I have a 92 hatch I use for auto X events. Nothing serious, but obviously the faster times the better. Just sold a set of my wheels, now I'm shopping for something else.
Question is, I'm not willing to spend a grand on some Hoosier a7's. But can get some Hoosier r7's with 2-3 heat cycles for $50 a piece from a local shop. Or even sm7's for the same price and same amount of usage. Would I be better off with an re71 or a rival tire. Or would the r7's still be a superior tire for auto X. I know the a7 is meant for auto X but as far as a price point I don't think that will happen. And yes I searched before asking.

 

I have no experience with the R7's. But I tried the same thing with R6's and ultimately wasn't happy. I'm running the RE71R's on two cars now and I'm consistently shocked by how good they are, but we have a street tire index class in my region so Prepared and Mod cars can run street tires. And it's nice to be able to drive to events on them.

On the other hand, $200 a set for any competition tire is a pretty good deal especially if you're not hellbent on being competitive.

If you're interested in a "middle" ground the Hankook Z214 C71 (soft compound) are a great value. They don't quite have the grip the A7's do, but tend to last a tad longer and have a longer sweet spot. 225/45R15 run about $650 a set.

 

Thanks for the input. I've got some rs3's right now, and the price of the used r7's just seems so hard to pass up but I don't want to spend the $$ if they won't help any.

 

http://www.jbracingtires.net/

They're located in Delavan, WI down by Lake Geneva. Usually pick up a couple sets of take offs for a few hundred bucks.

 

That is one of the places that is local to me. Told me they couldn't get any 15" a7's. But they had numerous r7's. They're 5min from my house.

 

The trick with Hoosier R's is that they take more heat to get warmed up than the A's.
So, for autocross, these factors will work against you: if the tires are older, if the car is very lightweight, if the ambient temps are cold, if the courses are short.

I often ran "used but fresh" R6's on my old ~2500lb Integra and EM1 and they were great. Probably not quite as fast as brand new A6's were, but certainly better than 200-tw street tires. Plus, they were obviously great for track day use.

R7's with 2-3 heat cycles for $50/ea are definitely worth trying, IMO.

 

I may give them a try. Found a large supply of sm7 take offs for $25 a tire a couple of days ago. So I may give those a try. Again thanks for the input.

 

Just drive them hard. They'll warm up if you beat em a little bit. If you're trying to win, you have to consider what class you're going to run in. Street tires are obviously great for street tire classes, but if you're gonna run slicks, the lowest you can do is street prepared. So this question really is comparing apples to oranges.

Civic on SM6s and 7s in front:

 

Well then you're not far from me! HA!

But you probably won't ever run into used A7s at JB. Most autocrosses run them to the cords, usually buying new tires for a nationals event and then using their old ones for regionals. JB deals primarily with wheel to wheel take offs, and not many use A7s out on the tracks because they're only good for about 3-4 laps at most.

 

I would just run some used SM7, beat them hard and have a good time! Can't argue their pricing on a full set. I used to drive out of there spending $300 and coming out with 3-4 sets of tires.

 

Went ahead and tried the sm6's. Got 8 tires for $140, and ended up working out great. Thanks for the responses/input.