Originally Posted by MiataMan00 (Post 1471927)

165 wang fang brand tires on a 10" wheel > everything

/discussion

Originally Posted by Dietcoke (Post 1471975)

every real racer knows ling long > wang fang

Originally Posted by zvehrs (Post 1472069)

Grrr so here's my dilemma: I have 9" wheels with worn out old Rivals now. Trying to get new tires for the summer. I will be doing a couple track days and putting maybe 1000 street miles on them over the summer. The Rs4 seems like the best option for mixed use, and it would be nice to be able to use them a couple summers since it seems like they wear out slowly. The problem is Tirerack says they aren't available till June (in 225/45/15) and when I called Discount Tire they said that Hankook doesn't expect them till July. So who knows exactly when they will be available. So my only other options seem to be the Rivals, Kumho V720 (meh), or go up to a 245/40/15 RS4 (which should be available end of April). I am just concerned that the Rivals won't last very long. I am a newb driver still so maybe I will get more than a couple track days out of them?

Originally Posted by concealer404 (Post 1472073)

Any rumors of a 225/45 VR1?

Originally Posted by zvehrs (Post 1472069)

Grrr so here's my dilemma: I have 9" wheels with worn out old Rivals now. Trying to get new tires for the summer. I will be doing a couple track days and putting maybe 1000 street miles on them over the summer. The Rs4 seems like the best option for mixed use, and it would be nice to be able to use them a couple summers since it seems like they wear out slowly. The problem is Tirerack says they aren't available till June (in 225/45/15) and when I called Discount Tire they said that Hankook doesn't expect them till July. So who knows exactly when they will be available. So my only other options seem to be the Rivals, Kumho V720 (meh), or go up to a 245/40/15 RS4 (which should be available end of April). I am just concerned that the Rivals won't last very long. I am a newb driver still so maybe I will get more than a couple track days out of them?

Originally Posted by MrJon (Post 1472088)

Originally Posted by matrussell122 (Post 1472080)

I should have my car back on the ground in the next week or two if you want to ride in it. I have the 245/40R15 RS4's on 15x9s

Originally Posted by bbundy (Post 1401682)

once again tested last weekend on a 40F degree autocross course in the rain. course was wet temp was cold.

Hankook RS4 245/45 on 10" ~ 52 seconds
Hoosier H20 225/45 on 9" ~50 seconds.
Bridgstone Re71R 205/50/15 on 7.5" about half the tread already worn off. ~47 seconds.

didn't try them but I believe the new Continentals sport contact DW or whatever they call it would have been the fastest of all they seem to dominate cold wet conditions. Toyo RA1/R888 are pretty good too.

Freekin night and day difference in trying to drive these tires in the wet. traction limit on the Hankook and Hoosires is like an On/off switch in the cold wet. Not sure how warm it needs to be for the H20's to actually work in the wet but here in the northwest wet weather is rarely warm and in those conditions there are numerous street tires that are significantly faster than H20's and the RS4's are even worse.

Originally Posted by Mobius (Post 1472843)

Given Bob's level of experience and skill and achievement in autocross I'd just go with RE71R's. And in fact since I have a set of 8" 6UL's in my basement, I'll be putting 205 RE71R's on them this year. They're currently shod in ancient 205 H2O takeoffs. Which ... should go out in a blaze of glory at a dry autocross.

It's a shame they don't make RE71Rs bigger than 205 in 15". I have a friend that works for Bridgestone, I'll see if he can track down somebody for me to give feedback to.

Originally Posted by AndyHollis (Post 1390751)

"Fantastic in the rain"...up to a point. Cannot channel deep water at high speed like a Conti DW or Michelin PSS.

Further, the RE71R compound will not work when its below about 50 degrees ambient and wet. In the dry, you can generate enough heat to make it work, but with constant water cooling the tire, it's "glass tabletop" lack of grip.

Several cars (including me) ran the Stones at One Lap last year and the first couple of events were 40's and wet...grip was awful. The PSS-shod cars destroyed us. The one wet event where it was about 70 ambient...no problem. And when it dried out later in the week, we kicked ass on the Stones.

But...the new schnizzle for the Miata world in "triple-threat" tire is this: ExtremeContact Sport - 205/50ZR15 86W Tire | Continental

I have been testing them on my ND vs the PSS for GRM, and they are very similar. Track, autocross, and street...does it all quite well. But the big news is the Sport will come in a 205/50-15 and 205/45-16..both 23" tall. I used to run the DW in that 16" size on my 92 Miata and it was epic...until they discontinued it. Now, you have two options for early Miata.

The best part is that these tires fill in the blanks around the RE71R. They will channel the deepest water at high speed, have excellent braking and dry/wet handling. Not as fast as RE71R in the dry, but better almost everywhere else. And way less noise on the street.

Truly a game-changer for NA/NB Miatas that are driven on the street. 205/50-15 on 15x8...or 205/45-16 on 16x8.

"One tire to rule them all". You heard it here first. :)