14 inch race tires & wheels?

[155///MPH]

What do you base your claims on? First hand experience with both a 225 and 205 tire?
Consider higher-HP cars, some of them need a larger tire.

Hoosiers a complete waste of money?
Check www.honda-tech.com for cheap used race tires. They even have a 20ish-page thread dedicated to for sale/wtb used race tires, I paid under $160 shipped for a full set of "hoo hoo's"

Your case is more unique than most on R3v. However, given the poster's circumstances, I'd go with the 205's. The 225's are taller and will "bubble" or bulge on the rim. This can lend to less agile, or nimble feel.

There have been many debates on which is better/faster:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328261&highlight=bigger+tires

There don't seem to be any definitive answers. I however prefer the feel of the more narrow tires along with the lower purchase cost.

Also, used tires are a crap shoot. I just got super lucky with a set of 4 205 Ra-1's off of Ebay for $120. They survived a 3 day Car Guys event and still have some life in them.

If debating new tires, I'll take the 205 Ra-1's everytime. For cost, nearly compartive performance (at our hack level), tire life, and predictability; just go with the Toyo's.

JP

[Lair]

I'll look around for a set of each. I have a lot of friends who are on the local SCCA board, so I may be able to score a cheap set of tires that will be suitable for testing and comparison purposes. I may even try a set of 15's at first. One of my good friends has a FrankenPorsche 924S with a 968 engine that we jammed in it, and he has several sets of 15's lying about. IIRC, he has a set of Kumhos and a set of Hoosiers. He paid around $600 for the Hoos, but he says they're light years better than the Kumhos.

Even if I only get one run out of them, I'll have an idea of what feels right for me.

Scott - if it's 32 degrees outside, my ass will be inside somewhere with a glass of cabernet. :)

[track6]

I'm planning to run a couple of DE's this year in the 325is I just bought.

Does anyone have recommendations on tires/wheels for the E30? I'll be running at Barber Motorsports Park and possibly Road Atlanta/Roebling.

Is Tire Rack still the best place for race rubber?

If you're doing DE and not competition, you might want to try one of the DOT comp tires like the Falken Azenis RT-615 or the Hankook Ventus Rs2. At just over $60 per tire, they are about 1/2 the price (new) of the R tires mentioned and stick pretty good for doing DE stuff. And you can drive to and from the track if you want! The only catch is that the 14" size is a 195/60/14.

Still, if you're fairly new at this, these tires are a good step up from a full street tire without breaking the bank. And they'll hang on pretty good!

As far as prices, check out www.edgeracing.com for brands that Tirerack does not offer.

Have fun.

Tim

[Skafrog]

If you want to go fast, use the widest tire you can. If you enjoy being lapped by miata's, run a 205.
Oh, and Hoosiers are 2-3 seconds faster than RA-1's. No idea about the R6's, but the R5's are.

[LEANE30]

8)






(note to self)

[155///MPH]

If you want to go fast, use the widest tire you can. If you enjoy being lapped by miata's, run a 205.

[JRKOUPE]

If you want to go fast, use the widest tire you can. If you enjoy being lapped by miata's, run a 205.
Oh, and Hoosiers are 2-3 seconds faster than RA-1's. No idea about the R6's, but the R5's are.

2- 3 seconds faster on what kind of lap time?.......1 10/ 1 35/ 2 10?...... you dig? If I can get 3 seconds at Lime Rock.....wow....like 1 06 laptimes


not to be a picky...but.....the widest tire wont always be faster

[Charlie]

If you want to go fast, use the widest tire you can. If you enjoy being lapped by miata's, run a 205.

That hurts bro.

It's true, but it still hurts.

-Charlie

[JRKOUPE]

If you're doing DE and not competition, you might want to try one of the DOT comp tires like the Falken Azenis RT-615 or the Hankook Ventus Rs2. At just over $60 per tire, they are about 1/2 the price (new) of the R tires mentioned and stick pretty good for doing DE stuff. And you can drive to and from the track if you want! The only catch is that the 14" size is a 195/60/14.

Still, if you're fairly new at this, these tires are a good step up from a full street tire without breaking the bank. And they'll hang on pretty good!

As far as prices, check out www.edgeracing.com for brands that Tirerack does not offer.

Have fun.

Tim

for RA's....Vilven tire in Ill......and CJ's in Birdsboro PA

[Skafrog]

2- 3 seconds faster on what kind of lap time?.......1 10/ 1 35/ 2 10?...... you dig? If I can get 3 seconds at Lime Rock.....wow....like 1 06 laptimes


not to be a picky...but.....the widest tire wont always be faster

2-3 seconds at RA, 2-3 seconds at Barber, 2-3 seconds at Mid-Ohio
And unless if 50 degrees out, yes it will. Until you have had 10+ guys come running up to your pit asking how the car made a pass on the outside of a certain turn, you arent running wide enough tires. Its not all about max grip, it's how long they can hold up during a race.

[JRKOUPE]

2-3 seconds at RA, 2-3 seconds at Barber, 2-3 seconds at Mid-Ohio
And unless if 50 degrees out, yes it will. Until you have had 10+ guys come running up to your pit asking how the car made a pass on the outside of a certain turn, you arent running wide enough tires. Its not all about max grip, it's how long they can hold up during a race.

I understand 2 -3 seconds......BUT.....what are lap times for these tracks?.....it wont be 2-3 seconds on 49 second laps...right?????


and I still will opt to disagree.....sure perhaps on certain turns etc a wider print will be faster.....but on other turns/situations, tracks ambient temp, suspension settings............ not ALWAYS.......spec e 30 guys are always arguing about this.

[Skafrog]

The car in question was running a 1.40.xxx at barber, roughly the same at RA, and low 1.40's at Mid-OH.

As far as wide tires go, there has never been a situation where running wide tires put us at a disadvantage. In racing, there is a huge advantage of being able to put your car wherever you want to in order to make the pass. As just one example, at VIR, our car was able to climb the esses flat out, and then proceed to pass every car coming into oak tree. If you look at the fast cars that are allowed to run wide tires, every single person is. Obviously you are missing the whole point. Slicks get greasy as hell as the race wears on due to heat. When you are running a 305 Hoosier, you dont have greasy tires. If you look at our lap times, we consistently set the fast times towards the end of the race. Hell, we set Barber's DM lap record (4th fastest ever in CR) on lap 26. At RA, we were running the same times from lap 7 to lap 38.

[JRKOUPE]

The car in question was running a 1.40.xxx at barber, roughly the same at RA, and low 1.40's at Mid-OH.

As far as wide tires go, there has never been a situation where running wide tires put us at a disadvantage. In racing, there is a huge advantage of being able to put your car wherever you want to in order to make the pass. As just one example, at VIR, our car was able to climb the esses flat out, and then proceed to pass every car coming into oak tree. If you look at the fast cars that are allowed to run wide tires, every single person is. Obviously you are missing the whole point. Slicks get greasy as hell as the race wears on due to heat. When you are running a 305 Hoosier, you dont have greasy tires. If you look at our lap times, we consistently set the fast times towards the end of the race. Hell, we set Barber's DM lap record (4th fastest ever in CR) on lap 26. At RA, we were running the same times from lap 7 to lap 38.

I know your posts in general, and respect your knowledge......no disrespect. And I am not missing any point....I believe Im just disagreeing. Its not about you posting FTD or setting lap records or passing people. Its about what is max tire width to produce max performance on a given car..... and Im saying wider isnt ALWAYS faster. Im out.......and done

[track6]

And I would add that the original post was about doing DE, not racing. And a quick look shows the Hoosiers at $185 vs the RA-1 at $122.

On my budget, I'll run the Azenis at a 195 width for DE stuff. With someone else paying the bill and a race on the line it's a different story.

[Axxe]

225/50R14 RA-1's allow me to keep up with E36/E46 M3's, and outright destroy non-m's