I'm thinking about autocrossing next spring and im gonna put my stock 15" steelies on when i do it. What is the widest tire i can go with on the stock wheels? and what profile side wall would be good.

 

IIRC the steel wheels were 15x6....... I hope you are planning on something really sticky. If you are just getting started, just run your street tires for your first few events. You'll learn alot more about your car and your driving with street tires.

 

yup, what he said.

start out with some regular high performance street tires..
if you want to buy dedicated tires for your stockers, just see what they're got listed at tirerack, discount, etc listed in the sides you can fit..
about the widest you want to go on the stock rim is a 225/55/15 or 225/60/15. I would recommend sticking with a bit more narrow 215/60/15 though.
between those sizes, you should be able to find some good tires for pretty cheap.

but again, I recommend going out there in your daily driver wheels/tires first and just see how you like it. no point in spending hundreds on tires for something you turn out not to like.

 

Make sure you take lots of pre-walks and do lots of ride alongs with other folks til you get the hang of things. Many new drivers get frustrated with finding the course and it often sours their experience. Let us know how it goes!

 

225 on a 6 is going to be extra bouncy and bubbly, i've run 225 or 6.5s and i wasnt overly impressed. Run your 16s for a while and have a good time, then make some decesions. If you can afford to run a dedicated set of tires buy either r-compounds OR nice auto-x tires ie, Azenis 615s, advan neovas etc etc

 

Don't tell him that! One of the more fun things is watching an up and coming cone-killer! Actually, do what Bejay says, it will make your experience better, and take advantage of whatever 1st timer walk through orientation they might offer.

slowalty DO NOT get discouraged if someone in a car you think sucks beats you the first few times out. Try to enjoy yourself above all else, just like some of us occasionally beat STi's, 350 Z's, Corvettes (mostly older ones), we also sometimes get beat by something like a Focus or pickup truck or something.
There are some very good drivers screwing around out there that even if you did have a faster car you probably still couldn't catch them as a rookie.

 

Agreed. I started on my stock 215/55/16 Goodyear RSA's and did exceptionally well even on those (ok, it was 30-35deg).

 

I think I know what pickup truck you're talking about....the mitsu with the blower under the hood at the last Ripken event?

he actually beat you???

 

No, he didn't, but he IS fast.
I was referring to d00df00d getting beat by a 5-7 year veteran who's miata wouldn't start that morning so he brought his Nissan Titan.
It was d00df00d's 1st auto-x experience, and I didn't get to tell him the backround story until it was already burned into his head. It was hilarious watching that truck rip around the tiny Test and Tune course. If it was a rookie I doubt they would have let him run the truck.
d00df00d got a little discouraged and has since not gone to anymore auto-x'es. He has told me that the auto-x tore up his tires a lot, and he wants to try a track day. I am not sure I convinced him that auto-x will only help in certain areas of road racing, especially car control, but we'll see next season.

 

he complained about auto-x tearing up his tires but he wants to try a track day?? WTF mate, some one let that poor kid know, auto-x are low impact fun driving days that really dont hurt your car that much, track days are an all out assualt on every part of your car.........

 

I know, I know, I told him that when I talked to him. I figure if I could get him out a few more times especially down at Ripken he would buy in to auto-x. Ripken suits the max far more than the tiny Test and Tune course at Warminster that he ran at the 1st time. That being said, I also want to encourage him to try a track day, I would do them more often if I had the wife-approved funds. A track day is an exhausting experience, where as auto-x is much easier to do something afterwards.

 

started on my stock tires......going to use Azenis next year....there are still a Street tire but one of the better ones

 

Maybe hold off til Q1 '06. Rumor has it there's a successor to the 615 already coming.

 

already...didnt they just come out this past season.....i havent bought them yet so its all good

 

interesting......of course, cost will also be a factor. The 615's are relatively cheap...

 

Thanks for all the input. Ill prolly just buy some new tires for my 17's and go give it a try. I'll keep you guys updated.

 

I fixed your post, and if there is a new version coming out i really wouldnt worry about it, the improvement wont be night and day i garuntee. 615>215 but not by much

 

so the azenis some in a size for our car now? last i knew (almost a year now!) they were not recommended for our (relitivly) heavy cars. they get hot and greasy, impeading traction. they work well on the smaller cars.

how are the MX's these days?

 

That's partially true, but with auto-x and spraying it's a moot point. Falken is well represented in STU on other heavy cars. Heck, even Hoosiers are getting sprayed now by stock classes on warm days. Pretty much the issue comes down to tire sizes avail - on 17" rims the Falkens are an option.

Oh, and for anybody moving to race-rubber, the TireRack is having a sale on Avon Tech R's - $129 for either 225/50/16 or 225/45/17!

 

what is this spraying you speak of?

 

the process of spraying water onto your tires to cool them down (on hot days) both post and pre run.

 

I just ordered mine.....hankook ventus RS2 Z212 in 245/45/17 on 17x8 wheels....shaved to 4/32".....overall diameter is almost identical to stock and they will fit in the wheel wells with no rubbing.

oh, and 99 (XL) load rating is nice

 

Deffinitly a great tire for the price, GRM complained of to much "void" area but they should treat you very well! Of course GRM was also looking foreward to the new version expecting it to do very well.

 

I used them last year, but unshaved in a 225 width. They were fine, I just wanted more rubber on the road and the reinforced sidewall that the 245's come with.

 

They were my next tire for the 240 untill it was totalled, and alas i am now here.