Tires for autoX in the Miata?

[roninsoldier83]

So, I bought a 1990 Miata not too long ago, and am looking to set her up for autoX. I've been ordering parts (mostly replacement, not much performance) non-stop since I bought the car, and the car will be coming together nicely in the next 2 weeks. As of right now, the rear tires are shot, and the fronts don't look a whole lot better, so it's time to order some rubber.

The car is/will be running the following suspension/brake mods:

-Tein Flex coilovers
-Racing beat front sway bar
-Kazera KZ-M wheels (15"x7")
-4.10 FD Torsen LSD
-Stainless steel braided brake lines
-Hawk HPS pads all around (just ordered)


I plan on playing around with the dampening settings & ride height this next weekend after I get the title switched over so I can drive it legally, at which time, after I get the ride height set reasonably well (don't want to give up suspension travel in favor of the "slammed" look), I'll be taking the car in for a custom alignment, where I'm thinking about 1.5-2.0* of negative camber up front & ~2.0* negative camber in the rear should work pretty well/keep the car fairly neutral. Not sure if I'll have the car corner balanced though, as I'm not sure if it will provide that noticeable of a difference...

I digress. So, with the 7" wide wheels, while the current/former owner has 195 wide tires on there, I was considering stepping it up to 205's (205/50/15's). I'm not trying to break the bank, and since I think the car should fit into one of the ST (street touring) classes, I would like to stick with street rubber (no need for uber-expensive competition Hoosiers). Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Either way, what kind of tire recommendations do you have for me? The car will likely never be driven in rain/snow (that's what my Bimmer is for haha), so no worries there. I was thinking "Extreme Performance Summer" (title as per Tire Rack's definition).

What thinks you? 195's or 205's? Different size? Any recommendations, or are most tires in that class of tires pretty comparable?

Thanks in advance!

-Brandon

[ecam8000]

The hot street (cheap) tires that are legal (street class UTQG 140 or higher) are Yokohama AD08 and Hankook RS3. The Yokes are in 205/15 and the Kooks in 225/15. Both work on a 6-8 wide rim. Section width and diameter are just about the same. Tire Rack and Discount ads usually have both of these for just over $100. Jim Paris tire (303-399-1515) 909 s Oneida (Leetsdale and Monaco) got them through Tire Rack at a bit better price than was online.

You are welcome to slide the heck out of my street tires. They are 195's on a 7x15. And I doubt a drifting event will wear 'em much.

[ecam8000]

Just to be clear. The difference between the UTQG 400 195 street tires and the 140 RS3 Kooks in 225 are huge! Those 400's would last 50k miles while my RS3 should last a couple years (trying to make all the events). I trailer so all of my miles are at the autocross. I was chasing everybody in the class with my streets (sliding around was fun). The RS3 helped get me up to speed with others in the class (except the S2000's).

[roninsoldier83]

The hot street (cheap) tires that are legal (street class UTQG 140 or higher) are Yokohama AD08 and Hankook RS3. The Yokes are in 205/15 and the Kooks in 225/15. Both work on a 6-8 wide rim. Section width and diameter are just about the same. Tire Rack and Discount ads usually have both of these for just over $100. Jim Paris tire (303-399-1515) 909 s Oneida (Leetsdale and Monaco) got them through Tire Rack at a bit better price than was online.

You are welcome to slide the heck out of my street tires. They are 195's on a 7x15. And I doubt a drifting event will wear 'em much.

Just to be clear. The difference between the UTQG 400 195 street tires and the 140 RS3 Kooks in 225 are huge! Those 400's would last 50k miles while my RS3 should last a couple years (trying to make all the events). I trailer so all of my miles are at the autocross. I was chasing everybody in the class with my streets (sliding around was fun). The RS3 helped get me up to speed with others in the class (except the S2000's).

Eric, you are The Man, sir!! Right now the car is parked with no plates on it and I was extremely busy this past weekend to say the least, but I'll likely take you up on your offer in the meantime

I saw the class results in the other thread... STR is a new class right? Doesn't seem fair throwing ST Miata's in the same ring as ST S2000's to say the least haha! I've driven a couple S2000's in anger, and they are truly capable machines to say the least. While the Miata is an extremely agile vehicle, not quite on par with the S2000 IMO. Seems pretty unbalanced to pit them against each other.

[Huzer]

No real input here, other than to say that was a lot of "to say the least"s.

[ecam8000]

I saw the class results in the other thread... STR is a new class right? Doesn't seem fair throwing ST Miata's in the same ring as ST S2000's to say the least haha! I've driven a couple S2000's in anger, and they are truly capable machines to say the least. While the Miata is an extremely agile vehicle, not quite on par with the S2000 IMO. Seems pretty unbalanced to pit them against each other.

Yes, I think this is the second full year. Last Sunday was my 5th driving event (1 last summer and three during the winter). I will say that the class does seem to encourage those with 1st and 2nd gen cars to find other classes. But I like the people in the class, and I will stay.

[roninsoldier83]

Yes, I think this is the second full year. Last Sunday was my 5th driving event (1 last summer and three during the winter). I will say that the class does seem to encourage those with 1st and 2nd gen cars to find other classes. But I like the people in the class, and I will stay.

I was looking at the national results in the other thread, and saw that STR Miata's listed were all NC chassis... but saw the STS class seemed to be chocked full of NA's. It looks like I would probably be better suited to STS. Do you know if all chassis Miata's can run STR, or is it limited to NB/NC's?

No real input here, other than to say that was a lot of "to say the least"s.

Yeah, there's quite a few of them... to say the least

[ecam8000]

I was looking at the national results in the other thread, and saw that STR Miata's listed were all NC chassis... but saw the STS class seemed to be chocked full of NA's. It looks like I would probably be better suited to STS. Do you know if all chassis Miata's can run STR, or is it limited to NB/NC's?

Legal sure, but "out classed" by the 240 HP S2000. Are you sure they weigh more than a Miata?