Tire Selection

Posted 02-18-2009 at 04:31 PM by GreenGSX
Updated 02-24-2009 at 09:08 AM by GreenGSX (the tires are here!)

Since I haven't been out in the garage a lot this week I'll go through my tire selection process.

Most of my track experience has been on R-comps but this last season I switched to street tires in an effort to reduce my costs. I picked the Khumo MX in a 255/40-17 for a couple of reasons. First off at $121/tire they were very affordable and there was enough info out there on them that I thought I knew what I was getting into. The skinny on them was that they had good grip, didn't turn to butter when they got hot, but they lacked in the turn-in department. Turns out they were dead on and my experience with them showed that no matter how hot they got they stuck but turn-in vanished. So that is my starting point.

These are the tires I considered.

Khumo XS. Brand new and not a lot of info out there on these. They were designed to beat the Falkens as the ultimate street tire. I liked the price at $151/tire but without knowing how they would hold up to track use I'm not going to take a chance on them.

Khumo MX. See my comments above. They work, they're cheap, but the turn-in goes away when they get hot. At only $137/tire they are on my list but at the bottom.

Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R and Bridgestone RE070 both look like good options but lack the sidewall stiffness of the Dunlops. If price weren't a concern I may have picked the RE-01R but it is..

Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD07. Lots of dry grip not so good in the rain and yes, they cost to much. $238/tire

Michelin Pilot sports. The ones that come stock on Porsche are race rubber disguised as street tires. These are the tires I would get if I were spending somebody else's cash. At $243/tire out of my league.

Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec. These are supposed to have the same dry grip as the Bridgestones and Yoko's with better wet performance. The sidewalls are stiffer then the stones which I like and at $167/tire they were within our budget.

So, today I ordered six from the Tirerack with the special One Lap branding. Four to go on the car and two for the spares we will be bringing on the trailer.

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Comments

	the pilot sports woulda been a lot better, had them on my 3000gt and they where insane, my uncles mercedes sl500 had them and wow they are amazing
	Posted 02-19-2009 at 05:43 PM by costas14

	my gold 5zigen rims that i got in october which ill put back on have the falken azenis tire, really noisy but they do stick to the ground really good and arent bad in wet conditions
	Posted 02-19-2009 at 05:49 PM by costas14

	The rules of One Lap specify that we have to buy the tires at TireRack and they must be on there approved list of manufactures. Falken was not on that list. If they were I am pretty sure I would not have selected them. Although they have lots of grip and a good price when they get hot they get really greasy.
	Posted 02-19-2009 at 06:00 PM by GreenGSX

	Its too bad the RE-01r was too much. I work for bridgestone and let me tell you these tires GRIP!
	Posted 02-20-2009 at 06:43 AM by tsiboostin

I agree and would have loved to get the Stones but I have to go back to our goals for the event. We want to finish respectively and bring the car back home in one piece. We've never driven at ANY of the tracks on the trip so I doubt we are going to be able to push the car to 100% of its capabilities. If we can't go balls out then there really is no need spend an extra $300 to upgrade from the StarSpecs to the Stones. Besides, from what I've read the Dunlops dry grip is pretty close to the Bridgestones and they don't take as many laps to heat up.

I'll no more about the tires when we start racing.

Posted 02-20-2009 at 07:00 AM by GreenGSX GreenGSX is offline

	ah i was looking on tirerack for them but no luck, i need to replace them since the past owner tracked them a lot there pretty much slicks now
	Posted 02-20-2009 at 10:14 AM by costas14

	I agree with tsiboostin. The only tires that I would compare them to would be straight BFG KD's. Both STUPID expensive though. I never even knew these Star Specs existed until you posted this blog. For what it's worth, I want to kick myself in the butt for getting my BFG sports. Should have looked around more. Looking forward to your review on these.
	Posted 02-20-2009 at 07:07 PM by BoostFrenzy

	I have the RE01 and they are great, of course suck in snow, but as long as the snow melts, you'll be fine. I have not taken them to a track only drag strip and they are great. Next, I would try either the Dunlop are the crazy exp Neova's, but I think I'd rather keep them Potenza or Dunlop.
	Posted 02-22-2009 at 05:03 PM by this_tsi_8urV8

	I'll second your take on the Falkens getting greasy; after a few hard laps at Autobahn, my RT-615s are done, and it feels like you're driving on butter. Those first few laps are fantastic, though; they're about as close as you're going to get to a perfect autocross street tire.
	Posted 02-23-2009 at 02:25 PM by logic

	The tires have arrived!
	Posted 02-24-2009 at 09:08 AM by GreenGSX

	I love the smell of fresh rubber in the morning .
	Posted 02-24-2009 at 02:20 PM by BoostFrenzy

	^ not when your new azenis's are sitting in your bedroom for 2 weeks waiting to be put on haha
	Posted 02-26-2009 at 11:17 PM by sniperelite