jeeper31

It's been awhile since I bought tires. What is considered the best DE/Autocross tire?

Thanks

John H

Hoosier R6 DE and A6 for autocross

jeeper31

Looking to get one set of tires so would like one that is versatile and would be decent for both.

CWay27

for moderate street / track, you have Falken azenis rt-615 or hankook Z-212. If you want a little more track oriented tire, you can get for relatively cheap the Nitto NT-01 and they last long. Track only tire but also very affordable is Hankook Z-214. It kinda looks like the hoosier R-6.

jeeper31

These tires will be for track and DE. They won't be on the street. (well might drive to AX event but not to track.)

Mark in Baltimore

Define "best". Fastest are the Hoosier R6's for track stuff, A6's for autocross, as John points out. Best learning platform? Toyo RA-1's. Best combo of speed and longevity? MPSC's.

Additionally, the BFG R1's are considered to be very good tires, too, with perhaps, longer heat cycle life and equal grip to R6's. I have five heat cycles on one set of R1's and have been very happy with their race performance.

DanR

why are the Ra1 considered a good learning platform?

951_for_John

I use Pilot Sport Cups. I 'm very happy with them, they wear welll, take heat cycles well and are forgiving on the track.

I've used this set for five events and some street use. still have lots of grip and good tread.

they do take a couple of laps to get up to temp. and are not the cheapest. but I am very happy with
my choice and will be getting another set when these are done.

CWay27

MPSC are really good but too much for my wallet. I like to get full wear out of my tires and with them, you'll notice that they'll be ready to throw away even if tread is still good. With 5 events your MPSC are pretty much done and you'll end up spending your 20min session just to heat them up.

jeeper31

I guess by best I mean a good sticking, well wearing tire that is versatile enough for both track and autocross use.

Mark in Baltimore

In the R comp family, they are very predictable at the limit and are easy to slide.

What are you currently on now? Non R-comp street tires? If so, RA-1's are going to wear well and be stickier than what you have. If you're already on R comps, what type?

Z-man

Toyo Proxes RA-1's.

IMHO, it is the best DE tire out there today, from a price-point stand point. Sure there are tires that are grippier, or last longer, or whatever else a tire does. But for all-around quality, the RA-1's are hard to beat.

-Z-man.

mdrums

I have RA1's now on my 2007 Carrera S (997S) and am thinking my next tire will be the Toyo R888. I drive to and from the track. How do the R888's compare to the RA1's?

jeeper31

I am presently using Toya RA-1s which I purchased last year from the PO of my car. when I got them from him they were about 2 years old and I used them for a season. I used them for both DE and Autocross. Before the RA-1 i used the Kumho V710 for autocross only and before that I bought a set of Victoracers which I used jst for autocross.

Z-man

Dan,
Thanks for the clarification.

Query: Why do you need a better tire? Do you want to put down faster lap times?

Here's some food for thought:
1. Don't give up on the RA-1's just yet -- you were on an old set that were probably heat cycled beyond their sweet spot. (The RA-1's are known for this, given their long-tread life).

2. IIRC, you are an intermediate driver. If so, you aren't nearly at the limits of the RA-1's, even the old ones you were on.

3. The performance delta between the RA-1's, MPSC's, Kumho's, (insert the next best R-compound tire) is very small. You'd have to jump into a Hoosier R6 or possibly some other ultra-slick, barely DOT approved R-compound. Such tires will typically run you alot more coin, and not last as long. And you won't be extracting the most out of them, given the fact that you're not near the limits on the 'standard' R's. I wouldn't consider that money well spent.

4. Want to go faster? Learn to drive better. Seat time seat time seat time. Even in AX, over the long run, improving your driving skill will yield better times than improving your tires.

-Z-man.