I've done my 1st 7 autocrosses on my nice AVS ES100s, but after an unfortunate accident I destroyed 2 of my aftermarket wheels+tires. I don't plan on putting them back on (replacements) until summer, neither did I plan on buying a cheap set of wheels+azenis for auto-x until summer when I got home from college.

So, at this past autocross, I ran on my 195/65-15 Michelin Energy MXV4s that came with the car. Most of you agree that these make good tire swings, but I'm not sure if they'd work as street tires, which is what I think what Michelin had in mind for them.

I really hated they way the tires squealed when braking/turning/accelerating, and quite honestly, I hate driving on them.

I most likely will be stuck with them for the next 4-5 autocrosses, so do you guys think it's worth killing cones and making noise for this long? Will it really help my learning curve or am I just wasting my time?


Modified by LX4CYL at 3:22 AM 3/12/2004

 

running bad tires will only help you understand why you want to run good tires when you switch back over. It doesn't sound like you have much of a choice anyway for the time being, run em, untill you can afford new tires/wheels

 

I know, I'm just hating the way the car plows and stuff. Just wanted to be sure since I can easily but 2 new tires for the 2 replacement wheels I bought last month, and autocross with the 2 old tires up front for the time being.

This better help my learning curve otherwise there will be a set of MXV4s burning in my front yard this summer

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LX4CYL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> do you guys think it's worth killing cones and making noise for this long?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes! Especially if you're new to the sport.

-travis, who may have learned more about the dynamics of his car in the rain than in the dry, and that's saying a lot in the desert...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
-travis, who may have learned more about the dynamics of his car in the rain than in the dry, and that's saying a lot in the desert...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I will wholeheartedly second you on this one.

Try really bad stock tires that have meltied down to nothing after 2 HPDE weekends, in the rain. Imagine the Cingular cell phone icon and rotate it 45 degrees....that's what my traction circle turned into. The car would only allow 1 driver input at a time (acceleration only, no steering, or turning, but no trailbraking or accel) but it taught me a whole lot about what a seriously understeering car feels like, and knowing what a car feels like when it's going into the toilet can save your *** somtimes.

 

Well, I went to a BMWCCA event this past Sunday, and I did MUCH better I actually got compliments on how well I did with those tires

BTW, according to the sidewall markings, I can't go higher than 44PSI. I set it at 44PSI, and it didn't roll over to the sidewall, but all of the "wear" consists of a 1-2cm wide band near the edge. Shuold I decrease the pressure a little to even it out? I'll use the glass chalk on my next auto-x (Auto-X #10)...

 

any room for camber adjustment on them there Accords?

 

not stock, no I only plan on doing 6 more autocrosses on these tire tops, so a tire rotation after the next one should help...

Maybe I should just get some SPC front balljoints early?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LX4CYL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">BTW, according to the sidewall markings, I can't go higher than 44PSI. I set it at 44PSI, and it didn't roll over to the sidewall, but all of the "wear" consists of a 1-2cm wide band near the edge. Shuold I decrease the pressure a little to even it out? I'll use the glass chalk on my next auto-x (Auto-X #10)...</TD></TR></TABLE>

The wear you are referring to is do to lack of negative camber. You are kind of stuck with that running a stock car. Some cars are allowed to run crash bolts based on the Factory Service manual that will allow them to get more negative camber. I would suggest rotating the tires front to rear every event this will help distribute the wear between the tires.

Marking the sidewall is a simple indicator of how much your tire is rolling over. If they are not wearing to the very corner of the tire where the tread meets the shoulder, then lower the pressures in 2 psi increments.

 

All of my autocrosses when I started in 2002 were on Michelin MXV4s. If I could do things over I wouldn't do a thing different except hit more races (I only did 3 events in 2002 before buying Victoracers) on those street tires.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Crosser &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The wear you are referring to is do to lack of negative camber. You are kind of stuck with that running a stock car. Some cars are allowed to run crash bolts based on the Factory Service manual that will allow them to get more negative camber. I would suggest rotating the tires front to rear every event this will help distribute the wear between the tires.

Marking the sidewall is a simple indicator of how much your tire is rolling over. If they are not wearing to the very corner of the tire where the tread meets the shoulder, then lower the pressures in 2 psi increments.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think I may have a touch of positive camber on one corner; can't remember which one I will try and see if reducing the pressure wil spread the wear out a bit, since it's not close to the sidewall...

 

Put the 2 good AVS's up front... the michelin minivan tires in rear..

Wheeee

 

I did a practice and an autocross with 225/40-18 ES100s up front, and the 195/65-15 MXV4s in the rear. Let's just say that it was a bit loose

 

Seat time is seat time. It doesn't matter what tire is on the car to learn car control. In fact, the slipperier the rubber, the lower the limit, the easier it is to learn how to drive the limit.

 

yokos up front, michelins in the back.


car control is a good skill to learn too!