The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Tech → Tires for 14x5.5 wheels
Our team just scored a sweet deal on a set of aluminum 14x5.5 rim. Check out our blog for more info : http://metroneige.blogspot.com.
Now the issue we have is finding a set of great racing tires that will fit our rims and have at least a 200 thread wear. You guys have any ideas?
195/60R14 Falken RT-615 is the most common 14" Lemons tire. They *might* not be available right now though since they just updated the tire. The new version should be in stock everywhere soon. BTW, TireRack doesn't carry them. Try Discount Tire or Vulcan Tire.
I just checked DiscountTireDirect and they now have the new RT-615K in stock, but be prepared to bend over. The price of the "new" tire nearly doubled for the 195/60R14. 
Dunlop now has the Direzza Star Spec in a couple 14" sizes. Can't go wrong with that.
THe Star Specs are great, but much higher than the old RS2s and Azenis in price. I'm shocked that we just lost ANOTHER affordable and grippy tire for Lemons.
Nice thanks guys but to be honest I'm not super fond of having 60 aspect ratio tires on the Metroneige. The best fit we we found are the Toyo TR1 in the 195/55R14 size.
Isn't there a mysterious and unheard of tire brand that makes 200 thread wear tire in the 185/45R14 range? Maybe we're just going to have to wait to find a set of cheap 15" and then sell our current set.
Eric, even with more sidewall, the Star Specs will blow away the T1-R's.
I just switched from 215/45-15 T1-R's to 195/55-15 Star Specs on my DD. Much taller sidewall. Much better steering response. Much better grip. Surprisingly better ride (I think I had the Toyos over-inflated to maybe 42-44 psi to try to get some steering response out of them).
The Star Spec is a bit more expensive than the Azenis 615, but IMO, it's worth it.
T1-R's are neat because they come in such a wide variety of sizes, but they're really not a great competition tire.
Food for thought: The sidewall on a 60-series 195 (such as a 195/60-14) is 117mm. The sidewall on a 40-series 275 (such as a 275/40-18 that you might find on a high-end sports car) is 110mm. As long as you're comparing apples to apples (performance tires to performance tires... not performance tires to all-season or touring tires), there's nothing wrong with a 195/60.
Added bonus: When you hit the curbing on the track (and you will), or drive over the muffler/driveshaft/wheel/whatever that just fell off of the car in front of you, a taller sidewall is going to be much more forgiving, absorbing impact and preventing a bent wheel, and potentially bent suspension or borked wheel bearing.
Always remember... this is Lemons. Prep the car as if you were doing an off-road rally, cuz you never know what's going to happen!
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