• From: Mountain View, CA
  • Registered: 2010-06-13
  • Posts: 257

Topic: Tire recommendation

Looking for advice on what brand/type of tires to buy. 1986 325es, ran on some cheap, long-lasting tires last race, but would like to get better tires this time. Ideally they would last 2 days, good grip, communicate at the edge (got some newbie drivers) and be relatively cheap.

Thanks!

Hella Shitty Racing Goin' for Broken '10, Arse-Sweat '10, Arse-Freeze '10, Sears Pointless '11, Skankaway '11, Arse-Freeze '11, Arse-Sweat '12, Sears Pointless '13, Arse-Sweat '13, Northworst '13, Vodden '13, Pointless '14, Button Turrible '14, Arse-Freeze 2014,  Sears Pointless 2015, Arse Sweat 2015
  • RobL
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Re: Tire recommendation

Cheap, fast, long life - pick 2.

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We got screwed at The Real Hoopties of New Jersey  and we took cars down with us.
We got the curse at Capitol Offense but they wouldn't let us destroy the car.

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  • From: Mountain View, CA
  • Registered: 2010-06-13
  • Posts: 257

Re: Tire recommendation

RobL wrote:

Cheap, fast, long life - pick 2.

Cheap and fast.

Hella Shitty Racing Goin' for Broken '10, Arse-Sweat '10, Arse-Freeze '10, Sears Pointless '11, Skankaway '11, Arse-Freeze '11, Arse-Sweat '12, Sears Pointless '13, Arse-Sweat '13, Northworst '13, Vodden '13, Pointless '14, Button Turrible '14, Arse-Freeze 2014,  Sears Pointless 2015, Arse Sweat 2015
  • From: Frisco, Texas
  • Registered: 2009-05-02
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Re: Tire recommendation

rdoherty wrote:
RobL wrote:

Cheap, fast, long life - pick 2.

Cheap and fast.

Should have said Pick 2 that don't include fast wink Only a few good options that fit these days, and cheap/fast don't go together.

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  • sergio
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Re: Tire recommendation

http://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/viewtopic.php?id=5059

Walking thru the Lemons pits will reveal that 70%(?) of the cars are on Star Specs. And 90% of the front runners. There's a reason. We just finished the North Dallas Hooptie, starting on new Star Specs. 800 racing miles later they are still good for the next race in Houston.

  • Serj
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Re: Tire recommendation

sergio wrote:

http://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/viewtopic.php?id=5059

Walking thru the Lemons pits will reveal that 70%(?) of the cars are on Star Specs. And 90% of the front runners. There's a reason. We just finished the North Dallas Hooptie, starting on new Star Specs. 800 racing miles later they are still good for the next race in Houston.

I dunno if i agree with that observation. the single most common tire I've seen out of the 7 events I've raced has been Azenis 615s, I'd imagine those will all be the "K" compound at the next several i intend to show up at.

  • From: Mountain View, CA
  • Registered: 2010-06-13
  • Posts: 257

Re: Tire recommendation

Thanks for the advice so far! I'm 100% uneducated about tires, so I have no idea what the tradeoffs, compounds, etc are.

Hella Shitty Racing Goin' for Broken '10, Arse-Sweat '10, Arse-Freeze '10, Sears Pointless '11, Skankaway '11, Arse-Freeze '11, Arse-Sweat '12, Sears Pointless '13, Arse-Sweat '13, Northworst '13, Vodden '13, Pointless '14, Button Turrible '14, Arse-Freeze 2014,  Sears Pointless 2015, Arse Sweat 2015

8 Reply by sergio (edited by sergio 2010-06-13 07:35 PM)

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Re: Tire recommendation

Serj wrote:
sergio wrote:

http://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/viewtopic.php?id=5059

Walking thru the Lemons pits will reveal that 70%(?) of the cars are on Star Specs. And 90% of the front runners. There's a reason. We just finished the North Dallas Hooptie, starting on new Star Specs. 800 racing miles later they are still good for the next race in Houston.

I dunno if i agree with that observation. the single most common tire I've seen out of the 7 events I've raced has been Azenis 615s, I'd imagine those will all be the "K" compound at the next several i intend to show up at.

Well that's a rough guesstimation. At our first race Azenis were on most cars. 2 races later the Star Specs started showing up. I see more and more cars with the Dunlops now. I've raced on both and can say the Dunlop are a better tire for our car at least. 4 of the 6 SHO's at Dallas were on Dunlops. The other 2 on Azenis. One of the them had a 1 second quicker lap time than us. But we were not going all out to set fastest lap, just fast enough to make the tires and brakes last. 3 of the 4 SHO's in the top 10 were on Dunlops. The 10th place SHO was on Azenis.

Maybe at the next race I'll try to take notes on tire useage.

  • Registered: 2009-10-25
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Re: Tire recommendation

sergio wrote:
Serj wrote:
sergio wrote:

http://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/viewtopic.php?id=5059

Walking thru the Lemons pits will reveal that 70%(?) of the cars are on Star Specs. And 90% of the front runners. There's a reason. We just finished the North Dallas Hooptie, starting on new Star Specs. 800 racing miles later they are still good for the next race in Houston.

I dunno if i agree with that observation. the single most common tire I've seen out of the 7 events I've raced has been Azenis 615s, I'd imagine those will all be the "K" compound at the next several i intend to show up at.

Well that's a rough guesstimation. At our first race Azenis were on most cars. 2 races later the Star Specs started showing up. I see more and more cars with the Dunlops now. I've raced on both and can say the Dunlop are a better tire for our car at least. 4 of the 6 SHO's at Dallas were on Dunlops. The other 2 on Azenis. One of the them had a 1 second quicker lap time than us. But we were not going all out to set fastest lap, just fast enough to make the tires and brakes last. 3 of the 4 SHO's in the top 10 were on Dunlops. The 10th place SHO was on Azenis.

Maybe at the next race I'll try to take notes on tire useage.

If you look at all of the "top" placed cars on the leaderboard.....you will find lots of similar things between them...tires is an easy one......  The Dunlop Star specs offer great grip and last a REALLY long time, even on heavier cars.....  Brakes are similar...top teams tend to run the SAME thing...

Richard Doty
1984 Porsche 928 "Estate"
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  • From: DF-Dubya
  • Registered: 2009-08-19
  • Posts: 820

Re: Tire recommendation

+1 for the Star Specs. We've run 2 races on them, and there's still enough tread left to do MSRH in Sept. They seem to grip as well (if not better) than the Azeni's, last longer, and don't get as greasy as Falken's do ...

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  • From: Mountain View, CA
  • Registered: 2010-06-13
  • Posts: 257

Re: Tire recommendation

Thanks! I think we'll go with the Star Specs. More expensive, but if they last a few races they will be worth it.

Hella Shitty Racing Goin' for Broken '10, Arse-Sweat '10, Arse-Freeze '10, Sears Pointless '11, Skankaway '11, Arse-Freeze '11, Arse-Sweat '12, Sears Pointless '13, Arse-Sweat '13, Northworst '13, Vodden '13, Pointless '14, Button Turrible '14, Arse-Freeze 2014,  Sears Pointless 2015, Arse Sweat 2015
  • Troy
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Re: Tire recommendation

With the new Azenis K compound comes a new price.  Some guys need to try them out and let us know how they work out.

We've been running Toyo T1Rs.

I'd like to get a set of Dunlops and Azenis and do a tire comparison.  Anyone care to donate the tires?

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • Registered: 2010-05-14
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Re: Tire recommendation

We ran the Dunlop Direzza DZ101's on our Prelude in Dallas and were very happy with their performance. They are a higher tread wear (300), but still had loads of grip in the corners. Our car is incredibly light and easy on tires and breaks, so it's hard to know for sure what they will do on heavier cars, but those tires are good for at least another race if not 2. Yeah, they are higher tread wear than the Star Specs, but they're $63 versus $107 a piece and they are going to last longer. I guess if you can afford it, go for the grippier tires but they're a lot more and you're going to buy twice as many. For our car, I don't see the performance level going up enough for it to be worth it.

86 Honda Prelube - Team Inspite: Rabid Hybrid Racing
  • Registered: 2009-10-25
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Re: Tire recommendation

Troy wrote:

With the new Azenis K compound comes a new price.  Some guys need to try them out and let us know how they work out.

We've been running Toyo T1Rs.

I'd like to get a set of Dunlops and Azenis and do a tire comparison.  Anyone care to donate the tires?

Troy
I have a bunch of star specs in 225/50-16....but they are in norcal?

Richard Doty
1984 Porsche 928 "Estate"
Porsche- "there is A substitute" Racing
Dirt Poorsche Racing #2
  • Baron
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Re: Tire recommendation

Troy wrote:

With the new Azenis K compound comes a new price.  Some guys need to try them out and let us know how they work out.

We've been running Toyo T1Rs.

I'd like to get a set of Dunlops and Azenis and do a tire comparison.  Anyone care to donate the tires?

we ran the K's on the Miatastang at NDH. They were outstanding, never really got greasy at all. The track was a bit slick in the hot, but they held well. There were a few two wheels up turns, too.

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Re: Tire recommendation

We ran the Azenis K's.
Fast and lasted nicely. They should get three if not four races on our 2000# car.

They are over $120 a tire.
I have ten wheels for our car, so a set of Dunlops for testing and comparison is in order.

It's not all tires, though.

The top ten cars stay out of trouble and log tons of laps.

Better to run laps 5 seconds slower than the leader for the duration.
Even a short penalty cancels out all of your fast laps for the entire race...


KT

TH 2009- 40th ~ SP 2010- 13th Class Bad win!! TH 2010- 17th ~TH 2010- 16th  SP 2011- 20th ~ RF 2011- 13th Least Horrible Yank Tank ~ TH 2011- 79th
SP 2011- 105th ~ SP 2012- 119th ~ SP 2013- 139th ~ BW 2013- 17th
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  • Spank
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Re: Tire recommendation

Not trying to hijack the thread, but we're in a tire dilemma ourselves and need to limit ourselves to some low profile 13 or 14" tires so they'll fit on the mini (we are currently running 165 x 70 x 10") and I know that 175 x 50 x 13" will fit. I noticed the Hamsters were running 14" but can't remember the rest of the numbers or the tire they are using. Any advice for tires that small diameter of an overall diameter?

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  • From: Oakland, CA
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Re: Tire recommendation

We've got some 195/45-R14 Toyo's on right now and they stink.  Current plan is to raise the car slightly and cut more metal until we can fit Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec in either 185/60-R14 or 195/50-R15 which don't suck.  This will be major surgery as the larger diameter encroaches into the pedal box area.  Luckily we rarely need the clutch so we're going to make the pedal smaller smile

  • From: Houston (Spring) Texas
  • Registered: 2010-02-22
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Re: Tire recommendation

squirrelly_z600 wrote:

We've got some 195/45-R14 Toyo's on right now and they stink.  Current plan is to raise the car slightly and cut more metal until we can fit Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec in either 185/60-R14 or 195/50-R15 which don't suck.  This will be major surgery as the larger diameter encroaches into the pedal box area.  Luckily we rarely need the clutch so we're going to make the pedal smaller smile

The bike is a cable clutch, right?
Put the bike handlebar clutch lever mounted vertically on the shifter.

Yee-Haw 2010 "Most Heroic Fix" & "I Got Screwed" -2 trophies for 1 lap, but I took checkered on my lap.
Gator-O-Rama 2012 "Organizers Choice" -2 laps 1 trophy, but i still finished ahead of an E30
Yee-Haw 2013 No trophy -26 laps, I think I see a pattern here
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  • Troy
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Re: Tire recommendation

icemang17 wrote:
Troy wrote:

With the new Azenis K compound comes a new price.  Some guys need to try them out and let us know how they work out.

We've been running Toyo T1Rs.

I'd like to get a set of Dunlops and Azenis and do a tire comparison.  Anyone care to donate the tires?

Troy
I have a bunch of star specs in 225/50-16....but they are in norcal?

Right now I have 14" & 15" wheels.

The early Z cars run 0-5mm offset so other non-custom wheels are hard to come by.

I've got a 5 lug conversion project in the works but I think the 205/50r15s are just going to be our answer for now.

Troy

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Re: Tire recommendation

We ran the new 615 K's 205/50/15's on our 86 325e at CMP.  We had been running the plain 615's until this race.  The K's definitely gave us more traction and seemed to wear better but - we won't get another race out of them.  The last two races we have worn the tire smooth by Sunday.   The four of us drive hard but we don't abuse the car.  We don't have the budget to bring spare tires so we always hope the set lasts the entire weekend.    There was a down pour of rain on Saturday which the tires did great in.  I'm assuming Sunday would have been a different story.

Words of advice - brake cooling - Front - add hoses to blow air on your rotors   Rear - remove the e-brake and backing plates.  Took us 3 races to get this figured out.  Dust boots in front were still soft after winning the race.

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  • Registered: 2009-10-25
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Re: Tire recommendation

Troy wrote:
icemang17 wrote:
Troy wrote:

With the new Azenis K compound comes a new price.  Some guys need to try them out and let us know how they work out.

We've been running Toyo T1Rs.

I'd like to get a set of Dunlops and Azenis and do a tire comparison.  Anyone care to donate the tires?

Troy
I have a bunch of star specs in 225/50-16....but they are in norcal?

Right now I have 14" & 15" wheels.

The early Z cars run 0-5mm offset so other non-custom wheels are hard to come by.

I've got a 5 lug conversion project in the works but I think the 205/50r15s are just going to be our answer for now.

Ya the 928 runs REALLY high offset...stock is 65mm on a 16x7 wheel with 5x130mm bolt spacing...  the good news is the stock wheels work pretty well!!!

Richard Doty
1984 Porsche 928 "Estate"
Porsche- "there is A substitute" Racing
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Re: Tire recommendation

Spank wrote:

Not trying to hijack the thread, but we're in a tire dilemma ourselves and need to limit ourselves to some low profile 13 or 14" tires so they'll fit on the mini (we are currently running 165 x 70 x 10") and I know that 175 x 50 x 13" will fit. I noticed the Hamsters were running 14" but can't remember the rest of the numbers or the tire they are using. Any advice for tires that small diameter of an overall diameter?

Your tire selection for 13" wheels is pretty slim especially when you get wider wheels.  The lowest profile tire for 13" wheels I could find was Sumitomo in a 185 width.  I can't imagine the lowest profile 13" tire will be shorter than the tallest 10" tire you can find.

Greg
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24 Reply by Jer

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Re: Tire recommendation

We're still running the old Azenis for another race, but with the K's big price hike, the Star Specs are actually cheaper now.  We will be running these on my cars in future races.  I LOVE the Star Specs on my street Elise.

Jer / Schumacher Taxi Service
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2010 Sebring overall winner
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  • From: DF-Dubya
  • Registered: 2009-08-19
  • Posts: 820

Re: Tire recommendation

Lemonious Monk wrote:
Spank wrote:

Not trying to hijack the thread, but we're in a tire dilemma ourselves and need to limit ourselves to some low profile 13 or 14" tires so they'll fit on the mini (we are currently running 165 x 70 x 10") and I know that 175 x 50 x 13" will fit. I noticed the Hamsters were running 14" but can't remember the rest of the numbers or the tire they are using. Any advice for tires that small diameter of an overall diameter?

Your tire selection for 13" wheels is pretty slim especially when you get wider wheels.  The lowest profile tire for 13" wheels I could find was Sumitomo in a 185 width.  I can't imagine the lowest profile 13" tire will be shorter than the tallest 10" tire you can find.

Yeah .. Sumi makes the HTR200 in 175/50/13 for about $48/ea. I think Mini Mania still carries a Falken in a 165/60/12 as well.

Summer's Eve Racing - '09 Yee-Haw; '10 Gator-O-Rama, NorDal Hooptie, Yee-Haw; '11 Gator-O-Rama, NorDal Hooptie (Winner, Class A!)
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