Looking for tire suggestions.

[mk2tmr2]

I plan on doing more autocrossing this year and I will also likely do a couple track days with Apex/Track Dog/whatever.

I'm quite the noob when it comes to tire selection as I've always just autocrossed/tracked on my street tires. Yesterday's autocross shed some serious light on the fact that without good tires I'm going to continue having trouble putting power down.

I've got a spare set of RPF-1's that I want to put some good rubber on. I don't have a tire trailer and don't plan on getting one, so it'll be a situation of driving to the track on the same tires I will race on for the most part.

The wheels are 16x8 +38 and my fenders are rolled very well to fit my street wheels/tires - so I'm fairly certain I can fit some chunky rubber. I just don't know what would be best. I noticed that the closeout on RE-01R's is still on and they're dang cheap in 225/50-16. $59 each is attractive. Good option?

For the record - I'm not trying to be super competitive in SSM. I just want to be able to use more of the power I've got.

[goofygrin]

Those RE-01Rs are great tires for AutoX tire classes. At that price they are a steal. They'll do ok on the road course too.

[altiain]

Those tires are going to be a bit tall for an NB. Stock tire size for a '99 is 195/50-15, 22.7" in diameter. These are 24.9" in diameter, so the car is going to sit over an inch higher off the ground, and your gearing will take an almost 10% hit.

A 225/45-16 would be a better size. Heck, even a 245/45-16 is shorter (24.7" OD), and should fill out that 8" wide wheel better.

[mk2tmr2]

I've got 225/40-16 T1-R's on the RPF-1's now which, if I recall correctly, have an extraordinarily close-to-stock circumference. The problem being their performance isn't *that* much better than the 215/40-16 S-Drives that are on the wheels I ran yesterday.

In all honesty - I could actually USE the extra 10% gear ratio from a taller tire. I was on the rev limiter at the end of the first "straight" yesterday and almost at redline on the second one (where the track crossed itself). I will eventually swap the 4.10 rear out for 3.93 gears. But until then it actually might help me out.

I think the T1-R comes in a 245/35-16 which I know would fit. Maybe I should try those out? But I'm not sure if they'll be grippier than the 225 wide RE-01R. And I know for sure they'll be at least twice the price.

[Nails]

I have T1R's and think they would do poorly for autocross since they require warming up to be effective.

[altiain]

If it were me, I wouldn't do it, but it's your car. To me, the degradation in CG and transient response aren't worth the potential slight increase in ultimate grip.

$59 a tire is a great deal, but I really think they're the wrong size for your application.

[mk2tmr2]

I hear ya. I just have to figure out which tire that comes in a 225 or 245/45-16 would be good. It seems like there is a good selection of competition rubber in those sizes. But I'm not sure that's a road I want to go down just yet.

[Miatamaniac92]

Would 265's fit comfortably?
Kumho makes their new Ecsta XS in 265/45/16 and 225/50/16 at $179 and $118 respectively.

I would think you'd wanna put as much width down as possible, especially for FI AutoX.

Chris

[mk2tmr2]

Don't think 265's will fit. And if I were to do 225/50 I'd get the $59 RE-01R's