Tires - Best bang for my buck!

[IronFreak]

After dancing around on wheel sizes, based on what I'm trying to accomplish with my build, my budget and the look I wanted I think I have landed on 15" wheels. I think if are fitted right, they are pr

Build:

This is my first E30, It's a 1988 325is. Great shape, motor was junk. It's getting a swap. This will not be a DD, my focus is building my first autox/track car that can be streetable. There will be a build thread soon, I have been working on the car and collecting parts. Once I feel like I have enough to start a decent thread you'll see my toy.

Budget:

It's not small, but I don't have a speedshop/race car fund where I'm able to drop 30-40k into a car. I want to have 1 set of street wheels/tires. then a set of track wheels. Even at a 15" size, 2 sets of wheels, street and r comp tires will add up.

Look:

"Because racecar".......I have access to a fender roller, and if all else fails I'll give KAMOTORS some money for a nice pair of is flares. I want meats on the ground, below are the 2 wheels I'm looking at. MSR for street, TRM C1 for track.




Tire size:

I'd like to run 224 or 235 wide in the front
I'd like to run 245 or 255 wide in the back

Here is where I need you input, can you guys Lay down some tire brands you would recommend for street and track use. If there is a brand good for both I'd take that too. And your favorite place to source these tires. I have a couple more suspension parts to buy then this is next. Let me know!!

[Earendil]

Here is where I need you input, can you guys Lay down some tire brands you would recommend for street and track use. If there is a brand good for both I'd take that too. And your favorite place to source these tires. I have a couple more suspension parts to buy then this is next. Let me know!!

You might have trouble finding a 255 wide in a 15" size. That said, unless you are putting an LS1 in your car I'm not so sure you need it. Sticky rubber will do a lot more for lateral G force than another 10mm will.

As for Tires, I'm a hard core Tirerack convert. Their information is good, site is relatively easy to search, and prices have yet to be beat in my experience.

I'll personally going to try out the branch new Dunlop ZII (StarSpecs). Not known for the stickiest extreme summer tire on a hot day, but by all measures they continue to hold damn well in the rain. Since I track my car in the NW, being able to have predictable safe fun in the rain is required :)

Hankook RS-3 are another really common choice, and they outdo the old ZI Starspecs on a dry track. Not sure how they're going to match up against the newer ZII though.

Another player to watch that, will be in the 15" market this summer, is the BFG Rival. They aren't out yet, but early reports lool very promising.

The "Extreme" category on Tirerack has a few more options listed, but Tire Rack either hasn't updated the list, or they don't list tires that they aren't currently shipping. Both the Dunlop and BFG tires are still a month or so away from shipping.

Then you have your crazy sticky tires like the RA1 and other barely street legal tires that will last you half as long. Personally I don't have the budget to burn through a set of tires every couple of HPDE, and prefer to to keep a set around for a bit longer. Once you start tracking a car you'll find yourself needing/wanting to do oil changes, fluid flushes, brake pad changes, and other wearable items a lot more frequently. Gone are the days of driving your car until you hear a funny noise and then checking it out :)

Is that enough to chew on?

All that said, here is a parting shot: I've seen it said that on your first couple HPDE track days to not put a new pair of super sticky tires on your car if your car hasn't never had them before. The reason is that sticky tires allow you to go faster, or put another way allow you to learn less at the same speed. So if you want to know how your car feels at the limit, well put some regular tires on there and you get to turn away from the cement wall at 60mph. Put a pair of sticky tires on their and suddenly you have to start your "learning" at 80mph. Or, you stay at 60mph and learn nothing.

I more or less ignored this advise for a number of good and bad reasons, and did my first track day with StarSpecs. I had my instructor telling me to "Go faster, more gas" through corners, but the combination of sticky tires and a super smooth track surface meant that I was already at 110% of what I knew my car could do. I was in unknown territory, not knowing when my car would break loose. It was just one more thing to think about among the dozens of thoughts that are flying by at 100+ mph :)

[IronFreak]

Thanks man! That helps a lot I'll look into those. Not an ls1 but a decently built 302, (tremec tr-3550, cam, heads, MSII). That is why I stated those sizes. just want to make sure I can get it to the ground.

[ZoomZoomBoom]

For a street tire, I have been happy with BFG GForce Comp2 in both dry and rain.

[einstein57]

Go 17" for meaty tires. That's what I had to do. I'm running 235s up front and 255s out back

[IronFreak]

Yeah the more i look i might have to go 16" or 17" wheelswheels for the size i want

[Earendil]

Yeah the more i look i might have to go 16" or 17" wheelswheels for the size i want

You might. I'd go with 17" because that generally has more tire options. However, do note how much more you're going to be paying per tire.

[IronFreak]

Yeah, if i step up to the 16" i can get thr sizes i want and they arent that much more then the 15". I was supprised to see the different section widths with 15". A 225 from brand to brand can be a lot different....

[einstein57]

You can get 235 front and 245-255 rears in a 16? Fwiw I spent under 400 for my federals installed.

[IronFreak]

in 16" or 17"?

[IronFreak]

The more I look into it I think I'm going to stick with a squared stance in all four corners. That way I can rotate them around more.

[einstein57]

17s

They run very wide too [url]http://www.onlinetires.com/products/vehicle/tires/federal/235%252F40-17+federal+ss-595+90+bsw.html[/u4rl]

275 Falken on the left VS 255 Federal on the right. Both on 10" rims

[IronFreak]

WOW! That freakin crazy. not surprising though. I know that kamotors said his 245's run super wide too.

[einstein57]

You need at least an 8.5 for 235s or else they look weird. They look funny on my eights. Going 9s up front so that should fix it.