Advice needed: should I cancel autox newbie school on account of bad tires?

My daughter has been driving for one year now. She would like to go to the track but she's not 18 yet. She decided she wants to give BMW club autocross a try. So I signed us both up for the local club novice school.

It's on Saturday. Last weekend she said something was wrong with her car - (ratty all-wheel-drive 2006 325xi)- which I diagnosed as a blown shock. P.S. see next post for the most blown shock you've ever seen. I'm installing new Koni adjustables this morning and I notice:

her tires are down to nothing. 2/32" of tread on run-flat all-season Contis.

And the forecast is for light, steady rain.

These are tires I would never take out on the track, much less a wet track. But I don't know zip about autox newbie school.

Should I cancel? Or will she be okay? I'm assuming she's not going to light things up to eight tenths. More like trying not to get lost and DNF?

Now this is a blown shock:

I'd rather wear out the tires at the end of their life when doing an autocross when you're looking to learn car control opposed to chasing tenths in trying for a regional or national championship.

The rain will certainly test car control, but will limit tire wear. Expect to be needing to order tires early next week. Have fun and post pictures (of the car from the weekend)

I say go for it, the more dangerous part will be driving to and from the event (as usual).

I'd go for it, she'll get a chance to see how the car behaves sliding around. Better in a more controlled environment then on the street.

Where's that thread about teaching your wife to powerslide lol?

I'd do the school, just watch the tires during the day. I had a student cord the tires on her ATS at a school the other weekend. We were aware and watching. It will be better to do it on crap tires than not do it at all.

Check tires between runs and run till cords show. Tire tread only really helps if there are puddles. I would tend to run my R-comps (with no real tread) as long as it wasnt puddled.

Think of the school as a Viking funeral for her tires.

As others have said, even better to have her learn what to do in less than ideal conditions.

Good advice all, and I'll take it. I'm actually glad it's raining, because she will get a better car control development opportunity that way.

Here's another question: New tires on Sunday, for sure. If she gets the bug and drives the club series this summer, do you think she will be eating tires? I would be surprised if a 17-year-old new driver will be pushing past five tenths, but I just don't know. How has it been for your teen girls?

The crappy tires just lower the threshold meaning she has to do everything a little slower, not a bad thing for a new driver.

So long as they are sporting-oriented and the car isnt overly camber challenged. I have seen some all-seasons chunk at an autocross on camber challenged cars.

What are you looking at for the new set? you might want to ditch the run-flats

Jamey_from_Legal wrote: How has it been for your teen girls?

I seriously doubt we can generalize like that.

My son is the faster driver.

But it was my daughter who lit up a Yugo so radically that she left nothing but a cheering crowd and a massive cloud of smoke.

Drive and learn! Hooning around on crap tires in the rain and snow in empty parking lots is where I honed car control skills. As a teen. Certainly not recently

gamby wrote: Think of the school as a Viking funeral for her tires.

Last time I had one I tried to practice J-turn parallel parking (using a box painted on the pavement). Getting the amount of rotation right to not slam the curb or leave the back of the car sticking out is really hard.

If she's planning on taking up autocross you'll have to ditch the runflats anyway - There's no runflat on the market that can handle the abuse, especially on a camber challenged BMW.

In theory, 2/32" should, note I said should, handle better than new tires.

2/32 is also the legal limit in many states.

I agree with the statement that 2/32" should be fine. That said, you should check the school requirements, because it's possible that they may not pass it through tech with tires that low.

1. Verify tires will pass tech.
2. Rotate tires with most tread to the front.
3. Monitor tire wear throughout day.
4. Take along floor jack and battery-powered tools to rotate tires during the day as necessary.
5. Order new tires from Tire Rack.
6. Win!!!

Bald tires wouldn't concern me in this instance. Badly dry rotted tires, separated belts, exposed cords, or sidewall bulges would.

I might expect a few extra spins and some understandable frustration at the low threshold of grip, though.

Like everybody says, if the tires are still intact and not dangerous go for it - you have enough tread left for a solo school! I guarantee you they will last for a rookie solo school. These were my dailys I took off my FR-S after ~8k miles of daily wear when the wet handling started to become less than desirable:

Still perfectly acceptable in the dry, provided local use and close monitoring of each drive.

heh those look like my RE-11As did when I decided to replace them...

In reply to Jamey_from_Legal: You can try to call or e-mail the organizers so they can give you definite specs for tire tread. You won't want to go and fail tech when they could have given you that info over the phone or in an e-mail.