Cal Club Autocross Forums

Hey, can y'all help out a brutha?

I have no idea what a decent street tire is anymore. Even though there's still ~50% tread on my Azenis215s, they're long dead. The Miata needs new shoes - so what's good for ST these days?

Thanks for helping out the clueless...

Larry Andrews wrote:Hey, can y'all help out a brutha?

I have no idea what a decent street tire is anymore. Even though there's still ~50% tread on my Azenis215s, they're long dead. The Miata needs new shoes - so what's good for ST these days?

Thanks for helping out the clueless...

Depends what you're looking for. For lighter cars it seems like the Bridgestone RE-11s are pretty popular, though they're a good chunk more $$$ than some alternatives. The Yokohama AD08 is not as well known a quantity, since it came out recently. It's done prett well in the tests I've seen, but it's right up there in price with the RE-11s. Toyo makes the R1-R as well, but I don't know much about it either.

A tire that not many people in our region have tried yet is the Kumho XS (most likely my next set of tires). It seems to either win or place highly in the tire comparisons I've seen, and the price is right. I've heard they're horrible in the wet, though. Dunlop Star Specs (which I have on my car currently) also do well in the tests I've seen, and they're easy on the wallet as well. I can tell you from experience that they've dropped a couple seconds off my times from the previous tires I ran (BFG KDW2s). I've gone from appallingly slow to merely embarassing

I'd say those are the top five tires. Here are a few comparison test to help you make your own decision:
Car and Driver: http://tinyurl.com/koal9l
Also, our own Jason I. helped out on a tire comparison for Sports Car, but that's not available online, so you'll have to get a paper version. Grassroots Motorsports also did a couple comparison tests in recent issues, but they're also not available online.

The Kumho and Dunlop are good cheap/budget tires ($75-$90) range. The Bridgestone RE-11, Toyo R1R, Yokohama AD08 and Hankook RS3 are very good known contenders and all priced about the same $110-$125 range.

These are tire prices for 15" wheels/tires. I am assuming you run 15s on your miata.

If these work as your daily drivers as well, i would personally go with either the Dunlop or Kumho as they last long as well. You definitely want to stay away from the Toyo as those go out pretty quickly.

You stated Daily driver then asked about ST. Are you looking for one or the other, or something that can due double duty? Also 14's or 15's. Make's a BIG difference.

Sumitomo HTRZ3.

The current SCCA Sports Car mag has a test of all of the top ST tires ... basically the Dunlop Z1, Hankook RS3 and I believe the Bridgestone RE-11 ... depends on the weight of your car and size that you want. We would like Z1's for our Miata ... the 195's were terrific, but to go to 225's we had to go to Toyo R1R's ... but that was before the RS3 was a known quantity. Now we would go with that tire ... which Isley said was the most R tire like.

Thanks guys. Still have the miata (14s - I'm cheap) and am looking at used minis.

Interesting that *nobody* mentioned the 615s.

Oh, and I generally run ST level tires all the time anyway, except on the 4d Civic. <shrug> Can't imagine a good reason not to. (ride, noise, etc...) lol

thats because the 615 has no reason to be in ST anymore.

With the 14s unfortunately you are limited to just the Azenis. I strongly suggest going up to 15s and choose a more worthy tire.

Larry Andrews wrote:Thanks guys. Still have the miata (14s - I'm cheap) and am looking at used minis.

Interesting that *nobody* mentioned the 615s.

Oh, and I generally run ST level tires all the time anyway, except on the 4d Civic. <shrug> Can't imagine a good reason not to. (ride, noise, etc...) lol

This is why I asked rim size. The 615's are the ONLY dual purpose 14' tire available, and from personal experience there 3 seconds back in STS on a 60 sec course vs 225 toyo's.

Here's my list:
Toyo's if you want the best grip, and want to win STS.
BFG's if you have a bit of sand to let out of the trunk vs. Toyo drivers in STS.
Star Spec 1's are about a second off. I did well on them at the Pro / Tours. BUT at the Pro's I was a full second behind on the end of straight away times (on each run).... they held their own on the course (even at a 195 width). If they had either a shorter sidewall, or a wider tire, I think they would take on the toyo. Unfortunately they don't.

Locally IF Michael Heintz isn't in class (driver/tire/car setup combo all at the top), the driver is going to make a bigger difference (vs. tire) as long as I can stay off of my 3-4 yr 215's. (Thank you Mike and Steve for the loaners/takeoffs respectfully)

On a side note.... Michael with a co-driver was blowing through a set of Toyo's for each of the "big" events if memory serves correctly. My combo of S.D., El Toro, and Atwater.... made an unrecognizable difference in tire wear on Mike's Star spec's. And... heat didn't bother them.

Larry just wants to blast out of the deep forest occasionally to deliver 'shine.

Actually, I did a 270 last week while attempting a 9.8/10 U-turn. Little bitty teeny tiny bump sent the car right round and wound up facing oncoming traffic, which definitely got my attention.

Kind of a drag to face the reality of tossing 215s with 3/32 tread and no flat spots. That USED to be the hot setup.

NA and NB Miata's USE to be Hot AX cars ... :unimpressed:

Mako Koiwai wrote:NA and NB Miata's USE to be Hot AX cars ... :unimpressed:

Still are......



in D Prepared.