Help me select a tire

[Logan]

I am not 100% decided yet, but I would like to get some R tires.
If I do, I will use the cost effective 15" steel wheels I have.
What tire do I buy?
It's been suggested by Rowan I look at 205-50's or 225-50's.
A032?
Kumho V700?
Toyo RA-1?
Seems the A032 might be the cheaper way to go. Do I take the risk on the "new for 2003" tire?
I will be using it for solo2, maybe a lapping day or two.
I'm just not familiar with the differences. $ talks though.
Thanks for any advice!
BTW, car is Mazdaspeed Protege.

[tanney]

Follow the link Rims For Sale
Keep your eyes open for used rubber. Used is cheaper than new

[Logan]

Wes, thanks for reading with better eyes than mine.
When I read that the first time, I assumed "fits honda" meant 4 lug.
Sent him an email!

Doug

[ctenche]

I'd rank tires as follows in terms of ultimate grip

Hoosier
Kumho
Toyo
Yokohama

The Kuhmho and Toyo's are pretty close in performance however the RA-1s defnitely outlast the Kumhos. I woul not put the Yok's in the same class as the other R compound tires.

Dollar for dollar, I'd go with the RA-1 as the best compromise between cost, lifespan and grip.

[Logan]

Thanks!
That's what I was looking for!

Doug

[Rob McAuley]

Expanding on Caius' point...
Ultimate Grip[list=1][*]Hoosier[*]Kumho[*]Toyo[*]Yokohama[/list=1]
Cost[list=1][*]Hoosier[*]Toyo[*]Yokohama[*]Kumho[/list=1]
Longetivity[list=1][*]Yokohama[*]Toyo[*]Kumho[*]Hoosier[/list=1]
But the rankings only tell 1/2 the story. Hoosier grip is much better than the others. Yokohama is noticibly worse.

Kumhos are about 25% cheaper than the other tires.

Hoosiers and Kumhos are good for a few hours. Yoks will last the season.

As Caius says, Toyos are the best combination unless you want to win, regardless of cost - then go with Hoosier.

[ctenche]

Interesting...Rob you find the Kumhos to be the least expensive? I find them to be the same price as the Toyos. In fact, they are about $5-$10 more expensive the Toyos. Might be different applications I guess. Odd.

[Rob McAuley]

Yep - last year I was paying $225 for Kumhos and $305 for Toyos.

Same size. Toyos lasted 6 weeks, Kumhos lasted one weekend.

Must have to do with the different sizes. Mine are 235/40-17.

[ctenche]

That's insane!

Not only the pricing but also the longevity. 6 weeks for the Toyo's? Back in the day when I was doing ALL the solo 1 and solo 2 events and all the lapping days I could find, mine lasted me an entire season and still have one or two events left in them for the second year. Kumho's lasted about a season.

I'd hate to think how long a set of Hoosiers would last you. That's expensive.

With that said, car weight, setup and driving style have a lot to do with tire longevity.

[Rob McAuley]

Yep.

Tires, brake pads and rotors. Always carry spares!

(Christian also carries control arms.)

[Chris P]

Rob, your doing a great job of keeping me away from heavy cars.

Thanks

for the CRX,
3 weekends on a set of Hooseirs, my kumhos have 3 weekends on them and they are about 50 or 60% left.

[Logan]

Alright, so if I only want to buy tires once this year, and have a reasonable chance at doing not too bad in solo 2, then I should get the toyo's? Or the V700's?? The kumho's are cheaper from what I've seen.

[Marsh]

Originally posted by Rob McAuley

Hoosiers and Kumhos are good for a few hours. Yoks will last the season.

As Caius says, Toyos are the best combination unless you want to win, regardless of cost - then go with Hoosier. [/B]

I beg to differ, on both those counts. Check the forum Rob. Kuhmos wear just fine in Solo-2. I've never had trouble getting a full season and then some out of a set of Kuhmos. I've also won my class every year in regionals since I started running Kumhos. I cannot over state how much I love these tires. Great ultimate grip, easy to drive and forgiving of mistakes. The V700 Victoracer is also pretty tollerant of different setups and doesn't demand insane camber numbers.

That said I didn't like the V70 Ecsta at all. The Victoracers were much better.

[Rob McAuley]

I had the Ecstas. They lasted a BMW school weekend at Mosport with me driving for 3 days, and Wife Sue for 2. The VR700's have a tougher compound, but didn't come in a size that would fit my car, and all the promo said the Ecstas would be stickier.

It's tough to compare times. I run a mix of Mosport schools, lapping days at Cayuga & Shannonville, and Solo 1. The lapping days will kill my tires in no time. Solo 1 is easy on everything - I hardly notice the wear on brakes and tires.

I did another school at Mosport on a set of Hoosiers. Again, 5 days of lapping and they were gone. It was the most fun I've every had on a track though. The new M3s would move out of the way when they saw me coming!

[Dave]

given that this is the Solo 2 forum, I have to agree with Marsh. The Kumhos are fantastic Solo 2 tires, with their stiff sidewalls and excellent grip even without having a lot of heat built up in them. The Toyos are great at the race track once you get enough heat in them, but I've always found them a little greasy and tough to figure out for Solo 2's. But that's just me.

For lapping and Solo 1 I think the Toyos are an amazing value given their consistency, grip level, and longevity. For Solo 2, I don't think you can beat the Victoracers unless you pony up the big bucks for the Hoosier autocross compound. Although they will wear out considerably faster than Toyos at the track, you will have more grip with the Kumhos while they're in their sweet spot.

What I want to know is, how fast are the new Yokohama 032R SC (soft compound)? I'd like to support Yokohama given their support of Solo 1, so I think my next set of r-compounds will be the 032R SC.