Dual Duty Autocross/Street Tires OR Autocross Only?

[Sunny Ragtop]

Dual Duty Autocross/Street Tires OR Autocross Only? Your recommendations are needed! Pros/Cons? Which tires for each duty??

Time to replace my worn stock RSA’s. Thank GOODNESS!

I just started Autocross racing and love it. I have the stock rims on my 2.4L Sky and need the stock tire size 245/45-18. My Sky is a fair weather daily driver and tries to stay parked when rain is forecasted, so I’m OK with Summer Only Tires.

Help.
1) Replace worn stock tires with High Performance Street tires for daily driving & Autocross racing. (Suggested Make/Model??)
2) Buy a set of rims & Autocross tires. They MUST be drivable on the street since I won’t trailer. I’ll need to change them at home before racing. Travel distance may be up to 150 miles one way. I’ll still have to buy replacement tires for street driving. (Suggested Make/Model??)

Cost:
$1000+ Replacement Street Tires
$1800+ New Rims & Race Tires (Add replacement street tires = $3000!!!)

PROBLEM…The Cost!! Which choice will be the CHEAPEST in the LONG run?
For only 2 minutes of racing on a Sunday this is becoming VERY expensive.

[GetAboutRL]

Many 'hobbies' are or can become expensive.
Golf, hunting, gambling, boating, fishing or model train/model airplane's. So if this car is your weekend hobby ... for God;s sake man ... enjoy it.

Tell the wife, "it is a whole lot cheaper than many you could crave:.

[Sunny Ragtop]

Originally Posted by GetAboutRL

Many 'hobbies' are or can become expensive.
Golf, hunting, gambling, boating, fishing or model train/model airplane's. So if this car is your weekend hobby ... for God;s sake man ... enjoy it.

Tell the wife, "it is a whole lot cheaper than many you could crave:.

Ha, I AM the WIFE!

See G.R.I.T.S in my Avitar...it means "Girl Raised in the South"

We have LOTS of other hobbies, so the dollars have to spread out. Just picked our 2 dirtbikes up from their yearly service and a street bike is up for maintenance, plus my mountain bike needs new tires. RrrrRrrr...we love all 2 wheel sports...Oh...and my hubby has a plane that just finished it's yearly FAA test.

[RedHeaded RedLine]

Somebody wants slicks... -J

[shabby]

Once you get hooked on r compound tires you'll never want to go back to regular ones for autocross. But travelling 300 miles back and forth on them to an event almost seems out of the question, you'll have to settle on some high performance tires.

[Sunny Ragtop]

Slicks are GREAT!!

THANKS Readheaded Redline!

This weekend at my first scr-scca.com event in Florence SC I met RedHeaded Redine. She & her hubby granted me a fun run drive in their Redline SKY with new SLICKS. OMG!

After our 5 timed runs we got a few fun runs. I pretty much knew all the spots where my car slid the rear and plowed the front. Ha, about ever tight corner. I took another run in my 2.4L with the 25,000 mile RSA's and got my best time of the day (43.68). I then hopped into her car with turbo & SLICKS and got a 40.90!! It was amazing, the tires compensated for my crappy driving and made me look like a real AX racer. The rear end stuck and the front "almost" did not plow...especially with my serious late braking on the tight turn. THANKS!!

Hmmm, yep I want to get slicks but still can't. Have to trailer/tote them to the race etc. etc. I still need to replace my stock tires soon, and still have NO CLUE if I should get almost race type street tires that will eat rubber fast with daily type driving, or cheap street tires and another set of DOT race type tires I can drive to the track with.

REMINDER--Anyone got gently used Sky RL Stock F1 tires you need to get rid of??

Come on Tax Relief Check!

[RedHeaded RedLine]

Originally Posted by Sunny Ragtop

Slicks are GREAT!!
THANKS Readheaded Redline!
Come on Tax Relief Check!

It is only about $3,000 if you get new 255/45/18 GS-D3s, on
a set of OZ Superturismo GT ($200@) and
Kumho 710 285/30/18s on your stock rims

Remember we don't have a couch or TV in our living room, but Captian Gaspedal has 5 sets of wheels for 2 cars. -J

[Daywalker]

Originally Posted by RedHeaded RedLine

Remember we don't have a couch or TV in our living room, but Captian Gaspedal has 5 sets of wheels for 2 cars. -J

I see no problem with this....glad somebody has their priorities straight.

[RobL]

Originally Posted by Daywalker

I see no problem with this....glad somebody has their priorities straight.

5 sets, just for the Sol (6 sets of tires if you include the tires/wheels that were on the car when the pic was taken.

See you in a couple of weeks Daywalker???

edit: I thought you were going to be in Atlanta?

[Daywalker]

Originally Posted by RobL

See you in a couple of weeks Daywalker???

edit: I thought you were going to be in Atlanta?

I thought I was to.

I had to have emergency surgery two weeks ago on my neck. They removed one disc that had shifted into my spinal canal and then fuse two of my vertebrae together. It was outpatient surgery which was amazing. I have a great Doctor. Doc said no autocrossing till I finish healing. I hope to still make Pro in DC though.

Car is still getting a workout though, wife took it to her first Chicks only autocross school last week and she had a ball. Maybe I can get her hooked. Good luck in Atlanta.

[RobL]

Originally Posted by Daywalker

I had to have emergency surgery two weeks ago on my neck. They removed one disc that had shifted into my spinal canal and then fuse two of my vertebrae together. It was outpatient surgery which was amazing. I have a great Doctor. Doc said no autocrossing till I finish healing. I hope to still make Pro in DC though.

Get better. We'll see you in DC.

[Lil GTO]

Originally Posted by Sunny Ragtop

Slicks are GREAT!!

THANKS Readheaded Redline!


Hmmm, yep I want to get slicks but still can't. Have to trailer/tote them to the race etc. etc. I still need to replace my stock tires soon, and still have NO CLUE if I should get almost race type street tires that will eat rubber fast with daily type driving, or cheap street tires and another set of DOT race type tires I can drive to the track with.

REMINDER--Anyone got gently used Sky RL Stock F1 tires you need to get rid of??

Come on Tax Relief Check!

Maybe you could find someone near the track who will store your slicks for you - maybe for $5 a month or something - where you could drive to that near the track location - effect the swap - go racing - then swap back to street tires and head home. Could be a private party - or maybe a Saturn Dealer - or maybe a location that rents out garage space for cars - or even one of those do it yourself storage facilities - of course you would have to figure the cost of the storage unit into the equation.

if private party - consider something like a rubber maid storage shed - rubbermaid shed - Google Product Search - so that you can have access to the wheels even if the person is not home.

You just need to think more creatively.

[RedHeaded RedLine]

Originally Posted by Lil GTO

Maybe you could find someone near the track who will store your slicks for you - maybe for $5 a month or something - where you could drive to that near the track location - effect the swap - go racing - then swap back to street tires and head home. Could be a private party - or maybe a Saturn Dealer - or maybe a location that rents out garage space for cars - or even one of those do it yourself storage facilities - of course you would have to figure the cost of the storage unit into the equation.
if private party - consider something like a rubber maid storage shed - rubbermaid shed - Google Product Search - so that you can have access to the wheels even if the person is not home. You just need to think more creatively.

The event is at a different venue every month; we go to Orangeburg, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Florence and Greer.
The farthest are ~250 apart. The tires have to come & go with you. I would offer but we can’t fit 8 wheels into the Volvo. -J

["Maine"-iac]

Originally Posted by Sunny Ragtop

Slicks are GREAT!!

THANKS Readheaded Redline!

This weekend at my first scr-scca.com event in Florence SC I met RedHeaded Redine. She & her hubby granted me a fun run drive in their Redline SKY with new SLICKS. OMG!

After our 5 timed runs we got a few fun runs. I pretty much knew all the spots where my car slid the rear and plowed the front. Ha, about ever tight corner. I took another run in my 2.4L with the 25,000 mile RSA's and got my best time of the day (43.68). I then hopped into her car with turbo & SLICKS and got a 40.90!! It was amazing, the tires compensated for my crappy driving and made me look like a real AX racer. The rear end stuck and the front "almost" did not plow...especially with my serious late braking on the tight turn. THANKS!!

Hmmm, yep I want to get slicks but still can't. Have to trailer/tote them to the race etc. etc. I still need to replace my stock tires soon, and still have NO CLUE if I should get almost race type street tires that will eat rubber fast with daily type driving, or cheap street tires and another set of DOT race type tires I can drive to the track with.

REMINDER--Anyone got gently used Sky RL Stock F1 tires you need to get rid of??

Come on Tax Relief Check!

Not sure if you already got your new tires or slicks as this thread is a few months old. But to answer one part of your question, I highly recommend the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs. I had the stock RSAs on my 2.4l Solstice and was all over the place autoxing...the RSAs are lousy as you noted in your post. I am new to autoxing this year and was placing around 25th-35th overall out of a field of about 65-105 competitors (depending on the week). I put the Direzzas on and had the alignment done to autox specs and what a huge difference! My last 3 events of the year (1 in dry conditions, 2 in the rain) saw me placing in or very close to the top 10, and that's against some very well set up cars (suspension, race tires, etc.) and some pretty experienced drivers (or at least in the club that I participate in anyway). You can see my results here Cumberland Motor Club ...I drive the Solstice.

By the way, these tires are awesome in the rain...I was tentative about pushing the car in the rain event as I wasn't sure how "slick" the Dunlops would be on the wet surface. After a couple runs I discovered that they stick really well and then proceeded to drive the car just as if I were running in dry conditions! The Direzzas have knocked off about 2 - 2.5 seconds off my course times, which you know by autox standards is huge. I put the 245/40/18 on and they lower the car by almost an inch as well compared to the RSAs.

As far as streetability is concerned...they are pretty good in that area as well. Not much road noise, handle well in the rain and seem to be holding up wear-wise. I have 3 autox events (7 runs/event) and over 2500 road miles on them and they seem pretty durable thus far...not much wear.

Hope this helps out...good luck with your tire choice and autoxing