New Tire Choices - Reviews and Opinions wanted

[qwik240z]

I just got some new wheels for my 240Z.

 

 

They are 16' X 7" Panasports to replace my way too small 14" X 7" Konig Rewinds.

 

 

I use the car as a weekend cruiser and also attend track days and auto-x's. The car will never be driven in the winter or bad weather and will only see rain if I happen to get caught in it while out for a drive.

 

I would like to buy a set of tires that will be great for the track and the auto-x and still be street legal and not wear out in less then 5,000 miles. If they could last 10,000 miles that would be great.

 

Budget is $600-$700 for a set of 4.

 

 

Tire size 225-50-16

 

I have the old style Falken Azenis tires on my Rewinds in size 195-60-14 and have been happy with them. They are too skinny for all of the power of the V8.

 

I would probably buy the new Falken Azenis RT-615 tires but they are not out yet in the size I want. They won't be available until March.

 

 

What other options should I consider?

[zguitar71]

The only DOT approved race tires I can think of that would last on the road for 5K (but that might be pushing it) are the Yokohama hard compound AO32R, Yokohama Advan AO48, Toyo RA-1, and mabey the Michelin Pilot sport cup. They will all be a compromise tire on the autox track and less of one on the road course. There are better track tires out there but they are really not suited for street driving at all. Of all of them I think I would go with the Yokohama's (AO32R) because they are on sale at the tire rack right now.

[JMortensen]

I think it depends on how you drive. I have some friends who autoxed a 510 wagon. They got tired of swapping the tires all the time, so they started leaving their Kuhmo V700s on all the time. The tire life was surprisingly good and the tires stayed on the car for over a year, although I don't know how that translates to mileage. I'd guess 8000. Maybe a bit more. I would suggest that you don't shave them if you're going to drive on the street. By way of comparison, the Toyo has a bit deeper tread depth of 8/32" and a 40 treadwear, and the V700 has a treadwear of 50 and a tread depth of 5/32"

 

The A032R is a really crappy tire IMO. They don't stick and the huge gaps between the tread blocks makes it sound like your driving a helicopter if you run lots of neg camber.

[260DET]

Another vote for the Toyo RA-1 for the application described.

 

Like all R tyres they will perform in the wet best with a full tread, in the dry with a near slick tread, nothing can be done about that. Try to avoid full on track use on a warm day with a full tread.

[mark]

I've ran the kuhmo victor racers on the street. You won't get 10k miles on them but they are very fun on the street and a great track tire for the money.

 

If you were to run them on the street only with no auto X or track days I would bet you could get 5K miles on them.

 

Mark

[mom'sZ]

I just got a set of the Toyo Proxes T1-R. Can't say about the tread wear yet because they're still to new, but the traction (lateral adhesion wise) is excellent for a DOT legal tire.

 

[Nismo280zEd]

Michelin Pilot makes a performance tire, my dad runs it on his 911 unbeliebable grip. Also Dunlop SP 9000 or lesser series depending on wear level you want.

[Drax240z]

Yokohama Advan A032's. Great wet grip, DOT-legal R compound tire, doesn't heat cycle out quickly, which makes it decent for a weekend car. No street tire will touch an R-compound for autocross grip. Cheap too. You should be able to get 5,000miles out of a set depending how often you race and in what conditions. They are available in a hard and a soft compound. Hard will obviously last slightly longer. (maybe 7,000 miles)

 

The price is what makes these stand out. As was said before, they are noisy and lots of other R-compound tires grip better. Lifespan will be better on the A032's than most other R-compounds though.