I'm not sure if this is the wrong forum for this but if it is the wrong one i apologize ahead of time.....!!!

Anyways i have 15 in rims on my hatch (94) and i am running as of now some crappy pep boys tires in 205/50/15 my question is which tires will have decent streetability and be able to handle a good amount of track use as well .... i dont want to have them wear to quick but yet again racing cost money so yeah

If you have a suggestion please let me know ... some one said to get falken azenis ??? not sure dont know to much about them ... but please leave something

and please dont flame me !!!!

 

Looking for grip in the dry, maybe a bit damp too, then Azenis are one choice. They are just fine for HPDE and autocross. Depending on where yo live they are not the best choice in heavy rain and under some other conditions like snow. Consider a set of Dunlop Sport A2's for streetability and some track work. BFG and Bridgestone also offer some interesting possiblities-the online tire places are a good resource for this question, btw.

 

On a budget, the Azenis and new Hankook Ventus RS2(?, I think that's the model) are hard to beat.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LSegHatchy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyways i have 15 in rims on my hatch (94) and i am running as of now some crappy pep boys tires in 205/50/15 my question is which tires will have decent streetability and be able to handle a good amount of track use as well .... i dont want to have them wear to quick but yet again racing cost money so yeah</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are asking for a tire that is good on the track (which usually means good dry traction/handling), also good streetability (this usually means good wet traction/handling), and cost is a factor (this means low purchase price and decent treadlife). No one tire is best at all of these things. Depending on what you're willing to trade off...

<u>Falken Azenis (RT-215 and RT-615)</u>
Advantages: Excellent dry traction/handling, low purchase price.
Disadvantages: So-so wet traction/handling, low treadlife.

<u>Bridgestone S-03</u>
Advantages: Excellent dry traction/handling, excellent wet traction/handling, very good treadlife.
Disadvantage: High purchase price.

<u>Yokohama AVS ES100</u>
Advantages: Excellent wet traction/handling, excellent treadlife, very low purchase price.
Disadvantage: So-so dry traction/handling.

<u>Kumho Ecsta MX and Toyo T1-S</u>
These are both somewhere in the middle in all respects - decent in wet and dry, decent treadlife, okay price (not as good as some, better than others in each of these categories).

If track use is really important to you, go for the Azenis. If cost and treadlife is really important to you, go for the ES100. The others all fall in between...

 

The RT-615s aren't really cheap...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stealthx32 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The RT-615s aren't really cheap...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Here are the current prices per tire for 205/50-15:

Falken Azenis RT-215 $71 (discontinued)
Falken Azenis RT-615 $96
Bridgestone S-03 $109 ($134-$25 rebate)
Yokohama AVS ES100 $75
Kumho Ecsta MX $86
Toyo T1-S $100

Now you can decide for yourself which one(s) you consider cheap.

Also, if your car can use a 195/55-15, the ES100 is only $62 in that size...

 

Keep in mind that treadlife and increased grip are mutually exclusive.

I would recommend Toyo Proxes 4 or Bridgestone Potenza RE750. Good combination of grip and treadlife. Or you can step up to the Toyo T1-S or Bridgestone S-03.

 

those prices are also approaching the RA-1's which I have currently and think are teh rox0R. I've had several sets of them in the past but I decided to bite the bullet and run them full time instead of just track days since I am only doing 8K a year on the car it's not too bad

 

Same here stormy. I run RA-1's exclusively on my S2000 and get about 8-10k miles (including 4-5 track days) out of them without them significantly degrading from heat cycling. They are, however, very dangerous in the rain for the last couple thousand miles. The upside is that they are stickier in the dry than the other tires mentioned and are really only bettered by some other DOT legal race tires (which usually wear quicker, or are noticeably more expensive)

C_A_T

p.s. - I shave them to 6/32s if I have a track day coming up when I buy a new set, otherwise I buy em full tread depth and burn em in on the street

 

Cool to see Shawn posting here.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Outrun &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would recommend Toyo Proxes 4 or Bridgestone Potenza RE750. Good combination of grip and treadlife. Or you can step up to the Toyo T1-S or Bridgestone S-03.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Proxes 4 are all-season tires. They might be okay if you're looking for a tire that will be okay on snow and in frigid temperatures (but not as good as a true winter tire). But if you are using a different vehicle or true winter tires in winter weather - and I'm guessing you are - there are better choices around.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stormy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">those prices are also approaching the RA-1's which I have currently and think are teh rox0R. I've had several sets of them in the past but I decided to bite the bullet and run them full time instead of just track days since I am only doing 8K a year on the car it's not too bad</TD></TR></TABLE>

The RA-1 is around $140/tire, which is a lot more expensive than the tires noted above. And the RA-1 is a true R compound tire, which means even though it's great on the track, it has a lot of disadvantages for street use, including the need to warm up to stick well, very rapid wear, poor wet performance (compared to a street tire), little to no warning when breaking loose, rough ride, and high purchase price. All of which make it a poor chose for the street (except maybe when you just swap them on to drive to and from the track).

Hey, I like the RA-1 on the track; it's what I'm using for both my cars. But I swap with street tires at the start and end of each track event. If you've got two sets of wheels, one for the track and one for the street, then by all means use the RA-1 as your track tires. But not if you need to use the same tires all the time.