Stock turbo fists-Can you hook in 2nd gear? If so, what tires

[Stkid93]

Hey y’all,

Let me start off by saying that I have owned my fist for a year and the only tires I’ve had on it are the stock potenzas. And they were the original tires my car was sold with as well. So at their best they were 6 year old potenzas, at their worst they were extremely worn out potenzas that need to be changed. So I have never had great tires on my car. And so I’ve never been able to hook in 2nd gear.

I’m wondering if any of you guys out there can fully hook up in 2nd gear if you smash the gas without feathering the throttle. This question is more based towards stock turbo or hybrid turbo fists. As the turbo spooks so quick and the torque is so low it over powers the tires way easier.

And if you do hook in 2nd, what is your tire set up?

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Try some ultra high performance all season tires. I really like my continental DWS06 extreme contact pluses and bfgoodrich g-force comp 2s. I won’t say I never spin in second but it’s not something I notice

 

[dhminer]

I hooked all the way through 2nd on MP215 tune and OEM tires. When I switched to an E30 tune on stock turbo, it would light up the tires in 2nd even with 615k+ when they were cold.

 

[atlantaM3]

yep, no noticeable slip using Firestone Indy 500's in stock size, stage 1 at this point.

Happy with them overall, decently quiet, decent in the rain, wearing well, and not too pricey. Stick really well when bombing around a mountain road too.

 

[akiraproject24]

Before the whoosh hybrid I had no problem with Dunlop ZIII. Once I installed the hybrid I can shred the tires anytime I want in 2nd if I dont modulate it.

 

[Stkid93]

@FiestaSTdude

Are you saying you hooked with all seasons? What are your mods

@atlantaM3

I’ve heard great things about the Indy’s and not so great. They were much better deals when they first came out and were under $100/tire. Now they are close to $200/tire

@akirapoject24

Dunlop z3s are some serious tires. They look Barely road legal and probably terrible in the wet I’m not surprised they hooked.

 

[FiestaSTdude]

@FiestaSTdude

Are you saying you hooked with all seasons? What are your mods

Yes, at least on 93. I’m pretty much stock, dizzy 93 tuned.

 

[atlantaM3]

hmm, never saw those under $100/tire. I paid around 160/tire or so. Even at that, would buy them again. have about 10-12k on them at this point, dont look notably worn. Ride well, reasonably quiet, etc. I bought these on recommendation of the tire person, which was a hard sell as they dont have a tread life warranty. That said, its really a summer performance tire.

One thing I do notice is that the first few miles on sub 40 degree mornings are 'bumpy' while the tire warms up, so I keep it under 50 for about 4 miles, then they are back to smooth rolling.

The General GMAX looks decently priced, same with Westlake SA07, Toyo Extensa, and Nitto Neogen. I have not personally used these tires, as I normally use Mich Pilots on the other cars - which I also highly recommend. I have used other Toyo's in other applications and had good experiences with those too.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Speaking of the Neo Gens, on my factory stock, not even tuned FiST, they will fully hook up under full throttle stomps, even in second gear, as long as it is dry, and over 50*F ambient temp.

Cold, nailing it off of an apex, wet, or dumping the clutch from high revs, for a 'smoke show' style launch, not so much!

I also would not trust them in anything over an 1/8" of snow, even when brand new, and not even a 1/16" of it when worn, but then they are 280 tread wear rated, despite being labeled as an 'all season' tire.

 

[Mega ST]

With the General Gmax tires in the stock size and E30 Dizzy. I would easily blow off the tires in 2nd and spin decently in 3rd in when cold. Going to a taller 215/40/17 it hooks much better in 2nd. It will still spin, but catch grip much sooner.

 

[M-Sport fan]

With the General Gmax tires in the stock size and E30 Dizzy. I would easily blow off the tires in 2nd and spin decently in 3rd in when cold. Going to a taller 215/40/17 it hooks much better in 2nd. It will still spin, but catch grip much sooner.

Were the Generals their all seasons??

(They used to offer the SUMMER Gmax in our OEM size.)

 

[Intuit]

Stock 205/40R17 Bridgestones would spin all the time from new.
215/45R17 Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus XL seem to hold pretty well with warmer pavement, new.
But It's a heavy tire and they wear pretty quickly.

The Coopers seemed to do decent except they were constantly getting punctured with debris and weren't pluggable. Got rid of'em still meaty with tread.
Unlike the Coopers all season the Continental all season got me up the snowy hill without letting air out of the tires.

 

[Stkid93]

wait so will going up to a 215 instead of a 205 make that much of a difference? I mean I had 225s on my srt. And it never had problems hooking up in 2nd but I thought that was the super sticky almost slick like tires I had with it.

(srt4 weighed 2850 lbs with a lot more power than the fist and the gear ratios in 2nd were almost identical, but with the bigger turbo it made the power a little more linear and the boost didn’t kick at hard right off the bat)

 

[Intuit]

The heavy tire (slowing you down) I suspect makes as much of an impact as the width. The "XL" implies they were aimed at SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles). So stiffer sidewalls and carcass. But the torque was otherwise useless so I'm willing to accept the tradeoff.

 

[gtx3076]

When you guys say you spin in 2nd, do you mean spin, or slip? I never take traction control off so my tires will definitely slip before the car intervenes.

 

[Intuit]

You're already off the clutch and are already moving, the boost spikes and there go the tire(s)...

 

[Stkid93]

Ok so it sounds like our best bet for e30 stock turbo or hybrid turbo fists are having basically semi slicks on the car in the summer and winter tires for the winter. Or going up to a 215/225 all season.. does this sound right?

 

[M-Sport fan]

215, or 225 section all seasons which will fit into the wheel wells of these cars (especially if you have mud flaps on the car, and/or it is lowered at all!) just do not EXIST (at least in the USA/NA).

 

[Stkid93]

Our cars have that little clearance ? How do people fit 215s? Do they have to do extensive body work and cutting ? Are you saying they have to be low profile summer tires in order to fit? Or no 215s will fit ?

 

[Intuit]

No mud-flaps and suspension/transmission/engine have been untouched on my 2016 ST. No 215/45R17 issues with the Continental or Cooper. (Wasn't happy with the puncture-happy and unpluggable Cooper tires at all.) The rear wheel well liner has a sag/support problem so it'll eventually have to be replaced regardless. I just replaced that last year after a hole developed. So maybe every 60k? Some of that mileage was 215/45R17 Continental WinterContact SI. (larger tire, rougher tread)

EDIT: For a fresh Winter tire, tread my bump something solid metal up front if the suspension is bottomed-out.

.