Right now I'm running PS2's, been happy with them, but am slower then the others in my class. This year, I went from 1st, to 4th place for the year, held 2nd till the last 2 events, that put me to 3rd, then 4th. Part of that was me trying to hard, & my last event, nailing cones on every run.

Any way, I run stock, but am allowed to + size my tires, so I can get just about anything. My car is a 95 C4, so I have to keep the front/rear diameters as close as possible. I also run STOCK class, so I know Hoosiers will be faster, but I can't run them.

I am thinking of going 225/45/17 front & 255/40/17 rear.
Yokohama AD08
Hankook Ventus R-S3 (lowest tread wear, also cheapest)
Bridgestone Re-11

I am in the PNW, so we can expect up to half of our events to be wet. This is also my daily driver.

 

SCCA autocross or PCA? SCCA allows Hoosier's in stock, and they're the defacto "spec" tire at the upper levels.

In the SCCA "Street Tire" classes (which allow any tire > 140 treadwear), the Yokohama's where the hot tire this year, but the Bridgestone's are a perpetual front-runner. Grassroots Motorsports does run an annual street tire rest (both wet & dry), and the top tire changes annually. You won't know until everyone releases their 2011 tire what the hot tire for next year will be.

 

Do both SCCA & PCA, SCCA is street tire, & PCA is stock. NO "R" TIRES, also this is my DD & I CAN'T RUN "R" tires all year.

Yes, I know they are faster, but again, not in my class. The lowest I can go, is 140 tread wear.

I know the Yoko's are the best in the dry, but the Re-11's seam to be better in the wet.

One guy just got the RS-3, & he was over 1sec faster then all of us. This was his first win of the year on the new rubber. But this tire doesn't seam like it will be a good DD tire, & will not last the whole year.

 

The 2009 GRM article I was referring to:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/art...-tires-part-1/ and
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/art...-tires-part-2/

The 2010 version of the article (which includes lap times) is only available to subscribers.

FWIW, I run the StarSpec's on my STI (DD + occasional AutoX car). They may not be the cheapest, but they're not far from it. I've also gotten really good life out of them. I haven't run a national-level event with my STI yet, but I have run it against arguably the best ST car/driver in the northeast at a local event, and was posting very competitive times with him. When you figure out the PAX index relative to our two cars, I was about 0.2 seconds off his time.

 

I second Dunlop Direzza Star Specs. They were about 1 second faster for me over the PS2s when I started autocrossing the Boxster. They are available in your sizes from TireRack $139 front and $169 rear. They are considerably noisier than the PS2s but they seem to be lasting me a little longer. ride quality seems about the same.

 

There are a number of great autocross tires right now, but I think star specs are the best right now for what you're looking for and your climate. Still, it may be worth your while to wait until March/April if you can to see what's coming out over the winter.

 

Pacific NW the Hankooks need heat to work and not real great in the wet. Great track tire.

You didn't mention the Toyo R1R but that would be a good AutoX/DD choice for cool and the wet. It would get my vote over the RE11/AD08/Star Spec.

Peter

 

since you're talking about your NB car, i think the Dunlops are worth looking into.
They don't make tires sized for WB, so i use AD08s and V12's.
AD08 = noticeably better when hot

Craig

 

Maybe it's time for a dedicated set of tires for competition, if you want to win, but also need to DD your car. The slippery slope...

 

I am in a MUCH different car (87 924S) so this may not apply. However I have been very happy with the performane of my Toyo R1R's. 140 TW keeps me in GSS (stock) class.

 

People I know who have the Toyo R1Rs are very very happy with them

 

Can't do that, the Wife would kill me. She lets me Auto-X cuz it's cheap & easy. She doesn't want me to go overboard, next comes the SUV & trailer.

After reading a few test, I'm leaning towards the AD08, & the Toyo.

 

At our PCA Potomac autox this past weekend, a couple of front runners were on the Dunlop Direzza Star Specs. First time I'd seen them run, and was duly impressed. Surprising performance considering a treadwear rating of around 200.

 

RE11 or A008

 

Another vote for the Dunlop Direzza Star Specs. Ran them all last season, and still working on them. Much faster than the PS2's and much cheaper. They also telegraph what they are doing well. For a stock tire they are truly amazing. They also run wider than other brands similar same sized tire.