I'm attending the SCCA HPCCC at Heartland Park in Topeka Kansas this coming weekend (anyone else going??) and I'm looking at my Azenis and worrying that they won't hold up both days. The rears are looking pretty worn, though the fronts look pretty good. So I'm thinking I should order some new tires today so I can get them in by the end of the week.

The Delima:
I've got two sets of gunmetal ITR wheels, the 2nd set is still packaged and has NO tires on it, courtesy of local Acura dealer after scratching/chipping all four of my original ITR wheels. I'd like to keep the new wheels for daily driving as they are in perfect condition, and keep the ones that are all damaged for track use. Currently I have the Azenis mounted on my car now and have been using them for daily-driving, track, autocross, drag, all in one...

Here are my thoughts:

1) order some replacement daily-driver tires for new wheels, like Kumho 712's, have them mounted and take them with me to track. In case Azenis are worthless by the second day, I'll have a set of wheels/tires to get me through the rest of the event, and home. Drawbacks are that I just put a lot of wear on the dd tires, and may fug up the perfectly good ITR wheels.

2) order some R-compound tires (victoracer probably) for existing scratched up wheels, AND order some daily driving tires for the new wheels. Have the Azenis removed and have both sets mounted. Drive up on the dailys, and put on the R's on at the track. Drawbacks are that I've never used r-compound tires and I wonder if it's smart for me to be on a track I've never driven with a new type of tire I'm unfamiliar with. I have experience on the track, just not THIS track, and not with R-compounds. The other drawback is that I'll then have left-over Azenis that no one would want to buy. (though that's the breaks, damn this hobby is $$$)

3) And lastly, buy R-compound tires and wheels together (say 15" Kosie K1), and save the mint ITR wheels for whenever I sell the R (god forbid) or to someone else who wants some cherry never-used ITR wheels. The Azenis would stay on my existing wheels to get me there and back, and would probably last me another month or two for daily driving. Drawbacks, basically same as number 2.

So what would you all do? Is it unwise for me to try out the R-compounds on a track I've never been on? I am definitely ready for R-compound (I feel) but wonder how much learning curve.

 

Option #1.

Wear out the Azenis, then get R compounds (or more Azenis).
Use the good wheels for street, bring to track just in case you need them.

 

Hi Ben,

Think long-term and then work backwards. Where do you want to be six months from now? This will help you answer the following questions:

1. What tires do you want to be using at the track?

If you want to use R compound tires, and you're ready for them now, then get them now. Yeah, it's a new track to you, but by some time the first day, you'll have learned the track, so that's not an issue. If you want track tires six months from now, then get them now and put them on the scratched wheels now.

2. What wheels do you want to be using on the street?

Answer: If you like the stock wheels, then use the new ones you've got. If you want something different, then buy another set (but then there's no need to keep the new stock ones).

3. What tires do you want to be using on the street?

Answer: If you want to keep using the Azenis, then you're going to want to have them on your street wheels (see question 2). So it probably makes sense to dismount at least two, maybe four, from the scratched wheels to the new ones. (If two are almost shot, then it doesn't pay to remount them; just buy a new pair.)

If you don't want to keep using the Azenis, then it probably still makes sense to remount them in order to use up the remaining tread on them. Put the ones with more tread on the front. But as soon as a pair needs replacing, you'll need to replace all four to keep the handling okay when you start using a different tire.

Hope that makes sense.

 

Hoosiers

 

Get a second set of wheels. If you can afford it, then that is the way it goes. What if it rains? What if you go off and pull a tire off the rim (not unheard of).

Spares are a wonderful thing.

Scott

 

He already HAS a second set of wheels...

 

NSXTCJR: thanks man, I appreciate the comments. I'm leaning toward option 1. One thing I worry about is all the mounting/unmounting costs for 2 sets of wheels just to find that in a couple years my mint ITR gunmetal wheels look just as chipped and scratched from driving on the street as my already damaged ones do. Then I'll regret ever un-wrapping them from their packing. Maybe I'm being too ****, but if I ever sell the car, I want to be able to give that person a car that is in as good condition as I got it in. If daily driving is going to easily wear the finish off the gunmetal wheels, then I'll get another set of wheels for track and not worry about EITHER of them being damaged whatsoever. I just can't see how careful daily driving will damage those other mint wheels though.

So anyway, if I go option 1, and I really do want to step up to r-compound, then: I order one set of tires, have my existing Azenis removed and put on the new wheels, and have the R compound put on the damaged wheels. This could cost me $120 right there. Then in 2-3 months when the Azenis are shot I have to go through the same process again with new street tires.

Hmmm... waiting on people's thoughts on daily use affecting the gunmetal wheels in the ITR forum.

(thanks for letting me think outloud in a public forum, haha)

 

haha, I write to damn much so people get bored halfway through the first sentence or two and just hit reply.

 

Hi Ben,

I posted about wear in the topic on the ITR forum. I don't think it's a concern IF you're careful about working on your car and you have a good mechanic who knows how to mount your tires without damaging the wheels. It's worth paying a little more for mounting when you know the guy is good, vs trying to save a few bucks at some so-so tire shops.

The mounting cost is certainly a consideration. For example, you wouldn't want to pay $30 to get a couple of Azenis tires mounted if they only have 1/10 of their tread left ($14 worth of tread).

If I were you, I would get a set of R compound tires and mount them on the scratched wheels now, to use in your upcoming track event. I would use the new wheels on the street (and be VERY careful about not driving alongside curbs). If there's enough tread left on the Azenis to make it worth re-mounting them, then do it, and use the worn ones on the rear. Hopefully you'll wear out all four at the same time, and at that point you can decide which street tires to get to replace them.

Yes, you'll be paying some money for mounting, but you'll have to do that any time you get a new set of tires anyway (unless you're buying wheels at the same time). The only set you'll be mounting that won't be new is the Azenis, so that's only a portion of your mounting cost (and don't do it if it isn't worth it).



[Modified by nsxtcjr, 7:09 PM 7/15/2002]

 

Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the R-compounds and mount then on the old wheels, and buy some street tires for the new wheels, and sell the used Azenis to my roommate, haha.

So, now that I'm getting R-compound.. and I want to save some money and go Kumho instead of Hoosier (like I could make use of their superiority anyhow) which should I get? Victoracer or V700? Price looks about the same... I assume I'd want to go 205x50 for my wheels too, correct?

 

See this post for comments about various track tires.

My recommendation: Yokohama A032R in 205/50-15. Unless you're doing competition events, where you need every last hundredth of a second and you don't care how long the tire last, in which case Hoosier R3S03 in 205/50-15.

 

thanks for all your help nsxtcjr! I appreciate it.

I ended up getting a set of 205/50-15 Victoracers and a set of 205/50-15 Kumho Ecsta 712's for the street. I'm removing the Azenis and selling them to my roommate for the cost of what it will take for me to get one set of the new tires mounted - so I feel decent about that trade-off. Now I just have to find a place that I can trust to unmount/mount all these tires and not fug up my rims.

So I'm in CSP now for autocross, right guys? I have I/H, VTEC-controller, and now R-compound tires. That eliminates me from STX and I obviously can't be stock. Can someone just confirm this for me - a guy was making me some magnets today and was originally going to put STX on them and now that needs to be changed.