Wheels & Tire Advice

[tesuji]

I'm looking into getting some appropriate tires for autocrossing. My stock all-season run-flats were understandably really ripped up by the school on the 10th. Two months old and I'm rotating. But I have some questions before I buy anything:

During the winter season, do people run with summer/racing tires? Is it worth investing in some rubber then having it sit around in the garage for 4 months?
I always thought the lower profile wheels were the "sportier" wheels, but it seems like the recommended size are the 15 or 16" wheels. Why is that?
How quickly do street tires (TW 300+) last for autocrossing? I understand the R-compounds usually last about a season. Will I get more life out of the performance street tires?
Where's a good place to patronize in Northern Colorado for mounting the wheels?


Thanks! I'm loving Solo2!
Patrick
06 Mini Cooper S - 40 AT/GS

[ianacole]

During the winter season, do people run with summer/racing tires? Is it worth investing in some rubber then having it sit around in the garage for 4 months?
I always thought the lower profile wheels were the "sportier" wheels, but it seems like the recommended size are the 15 or 16" wheels. Why is that?
How quickly do street tires (TW 300+) last for autocrossing? I understand the R-compounds usually last about a season. Will I get more life out of the performance street tires?
Where's a good place to patronize in Northern Colorado for mounting the wheels?
I can only answer for myself...
I run race rubber in the winter - can be painful at WA when the temperature doesn't seem to get over butt-assed cold.
Short answer: rotating mass. Get the smallest wheel that will fit over your brakes. You can also use smaller aspect tires to adjust final gear ratios.
You will get more life out of a performance street tire, but will not provide good performance. I ran with BFG KDW-2s for awhile (4 events). I think I got around 30K miles before I had to replace them.
Are you near Boulder? Check out Tire Source (I think that's the name).

[S Abshire]

I noticed your signature says AT/GS. To stay in stock class you can not change your wheel diameter or width and the offset of the wheel has to be within 1/4 inch.

Your choice of tire will depend on how competitive you are. If you are happy in AT get the best street tire you can, choices are usually Kumho MX or Falken RT-615. If you want to compete in GS, you'll need the race rubber as you will be up against the likes of Tom Pora, Mike Critchley and Grant Barclay, they are all guaranteed to be running the sticky stuff. Your choices for race rubber would be the Hoosier A6 and the Kumho V710. I would talk to any of the aforementioned Mini drivers to get their opinions on which race tire is the tire to have.

Ian is correct that race compounds will hardly get any heat at WA during the winter events. The hot street tires will not last long on the street as a daily driver either, I would suggest a second set of wheels and tires for auto-x.

[Built-By-Bones]

patrick,

I own the yellow Mini and live in Ft Collins.

The reason most Mini's run 16 " wheels is to stay within stock class rules. You can only run a wheel that was available on the model you purchased so for Cooper S, the best wheel is a 16 x 6.5". SSR's are expensive, Rota's are cheaper and only a little heavier.

The STX Mini's run 17" wheels to use the Yokohama tires ( Yokohama contingency is pretty good). We have also run 15" wheels on the sTx Mini to take advantage of gearing, and the Hankook tires we were given.

If Tire Source is too far I recommend ordering through Tire Rack (877-522-8473 X 294, ask for Alex, tell him Grant Barclay sent you). And have Big O tires (owned by a fellow autocrosser) on Mason street put the tires on your rims.

I may have some used race rubber available after Oct 7th, see me at that event or email me at GBarclay "at" aol.com.

HTH

Grant

[tesuji]

Thanks for the advice!

I already have a spare set of 17" wheels sans tires, so I probably won't be getting new 16" rims soon.
I should have mentioned that I live in Fort Collins; "Big O" would be the more convenient. I'm thinking that I'll get some street tires while I'm learning and wait for some 16" rims before getting stickies.

Thanks again! Until the 7th,
Patrick

[Van]

Patrick. I think your best bet is to stick with street tires for a few events (for example the winter events) before going to R-comps. Learn how to drive on street tires before you take any bad habits onto R-comps. That was my mistake when I got into Solo2.

Here's a plan. Put some good street tires on your 17's to autocross the winter events (STX). Daily drive your all seasons on your 16's (I assume?) during the winter. By the summer events, those will be toast. Then get some R-comps for your stock 16's. Daily drive your 17's with the good street tires.

When you get really competitve get the SSR's or Rota's.

Van

[RogersWRX]

And if you haven't figured it out already... the cheaper "performance" street tires are the Falken Azenis RT-615 ( http://www.vulcantires.com ) and the Hankook Z212 R-S2 ( http://www.tires-easy.com ) for the best prices... usually Big-O or Discount Tire will order them and match the price with shipping (Although the online places don't charge you sales tax!)... The top-of-the-line street tire right now would be the Yokohama Neova's, which cost almost twice as much as the two above...:)

If you're running stock camber settings on the Mini ... I'd recommend the Falkens...