Author Topic: Autocross Tires & Wheels (Read 15479 times)

scanner · « **on:** February 24, 2016, 09:47:55 PM »

Any leads on light weight Autocross wheels? I won Detroit Region SCCA BStreet and Detroit Council of Sports Car Clubs BStreet classes in 2015. Now I'm a target. Some light weight wheels might help me make my escape in 2016.

Tirerack has ENKEI RACING PF01 and I'm thinking Bridgestone POTENZA RE-71R

Other suggestions?

Clear Skies!

POS VETT · « **Reply #1 on:** February 25, 2016, 01:36:43 PM »

Did you try CCW or Finspeed?

scanner · « **Reply #2 on:** February 25, 2016, 09:06:44 PM »

On initial look, Finspeed does not show the stock 18x8 and CCW shows no sizes. I'll keep looking. Thanks for the leads.

Clear Skies

POS VETT · « **Reply #3 on:** February 27, 2016, 07:20:49 PM »

Those brands produce custom-made wheels. You will need to contact them and talk with them about having a set made to your specifications. CCW is very very good with creating the perfect fitment. I don't have personal experience with Finspeed but I think it's just like CCW but in earlier stage.

kwtoxman · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2016, 04:55:24 PM »

OP, the wheels you mention are one of few very lightweight options and a good choice.

As for tires, for max ax performance look at hoosier a6 or a7. Google hoosier a6 solstice and read up. You can get the a6 or a7 and put 295's on stock 8" width wheels. It has been discussed many times on solstice forums, and without going to wider wheels this is the hot AX setup for the sol. BTW, check your AX class and see if you have treadwear rating requirements. If so, these will likely not pass.

Otherwise for more of a street tire with treadwear ratings for more stock AX classes, you can consider a direzza ZII star spec as another option to the RE71R. While not available in stock size some have used the 245/40/18 on the sol with success. Only a little lower diameter, which technically will help acceleration fwiw.

2kwk4u · « **Reply #5 on:** February 29, 2016, 05:47:53 AM »

Quote from: kwtoxman on February 28, 2016, 04:55:24 PM

...
Otherwise for more of a street tire with treadwear ratings for more stock AX classes, you can consider a direzza ZII star spec as another option to the RE71R. While not available in stock size some have used the 245/40/18 on the sol with success. Only a little lower diameter, which technically will help acceleration fwiw.

Are the ZII star spec tires as awesome as the Z1's were?

Considering it for my next street tire (occasional autocross and maybe 1x/yr track day). I loved my Z1's and when I replaced them, I opted for Potenza S04 "Pole Position" (should have at least coughed up the extra for PSS). I'm not as happy with the S04's. I realize these tires are in different categories than the star specs are/were. Lesson learned. Next set will be RE-11, RE71R or ZII star specs (the latter two in the "wrong size").

elff · « **Reply #6 on:** February 29, 2016, 10:58:02 AM »

2kwk4u
Dunlop supposedly went back to having the Star Specs being optimized for AutoX. I have not driven a set, but they should be back to the level of performance you liked. I know they had a year or two where they changed things and people did not like them.

Scanner
Enkei makes great rims. I have a set of Raijin's on our Gen Coupe. Light, strong, and good looking. The PF01's are killer rims. If they have your offset, I would recommend them highly

kwtoxman · « **Reply #7 on:** February 29, 2016, 11:25:55 AM »

Quote from: 2kwk4u on February 29, 2016, 05:47:53 AM

Are the ZII star spec tires as awesome as the Z1's were?

Considering it for my next street tire (occasional autocross and maybe 1x/yr track day). I loved my Z1's and when I replaced them, I opted for Potenza S04 "Pole Position" (should have at least coughed up the extra for PSS). I'm not as happy with the S04's. I realize these tires are in different categories than the star specs are/were. Lesson learned. Next set will be RE-11, RE71R or ZII star specs (the latter two in the "wrong size").

The ZII star specs are supposed to be as good if not better than the ZI SS's and are the true successor to the Z1 SS.

After ZI SS's were discontinued a while back ZII SS's were not made for a couple years or so. Only ZII tires were available (not star spec) and designed differently enough so as not to be called star spec (SS). More recently ZII SS tires have been released and essentially there are now two Direzza ZII options available; Direzza ZII tires and Direzza ZII star spec tires. And the ZII star specs are the hot ticket for many people like the ZI star specs.

Quote

I was browsing for info on Star Specs and discovered that Dunlop has introduced the new ZII Star Spec in Japan. They claim the new ZII Star Specs compared with the old Z1 are 1% faster around a 2.8km track. That's equivalent to about 0.7-0.8s around Wakefield Park, which would make them about equal to a proper R-spec tyre!

A comparo review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnfw7t3Fgzg

Gentleman Jack · « **Reply #8 on:** February 29, 2016, 12:08:04 PM »

I have the Pilot SS on my car and they are unflappable. When the roads are dry (99% of the time) I can not even get the traction control light to flicker, let alone get out of control. I've only managed to get the TC to kick in once in a heavy downpour on a hard corner, and that's with a twin turbo V8.

Sol Asylum · « **Reply #9 on:** February 29, 2016, 02:06:40 PM »

Quote from: Gentleman Jack on February 29, 2016, 12:08:04 PM

I have the Pilot SS on my car and they are unflappable. When the roads are dry (99% of the time) I can not even get the traction control light to flicker, let alone get out of control. I've only managed to get the TC to kick in once in a heavy downpour on a hard corner, and that's with a twin turbo V8.

And no guard rails right?

POS VETT · « **Reply #10 on:** March 01, 2016, 08:34:46 AM »

Guard rails are just a type of corner-assist method.

Gentleman Jack · « **Reply #11 on:** March 01, 2016, 11:06:33 AM »

Quote from: Sol Asylum on February 29, 2016, 02:06:40 PM

And no guard rails right?

This car does not hunger for guard rails and garages the way the old car did. Though the Ms. did find out it enjoys a good roughing up with a concrete wall. It has a mild bruise on the chin. The wall has since lost its battle with sledgie.

My line that day was "this is why we can't have nice things" and then I cried.

Sol Asylum · « **Reply #12 on:** March 01, 2016, 12:05:50 PM »

I can't believe she would mess up your concrete wall like that, has she now heart?

scanner · « **Reply #13 on:** March 01, 2016, 08:40:28 PM »

Great Info Guys!

scanner · « **Reply #14 on:** March 04, 2016, 08:32:28 PM »

Currently considering: https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?&target=runWheelSearch&autoMake=Pontiac&autoModel=Solstice&autoYear=2009&autoModClar=GXP&initialPartNumber=4698755142BML&i1_Qty=4&wheelMake=Enkei+Performance&wheelModel=Lusso&wheelFinish=Black+w%2FMach+Lip&showRear=no&packageFlow=false

What do you think of the Black with polished rim on a white Solstice Coupe? Clear Skies!

elff · « **Reply #15 on:** March 04, 2016, 08:57:41 PM »

Personally, I am not a fan of the Polished lip on any car.
Even though it's not white, it makes it look like the tire has a whitewall.

Here is what a full black Rim looks like on a different brand White coupe.

Gentleman Jack · « **Reply #16 on:** March 04, 2016, 10:27:26 PM »

I agree with Elff on this one. Not a fan of the polished lip on black.

Go black or go bright. Not both.

scanner · « **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2016, 11:43:41 AM »

I see the point about looking like a white wall, some of the customer images at the site look pretty good without looking like a white wall but it is the lighting. The issue I'm running into is trying to get 20# or less at a reasonable cost. CCW and Finspeed are very high. No luck in finding used yet either. Tirerack has ENKEI RACING PF01, but they tell me the fenders will need mods and I don't want that. No OZ wheels at Tirerack and OZracing.com has no weights listed for any of the racing wheels! Ebay has loads of risky propositions, and most have no weight listed and unknown brands. This is looking like it will be harder than I thought....

Clear Skies!

Critterman · « **Reply #18 on:** March 05, 2016, 11:45:06 AM »

They are a bit narrow, standard size is 18x8. I like the polished lip on black rims.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #19 on:** March 12, 2016, 02:24:17 AM »

I prefer the polished lip on black wheels and don't like a solid black. Why? Maybe because up here in gods country, since I was a kid black wheels were the wheels someone would put on their car when the put snow tires on. Might as well have a set of these. http://tires.canadiantire.ca/en/wheels/steel-wheels/product/0096295P/steel-wheel---black/
That's something I'll have to work through with help from a therapist.

The new wheels I'm putting on my white car are going to be white, maybe this year...

Surprising how many outfits don't list the weights for their wheels on their site. I've found from past experience that if you need a weight for a particular wheel just email the vendor and they will send the information over right away. As I remember the OZ wheels I got were 18lbs per corner and the stock wheels were 26

scanner · « **Reply #20 on:** March 16, 2016, 07:30:12 PM »

Many good ideas here again, thanks!

I re-read the SCCA rules, good thing too. The Width for Street class must be the same as OE, so it's going to be 8, I can go +/- 1" on diameter. I don't think I want the 17 or 19". 18x8 Is looking like 21lbs at Tirerack best case. I have line out to local guy that might sell OZ's that fit but the chances are getting thin there too.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #21 on:** March 19, 2016, 08:48:19 AM »

Post a "Looking for OZ 18x8 racing wheels" thread on a few forums and see what pops up. You never know...

scanner · « **Reply #22 on:** March 20, 2016, 03:24:33 PM »

Running out of time. Pulled the trigger. Season opener is with the Detroit Corvette club April 17. So the Axis Sport XQ in Silver and Bridgestone RE-71R are on their way.

Clear Skies!

Robotech · « **Reply #23 on:** March 25, 2016, 12:53:33 PM »

I've been told out here the RE-71Rs are THE tire the hardcore AX guys are going with and they work really well. Be sure to let us know what you think of them as these will probably be my next tire.

Dave@DDMworks · « **Reply #24 on:** March 25, 2016, 06:32:58 PM »

I ran a set of the RE-71R's last weekend at a track day and they were really good. Nice turn in, predictable and took a bunch of punishment and held up, highly recommend them

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Author Topic: Autocross Tires & Wheels (Read 15479 times)