miata tire time

I have 2 miatas and they share race tires between track and autocross. The track car is a SM (I don't race anymore) and the autocross car is a mildly built street car. My old RA1s have really lasted a lot longer than expected and put my beater miata at 4th overall at my last autocross. On track I know they have fallen off, but the other instructors with miatas are all chumpcar guys running various 200TW tires.

Before anyone suggests tightening the nut behind the wheel... I'm an instructor and do regularly get coaching. My goal is to be able to both run with the other miata driving instructors at the track and to be able to switch the tires to my other miata once a month for an autocross. This purchase is just to put new tires on my cars to remain competitive with my buddies. I know that I could be faster than them all on Hoosiers, but they are running street tires and I'd like to as well to keep the playing field level. At the end of the day, I want a fun setup that doesn't cost an arm and a leg or have my friends complaining that I was only faster because of my brand new Hoosiers.

So I'm thinking of a 200TW tire that will last. I have heard from my chumpy friends that the regular Rival and the Yokohama are pretty decent. My question is whether a brand new 200TW tire is as sticky as a few year old RA1s. I'm really open to any 200TW tire, but a guy with a similar car to mine has the regular Rivals and seems to keep up and/or pass me at Mid Ohio.

So... what is the hive opinion? Another set of RA1s? Switch to ______ 200TW? Maxxis is having a sale now, and there is a decent sale on the Rivals too.

Biggest question: how does a shaved RA1 compare to one of these "new" 200TW tires?

Sounds like you've already got proof that a new EPS tire is sticker than your now somewhat crusty RA1s. Since it seems that you think the RA1s are good enough for autocross and you want stickier tires for track use, get regular Rivals, RS3v2s, or Z2/Z2SS.

The RA1 is a good tire. If you want long lived quick track fun it's hard to beat. I know it's an old design but it just keeps working and it's got that really long life.

I've been impressed with the RE-71R, but I can't comment on tire life because most of my experience has been with a very punishing car and journalists who love burnout shots.

The RE71R wears pretty fast, it's a very sticky tire and great for autocross, so getting those as autocross tires and using the RA1s on the track could make sense.

"......and put my beater miata at 4th overall at my last autocross."

I kinda wish my region was more like this. I'm clinging by my fingernails to top ten times, it's gotten SRSBZNS autocrossing around here.

Thanks guys! Great information!

How well do the TW200 tires hold up at the track on such a car? I'm thinking the chumpcar guys have experience.

As far as who I autocross with... its my PCA region. The 944 turbo needs a lot of work to run with the fast guys, so I've been taking this crusty miata the past few events. Its a small group, but 6 of us have been running against each other for almost 20 years. We're all pretty close friends and have had very close times over the years in all of our different cars. Their cars: Cayman GT4 (all stock), Cayman S (GT3 suspension, R888 tires), 944 turbo (who knows, but its fast!), 911 SC (developed for autocross for 25+ years), Cayman GTS (all stock). My miata shockingly runs right with them. At the most recent event, I think it was mainly my gearing that hurt me... lots of rev limiter driving, but when I tried the shift it didn't pay off. Maybe I need a 2 speed rear end or a short 2nd gear! haha! Lately we've just been running 2 classes: Porsches and not Porsches.

Side note to anyone that feels they are really off pace at their events: you need more practice, and help from fellow competitors. In our group we talk a lot between runs trying not only for our own speed, but to make the group faster. We walk the course as a group and discuss what to do. So find events with lots of runs, test events, and most importantly other drivers that will help you!

Treadwear doesn't mean a whole lot, and especially not at 200TW, which manufacturers will stamp on anything to make them autocross-legal. The RE71R and Rival S are "cheater EPS" tires that are very sticky but will wear out very fast, much faster than other "200TW" tires. They're also more autocross-oriented than track-oriented and might not handle sustained high heat as well.

The tires I mentioned and the RA1 (and the Hankook RS4, almost forgot about that) are the longer-wearing of the 200TW tires, but not as sticky as the "cheater EPS" tires.

As I mentioned in a different thread, the hankook rs4 are one of, if not the absolute fastest non autocross track tire with around a 200 treadwear.

They also wear like iron.

We have tested just about every tire available on our chumpcar. We will stick with the rs4.

The rs4 are not quite as fast as the re71, but they last about 4 times longer.