im in a bit of a pickle. first things first im more into straight line racing than auto cross but i do like a well handling car. i have a mild built jdm itr swap making a bit over 210whp. the motor is going into a 88hf est 1900lbs. ive never experienced both wheels on the same car before. im worried about traction vs gearing. vx's (13s) would accelerate like crazy but there really isnt a great deal of tire selection(id probably lean towards 205-225 series tire). hx's(14s) on the other hand have a much better tire selection but will stretch the gearing out. this car will be daily driven. does anyone that has experienced both 13's and 14's have any recommendations on which size would suite my needs? thanks in advance

 

Hx is going to be your choice solely on tire selection.But here are a couple gearing/tire calculators. http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/gears...raph&Compare=1
http://www.autocrossing.com/cgi-bin/gearcalc.cgi

 

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that smaller wheels will always have shorter gearing than larger ones. What matters is the outer diameter of the tires, not the diameter of the wheels. You can (and usually should) get tires for smaller wheels with taller sidewalls, so they may or may not have a smaller overall diameter than with larger wheels.

Also, it's not clear from your post whether you want to get tires specifically for one purpose (possibly with more than one set of wheels), or one set of tires to do everything. The best tires for the dragstrip are different from the best tires for autocross which are different from the best tires for street driving. If you only get one set of tires to do everything, they won't do everything best. Where do you want to make the trade-off? For example, if you get drag radials, they'll be great on the dragstrip, but they might only last 5-8K miles on the street; if you get street tires, they'll last 20-40K miles, but won't grip as well as competition or supersticky tires on the strip or autocross. Which way would you prefer to go? If you're willing to get more than one set of tires - are you? - that lets you get one set that's great at the dragstrip or autocross (which would you prefer to optimize?), and another set that lasts longer for tstreet use.

In 13" sizes, there are good competition tires for autocross and the dragstrip, but not much in the way of good streetable tires. In 14" sizes, you have a few choices in streetable tires - such as the Falken Azenis RT-615 in 195/60-14 for a supersticky street/autocross tire and the Yokohama ES100 in 185/60-14 for a decent street tire - and still more choices in 15", which you didn't mention.

 

chances are... i will never see a autox event. but at the same time i dont want a tire thats gonna have a sloppy side wall from being bowed out because im going to need a wider tire for traction.

 

Bowed out? I have no idea what you're talking about. And where do you need this traction? On the street, you'll never need it. At the dragstrip, you'll use it, but you're better off getting a separate pair of drag radials, rather than using street tires. (BFG Drag Radials are available in 205/50-14. They are also available in 225/45-14 but the HX wheels are 14x5.5 which is much too narrow for that size tire.)

Basically your choices are (a) get a 14" street tire like the Yokohama ES100 that will last you 20-40K miles but will be just so-so, not great, at the dragstrip; (b) get a 14" sticky street tire like the Falken Azenis RT-615 that will last you 10-12K miles and be pretty good at the dragstrip as well as on the street; (c) get 14" drag radials and live with the short treadlife (5K) on the street; or (d) get crappy 13" street tires (the only ones available). Take your pick.

If it were my car, I'd go with the Falkens. Or, I'd get 15" wheels and get some 195/50-15 Bridgestone Potenza RE01R (which are similar to the Falkens only stickier) or Toyo R1R.