Quote:
Originally Posted by Keenercarguy
I have a fairly simple tire question. A racer I highly respect suggested a budget competition wheel-tire combination for me for now. Direzza Star Specs on a spare set of factory wheels: but he said to go as wide as I can with the tires. Now I've seen some C-street guys running as wide as 245 on their stock wheels, but how wide could I really go before I start to lose performance and stability, rather than gain it?
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Check out this test on the ZI Star Specs, the 86 was slower on track with the 235 vs the 215, had more lateral grip but the added rubber slowed it in the straights.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...ransformation/
Everyone is saying 225's but oe size 215's will have a bit more responsiveness and you'll save a couple bucks if you end up with ZIISS, the RS3's are actually cheaper as 225's go figure. I was in the same boat last year, chose the Dunlops based on the shop's recommendation and expected to be replacing the tires after ~9x autox events and 3x track days but they're still sitting on the car with 14k miles on them and a decent amount of tread left, guess I'm not as fast a driver as I thought I was.
But RS3's are currently cheaper though to the tune of $40 a set on tirerack and the Dunlops get less love (less grassroots motorsport support I suppose, same reason Hawk's have great branding and ALWAYS get brought up in performance brake pad discussions despite getting mixed reviews), I'll probably be trying the Hankooks next as well.
Edit: I know you asked about brakes here and there, don't skimp on pads for the track, after you gain some confidence and start putting heat into them you'll destroy the OE pads and have to back off the rest of the day to preserve the brakes and make it home safe, no fun and limits your development as you spend time worrying about braking rather than good line and carrying speed.