Tires for 2014 autox Season

[ME30W]

This will be my first season of autocross, and coincidentally I am in the market for a new set of summer tires.

I'm leaning towards BFG Rivals, or Dunlop Star Specs. Size would be 205/50/15 on a 15x7 wheel.

If anyone has experience with both, I'd love to hear which one you prefer, and why.

[berlow94]

Haven't used the Dunlop's. But coming off of the G-force super sports to the Rivals...Hot damn! Love those tires! My vote is for the Rivals.

[Bimmerman325i]

Depends on your driving style, really. If you don't know, choose Rivals. If you drive with lots of slip angle (not sliding, necessarily), choose Rivals. If you're very precise with inputs and use less slip angle to get max grip out of the car, choose Dunlops. The Rivals are a much more forgiving tire but the Dunlops have been proven to be slightly faster on a car with spot-on setup. Slightly as in tenths of seconds on a very developed car, so if you're not that consistent or your car isn't prepped right, the Rivals are likely faster.

Or, if rain autocross is something you'd like to do or will be doing a lot of, the Dunlops are better.

Dunlop Z2 or Star Specs? Very different tire, Z2 is way better than Star Specs.

[MyE30]

I don't have any experience with Rivals but I do with Star Specs. Star Specs have really good initial grip and don't require a lot of heat. I used them for DE days for a few years and didn't really have to take a warm up lap.

Depending on your driving style this characteristic could be useful in an auto-x environment.

[matthugie]

I ran both ZI's and ZII's last year, but haven't run on Rivals. The Dunlops are great tires, very intuitive, easy to establish the limits, and predictable when you get there. They are also better in the wet, so if your area gets a lot of rain they would probably be the better choice.

[Eric]

I bought a set of Rivals last season to upgrade from RS3's. I couldn't feel a difference. If I were to buy a set again, I'd have bought ZII's.

[Bimmerman325i]

I bought a set of Rivals last season to upgrade from RS3's. I couldn't feel a difference. If I were to buy a set again, I'd have bought ZII's.

Yea, makes sense. The Rivals are supposed to be a lot like RS3 v2.0.

[nick_318is]

I've had both the 1st version of the star specs and just got a set of ZIIs last summer, I would highly recommend them.

[Bimmerman325i]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=172

Dunlops ZII, BFG Rivals, Bridgestones RE11A, Yokohama AD08R

[blasphemy101]

I bought a set of Rivals last season to upgrade from RS3's. I couldn't feel a difference. If I were to buy a set again, I'd have bought ZII's.

I don't see most people finding any of those tires a huge upgrade from the others... They're all pretty much in the same league.

If I was nitpicking, I'd say Rivals have a bit more give to them (softer sidewall?) compared to Star Specs. Slightly less responsive, but still an awesome tire. The Star Specs/ZIIs might accentuate the short-comings in a soft suspension.

I put Rivals on my E30 because I suspect they'll wear a little slower than ZIIs or RS3s.