here)
   Cons
   • Changing wheels every (other) weekend or at events is a pain and means getting up earlier :p:
   • Money: Now I'm buying another set of wheels
   • Effort: I need to sell my stockers :lol:
3.  
   • Throw All Seasons on the Stock wheels
   • Swap to the RPF1's at events
   Pros:
   • Cheaper than option 2
   • Same pro's as 2 except the looks
   Cons
   • I don't particularly like the stock wheels (and mine are pretty rashed from a minivan trying to drive me off the road)
   • Same as #2 except the money

I'm currently leaning towards option 2 but I want to hear other people's thoughts. For those of you who AutoX a lot, does it suck to have to swap your wheels the night before? Keep in mind I'm on street tires still so it's no problem for me to roll on them to the event.

1. Should have bought 18x9.5 +45 RPF1s for daily
2. Bought some 18x8 RPF1s for autocrossing.

Nuff said. :lol2:

agree... theres nothing like R compounds... miles and miles of grip, and faster than STX. I mounted mine on a set of stock wheels PC'd black, cost under 500.

18x9.5's should be "fun" in snow... if I run with 2 wheels with one dedicated racing, the other wheels should never have a reason to come off or give me shit trying to get around (short of trying to cross the passes in the winter).

And I'd be open to R Compounds eventually, but I'm getting my ass kicked in STX for the time being anyway :lol:. Jumping straight to race rubber definitely wouldn't help that. In the Pacific Northwest, I'm going to have to face at least 1 rainy event if not more per season too...

I have a set of snow tires with rims (17x7.5) you can have for $325 :) They have 70% tread too hehehe

I'd say that there is nothing wrong with daily driving your STX wheels, as long as a) you don't put too many miles on them and b) you are not concerned with winning or trophying at the Packwood NT. Heck, if you become a good enough driver you probably could trophy on daily driven tires, as long as they were purchased in the spring.

I drove Star Specs (not my STX wheels - I run R1-Rs when I race, and I switch them at the event) for the last 12 months here in Portland without any problems, although I parked it for that 2 week snow-storm(s) we had in December. If you can't park it when it snows, then I'd vote for winter performance tires on the stock rims and drive the 17x9s for the other 8-9 months. Get a new set of tires in March and drive them until November. Put the snows on and then get a new set of tires in March again.

17s are really nice on the street. You can feel the acceleration improvement, and to me the car also feels more agile.

To date, I've done somewhere around 100 autox runs and driven about 5,000 miles on my Starspecs. They're honestly in pretty good shape, but this is my only car out here so getting stranded in the winter kinda sucks (though I can take the bus to work no problem).

And yah, the weight loss between the stock wheels and these 17's was crazy.

Coilovers went on yesterday, getting an aligment today. There's an SCCA practice in Packwood tomorrow where I can see what's what and then we'll see how well I can compete in STX on Sunday.

See you at Packwood!

Two things:

1) You don't live far from work and you live in a metropolitan area and we dont get that much snow (i.e. take the bus).
2) I doubt you'll need new tires by spring because you dont drive your car that much besides to autocrosses and the Star Specs have proven to be pretty good in the treadwear department.

I have no opinion on what you should do but ^^^ is just my two cents.