ProDarwin said:volvoclearinghouse said:Based on that spreadsheet, the next car we do will wear 205/50R15's.
Every time I look at tire prices I think to myself "why the berkeley did I buy a new car?". I miss my 15" wheels
That's one reason we are still flogging the Civic. It uses 2-3 tires per race. RT615K+ in a 195/60r14 size are $105 each. That makes for a pretty cheap tire bill.
Heh.
I know tbese are the top dogs. But it would be veery interesting to throw the falken/federal/nexen "bargain basement " 200tw tires in the ring. I think (this is a wild ass guess) that we would get 85% of the performance for 50%of the cost as compared to the big boys.
Possibly a better value for us all remaining cars types.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
this one made me laugh HARD
drift focused compound.. I've never seen that before on tire rack.
ask and you might find be bored enough to keep digging.
green means less than bridgestone, alternate color means more.
By the set costs..
Here's by the individual tire costs.
federal prices came from here
spacecadet said:In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
this one made me laugh HARD
drift focused compound.. I've never seen that before on tire rack.
I think that's a subtle way of saying they're actually old stock of the original SUR4. Either that or they made some of the new tire in a slight variation specifically for drift people. I got caught out on that buying a pair of old stock tires listed as rival S 1.5s that turned out to actually be an older construction and sucked as a result.
In reply to dps214 :
Maybe so.. Either way it made me chuckle.
I've got about 10 hours of track time on my 595 RSRRs and think they'll probably go another 10. So far they are wildly exceeding expectations vs. my prior tire (Direzza Z3s) - similar grip, similar wear, but 100 bucks a piece shipped from eBay vs. 175+ tax for Z3s from Tirerack. They are loud on the street, but I don't care about that b/c racecar...
bcp2011 said:I've got about 10 hours of track time on my 595 RSRRs and think they'll probably go another 10. So far they are wildly exceeding expectations vs. my prior tire (Direzza Z3s) - similar grip, similar wear, but 100 bucks a piece shipped from eBay vs. 175+ tax for Z3s from Tirerack. They are loud on the street, but I don't care about that b/c racecar...
Any opinion on how the Federals compare to the Falkens in terms of grip versus durability?
I'm looking for a 225/40-18 tire for HPDEs and I want something that'll last as long as possible while holding up through a 20 minute session. I had my eye on the Hankooks as I'm told they're exactly what I need, but the $50 per tire premium isn't so appealing.
The Hankooks are so expensive that I can buy a set of inexpensive 17" wheels, mount Federals to them, and only come out of pocket a couple hundred bucks more.... to pay for itself with the next set of tires.
I was super excited, as I just upgraded to 16"s, and you guys ignore what little is there. Guess Ill have to go make my own list.
Still better choices than the 14s I am running now.
In reply to spacecadet :
Where did these numbers come from? I am finding VERY different prices tahn you are.
In reply to Nugi :
tirerack.com
spacecadet said:In reply to Toyman01 :
I've heard lots of complaints about the A052, including the meme comparing their cost in 1 size being equal to a hoosier A7 and so i decided to see what the actual numbers are.
We're in a tire war, but for almost anyone at a regional level the answer is to just throw bridgestones on and call it good. CAM guys might end up with a BFG or Yoko being the best for the size they need. But there are lots of options. And I'm skipping the Hankook and the Nexens in this sheet.
I’m not really a CAM guy but I use those sizes. Jaguar XJS V12 Is there a real significant improvement in say a 18” over a 17” ? Enough so it’s worth fighting to stuff them under the fenders is worth it?
Same with width. Is there a point where everybody is at least?!?!
Finally aspect ratio. I like the idea of using different sizes for different tracks. Since it’s so much easier to change tires rather than rear ends. One track use a 20 series while a higher speed track use a 35 or even 45 series.
frenchyd said:spacecadet said:In reply to Toyman01 :
I've heard lots of complaints about the A052, including the meme comparing their cost in 1 size being equal to a hoosier A7 and so i decided to see what the actual numbers are.
We're in a tire war, but for almost anyone at a regional level the answer is to just throw bridgestones on and call it good. CAM guys might end up with a BFG or Yoko being the best for the size they need. But there are lots of options. And I'm skipping the Hankook and the Nexens in this sheet.
I’m not really a CAM guy but I use those sizes. Jaguar XJS V12 Is there a real significant improvement in say a 18” over a 17” ? Enough so it’s worth fighting to stuff them under the fenders is worth it?
Same with width. Is there a point where everybody is at least?!?!
The only advantage to 17's is cost, but the sizes end at 255(for the most part) as reflected in the chart.
18's are where the wide range of options open up for width.
what width works for you depends on your pain threshold and what ever race series you're running.
Nugi said:I was super excited, as I just upgraded to 16"s, and you guys ignore what little is there. Guess Ill have to go make my own list.
Still better choices than the 14s I am running now.
i skipped 16's because they're a super narrow market. for some folks they're an option. the H street fiesta ST and 8th gen Si guys can run them as an alternate to 17's. but they're not common, 16's are the new 14's
there are only 3 real widths available and i skipped 215 cause almsot nothing comes in it. Yoko is an oddball and does off a 245 in the 16 but it's expensive.
This info would be handy in a website form with a direct link to the site with that price shown.
In reply to ProDarwin :
Everything except the federals is on tirerack.com
Is says it on the top left corner of the per set sheet and i posted the link to the federals prices on simpletire on page 1 when I added them.
Tirerack has been my go to for years as they support all the events I do with SCCA and OLOA.
spacecadet said:In reply to ProDarwin :
Everything except the federals is on tirerack.com
Is says it on the top left corner of the per set sheet and i posted the link to the federals prices on simpletire on page 1 when I added them.
Tirerack has been my go to for years as they support all the events I do with SCCA and OLOA.
Oh I get it. I was more thinking of a page for simple research to point a noob to when looking for tires. Like logicalincrements.com, except for tires.
It would be insanely useful for rallyx tires & the more oddball track tires that TR does not carry.
ProDarwin said:spacecadet said:In reply to ProDarwin :
Everything except the federals is on tirerack.com
Is says it on the top left corner of the per set sheet and i posted the link to the federals prices on simpletire on page 1 when I added them.
Tirerack has been my go to for years as they support all the events I do with SCCA and OLOA.
Oh I get it. I was more thinking of a page for simple research to point a noob to when looking for tires. Like logicalincrements.com, except for tires.
It would be insanely useful for rallyx tires & the more oddball track tires that TR does not carry.
The cheapest way to order rally tires is directly from the UK based upon those who I have spoken to.
MrFancypants said:Any opinion on how the Federals compare to the Falkens in terms of grip versus durability?
I'm looking for a 225/40-18 tire for HPDEs and I want something that'll last as long as possible while holding up through a 20 minute session. I had my eye on the Hankooks as I'm told they're exactly what I need, but the $50 per tire premium isn't so appealing.
The Hankooks are so expensive that I can buy a set of inexpensive 17" wheels, mount Federals to them, and only come out of pocket a couple hundred bucks more.... to pay for itself with the next set of tires.
I don't have any experience with the Falkens to give you a direct comparison. However, the 595s hold up more than fine in a 20 min session. I once ran them for an hour session (it was an open lapping event) and some of my best times were toward the end, so they don't really fall off like the Z3s that I had. I've also heard good things about the RS4s, but for a 70% premium it didn't seem like it was worth it (didn't think they were going to last 70% longer.. could be wrong).
In reply to MrFancypants :
Actually surprised more folks haven't tried the Federals on this site. They're great tires for the cost (unless there's a 200TW rule???).
I ran 265/35-18, square, on an 88 RX-7, right after replacing my RS-3s, and the differences were immediately apparent. Turn-in response was night-and-day due to the stiffer sidewalls. They also had better wear characteristics than the Hankooks but were definitely louder. But I'm with bcp2011, it was a track car that was driven to and from the track, so who cares?
EDIT: also 275/35-18 are 30 bux cheaper per tire if you can deal with the shorter sidewall....
The federal only recently got branded a 200tw which kept it out of SCCA street class past few years.
I've heard good things about their life and having decent grip, but ultimately everything I've been told is that they're just not as quick as the top tires. Nexen tried desperately to break into the market for 200tw autox tires and they came in for a year, bunch of people tried them and then they faded away because they were just a bit off the pace of the top tires.
BFG and Bridgestone are both well established at this point and offer contingency. The yokohamas seem to really put power down well and work from cold like the bridgestones, but the stones are semi tolerant of heat and the Yokohamas appear to not be. And the BFG doesn't start working till it's warm and takes heat very well.
Thank for the opinions!
Looks like I probably need to drop the Falkens from consideration. I've run a few more searches between the Federals and the Hankooks and it looks like the Federals would meet my needs and allow me to continue to run the 18" wheels I have. Problem is..... I've spent too much time thinking about replacing the 29 lb 18" cinder blocks my car has with a nice set of 16 lb 17" wheels and my heart is more or less set on it. In my head this only works if I run the Hankooks as the 17" wheels will save me $200 per set of tires (225/40r18 vs 225/45r17). So, RS4s it is. 
In reply to MrFancypants :
be aware, the RS4 needs heat to work. so they're not going to start really gripping till they're hot
Going back to that drift specific Nexen compound. We originally thought it must be hard and low traction, good for sliding around.
However there's a 370z using that in Gridlife's street class and he is regularly one of the cars to beat. That class isn't exactly an "easy to win" class either.
I'm not sure what exactly is different about that tire, but it doesn't totally suck.
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