Currently I am running 205/50/15 Falken Azenis RT615's on my 00 Civic Si Coupe. I've been running the Azenis for over 6 Months and they have worn down pretty bad. Its most likely due to my 2.5" drop and no Camber Kit, and that my Car has not been aligned since all my Suspension work and Wheels/Tires. I knew the Falkens would wear down rather quickly when I purchased them but I wanted the added grip they provided.

My plan was to use these Tires for the remaining of the Season untill my Car gets put away for the Winter Months, but they are worn down so badley I can barely drive in a straight line. And I also have a few Auto-X, Driving Schools, and Track Events lined up for the next 2 Months so I was thinking about picking up 2 Tires to use up front just to get by these Events. Then over the Winter I can save up for some nice Summer Tires for my Rims, 2 Rims and 2 Track Tires for Track Events.

I have an oppurtunity to pick up 2 fairly new, low mileage Tires off of a Friend for $60. the only thing I was questioning were the specs on the Tires. They are sized 195/55/15 compared to my 205/50/15's. They are Dunlop Sport 5000's too.

Now, would it be ok to run this size Tire? I'm not to smart on Tire Sizing either so I'm not really sure how big of a difference between my current tires and these Tires are. I'm also sure that these Dunlops aren't the best choice Tire for Track days but at this point, I just really need some tires due to my current tires being a major safety issue.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Ant

 

The size isn't really a problem. 195/55-15 is 1.6 percent larger in diameter than 205/50-15, and is actually a closer fit to your stock size tires. You can just put the matching tires on an axle (so both front tires are the same size as each other, etc).

However, your handling is basically going to be really unpredictable with the Azenis at one end and the all-season Dunlops at the other end, not because of the tire sizes, but because they are totally different kinds of tires, with different performance profiles. In warm temperatures on dry pavement, the Azenis end of the car is going to grip much better; hit a wet patch of pavement or a cold spell, and all of the sudden the Dunlop end of the car is going to grip much better. Either way, your car is suddenly going to be a handful to drive. You're just trading one "major safety issue" for another. I would not recommend this at all.

I bet four new, matching tires still cost less than the deductible on the collision part of your insurance policy...

 

Get an alignment or whatever you replace the azenis with with be trashed pretty soon too.

195/55/15 will be fine, afaik its the stock size for the car.
I would however suggest not running two different kinds of tires on the car, particularly supersticky street tires on one end and all seasons on the other. Thats funky and likely dangerous handling waiting to happen, particularly in an emergency situation.

You could pretty easily find a pair of similar take-offs at a tire dealer for not a whole lot of money and then you wont have the unbalanced grip levels you would were you to run all-seasons on one end and azenis on the other.

But either way, get an alignment.

 

Very good points. I should just put the $60 towards picking up the Kumhos I plan on getting.

 

Would it be a problem if I ran the Falken Azenis in 205/50/15 in the Front and the Dunlops in 195/55/15 in the Rear?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AntMan401 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Would it be a problem if I ran the Falken Azenis in 205/50/15 in the Front and the Dunlops in 195/55/15 in the Rear?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes. On dry pavement, the car will oversteer (back end will want to come around on you). And when you hit a wet area, the car will understeer (will tend to plow ahead when you turn the steering wheel).

 

I've seen alot of Cars that are set-up for Auto-X and Track Racing using staggered set-ups. So it wouldn't be good at all then?

 

I ran the Kumho at a few Autocross events. I didn't need the fancy $150 ea tires or staggered set up to do well. Save some money and go with the kumhos. YOu wont be sorry.

 

There really isn't that big of a difference though between the 205/50's and 195/55's to cause that much oversteer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AntMan401 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There really isn't that big of a difference though between the 205/50's and 195/55's to cause that much oversteer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What you say is true. However, the difference in traction between the sticky Azenis and the Dunlop all-season is HUGE, and that is the cause of the oversteer, not the difference in treadwidth.

 

I see what you saying but the Dunlops are not All Season Tires. They are the Dunlop Sport 9000's which are Extreme Performance Summer Tires.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AntMan401 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I see what you saying but the Dunlops are not All Season Tires. They are the Dunlop Sport 9000's which are Extreme Performance Summer Tires.</TD></TR></TABLE>

First of all, what you said earlier is:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AntMan401 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They are Dunlop Sport 5000's too.</TD></TR></TABLE>

And the Sport 5000 is indeed an all-season tire.

Second of all, the SP Sport 9000 is not an "extreme performance summer tire" like the Azenis. The Dunlop tire in that category is the new Direzza Sport Z1.

The SP Sport 9000 was Dunlop's top-of-the-line summer tire many years ago (early 1990s), until they brought out the SP Sport Maxx a couple of years ago. The SP Sport 9000 is really a very poor performing summer tire; I had a set on my GS-R and I couldn't wait for them to wear out. They were okay in rain, but on dry pavement, they didn't grip well and they would squeal even at slow speeds.

So yes, the same thing is true with the Azenis in the front and the Sport 9000 in the rear: the car will oversteer big-time on dry pavement, and will understeer big-time on wet pavement. Definitely NOT recommended.

 

Yea, I thought they were 5000's but I looked again and they were the 9000's. and according to tire Rack, they are placed under the Extreme Performance Summer section.

Either way, I'm most likely NOT going to do this. I'm going to get an alignment first and see if that improves my handling in any way. the Azenis are bald but not THAT bad. So I wanna see if getting an alignment and fixing my toe will help any bit.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AntMan401 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yea, I thought they were 5000's but I looked again and they were the 9000's. and according to tire Rack, they are placed under the Extreme Performance Summer section.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, they're not. As shown on Tire Rack's website, the SP 9000 is in the "Max Performance Summer Tire" category, and that's primarily because, when it was first introduced many years ago, it was Dunlop's top of the line summer tire, not because it's as good as other tires in that category.

Trying the alignment first is a good idea. Good luck with it.

 

Well, I'll be getting the Alignment this Week. Hopefully it helps the problem.

 

Well, I went to go get an Alignment Today and the Technician found some problems that prevented the Alignment from being done.

Passenger Side Tie Rod is shot and needs to be replaced and the Drivers Side Lower Control Arm Bolt was lose. So I donno if the Bolt just loosened since my Lower Tie Bar was put in, the Bushing is shot, or I need a whole New Control Arm.

I guess I'll have to pick up a Tie Rod from Auto Zone and put that in then inspect the Lower Control Arm some more and see if all it needs is to be tightened up. But who knows how long its been like that and what kind of damage the Bushing itself is in.

I hope I can get this all done by this Weekend because I was gonna participate in my first Auto-X

 

Tonight I got some help from a few Friends and we were able to get everything done minus the alignment. We went ahead and put in the rear Pads. Tie Rod was actually not shot and the Bolt just needed to be tightened. The worst part was the Drivers Side Lower Control Arm Bolt. The Welded Nut that the Bolt would thread into broke off so the Bolt was never tight. We ended up finding out it happened to both sides. Well, a little cut with a Grinder we were able to access the Nuts, hold them, and tighten up the Bolts. The Cusco Lower Tie Bar did not survive due to my Car being so low so that was junked.

During this process I noticed that my Drivers Side Rear Sway Bar End Link was missing! This sucks! I don't know how it happened but now my Rear Sway Bar is useless. I'll have to pick up a New End Link from Comptech but for now I need to figure out what I'm gonna do for Sunday so I can use the Sway Bar. My Friend might have some lieing around so hopefully he does so I can get things working by Sunday!