Cheap Tires

I'd see what's out there in 205/50-15, unless there's a legal reason for not wanting to do that.

ASX in 205/50-15 for $65 apiece.

Nankang Ditchfinders FTW!

sorry couldn't help myself.

Also vote Yoko S.drive. The Ziex are a good street tire, but the Yokos are better, and worth the extra $64 for a set imho.

Matt B wrote: Cool, that's more mileage than I thought they would get and certainly acceptable to me. However, Dr.Hess mentioned he wanted more than twice that mileage (45K). That said, I doubt anything more serious than the Ziex will get that kind of lifespan. I think I got around 30K out of my SPT iirc, give or take a few thousand. Maybe someone can enlighten me to longer lasting tires that you can actually autocross on?

I should say that i actually got rid of my last RS2s at 20k miles, and they hadn't quite hit the wear bars yet. I would bet they would have safely hit 25k, maybe even 30k.

Depends on car, obviously.

As I live On The Edge of the Law in NW Arkansas, there's no legal reason for much of anything here. Just ask my neighbors with their amateur pharmacutical experiments. However, I'm not real sure 205's would fit. I know the 195's fit, as that's what's on there now with the Ziex 512's, but there's not much room on the inside before the strut body or GC coilovers would start rubbing.

What size wheels and offset do you run?

In reply to Dr. Hess:

That would be a legal issue if we're talking the laws of physics.

Laws are made to be broken, there, griffin. Just don't get the priests (AKA "Peer Review Science") after you.

My wheels are 15", of course, Rage brand and I think they're the same offset as stock, or +39mm. I don't remember if they are 6.5" or 7". '88 Rolla GT-S 20 Valve.

We're talking a 5mm difference. 5mm closer to your struts. Can you clear that?

It'll give you almost another half inch of contact patch. I think you can fit it.

Looking at the fronts, I think I have 5mm room left. But I think I'll stick with the 195 width for now. The 205s are going to cut down the gas mileage a bit, I think, and I drive this thing 80+ miles a day. I'm leaning towards those Yoko's.

Dr. Hess wrote: Looking at the fronts, I think I have 5mm room left. But I think I'll stick with the 195 width for now. The 205s are going to cut down the gas mileage a bit, I think, and I drive this thing 80+ miles a day. I'm leaning towards those Yoko's.

The Yokos would be my choice out of your options as well.

For what it's worth, i experienced almost no drop in MPG going from 215 width to 245 width.

Well, crap. I was just going to DTD's web page this morning to order those S.drives and the rebate is gone. However, they now have a $70 rebate on BF Goodrich g-Force Sport tires. That brings it to $65.50/tire delivered. Are these OK? They have a good UTQG.

Dr. Hess wrote: Well, crap. I was just going to DTD's web page this morning to order those S.drives and the rebate is gone. However, they now have a $70 rebate on BF Goodrich g-Force Sport tires. That brings it to $65.50/tire delivered. Are these OK? They have a good UTQG.

I have two of these on the Escort. They're alright. Sidewall is a little soft, but i like them better than the 912s.

Dr. Hess wrote: Well, crap. I was just going to DTD's web page this morning to order those S.drives and the rebate is gone. However, they now have a $70 rebate on BF Goodrich g-Force Sport tires. That brings it to $65.50/tire delivered. Are these OK? They have a good UTQG.

I was just about to suggest the g-Force Sports with the rebate, we have a set ont he XR4 track rat, they're pretty grabby, we really like them for the price...

OK, I pulled the trigger on the BFG's. I think it was that Goodrich Blimp that was the final decision maker. $344 less the $70 rebate. I let them get me for new valve stems.

Well, just got off the phone with DTD. The BFG's are N/A. I guess the Goodrich Blimp got the best of them. So, instead, they gave me ten bucks off instantly on the Yoko S.drive's to match the rebate that I missed by a day. New total: $260. I didn't want to have to battle a rebate anyway.

I also just swapped out to my Graspics. Had to reset my toe, which was about 8/32 toe out. Humm.

Also consider the Fuzion HRi (not sure if it comes in 195/50/15 though). When one of my Miata's Ziex 512s blew out I put a pair of the Fuzions on, and I'm looking forward to wearing out the remaining 512s so I can get Fuzions all around. I haven't pushed them to their limits, but in playing with on-ramps and such I think they're at least as good as the 512s, probably better. Certainly not in the league of RT-615s.

I also considered the Ziex 912s, mainly because they're the evolution of the 512s already on the car. After autocrossing a Saturn with 912s on the front, I'm glad I didn't. Between the owner of the car and I, we roasted those new 912s pretty badly in a single day of autocrossing, and I try hard not to spin the wheels under power. Neither of us were very impressed with them. I can't speak for how they perform under more sane driving conditions like the street.