newbie tire questions

#1

greetings,
i’m new to this forum and just about to start autocross driving school in toronto. first off, thanks to everyone for all the helpful information on this site.

now the questions :slight_smile:

i have a 1988 325e, and a set of Kazera KZ-Ms on their way from Jack at Elephant Motorsports. for tires, i need something that will be driven primarily on the street, but will stand up to driving school about once a month for the summer. i expect to put about 3000-4000 miles on them each year. ideally i’d like to get 15000+ miles out of the tires i choose.

  1. are the Toyo RA-1s the total wrong choice for my situation? i was planning on going with Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s, but figured it might be worth getting used to something in the RA-1 class.

  2. if not RA-1s, any thoughts on the Exalto PE2s? can anyone recommend something they prefer over Exalto PE2s?

  3. i noticed that the size requirement at spece30.com is 205/50/15. my local school doesn’t have that requirement, so i’m considering 225/50/15. (i’ll get new tires if i decide to start racing somewhere with the 205/50/15 limitation). what are the pros & cons of 225/50/15 vs 205/50/15?

thanks!

colin

ps. i’m writing up a report of my experiences choosing a rim/tire combo. i’ll post a link back to the group when i’ve made my final tire choice.

#2

You might look into the Falken Azenis RT-16
They are great for autocross, and For $73 a tire they are a great deal.

www.vulcantire.com

hope this helps

Greg

#3

87isMan wrote:

[quote]You might look into the Falken Azenis RT-16
They are great for autocross, and For $73 a tire they are a great deal.

www.vulcantire.com

hope this helps

Greg[/quote]

you mean RT-615?

#4

the problem with RA-1s is that the grooves will wear down relatively quickly at schools and then they aren’t a good tire for driving in rain on the street (or the track for that matter). I have driven them (with grooves) on the highway in a freak snowstorm, and they were surprisingly adequate.

If you are doing driving schools (not autocrosses) once a month, then you will quickly become dissatisfied with long-wearing street tires. Mosport isn’t too hard on tires (tracked my M5 there before I moved to Denver)

You can also get RA-1s in 225/45/15 and get some additional effective gearing for better acceleration.

And, just as a future plans note, you’ll also have to change engine in the 325e if you want to do spec e30.

Say hi to John Dimoff for me if you see him.
cheers,
bruce

#5

moock wrote:

[quote]87isMan wrote:

[quote]You might look into the Falken Azenis RT-16
They are great for autocross, and For $73 a tire they are a great deal.

www.vulcantire.com

hope this helps

Greg[/quote]

you mean RT-615?[/quote]

Your right my bad you cnn’t get away with anything around hereB)

#6

87isMan wrote:

[quote]moock wrote:

[quote]87isMan wrote:

Your -> You’re
(spelling/grammar police here also :wink: )

#7

If you cant get the Falken Azenis, look for Hankook RS2-Z212s. Great summer peerformance tire that is decent on the street and good for the track and parking lot racing.

Dont start out on an R-Compound tire like the RA-1 - you’ll learn more on street tires starting out.

#8

I rode those Hankook 212s through a summer of AX, and all the way through HPDE 1 and 2 in my E30. I agree they are a good tire to start out on and you wont have to switch to drive home like most R-comps. They start out grippy and when you get the air pressures right they will talk to you on the track giving you plenty of warning. I spun mine only once - I was really pushing over the T5 bypass at Thunderhill and got too far to the right - my fault, not the tires. Anyway, good tire for the price. Never ran the Azenis, but they are very well regarded, especially in AX circles.