Azenis, or A032R...

[njansenv]

Hi all. I was wondering: I'm looking at tires, and had planned on finding Azenis in the 195/60/14 size. They are cheap, and can be used on a daily driver(ish;)). Now, I just saw that the A032R's are a reasonable price, though I'm not sure if they can be reasonably streetdriven. Are they true 'R's? Which would you recommend? The car is an ACR Neon, with a moderately agressive alignment...

Nate

[Chris91GT]

The R's come in 2 compounds... H and S, hard and soft. I've used both on the Mustang, including the H's as a street tire (albeit VERY rarely... ie, to the shop and back).

They are a good, if not great, R compound... but can be extremely slick on the street.

Pat, aka Nissan_Racer, has used the R's on the street a lot more than I have... he can probably comment more accurately.

[Greg F]

I installed Azenis in June and they were no longer street legal by season's end. Make sure you sort out your alignment, especially front camber before going to them, because if you don't you'll be wasting good rubber very quickly. (Then again, I compteted almost every weekend last year.)

Azenis don't like heat--at all. At the beginning and end of the season you'll be very quick while the others struggle for grip. On a hot day you'd better hope no one messes up your run, because the mandatory five-car wait before a re-run is NOT enough to let the tires cool down enough to return the grip level to what it was. Therefore your re-run will be VERY slow. It's better to hit the marshall than risk having a re-run. :p

If you get them, monitor and adjust the tire pressures before and after every run! If you mess up a turn, they gain major pressure that may not even return to normal before the next run.

Would I buy them again? Probably! They are amazing on the street and don't squeal when they slip unless you really go over the limit--helps not to attract the cops' attention.;)

Joe T had awesome results with them in his family sedan--and he has a comprehensive comparison write-up somewhere on the net. Excellent reading.

Tony K very nearly stole raw FTD at WOSCA against Pat Y's B-Mod Civic early last year. And that was on a hot day!

After watching the success those two were having, my decision was made. Plus they let me in on the group buy.:D

[njansenv]

It's looking like the azenis are the wisest bet for now. R's would be nice, but the falkens seem like a decent compromise. They certainly seem hard to beat for the price ($86 for my size!). I won't be making it to too many races this year (all the PITL, and maybe some others), so it should be reasonably easy to get the season out of them. The alignment should be pretty reasonable: -1.5 degrees front camber, 0.2 degrees toe-in, and -0.4 degrees rear camber, 0.0 degrees toe....
If anything, I might want more front camber, but we'll wait for the summer, and the Azenis, to see for sure.

I had heard they don't like heat, but hadn't realized that it was THAT critical...oh well. Certainly better than the Motomaster all-seasons;). Thanks for the input!

Nate

[njansenv]

Tiretrends. (www.tiretrends.com) It's $86 for the 195-60-14. Prices go up DRASTICALLY for larger sizes. It's a Canadian company, so no cross-border surprises...

Otherwise, www.vulcantire.com offers them for $250USD a set, including shipping to Ontario....even after cross-border surprise, it might be even cheaper than Tire-trends....
Nate

[ice/solo racer]

Gregs right about the azenis-certainly don't like to be hot.

Bummer that I didn't realize that when I ran regionals on them in 2002-mostly because I have my wife running the same car as #3 and myself as #13.

Certainly can't beat the performance for the price,very heavy tire but still good bang for the buck.(my 4cyl car was noticable quicker accerating with 4 r's than the azenis)

[Steve-O]

Sorry to thread jack guys but I had a quick question about tires for SOLO 2

So far the only A032R's I can get from my dealers or ones that i've seen advertised here in Canada for cheap are the 185/60/14's

my race wheels are a set of '91 CRX Si wheels (see the pics in my sig) and I wanted to get a 195/60/14 tire. Question is will the 185's be good enough or is the 195 better?

Keeping in mind this will onyl be my second year doing SOLO 2 with WOSCA (which I am now proud to say I'm an official member of as of Wednesday night's meeting :D) so if it's one of those things where a new guy woulnd't notice the dif then ther 185's it will be

But if there is a noticeable dif between the two sizes, lemme know. i'm planning to buy tires within the next few months

thanks guys.

[haniforama]

195 would provide more grip but 185 would have shorter gearing.

I believe 195-55-14 or 205-55-14 are available in which case, i'd get the 205-55-14"

Many guys run these on stock Honda 14 X 5.5" rims with good results.

Hanif

[Steve-O]

Originally posted by haniforama
195 would provide more grip but 185 would have shorter gearing.

I believe 195-55-14 or 205-55-14 are available in which case, i'd get the 205-55-14"

Many guys run these on stock Honda 14 X 5.5" rims with good results.

Hanif

according to the Yokohama website just now they only list up to the 195/60 in the 14" sizes in the A032R :(

http://www.yokohamatire.com/TireSizes.asp?TireID=2

The 205 and up sizes start in 15" based on what they list

[haniforama]

Sorry - 205-55-14" was with Toyo.

Go wide or go home :D

[Steve-O]

Originally posted by haniforama
Sorry - 205-55-14" was with Toyo.

Go wide or go home :D

that phrase can be applied to MANY things :D

ya see, i'm rockin the ADVAN decals on my fenders like the SPOON cars so i simply MUST have ADVAN tires LOL :D j/k. i was originally going to run Azenis but i've always liked the Yokohama line-up and my dealer has the Yokohama line anyways. he can't get the Azenis.

I loved my ES100s (195/60/14, what you see on the wheels in my sig) and i was impressed at the abuse they took and how well they handled on the street for being an H-rated tire. if it wasn't for the fact that my alignment has to be corrected and i had a job where I put about min. 100kms a day on them they might have lasted more than a couple months :p

[haniforama]

The best street tires i have ever run are the Dunlop SP8000.
Second best? Dunlop D40M2

I've got two sets of Kumhos 712's right now that i'll replace with either more Dunlops (super cheap from TireRack), or the ES100.

Hanif

[Steve-O]

The gf and I are trying to get an account with a Rota dealer and we're planning to pick up the Rota Slipstreams this year (16x7, black, 14.5 lbs ea.) which are the Spoon SW388 replicas and run Parada Spec2 205/45/16 rubber for our street wheels.

I'd love to buy a set anot her set of the Rotas for racing but we can't afford to buy two sets of wheels this year and considering the CRX Si wheels I have now only cost me $50 for the set of four (no damage whatsoever and I've seen them go fo $200US completely refinished to like new) and I got them powdercoated black for free, I can't complain.

The only thing that bugs me is the fact that the CRX wheels are a somewhat portly 17lbs :p and the 15x6.5 Rota Slips weigh in at 12.9 lbs.

**EDIT** not sure if this link is a repost but I figured I'd throw it up here for the heck of it. It's where I've always gone for sizes and weight listings

Wheel weight list (http://www.wheelweights.net/)

[AcidGord]

You'll notice quite a bit of difference in performance and price going with a 16" wheel. And not for the better IMO for a car the size/weight of the Civic. If you want improved performance you should be thinking smaller rim, not bigger and as wide as possible. I run 215/55/13's on my 93 Si. Thats with stock brakes mind you.

[haniforama]

I used to run 215-50-13" on 13 X 6" rims and loved them! But once I started SOLO1, the tradeoff to 11.1" rotors was too great.

Now i run 205/225-50-15" on 15 X 7" rims.

Hanif

[Greg F]

Nate: Tire Comparo from SPDA site. (http://spda-online.ca/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=32&forum=9&post_id=#forumpost)

It's stolen from the new SPDA website.;)

Apparently the Goodyear Eagle F1's are amazing as well but too much money for me. I'll likely go with MX's if my Azenis wear out, unless I go for Victoracers.

[Steve-O]

Originally posted by AcidGord
You'll notice quite a bit of difference in performance and price going with a 16" wheel. And not for the better IMO for a car the size/weight of the Civic. If you want improved performance you should be thinking smaller rim, not bigger and as wide as possible. I run 215/55/13's on my 93 Si. Thats with stock brakes mind you.

The biggest size race wheel i'd go to is a 15". I just like the light weight:cost ratio of the Rota wheels

Thanks for all the info guys.

[Steve-O]

Originally posted by AcidGord
You'll notice quite a bit of difference in performance and price going with a 16" wheel. And not for the better IMO for a car the size/weight of the Civic. If you want improved performance you should be thinking smaller rim, not bigger and as wide as possible. I run 215/55/13's on my 93 Si. Thats with stock brakes mind you.

The largest size wheel I was planning to go to was a 15". I just like the Rotas for their unbeatable weight:cost ratio.

Thanks for the info guys. I really want the YOKOs but from reading that tire comparison (and bearing in mind i'mlaid off and money isn't exactly flowing from my pockets right now) it looks like I may get more bang for my buck with the Azenis'

[JAYh]

The Azenis are sticky enough for me to corner on three wheels with my totally-stock, 164 000-mile-old suspention. So make of that what you will.

Plus it's nice being able to sleep in on event days when everyone else is out changing their tyres in the car park... They actually are decently streetable.

- J

[Steve-O]

**makes notes**

I must say it would be nice to do that...especially since I have to drive an hour from Chatham for each event.

[njansenv]

Thanks Greg. It seems that the Azenis provide not only bang-for the buck, but the best practicality for me as well. (in the sense I only need one wheelset for now...) True r's will have to wait...;)

The stiff sidewalls and feedback reports REALLY appeal to me. I think I'd rather have a fun tire all summer, than put up with cheap all seasons when I'm off the course because I blew the savings on Victoracers...
Nate:)