Gary said,
From: "GARY FELLERS" <Gary_Fellers@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: WRX autocross tires
I drive a WRX in the DSN class and have just about worn out my OEM
Bridgestones. Can anyone recommend a good autocross tire that I can also
drive every day. I'm considering Falken Azenis or the Kumho Ecsta, though
I
don't know which of the Ecstas would be best.
Well, are your criteria? Choices: $$, ride quality, stickiness. If you want
to drive every day, I'm guessing that you don't want an R tire with
accompanying 50 treadwear rating (less for Hoosiers). And those really won't
like the continued heat-cycling of the street in any case. Oh, that's right,
you said DSN, so you can't use R tires there anyway.... But the season's 2/3
over, and you have to run a couple of more events (he says, sneaking a look at
the standings) so you could probably not go for ultimate top dollar tire and
still make your trophy.
The Azenis Sport is pretty darned sticky. I got them because everyone ahead
of me in STS had them.... It's in the small group of tires with treadwear
ratings near 200. Most tires, even in the _Ultra High Performance_ class, are
>320 by now. The Azenis will NOT quite stick with Kumho or Hoosier R tires,
though, and if you're moving to DS next year and you want to have a good
chance of being competitive there you'll end up with a set of R tires on
second wheels. I ran very good U.H.P. type tires for my intro to Stock and
then for my intro to STS, and found that the Azenis Sport was superior to them
for ultimate stick. (Firehawk SZ50EP, they are still among the best riding
U.H.P. class tires however.) If I was going to buy non-Azenis tires for your
use, the Ecstas are said to be pretty close. However if you look at last
year's National results in STS you get BFG, probably KD model, then 9 Falkens.
In STX it's Hoosier, F, F,F,Kumho,F,F,F,F,BFG. Hmmm, I didn't know that there
was a Hoosier legal for STX....that may be an error as his co-driver listed
Falken as the tire.
If I were buying a slightly more streetable top-end tire right now I'd buy the
Bridgestone S-03's. The Azenis Sports really ride abominably, as bad as the
older BFG R-types I had several years ago. In DS the somewhat softer springs
might make them tolerable, but as I drive in Berkeley a lot (bomb-crater
streets) and have Eibach springs & Konis the Azenis Sports would not be
livable in a car I had to share with someone else.
Azenis Sport also has a very limited size/section selection, so you'd better
check what sizes will do you best if you want to stay in Stock. They make a
205/55-16 that has a significantly higher load capacity than the 215/45-16's.
Maybe another SCCA (Subaru Car Club of America, sometimes it seems that way!)
member could advise on that? If you had 17's then you could maybe put on the
225/45-17's, but dunno if those were "Stock".
Kumhos and Azenis' are generally much cheaper than the BFGs or S-03's, and
somewhat cheaper than the SZ50EP.
My two bits,
PaulT
p.s. MJ, would the Miata have done as well (Indy 500) on the tires of the
period?? Also, the gas was crap for octane equivalent, you'd better subtract
20+ HP for having to lower your C.R. and timing. Yeah, nit-picking, I know.
p.p.s. I always love comparing how auto performance increases over time. But
the fastest increases have been in tire technology. Dig up an old issue of
Sports Car Graphic, any car that did significantly over 0.70 G lateral in the
early '70's RULED, whereas if you don't pull 0.80 now you're consigned to
SUV-dom, and 0.90 is more like the magic number. And the modern tires will
last probably twice as long with better bad-weather grip in the bargain!
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