Cal Club Autocross Forums

Miata's like low unsprung weight and the SS's have stiff sidewalks, so I would try your 14's with those tires. Work on your driving, but rather then just repeating what you're doing, make sure you get rides whenever you can and have more experienced drivers do a lap in your car and then try to get down to their time.

Curt Thompson wrote:I read this (or similar) in a couple other forums discussing the best tire sizes for NBs.

There are several people over at the miata.net forums who seem to have a fetish for light weight tires & wheels, to the exclusion of thinking about how any other parameter might have some influence. Maybe that's what you came across? I'm still not clear on what a "Miata record" is though.

Just get the Dunlops that KJ linked you to. They're good tires, and that's a fine size to get. But there's nothing magical about the size, it's just what's available that fits a 14" wheel. If you had some 15" stock wheels for free, I'd say go with a 205/50-15 but I know that's not in the budget.

Mako Koiwai wrote:Miata's like low unsprung weight and the SS's have stiff sidewalks, so I would try your 14's with those tires. Work on your driving, but rather then just repeating what you're doing, make sure you get rides whenever you can and have more experienced drivers do a lap in your car and then try to get down to their time.

Yeah, the mini-game I play in Autocross is "chase the instructor's time." At the first event I was more than 10 seconds behind, I think. The next time it was about 7 seconds. This time, it was somewhere around 1-1.5 seconds (in an x-run) =)

John Stimson wrote:

Curt Thompson wrote:I read this (or similar) in a couple other forums discussing the best tire sizes for NBs.

There are several people over at the miata.net forums who seem to have a fetish for light weight tires & wheels, to the exclusion of thinking about how any other parameter might have some influence. Maybe that's what you came across?

Yeah, that was probably one of them. I think I came across another within the reviews for some tires, though I forget which. That person was probably just quoting miata.net anyway. I got the car a couple years ago used and in really bad shape, so rims were pretty far down the list. In general, though, I'm pretty sure that for a while yet it will be my driving that determines my times more than whatever difference there is between 185s, 195s, 205s, and whether they're on 14s or 15s.

They went on a closeout sale today so...

You will receive an order confirmation with an order number by email. You will also be notified once your order has been shipped.

UPS GroundEstimated Delivery Date: 11/09/2012

185/60R14 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
for 1999 Mazda Miata
In Stock 4 $122.00 $488.00

Shipping Sub-Total: $50.68

Order Total: $538.68

Thanks again for all the advice, I'm sure I'll love 'em. They'll be my first true performance tires
Only bad thing is I'll probably have to skip the 11/25 event, but I'm sure I'll see you guys early next year.

In a few days I'll have some junk tires if you want to make tire swings or something

Curt Thompson wrote:In a few days I'll have some junk tires if you want to make tire swings or something

Out of a 14" Miata tire? For who, my miniture poodle?

Parent's tip; use trailer tires for tire swings, no steel wire in them.

Jay W

Jayson Woodruff wrote:

Curt Thompson wrote:In a few days I'll have some junk tires if you want to make tire swings or something

Out of a 14" Miata tire? For who, my miniture poodle?

Parent's tip; use trailer tires for tire swings, no steel wire in them.

Jay W

Haha, yeah I knew they were too small -- part of my joke I didn't think about the wires though. Where I'm from (rural Wisconsin) they're usually made from huge used tractor tires.

Curt Thompson wrote:In general, though, I'm pretty sure that for a while yet it will be my driving that determines my times more than whatever difference there is between 185s, 195s, 205s, and whether they're on 14s or 15s.

That's the right mindset. A lot of people just starting out the sport obsess over the car. The thing to focus on is your driving for a year or two. Anything you spend on the car is pretty much wasted until driving basics are under control.

Kurt Rahn wrote: A lot of people just starting out the sport obsess over the car. The thing to focus on is your driving for a year or two. Anything you spend on the car is pretty much wasted until driving basics are under control.

I just go to have fun anyway. I'd drive anything out there.

I'm trying to get my friend to bring his '89 VW Scirocco or '88 VW Cabriolet one of these days...

Ed Holley wrote:I pretty much do all my tire shopping using Tire Rack whether for Autocross or DD...their prices are quite competitive and they ship immediately in most cases out of Reno.

I ordered them from TireRack Wednesday night and they arrived at the installer in Pasadena today (Friday). Can't get much better than that from an online retailer.

Believe it or not, I 'sold' my old tires (for the price of a dinner) to my neighbor, so in the extremely unlikely event they were wanted, they're no longer available.

Curt Thompson wrote:I'm trying to get my friend to bring his '89 VW Scirocco or '88 VW Cabriolet one of these days...

He will enjoy the former much more than the latter. The Rabbits (Golfs) of that age are known for lifting their inside rear tire fairly high. Without the extra rigidity of a full body, that cabriolet could be pretty harry.

I said I'd let everyone know what I thought of them, so here's a little review:
The Star Specs are really nice. I was surprised how comfortable they were.. I guess because they're so much softer than my old tires. Even with my suspension set at full stiff it's more comfortable than mid-stiff settings with the old tires. Often, comfort is compromised for performance, so it was really nice to get improvements in both categories. They seem to stick in the dry extremely well, though I'm not apt to try to find their limit on the street. I am looking forward to having some turning ability in the wet, though. They are relatively expensive compared with some of the other summer tires, but probably worth the cost if you want a mix of daily driver and autocross tire -- cheaper than buying an extra set of rims and r-comps, at least. I'm definitely looking forward to testing them out around the cones.