So, here's the story. The past couple years, I've been autocrossing on and off with my 2011 Scion tC which is my daily driver. It's what I have so, it's what I run. I have probably done around 8 events within the past 2 years so not too much seat time. When I first ran it, it had a set of Michellin PS2's on it and the fronts wore out much quicker than the rears. Since then, I replaced the fronts with Super Sports, which actually helped me improve my driving a bit and get faster since I was able to play with some oversteer in my FWD car. Now, after 8 events, 3-4 years and almost 30k miles on my rears the tread is starting to show it's age and it's about time to replace them. I was going to throw on some Super Sports to match the front so I can rotate them and even out the wear a bit. The fronts currently have about 5k miles on them and maybe 2-3 events.
Now, since the car I plan on autocrossing soon isn't done yet, I'd like to get in as much seat time as I can in the Scion as my new car is going to be a bit to handle and quite a bit of a learning curve (525ish hp 1968 Dodge Dart racing in CAM-T, I know, "You'll shoot your eye out!"). My question is, what should I do with regards to the Scion?
I plan on running in SCCA's HS with the Scion and here are my options:
1) Continue to run with the Super Sports even though it's going to have a shorter life with daily driver duties.
2) Purchase a second pair of wheels and tires for autocross that are lighter, with wider and stickier tires. I was thinking of a 17 x 7.5" wheel with a 245/45/17 Bridgestone RE-71R. The stock wheel currently 18 x 7.5" that weighs 26.5 lbs with a 225/45/18 tire (SS's are 22 lbs). On Tire Rack I found a cheap, Montegi Racing MR125 that's a 17 x 7.5" (yes, it's within the +/- 7 mm offset tolerance) and weighs only 16.3 lbs. The 245/45/17 Bridgestones weigh 24 lbs. So, in total, I will be saving about 8 lbs per corner. If I really wanted to get crazy with weight savings I could also find a lighter exhaust, but I think that would be a little overkill and I'm not sure I'll be a fan of the tone.
Right now, on my calendar, I have at least 1, if not 2, autocross a month scheduled I live in SoCal, so the events are mostly Hotchkis events and SCCA's Cal Club races. If I really wanted to, I could add the San Diego region to my calendar and hope there's no overlap. Supposedly, the shop working on my Dart says it should be done by mid-March; however, I'm thinking it will be closer to mid-April and hopefully not May. If that's the case, I don't really think it's a great idea to purchase wheels and tires unless I run the Scion at Cal Club and run the Dart in the San Diego region (much larger CAM presence) which wouldn't be bad because I want to get all of the experience I can and get good. Too bad they're not having a Phase One Evo Driving school in SoCal. Well, at least since I last checked.
I know that was long, but what do you guys think?
