Tires for 2012, your input please!

[ricardodemoraes]

I am thinking on going with new tires for the 2012 season, never used racing tires. I am beetwen these 2 tires, the A6 Hoosiers or the Hankook Ventus Z214, your thoughts please.

[whiteryder]

Bridgestone Potenza RE11s.   

[blue06civic]

Hoosiers have a reputation for being the stickiest when new, but falling off more quickly than other tires (maybe only good grip for one season).  I haven't seen any comparisons between the Hoosiers and the Hankooks, but haven't heard anything bad about the Hankooks.  I also need new tires for this season and am going with the Hankooks since they are $80 less per tire than the Hoosiers and $55 less than the Kumhos.

[ccann26]

I think your fastest tire is going to be the Hoosiers but the Hankooks might last you well into next season. If you go with the Hoosiers I would also get an alignment because they need camber.

[2forSolo]

I gave John a call today in search of some used 14" r compounds.  Seems not too many folks are running 14s anymore (maybe some stock class Miata/Honda Ax'ers) and they are becoming harder and harder to find used as well as new.  I got a real bargain on some 14in wheels a year ago - otherwise I would be in search of 15s.

He has a set of Hoosier r6's (205/55/14) in stock....   I'm currently running Dunlop Direzza Star Spec's that have about one season of Autocross use.

Good idea or bad idea? I realize its a road race tire, and I'm worried I will not be able to get enough heat into the tires before they begin to perform.    The price seems great, but don't want to be any worse off than I am with the Dunlop's.  He added me to his list and said he would call if they got in any a6, Hankook Ventus, or Khumo V710s.       Thoughts?

[blue06civic]

I don't have a direct comparison between the A6s and R6s, but know people have autocrossed on R6s and they seemed to be fine.  Obviously not as sticky, but I would expect them to be gripier than a street tire, like the Star Specs.

[Marc]

I guess the bottom line is what are you trying to accomplish? If you're doing this purely for fun and don't care if you perform at the top of your class (or if you can run in a street tire class) then just stick with one of the better performing street tires. They are relatively inexpensive and can last several seasons. However, if you want to do as well as you can, then tires are a proven method of cutting time on an autocross course.  Some road racers use A6's when they have short, qualifying runs, but I don't believe anyone (that is competitive) uses R6's to autocross. I suppose they would perform similar to some of the more advanced street tires but at a significantly higher cost, so I don't know why anyone would consider using them.