Tires for learning/seat time???
 

To quickly preface, I want tires primarily for seat time, so I want longevity and affordable in a 245/35/19 or 255/35/19.

I've been doing research for a while now, and mostly where I end up is people discussing tires for competing or tires they just generally like, hardly is it ever about tires to get the most straight up seat time and learning.

Here's two tires I've come across that are fairly affordable:

- Firehawk Indy 500 (which these have been talked about endlessly everywhere)
- Falken Azenis FK 510

I've been leaning at just calling it a day and getting the Indy 500's, but if there is a tire out there that happens to be the go to seat time and learning tire, I'd love to have something like that instead.

Edit: I'm driving a CTR, not a twin.

the indy 500's are a summer only tire.

iirc, you're in canada, that has seasons... i really like the bfg comp2 a/s-- many of the same handling attributes as the stock tires, but a little stickier, and almost 1/4 of the expense of the oem tires.

but honestly, if price was not a factor, i loved the oem tires to learn the car with. despite the low limit, they were extremely predictable throughout their grip levels, as well as the way they transitioned from sliding to gripping. i hated the low level while i was driving with them, but they enhance a lot of the nuances of the chassis that make stickier tires almost feel numb in some aspects.

19 is too big a wheel. Go with 17 or 18 and a 225. I ran the stock Primacies for my first track days and that was a good call. Learn to drive the car with hard, narrow tires. You'll be miles ahead in the long run

I guess I should mention I'm in a CTR, that's why I mentioned tire sizing.

Well you should just sell that heap of trash and buy something decent.

My OEM happen to be fairly stick tires :o ... Continental Sport Contact 6. So I am definitely aiming for some less sticky, but that can hold up.

yeah, i would suggest looking through tire rack for something similar to the michelin primacies--low grip, but extremely predictable, just without the nearly $400/tire price tag...

Hankook RS4 or the gt radial sx2
Maybe goodyear supercar 3 if they have a compatible size.

You need a tire that is designed to take track abuse, not just something cheap and less then sticky. Especially with the ctr that will work the fronts harder then the average sporty vehicle, you want a tire that is heat resistant, not something that will grease up and fade after a few laps like the firestone. Michelins chunk the edges, contis will too.

I think the firestone will be fine and you could do a lot worse, but you'll probably try something else afterwards, I did.

Enkei Tuning TS-V 18x9.5 +40 with Falken Azenis RT615K+ 265/35/18. You can buy them as a package on TireRack.

Also get the HardRace Camber Adjusters and you can run up to -3.5 camber in front at stock height.

I realized this pretty much after disintegrating my winters front tires.

The SX2's do not come in 19 unfortunately (unless someone knows something I don't).. At least according to their website. I had looked this up a long while ago actually.

The RS4's appear to be a good deal pricier than the Goodyear Supercar 3.. At least where I'm currently looking, but prices could change. I also haven't seen any talk about these Goodyear Supercar 3 tires.. All I ever see is blah blah RE71 (rip), blah blah RT660.

And you're on an 86 forum? Dude....

255/30-19 Bridgestone S007A on closeout at Tire Rack for $530 set of four...

Sorry I must've gotten lost. Maybe I'll go ask the BMW guys. :bonk:

Us 5x100's are clueless

Peasants.

Shoot my bad I thought there was a grm track test but it was for the 3r which I think might err too sticky and quick wearing for you. Definitely harder to find opinions on a tire before everyone catches on, doesn't help that there's only one 17" and it's a little big for an 86 or miata.

I don't think the firestone/falken will be bad, I just think you'll end up overheating them fairly quick. They shouldn't disintegrate on you, just annoying managing it.

It's tough because I don't really want to learn on something expensive and low life because the plan is get as much out of a tire as I can, so that would include price and exclude grip.

But of course, more often than not, you just have a mass following of fast and slow guys all running the same tires because that's what people win on. I'm not trying to win, yet.

What about Continental ExtremeContact Sport or the ADVAN APEX V601?

I just comprehended SEE TEA ARE so I removed my post as it has no significance.
To be fair I mentioned Re003 or indy500 not sure on FWD though

I had a gander at these apex tires, but reliable review is hard to find. Basically everything on them is a sales exercise. With the continental it's the same sort of thing unless I'm missing that one guy that tried them and loved them..

It seems as though the space in which I am trying to shop is more niche than the guys buying the fastest tires they can get their hands on.

God I love the word Continental.

Indys would make for a better track tire in terms of feel than FK510s.

Indys are pretty popular locally for light HPDE street tire. Wet performance is the main draw back.

I ran the Conti ExtremeContact Sports last year on the BRZ (with A7s my serious time trial tires). Pretty good, no real complaints. They wear slowly (relative to what I'm used to with RE71R and A052), and have similar grip at the track to Hankook RS4.

Seems like the FK510s are pretty bad overall, found some more people talking about them and the side wall is apparently pretty squishy. CTR's have a tendency to roll over tire sidewalls real bad, so I might just delete those tires from my mind.

Interesting. I guess these are something to keep in mind I'll do a bit more research on them.

Ultimately I want something that can hold up for a while so I can just beat on them, but obviously not at the level of RE71 or greater, that'd just be a waste.

Seriously - I don't know. What's a CTR?

It's a bloated fwd Civic that looks like it should fold out into a robot, but doesn't. Also it's fast...

Civic Type R

Take your grandma's economy car, throw $20k at it in motor and suspension tweaks, sell for a profit.

It would be hilarious to me if a ctr was a decepticon in a chevy commercial. I mean transformers movie.

For a guy my age, you need to replace "grandma" with "daughter." :thumbsup:

I track my CTR with Conti Extreme Contact Sport. It has good life. Decent grip, although its nothing compared to my FRS on A052.

Don't forget it will cut you if you look at it wrong. Did I ever mention I am a fan of mechs.

I'll have to give them a look then, thanks!

I run 245 Conti Extreme Sports on my FRS. Have for a couple years of DD and about 6 track days.
With correct camber settings they hold up very well. I'll continue to daily with them but am going to organize some dedicated track tires for 2021. Likely A052's but not sure yet.
I'll drive the track set to and from the track as well.

How are conti extreme contact in comparison to ps4? I’m still learning not to scrub.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=223
A bit behind PS4S, probably quicker than PS4 though.
I went with the Conti ECS because they were favorable from a points perspective. My class-weight with PS4S would have been 124 lb. heavier...

Down size the OEM rims. They are heavy and the rubber band tires must suck for ride confort. Look for a light weight wheel + the new SX2 RS tires come in 18's atm.

I'm doing 19s for autox rules, or I'd go to 18... I could always just throw more money at it and get another set... nah bad idea.

Eh, anything serious I doubt the PS4S would be that great. They are pretty pricey and supposedly get real greasy real fast.

What kind of competing are you referring to?

Best-of-3-laps time trials at race tracks like Palmer MA, Watkins Glen, Mont Tremblant, etc.

I've pounded around on ECS for multiple laps up to ~15 minutes, they hold up well enough IMO. They're slow relative to A052, RE71R, etc but I never got the impression that they were overheating after a few laps.

Just keep in mind that the closer to racing slicks (grippier) the smaller the margin for error. Very little warning before letting go on race tires.