ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

so i'm selling my 16x7 wheels to get some 15x7's to make a little extra money so i can buy tires.. i'm a broke baller


anywho, currently on the 16x7's i have 215/45/16 falken azenis and they fit front and rears perfect, it rubs the front a hair if i do lock to lock turns real hard.. but the question is..

when i get my 15x7 wheels, should i stick with 205/50/15 falken azenis? or up it to a 225/45/15 nitto nt-01 or find a compound with that size?.. i can't find any good rubbers with a 215 width..


but will a 225 fit a 7 inch wide wheel fine?





this wheel/tire setup will be for auto x and i'll use them for a road course this coming summer.. at our autox course i reach speeds up to 80 in my vehicle, so there's a lot of high speed cornering, not like a normal parking lot autox..


nsxtacy chime in!

Tarmac Junkie

225's might rub if you are already rubbing with 215's. I would run the 225 imo. 225's fit fine on a 7in wheel. Thats what most honda challenge guys use.

ScottBell

iTrader: (1)

https://honda-tech.com/forums/road-racing-autocross-time-attack-19/question-integra-running-225-45-15-40-offset-7-5in-wide-rim-2499350/

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

wherever it rubs i think it rubs on the top part of my fender well, not side to side.. but the rear is a real tight fit.. i might have to roll the fenders

i didn't think about that.. dangit!

nsxtasy

Most 225/45-15 tires are approved for mounting on wheels 7.0-8.5 inches wide, so they should be fine on 15x7.

If you're looking for street/track tires like the Azenis, the new Hankook R-S3 Z222 is available in that size. The Nitto NT01 is an R comp, which will work fine for autocross and track, not ideal for the street (although you could drive it to and from events). If you're autocrossing competitively, you might consider the Hoosier A6, which comes in that size, but may be too soft for the road course.

Jaker

But the Hoosier R6 wouldn't be too soft for the road course.

nsxtasy

tru dat.

I didn't bother looking up all the R comp tires available in that size (since the NT01 was already mentioned), was just throwing out the A6 autocross option.

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

hm.. i'm trying to search for some 215/40,45,or 50/15's.. do you guys know of any?

do you guys know any good tires with a 215 width? i think 225 might be pushing it for me my rear quarters aren't rolled and i think it'll be pure hell for me to fit em. haha

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

hey nsxtasy i saw you posted

this --> 15" sizes:
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec 195/55-15
Kumho Ecsta XS 205/50-15
Toyo R1R 195/55-15 or 205/50-15
Falken Azenis RT-615 205/50-15

from stickiest to non stickiest basically you are saying the Dumlop's will perform better than the falkens even though it's a 195 width, 55 tall?

and the falken is a 205/50?


i remember you saying compound>width.. this would be a perfect example?

how would a 195/55/15 dunlop compare to a 225/45/15 nitto nt-01? as far as traction?

my local auto x course reaches speeds of up to 80-90 and turns are pretty crazy in 2nd gear.. it's basically a mini road course and they last 1:30-2:00 so the tires get plenty hot

Hemix

Don't get the Azenis. They are great street tires and were great autocrossing tires, but there are way better tires out there now. I would get a set of RE11s or Star Specs if you want a street tire. Of course if you actually want to be competitive in autocross, you need A6 or at least Kumho V710. The R6s are great for the track but it is very hard to get them up to operating temperature while autocrossing. The NT01s I have heard mixed emotions about.

I might actually pick up a set of NT01s soon here because they seem to be the best compromise for both track and autocross duty.

P.S. The Azenis suck on the track (track, not autocross), they get greasy at high temps and get ruined at sustained high temps.

98SpecR

Look for the Grassroots Motorsports' June issue. They did a "Street Tire Test" with all of the tires you listed including the BS RE-11 and RE-01R. The resaults were as such, from fastest to least fast:

Kumho ECSTA XS - 205/50/15
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 - 205/50/15
Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R - 195/50/15
Toyo Proxes R1R - 205/50/15
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec - 195/55/15
Falken Azenis RT-615 - 205/50/15

As you can see, the Star Specs out performed the Rt-615s even though the Azenis were wider.

Tarmac Junkie

Why dont you roll the quarter panels? 225's will fit fine. I think it would be worth it to roll them so they will fit the 225's...

Mashimaro

iTrader: (1)

Just curious, but has anyone run the V700/V710 on a road course? are they made only for auto-x?

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

darnit guys, you aren't getting the picture. i think as of now my tires ARE getting greasy around our "auto-x" track.. it's basically a mini road course. my tires feel like they are getting greasy and they look like poop when i take them home.... after 2/6 runs all tire pressures raised 6-8 psi..

but how does a 195/55/15 dunlop direzza stack up against a 205/50/15?

compound > width?

i'm not 'competitive' with auto x.. i'd like to stay away from a a slick PERIOD, i like dippin my volks on the street every so often and driving up to the events as they are even held in the rain. so a slick would be a no no

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

tools and time, i'm not the baseball bat kind of guy

Hemix

Both the Star Spec and the RE11 hold up descent to heat but I don't think you will find a street tire that can really hold up to track temperatures. But Like I said, both of those tires will hold up to heat way better than the Azenis.

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

that's all i needed to know! thanks!..

would the 195/55/15 dunlop star specs be a good choice agaisnt a 225/45/15 nitto nt-01?

i haven't heard much from the nitto nt-01.. how's it hold up to temps for you guys?

SleeperGSR

I can't believe there is so much talk going into tire heat for auto-x. From everything i have read it would seem like you want the softest rubber possible in order to get any heat in your tire, becuase there is very little generated in an auto-x. It seems like you would have more problems getting the tire up to a temp where it was actually sticky. That is the problem i have anyway, ran the rt-615 last summer, kumo xs this summer. No auto cross yet but the xs is awesome especially once it heats up a bit. I've only ran them on the track and i can't immagine they would ever get that hot during an auto-x.

I also thought that was the theory behind having "runs" was to give everything a chance to cool down and it was a best cold set up type of event. It would be an advantage to having heat in the tyres for an auto-x, which i think is why you can't use tire warmers.

there is a pretty big difference in the sizes you are looking at. So much so that i think the 225 could offer more grip even tho it's a different compound. I don't have experience with either brand, but i can tell you the xs is a really good tire. Only draw back i'm seeing is that it wears faster than the rt-615, might even be bad enough to see less than 10,000 miles with a few track days.

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

your first paragraph still thinks that i have a little whimpy autox course.. here's a vid to show you guys what my autox event is liek http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1AZtseSMJo

a whopping 1:45ish long track.. don't tell me this isn't enough time to get my tires warmed up.. at the end of the 2nd lap everything spiked up atleast 6psi in all the tires and they were all pretty warm!

there's about 5 minutes or so between each run.. and there is always two people on the course at any given time..

so again, what's a good tire that holds heat?

star specs, re-11's, and nt-01s?

SleeperGSR

I didn't mean to put you down man, that is a long auto-x course. But that still is nothing in compairison to a track day. I'm fairly new to this and i'm sure others will chime in but a whopping 1minute and 45 secons is nothing compaired to a 40 minute session of laps. It takes my car on a track that i lap at about 68 seconds, pocono north road course in pa about 3-5 laps before i notice them start to come in, and roughly 10 laps for everything to stablize. I could be wrong, if i am i'm sorry, but i don't think so. 1:45 at auto-x speeds is not enough time, maybe by the end of you lap they are starting to come in. But the first 1/2-3/4 of a run your tires are COLD. I had the sound off in your vid, but if you really are getting hot tires in auto-x you may want to not push them so hard, if your spinning the wheels all the time and locking up this could be why they are getting so hot. It's not going to help your time driving like this tho. Seriously i'm just trying to help you out, take it or leave it. But i will definatly tell you, on your first lap probably most of your second and 1/2 or your third your tires arn't up to temp.

If you could run the 225 i think you will be better off for the reasons i listed in my previous post. Saying that i've heard nothing other than that dunlop is the best tire available this summer. I have run on the rt-615, kumo spt and XS, all of which i liked for various reasons. I went from a 195-55-15 to a 205-45-16 and currently run a 215-45-16. I have auto-x and tracked the rt-615 and the spt. i had to run the spt at a higer start pressure and it was very easy to overheat on a dry day at the track. for auto-x the pressure was much higher than the rt-615 but the falkens never really got sticky durning an auto-x either. if you are looking for street tires you have already got the list of stickyness for this summer, they are all relatively close in compound and if you can get a wider size in one than you just might be better off. If you are just concerned with auto-x people have suggested to you a very good auto-x r compound that does get to temp during a run. Testing is the only way you are going to find out what works best for you. Hope some of this helped

BTW if you are on a budget. i believe the XS is the cheapest, then the dunlop, then the RE-11 almost double the XS, surprisingly enough that is not how they rank in producing a good lap. after running it i would recomend it, XS for it's price and quality is probably the tire to have this summer. Well for a DOT street legal tire.

ohsnapzafingcu

iTrader: (2)

this is more of what i wanted to hear! but i will admit after the 2nd or 3rd run the tires are all warmed up and ready to go.. the vid i showed was my first auto x event.. my 2nd event was much smoother and ran a little harder so the tires got up to a higher temp than my first event.. we normally do atleast 6 runs, sometimes we'll do more and have fun runs at the end..

but it sounds like you guys summed everything up!

SleeperGSR

i'm not going to arguee with you. But i'm telling you, that doing a lap taking a break, doing a lap for a total of 6 laps at about 2 minutes a lap is not putting heat in your tires. they are probably warmer than what you do on the street but not where they are intended to get the most grip. Belive me or don't, whatever. But don't tell me after 2 laps at auto-x speeds that you tires are all warmed up and ready to go, unless you have auto-x specific r compounds. And the smoother you drive the longer it will take to put heat in your tires especially at auto-x speeds.

Hemix

SleeperGSR:
I agree that most r-compounds that take a lot of heat, like the R6s and the NT01s are not likely to get up to operating temperatures on an autox course, but you should try a set of RT615s. When they were the hot tire in ST, almost everyone running them had a water sprayer to cool them off because they would get over operating temperatures easily on a hot day. Street tires are harder compounds than race tires, but they get greasy with too much heat in them.

Original Poster:

As far as i can tell, both the star spec and the re11 can handle heat well enough to autocross without spraying down with water between runs. Although, I am confident both would get fairly greasy after extended track use.

The NT01s would be a good tire but i still don't think they would get up to temperature autocross except on the really hot days towards your later runs. The NT01s are going to be stickier than the RE11s and the Star Specs but probably won't last long when used for street driving whereas the RE11s and Star Specs will.

I don't really feel like the NT01s are in competition with the other two. Decide whether or not you want a street tire, if you do, choose between the RE11s or Star Specs, if you decide you want a race tire, then start looking at the NT01s.

Just my .02

SleeperGSR

Can you read? If you can try reading this thread again. I have been on the RT 615's. And i think people use water to keep their tires at a consistant pressure rather than cool them off. But one is a result of the other.

Also why would you suggest the RE-11, when the XS and the Dunlop are sticker and 1/2 the price?

And i still have a hard time believing anyone can overheat a tire during an auto-x. Cars are sitting longer than they are driving. typical auto-x is between 5-10 minutes of driving with breaks in between.

Hemix

I haven't offered any suggestion on the XSs because I have no experience nor do I know anyone with any experience on them. And the water was to keep the compound cool. I autocrossed on the RT-615s for 2 years, I am not talking about it from what I read, I am talking about it from experience.

Why do you think the RE11s are half as sticky as the Star Specs? I don't think that is true at all. In fact I think it is quite likely that we will see a lot of people trophying at nationals in different ST classes on the RE11s and possibly a couple of people winning ST classes at nationals this year on the RE11s. There have already been a few people at National Tours winning on them.