I am planning to buy a set of 15s for autox. I found a really good package deal for $1050 CDN with Toyo T1-S 195 5-R15 and it would cost $1300 for an upgrade to Azenius 205 50R15 tires.

Just wondering if I should upgrade to the azenius or not. I know everyone here loves the Azenius, but I'm not sure what your guys' take is with the Toyos. If I'm running in the stock class which one do you guys think will be better for my car? I have a 99 Civic Si (EX model in the US).

 

The azenis is a much cheaper tire, dont know why they are charging you more. The azenis will give you better dry grip but the T1-S will be a better street tire and for wet traction.

Go to a different tire shop.......

 

Searching might work better if you spelled "Azenis" right. Anyway, the prices only make sense if the Toyos normally sell for about $0.

 

well from what I understand they have a sale on right now for hte T1-S, that's why it's cheaper than the Azenis (got it right this time). Plus the Azenis is 205 50 R15 and the T1-S is 195 50 R15.

 

Go find another tire shop......

 

..unless you like elephant dongs. Azenis would never be cheaper than t1-s proxes.

 

 

that should read, t1s would never be cheaper than azenis.

 

I actually have Toyo T1-S 195/55-15 as my street tire and 205/50-15 as my autoX tire. Take it from me, the Azenis *CRUSH* the Toyos in Autocrossing. No comparison, the Toyo does not have near the grip. The Toyos make a pretty good street tire (quiet, decent ride, decent grip, outstanding in wet), however that said, if you are looking for a really good AutoX tire, go for the Azenis.

 

If you have another set just for street driving, get the Azenis. It depends on what you want? A tire to fulfill a specific purpose regardless of other factors? Let me know what you want to do exactly and we can help you from there. If you only plan the occasional Solo event, maybe the T1-S (or something along the lines of Yoko ES100 or Bridgestone S-03) will be a good alternative.

 

Well my car is a daily driver and I will be using it on the autox track once a week. I do not have the luxury of having another set of wheels for the track, so basically I'm looking for something that will give me a compromise between the track and the street.

For all those non-believers that the Toyos are selling for this cheap here's the ad

http://www.tiretrends.com/packages.php3




[Modified by SuperRice, 11:36 AM 3/15/2003]

 

How many events total in a year will you be doing? The T1-S will probably last you a year at the most with the street and Solo events. If you want something that lasts longer but is comparable in grip to the T1-S, try the Bridgestone Potenza RE730. My bro's set lasted almost three years including a few hotlapping events at Streets and Buttonwillow.

Try asking the other Solo2 competitors what tires they use.

 

If you try to use R-tires on the street, they'll harden and be no better on the Solo-2 course than plain street tires. The Azenis aren't R's as far as I know, but they are quite close. I used to run Toyo RA-1 for a full summer of street and Solo-2, and they were pretty good.

Another thing I heard (not from experience) is that the Toyo T1-S has a soft sidewall, which is bad for autocross (good for street). Your car will probably squeal like a pig every time to crank on the steering wheel.

If I were to pick a tire for daily driving and Solo-2, I'd try the S-03, or bite the bullet and get dedicated rims+tires for Solo-2. You could get pretty cheap race-only rims (from Circle Racing), and use them with the Azenis.

 

thanks for the input guys.

 

It's a pretty big difference in size there. 205/50-15 Azenis are actually ~219mm wide - much wider than the "205" they claim to be. When compared to the 195 Toyos, that's a 15% increase of rubber on the ground - a difference of 2.4cm (almost 1 inch).

Add to that the fact that I'm not much of a fan of Toyo tires, so I'll definitely recommend the Azenis.

However since you're buying a dedicated set of race wheels & tires, why not go for some real race rubber? I ran a set of 185/60-14 Kumho Victoracers last year that were noticeably grippier than my 205/50-15 Azenis. Are you in STS or something?

Edit: My mistake; as I read further into the thread I see that these won't be a dedicated set of race tires. for the Falkens then!


[Modified by Targa250R, 9:50 PM 3/15/2003]

 

actually I'm selling off my 17s and then getting a set of 15s to use for both daily driving and the occasional track event, that's why I need a tire that will be best suited for both aspects.

I'm just wondering will a 205 series tire be too wide for a 15x6.5 rim, meaning will the tire bulge out. I heard that if a tire is too wide it will create a bulge which in turns means more sidewall flex in corners. Hopefully I explained myself clearly.

 

No need to worry - I run my "219" Azenis on 15x6 Si(R) wheels with no problems, so 15x6.5 would be just fine. Trust me, you won't see any significant sidewall flex with the Azenis - they're incredibly stiff. So stiff, in fact, that the mounting guy at the local tire shop told me to never bring them back.


[Modified by Targa250R, 5:56 AM 3/16/2003]

 

My mounting guys also said they "don't EVER want to mount those bitches again"

 

Azenis were as hard to mount as my 225/45/15 r tires. Just a pain in the ***.