Meaty Tires Thread

[GeorgiaFiesta]

Hey y'all, I picked up a set of 15" TD 1.2s. Based on what I've read from others' experiences, a good option for tires seems to be 205/55R15. Have any of you gone this route, am I on the right track? Thanks!

 

[M-Sport fan]

IF you could find that old E30 Bimmer size tire, it would be the perfect daily use street tire for really bad roads (craters, bombed out frost heaves, etc.).

Tire rack only shows two tires in that size the Yok Fleva, and the Kumho PS31, but both are longer wearing, 300+ tread wear summer tires so you are SOL if you want/need a UHP all season.

Most go 205/50-15 for the street, and a 225/45-15 for open track/higher classification autocross setups.

 

[GeorgiaFiesta]

IF you could find that old E30 Bimmer size tire, it would be the perfect daily use street tire for really bad roads (craters, bombed out frost heaves, etc.).

Tire rack only shows two tires in that size the Yok Fleva, and the Kumho PS31, but both are longer wearing, 300+ tread wear summer tires so you are SOL if you want/need a UHP all season.

Most go 205/50-15 for the street, and a 225/45-15 for open track/higher classification autocross setups.

Wow TireRack has quite a few options in 205/50 - thanks!

 

[kevinatfms]

225/45R15 for sure.

Check tirestreets.com for the Accelera Sport 651 Xtra. Its a 100tw tire but they are going for crazy cheap at $77/tire. They are equal to a 200tw super though so dont expect 100tw grip. Either way, for a track tire they are cheap and can last 6+ hours endurance racing(use them in Champ Car right now on a 2800lb FWD car). They hold the heat pretty good in 200tw flavor so the 100tw flavor should be even better.

 

[M-Sport fan]

WOW, I did not think that company would go anywhere near a sticky track/autocross donut!

COOL!

 

[kevinatfms]

WOW, I did not think that company would go anywhere near a sticky track/autocross donut!

COOL!

We took the chance at using them in Champ Car when we burned through 12 tires in 215/45R16 Azenis 615K+ in one race due to a bum alignment. Knowing this car had a terrible lack of camber on anything but the coilover setup we thought that it might be worth it to try a cheaper tire and see how it did.

We saw the 205/50R16 in the 200tw Sport 651 and tried them out for a 12 hour race at VIR on the South Course. Only gripes we had was that the fronts started to overheat mid day after 4ish hours non-stop. Told the driver to back it off a bit and just cruise. It seemed to help since he set our fastest lap time of 5 drivers. He might have been pushing it a little too hard as shortly after his stint we needed to swap brake rotors and clean up the pads.

Either way, they are track capable 200/100tw tires for under $100 each. The 200tw Sport 651 is on par with the Federal RS-RR and RS4 tires ive used so far on my Fiesta. They do not get close to RE71 or BFG 1.5s. They did last a long time on a camber challenged front wheel drive car with no LSD. So they get props for that.

We went 11 hours and 49 min on the rear set of tires with barely any wear. The fronts were changed around the 6-7 hour mark for a fresh set. I think with proper camber and an LSD the tires would have lasted another 3-4 hours of abuse before we changed them out. For reference: 2002 Hyundai Elantra, at the time suspension setup was H&R springs(cut 2 coils off) with KYB front AGX/rear GR-2 Tiburon shocks, 18mm rear sway bar, new bushings all around and the regular race stuff(cage, fire suppression, FIA seat...etc). Car weighs somewhere in the 2500lb range without driver and is a 140hp/2.0L with a 5 speed. IRS rear with Elantra GT disc brake conversion.