Bang for your buck, the 615s can't be touched except perhaps some take off RE070s.

If you look at last year's results from ST classes at nationals, there was a mix.

Trophy positions:
STS: Bridgestone, Falken, Falken, Khumo, Falken Bridgestone, Falken, Falken, Falken, Falken, Falken, Yokohama
STS2: Falken, Falken, Khumo, Falken, Falken, Falken, Falken,
STX: Falken, Falken, Hankook, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Falken, Khumo, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama
STU: Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Bridgestone, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama, Yokohama

You could go Yokohama, but at about $100 more per tire, I would go R compound instead.

I'm curious about contingencies for Bridgestone vs. Yokohama. The dominance of Yoks in STU particularly makes me think people picked them based on that.

<- wants RE01s.

Also Derrick, you can't count on your tires staying sticky for the whole year. And if you know for sure that you'll buy 2 sets, going with the RT615s might be the best choice since 1/2 way through the season, fresh anything is better than half-2/3 used anything as far as the top street tires go. You would also be sure to get a full season out of 2 sets of shaved tires, which would be the optimal setup I think.

I wasn't aware of any national event contingencies that Bridgestone had, but Yoko certainly had them; I think I got some Yokohama money myself last year. :)

Another reason Yokos were so prevalent in STU, is that the optimal sizes were available, vs. some of the other manufacturers. (Or maybe that was non-turbos; the turbos may have been able to get either in the 245's.) Yokohamas are more $$$, they are a good tire, but so is the 615 for the Subaru. And that said, I want to try some RE01R's this year too.

Two sets of shaved 615s is probably a pretty good choice. Shaved should wear better and handle heat better. The retread guys out in sparks do the better shaving IMHO. Used to be Silver State. Matt knows the new name.

Who, where, name, phone number?

They appear to have been bought by ATD, but the shop name is still Silver State...

Silver State Tire
550 Dunn Circle
Sparks, NV 89431
Phone: 1-800-866-8473 / 775-358-8473
Fax: 775-355-6740

Stupid question incoming....DUCK!...

Do they shave the tires mounted on the wheels or off?...

Ok, it's save to look now.

Silver state actually grinds the tire unmounted. Sunshine cuts them mounted. The former leaves the surface flat but fuzzy. The later leaves them grooved, and IMHO takes a bit more wear to get flat again.

I want warm fuzzy tires!

And your tire choice for 2007?..Drum roll............

I can give you a full review of the RE-01Rs *




(* offer not valid until october 2007)

I'll eventually have 235/40R17 RE01s, but I'm trying to pry Cory's old RT615s from him so I can afford coilovers for the first couple events. :lol:

Also I'm considering shaving my tires this year, since I don't want to heat cycle them to death with street driving.

You have yet to make me a $ offer dude! :P


Plus, if Uncle Sam doesn't get off his ass with my refund, I will be starting the season on them myself! :lol:

I'll be running the same 615s I had last year, seeing as how I've got less than half a season on them. . . :|

Babies are ruining autocross.

Hoosier A6's, eta march 7th.

You need a Darth Vader voice when you say that :cool:

Well, now that I'm on race tires, can I start complaining about the street tire pax???? God help us.

:lol:

Yes, yes you can... But you have to hang out with the Corvette crowd. :)

If your tires can handle it, it would be interesting some afternoon to swap tires between our cars.

Though they won't be exactly the same size, it would be interesting.

I had a dream last night about Yokohama Neovas. Is this a sign?

Of your divorce, perhaps. :P

After getting this thread up and running, I got to looking at last years 615s. They have plenty of wear left in them. They are just hard as hell. I would like 235s this year but shit happens.

I'll be running last years RT-615's this year. Less traction is more fun anyway. :P

3 words... pre run burnouts. :)

:lol: Three more words: good bye transmission. ;)

(okay, so that's really two words...)

Shaving them a little bit will help.

Thanks for the info. This may be the answer I was looking for to save some bucks. Do you think I should pull them off the wheels and make them fuzzy or leave them mounted and go to the other place?

Ask someone who has done tire shaving before. :lol: I might do my Bridgestones like I said, and if I do I will shave them before I mount them I think.

Ok, my next question. Do you all fill your compressed air tanks with your own compressor or can you fill them other ways. I don't have one yet but I figure you can pick one up almost anywhere. Secondly, what do you all think about shaving last years tires?

I ground a set of Hankooks that had been overheated at the track.

Most places won't cut used tires because they don't want to hurt the cutter blade.

Is it really worth the effort to dismount, grind and remount? That sounds nasty, don't it?

My tire "guys" will do it for beer so the dismount isn't a big deal. So you think they can grind some of the surface?

Sure, but it may not help much and cost you 15-20 a tire.

I ran into Jim U today, he said all the corvette guys are pissed at the "T" rules. I think Lucas spanking them by so much last year has a lot to do with it.

Um, why don't they all run street tires then? It's not like they're getting beaten by the rules, they're getting beaten by a guy which a soft enough right foot to make the T rules advantageous on a Vette.

Oh, and Derrick, you can fill up an air tank at the gas station for like $.75, or for free if you're buying gas (just go inside and ask for quarters to use in the machine, most places will give you air for free if you're a customer already).

I missed this earlier. If you don't already have a compressor or tank, I would suggest one of the GOOD small 12v compressors. I burned up 3 of the 9.99-19.99 ones before getting a "truck air" that I have used for about 6 year now. These higher quality usually fan cooled models run $30-50.

http://dieselgalaxy.com/product.php?productid=43369

There is also a pretty good looking one at Costco, but I have no experience with it.

Tanks are faster, but compressors are smaller, require less planning, and can do as many tires as you have time for...

so where do you guys buy wheels here in reno? i want to get the enkei or52 that's shown earlier in this thread. the only place i know of to start shopping is les schwab and this one place on mill.

Egad no... www.TireRack.com www.discounttiredirect.com, www.edgeracing.com, buywheelstoday.com...

Figure out what you want, and then shop the Internet...

thanks. will bookmark those for sure. edgeracing seems to be where i want to go. need to see what really fits though.

Why do you say that? They may have the smallest inventory compared to the others.

I would also suggest you tell us what your objective for the new wheels are and we can point you toward the key features / sizes you mist want to focus on.

diameter, Width, offset, weight and cost all play a part in an informed decision in addition to looks. :)

I can't wait to see the new Lucas Machine.

You're right, other sites have a bigger selection, like discounttiredirect. for now, basically i just wanted to replace the stock wheel and keep the 215/45r17 re92 tires. just for daily city driving now.

as far as i know stock wheel size is 17x7 5-100. do you know the exact wheel offset? according to http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=335263 for 7.0" it's +50 to +53. but when i do a search for wheels at discount tire direct for my car year/model (17 size wheel), they give back wheels with offset from 38-48. what offset do i really want?

+48 is as low as you want to go. Ideally you get between 50-53. If you're not planning to replace your tires yet... then wheel choice is a lot less important other than that. :lol:

ok, so i've decided to get a new tires if i got new wheels. this is what i'm planning to get now (95% sure).

5zigen Fn01r-c (gloss Black), 17x8 - 5x100 - ET48
Falken Ziex Ze 512 (ultra high performance, all season), 225/45R17
$1,281.93 incl shipping (please let me know if i can get a better deal somewhere else)

Again, mainly for regular city driving around Reno. Wanted to keep the driving feel somewhat the same as stock. Above sound ok? i'm new to tires and wheels and i think this is the best setup for me from what i found researching this stuff.

it'll look almost like this on my car
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f7.../powerslot.jpg

That's an excellent daily driver tire, but I don't think anybody has autocrossed on them, so it's an unknown there. but if you're keeping your stock wheels and tires, you can use those in the winter and get something a little more aggressive, like Kumho MX, Hankook RS2, or Falken RT615s for summer.

2 things.

225s on an 8" wheel will likely have the rim overhang the tire, so curb rash might be an issue. My 225 snows have this issue. I can't even stack them in the garage without rims rubbing each other. And I've slightly borked the spokes when the wheels fell over on their face.

225 Falken 615s are fine because they are wider.

You might also consider the Khumo ASX if you are positive you want all season. I have a set on the Audi, and they are pretty damn good compared to tires that are up to 50% more expensive...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...ay.jsp?ttid=52

Are you looking for 4 season tires, or all but winter? If the later, there are definitely better choices.

Those are excellent DD tires, but they're pretty low in terms of ultimate grip and will be frustrating for AutoX. If you're looking for an all-season that will grip near a summer tire, the PZero Nero M+S is a good choice, but it's still a compromise. As others have said, you'd be better off going with a tire like a Hankook Ventus or RT-615 on new wheels for summer/autoX, and run your stockers in winter.

yes, i plan on keeping the stock wheels and tires. sounds like 615s are the way to go and then just use the stock in the winter. perhaps i might want to AutoX this summer. thanks for the input everyone.

Yeah, those 512's run really narrow. I had 235's on my 8" wheels and they were pinched, the 245's fit really well though.