Just mounted Bridgestones. Still running them in. But some things I noticed immediately. The tires are extremely quiet compared to the RE010s. Unbelievably so. Steering effort DEcreased. Steering response INCREASED. [Remind me to check the tire pressures tomorrow morning. They may have overinflated the tire to max psi... I asked for ~40 psi not 51 psi]. Since I'm trying to run them in I've not cornered very hard much, but I did take one corner in a similar way that I always do and the car went into a controlled drift... Strange. It had been drizzling LIGHTLY earlier, but the road APPEARED dry. Not much else to report yet. I'll update this over the weekend.

P.S.

This is my third set of tires. The first set was OEM tires and OEM wheels. Second set was OEM tires mounted on 15" x 7" wheels. A bit tight going on, but they were a bit more responsive and very grippy. I wore them down pretty badly, but it was fun on wet streets... The steering effort was high [alignment was fine]. Now I notice that the steering effort is kinda low... with a larger tire. I suspect tire pressure is much higher than I asked. What tire kPa are you guys running with my set-up [i.e., S03 205/50-15 on a 15" x 7" wheel]?

 

Well, it's wet this morning so I got up very early and drove around pretty hard around a few corners I typically play on. The wet grip is, as stated previously, phenomenal. Break away was easily discernable and catchable [Of course it is - it's an ITR ]. I really like the tire. A lot. I put over 100 miles on the tires already and I guess/hope that's enough to begin to play a bit harder with.

So, is the tire an "ideal" autocross tire? I dunno. I've autocrossed only twice, but I've just picked up a set of '98 OEM ITR wheels at an extremely reasonable price and I'm thinking about either a set of 195/50 SO3s, perhaps, such that I can really learn [and thoroughly enjoy] the car for what it was intended... autocross and open track days. Any suggestions for tires for "competition" for the OEM wheels?

Ciao!

 

The only disadvantage is the weight of those tires....

 

I have a set of S03 195s sitting in my garage, waiting till my OEMs wear out. Good to hear that you're finding them a good performance tire.


[Modified by Cal_Ripcurl, 6:29 AM 5/24/2002]

 

If you are new to autocross just autocross on some decent cheap street tires like the Falken Azensis and the Kumho Ecsta 712's. Once you wear throught them or get comfortable with your car (about 3-4 events), then switch to R-compound tires like the Kumho V700.

 

I also have 205/50-15 S03s on 15X7 rims (K1s) and have found it to be a great combination for autocross in Street Tire. I even used them for a track day at Laguna Seca. They seem to have as much grip as the RE010s and my old AVS Intermediates, but hold up much better. I'm going to continue to run them in Street Tire, but if you are looking at running in stock or Street Prepared, a set of Kumhos or something similar is going to be required to be competitive. Of course if you're going to run in Street Tire, why not just use the same tires for autcrossing tht you use for driving on the street? Of course you could buy 225s for a couple of the rims and use them on the fronts just like the guys on Kumhos do.


[Modified by hecklervtec, 7:52 AM 5/24/2002]

 

I've heard some bad things about 205 tires mounted on stock ITR wheels. My friend complains that his Azenis feel sloppy. How do you think these SO3's would feel on stock ITR wheels?

 

SO-3's rule!

 

"I've heard some bad things about 205 tires mounted on stock ITR wheels. My friend complains that his Azenis feel sloppy. How do you think these SO3's would feel on stock ITR wheels?"
_______


You can purchase 195/50 ZR-15s for a stock wheel otherwise you'd have to increase the tire pressures to make up for the lack of sidewall stiffness. Then I'd imagine that the steering would be very light and the rear would also "wander" a bit.

ToddC, I bought some stock ITR wheels from a friend of mine yesterday. He used to use Kumho V700s in 205/50 size on his stock wheels. He let me drive it one lap on one of the autocrosses and it did not feel like it was squirrelly. Perhaps the sidewall stiffness of the Kumho V700 is stiffer than that of the S03. When I think about that I'm sure it is as it's a race tire. I have no data/information about any of this from the manufacturers. I guess if someone would do the following:

Take an identically sized S03 and Azenis. Mount them on identically sized wheels. Put maybe 10 psi into both. Stand them on their treads. Measure the height from a smooth surface. Place a flat board on the tire as a mounting surface. Add identical weigts to the tire and measure the deflection. You'd get the relative sidewall stiffness [actually, the sidewall stiffness can be deduced from this]. Without trying someone's setup or getting info from manufacturers this is about the best you can get. But I think you'd get the answer and it's repeatable and relatively cheap.


On another note, guys, I checked the tire pressures this morning and they were 36 psi all around.