tires for autocross...suggestions? 135i stock wheels

[devet14]

Ran my completely stock 135i in a local SCCA event yesterday.

Tons of fun but obviously the worn stock run flats sucked it up to say the least.

I'm here to get some suggestions. Basically I'd like to get a dedicated set of track tires that aren't necessarily slicks. I want to keep them on my stock 18 inch wheels.

[Frampton]

i'm running 225/245 Kumho Ecsta XS's on the stock wheels for track use. Tire rack tested a 335i bone stock at 1.01 g's on these tires. They are stickier than the yokohmama s drives and the stock run flats from my experience to date.

havent tried the star specs or ps2's yet but i hear a lot of good things about those as well from everyone on here...

[timhatimay]

I had Hankooks V12 before and they were great tires for all around driving, but a little soft for auto-x. I still felt they gripped and drove better than the RFT on the course, but they needed a little extra psi and still felt a bit soft. I have the Direzza Star Specs now, and they are excellent (major improvement for cone killing). Ton of grip, and very predictable. The sidewall feels nice and stiff, and the tires just keeps on sticking. The Star Specs seem to be universally endorsed by auto-x crowds, which is the reason I got them in the first place. I don't think they will last more than one season, but I didn't expect them to.

Tim

[Focusedintntions]

Direzza Star Specs are about the best autox tire you can buy.

[Xaeryan]

$80 mail in rebate on Star Specs at Tirerack.com. Buy them, you won't have any regrets, especially when you hit the autocross.

[aberdeen]

tirerack ftw

[gotcone.com]

Star Specs for sure... nearly every car in STU was running Star Specs at Nationals this year. I've ran 255/275 Star Specs on my 135i for the past 2 years.

The Kumhos are very sticky, but require A LOT of heat and are not good in the rain at all. We use the Kumhos on our STi for Pro Solo where you have 4 runs back to back and the temps get pretty warm for the 3rd and 4th run.

[bluesunit]

I run 245/35 Hoosier R6s for autocross on stock sized wheels. You can pick them up for $50 each on ebay. They lasted me a full season.

I know, not street tires, but so cheap and sticky . . .

[pjdvd]

blues - are you running 245/35 all around on stock wheels?

[pjdvd]

Originally Posted by bluesunit

I run 245/35 Hoosier R6s for autocross on stock sized wheels. You can pick them up for $50 each on ebay. They lasted me a full season.

I know, not street tires, but so cheap and sticky . . .

Do you run 245's all around on the stock wheels? If you do I guess my question "Do they fit on the fronts?" is answered.

[Wings0fRed]

I've heard pretty good things about Star Specs as well and they're a decent price.

I bought some Yokohama Nuova AD08's recently and they're really good as well as a DD / autox tire as well. Pretty much anything in that class of tire will beat worn out stock tires.

[CarGuy]

An article in the Aug 2011 Grass Roots Motorsports compares 6 different street tires on a Miata with suspension mods. Here's how they stacked up time-wise on the test AutoX course:

Kumho XS 56.881 seconds
Dunlop Star Specs 56.621
Bridgestone RE-11 56.235
Toyo R1R 56.233
Yoko AD08 56.150
Hankook RS3 55.719

Pick your preferred combination of price, performance, availability, size and you're good to go.

PS. The article is not available online.

[Groundpilot]

CarGuy, i like your signature. Did he really say that? If yes, i like Steve McQueen even more now. I know he was a race car driver as well as a superb actor.

[CarGuy]

Hey David,

It is a quote by Steve McQueen from the 1971 movie Le Mans. Too bad that kind of cool just doesn't isn't hip with peeps anymore.

The actual scene:

The quote with dramatic video:

[bluesunit]

Originally Posted by pjdvd

Do you run 245's all around on the stock wheels? If you do I guess my question "Do they fit on the fronts?" is answered.

Sorry for taking so long to respond.

Yes, they fit. I'm running 245/35s on all 4 corners.

They rub very slightly on the strut tower and will rub on the lower control arm at full lock, but in both cases, it's not something to worry about. I was able to get 9 months of autocrossing once a month plus a school with about 80 runs out of as set of 50% done take off R6s.

[CDN_135i]

I have a quick question to add to this.

I have seperate rims/tires for AutoX and im looking to buy some StarSpecs. My rims are 17*7.5. What tire size should I go with? I am leaning to 225/45 because of the price.

[Focusedintntions]

225 is way to skinny...you should of gotten rims at least 8 inches wide if not 8.5 to run a 245 square setup.