What size tires should i get for AutoCrossing?
 

I have the stock 18s and they did fine. I will be upgrading brakes in the next few months but as soon as i saw these for sale by Vividracing my heart just about stopped and i decided i want em!

Issue is do i get the 18s? or 19s? what would be better? Ill admit ive only autocrossed a few times but once this deployments over i plan to hit either an event or track every 2 weeks :driving:

Any advice would be appreciated!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...izo/te37sl.jpg

I've haven't done any autocross events, but in general as far as tire size, the 18's will be a little less expensive and offer more sizes. As I mentioned in another post, I think 18" is the sweet spot for performance, and 19's for looks. Not a huge difference but still a difference. If you plan to upgrade to bigger brakes in the future as you mentioned, I would watch out for clearance issues with the 18's. It would all depend on your setup. Wider tires is gonna effect the handling more than anything. The Enkei stock 18's are fine for autocross by the way.

I would buy these for street use and slap racing slicks on the stock rims.:driving::driving:

275 all around if you dont want stagger (on stock power)

Ok so what size would y'all recommend?

18x9.5 +15
18x10 +20
18x10.5 +15/+22
18x11 +18

These are the sizes Phil at Vividracing lists as available. Should i try the 18x9.5 +15 front and the 18x10.5 +22 in the back? These are going to not be flush with the side of the car tho? because stock is what +30? Grr wish i knew more about rims lol. Thanks guys!

If you care about look, you probably want to get stagger rims rather than the same on all 4

I like looks, but performance matters as well. For now ill be putting summer dry tires on them since my stocks already have a set of winters on em.

My big issue is fit / flush. Will i need anything else with the 18x9.5 +15 front and 18x10.5 +22 rear?

front is good, rear needs more offset, probably +15.

You don;t have enough offset for the fronts ... ideally, @ 18 x 9.5 for the front, you want +45 (ET45) offset ... with only +15, the outer edge of the rim will be at least an inch outside the fender ... and the tyre will rub ...

Factory 19" wheels are 19 x 9 ET47 and rears are 19 x 10 ET30, so if you are going for 18 x 9.5 for the fronts, you will need something like ET45 but this would still need to be checked to make sure the tyre does not foul on the fender. 18 x 10.5 ET2 should be OK, but again, a trial fitment is required to make sure .....

Your choice of premium track-day tyres is much, much broader in 18" wheels - check the range of Bridgestone (RE055), Yokohama (A050, A048 and the new Neova AD-series), Dunlop (Direzza series) or even Hoosier if you want to support a US-based manufacturer.

RB

Ok, sound like what others have been saying. As usual i found something i liked and wanted to buy it...then found out its not quite what i need. Im taking a small break from modding i think, brother needs to borrow a little cash to go to attend a family funeral and ill be loaning him the $$ since i cant attend (deployed)

Since i backed off tho ive noticed the RPF1 Type RC and the SSR SP3 (much more expensive tho!!) Luckily ive had a few very knowledgeable dealers pm me and i appreciate all their help and the responses here.

Thanks again!

You might want to check what class you will be running in if you change your wheel size. I think you maybe able to stuff the biggest tire you can onto the stock rims but changing the wheel size usually throws you into a different class.

I think the Z is now in CS...used to be in BS. I know BSP in Hawaii was insanely competitive.

Since you're just starting off in Auto-x I would recommend staying stock for at least one whole season just to see where the limits of the car and your driving skills are at.

Other than that have fun!

Yep! i had a long talk with quite a few very helpful people and although im actually on hold due to a family issue needing the money i set aside for the wheels, Ill be waiting either way. For now i am going to upgrade suspension, sway-bars, and brakes but keep stock rims/tires for the first few months so i dont screw my learning curve. If anyone else is looking to do what im doing i can quite happily recommend having a chat with Scott from Relentless Autosports in CA.

Also! A big thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread and the others ive posted along the same lines :tiphat:

If you're going to BSP I would get some 18x10's square and get 315's or 335's all around...

but that's just me.

I am sorry, but you are doing it completely backwards. You should do tires before you touch any suspension pieces. Suspension won't do you much good if your tires are stock, there is a reason why BS and CS classes are faster than most ST classes.

My car has 1900 miles, my suspension is all stock and I bought my RE11 at 700 miles. It's working out pretty good so far as I can hold my points lead

What I understood after talking directly to Mozen is that he is looking to get more into REAL track days, HPDE's, and some sort of Time Attack and time trials, etc.
Autocross is one thing, but actual track events are completely different.
Brakes become MUCH, MUCH more important when tracking... not only from a performance and repeatability standpoint, but more importantly from a safety stand point as well.
Suspension (ie: sway bars, coilovers etc) also become increasingly important when tracking, compared to coned off parking lots. There is MUCH more speed and corner speed carried on tracks and the need for better brakes and suspension vs tires goes way up when dealing with the higher speeds.

Although in steps, I would put proper wheels and tires right up there as a very close third on the to-do list, right under brakes and suspension.

Really, can you please show me a 370Z that is running 18x10's with a 335 or even a 315 all the way around??....

All the autox guys are currently running 295 square on the stock wheels. Getting a slightly wider wheel with a better offset and 315 would be easy. 335 might require some fender modification but it should be doable.

If he is talking about track, all he really needs to start is a set of brake pads (XP8 or XP10), brake fluid flush and some decent tires. Once again, there is no need for any major mods before the driver. I won a Redline Time Attack with a stock vehicle on Run Flat tires (street class) against many highly modified cars. I do highly recommend changing brake pads and fluids as a safety precaution. The OEM rotors are 14", please don't tell me you have to get Wilwood.....

R comps are probably one of the worst thing you can put on a novice driver. They usually release grip with no sudden warning, it's usually not recommended unless the driver could handle it.

315 or 335 might be nice for autox, but they are overkill on the track as they scrub way too much speed. Also that would mean going to a Hoosier.

Im not going with a crazy BBK. After talking to people who race for a living like Scott and then a few of the guys in my unit im only upgrading my Brakes to the sport package Akebonos, ill throw SS lines on there, Correct Pads for Track or AutoX depending what im doing and better fluid.

Since i want to, ill upgrade the Suspension, throw in the whiteline sway bars, Intake, Exhaust, oil cooler. Just about everything else im doing the the car is for safety. (4 Point Roll Cage, FIA Seat/Harness(HANS device compliant) HANS Device and helmet. For the SCCA events ill not change out my stock summer tires but when i go to the track ill throw on something different.

That all said i still have 8 months until this deployment is over and i can spend some serious time driving both at the local track and our airfield for army/scca events.

That gives me plenty of time to decide what i want to do, spend or save money and so on :)

Im still open to feedback and ideas although it does seem like the topic has changed :P perhaps i should nix the thread?

Alright CPT G says save your deployment money or put it into paying the car off :)

Seriously, I would go auto-x first stock just to get a feel of how you and the car perform. Auto-X is usually more forgiving then open tracks too...trust me you don't want to lose it on a turn and smack a guard rail/stack of tires.

....but its your ride and at least you are thinking in the right direction for safety.

A set of wheels & tires will give you some more traction and if lighter free up some weight. My biggest gripe during a season of Auto-x was that if I got on the throttle too early with the VDC off I could easily spin the rears on the sport tires/wheels. I'm not sure if that's even possible anymore with the RE-11 305s in the rear.

Maybe you want to look into a rear diff since you don't have the Sport?