What autocross tire?

I've decided to keep the Abomination for at least one more season, so it needs tires.

What's fast right now. Hoosiers, Hankooks, Kumho? The local word is Hoosier R7s. Any other recommendations.

Next question, what's the widest tire that will fit on a 13" X 8" wheel? It has 225/45ZR13s on it now. Can I go wider?

Thanks, Allen.

If you can run Hoosiers in your class, then the answer is always Hoosiers. The A7 is stickier I believe, but I've never run them myself.

If they make a wider 13" Hoosier you can do it on an 8" wheel. 13x9 wheels used to be the standard in CSP for the 255 hohos. Race tires take a little pinch pretty well though (certainly better than street tires do).

A7s are the fastest thing around, just remember they have incredibly short life expectancy and cost a grand or more.

If absolute maximum grip isn't so crucial you're better off going to 15" wheels and take-off Spec Miata stuff at $200 a set.

There are take off formula Ford (I think) tires in 13 that will fit a 13x8 nicely.

I am very curious how well they would autox.

The Abomination runs in E-Mod, so slicks are a go. At 1600 pounds, it doesn't have enough weight to get any heat into a road race tire so, super soft is necessary.

I will say, Hoosier's website sucks. After a lot of digging, it looks like the A7s are the super sticky tires.

Hoosier are a simple people. A is for autocross, R is for racetrack.

A7s are the super sticky DOT tires, yes. In E-mod you're not limited to DOT tires, so you can really go off the deep end into real race slicks. The waters get pretty muddy pretty quick when you're just googling this stuff and I don't have any real world experience to offer.

cmcgregor wrote: The waters get pretty muddy pretty quick when you're just googling this stuff and I don't have any real world experience to offer.

This is the problem I'm having. I had Hankook autocross tires on it last. They were decent but if I'm going to be spending the money, I want the stickiest tire I can find.

Maybe call Hoosier?

For E Mod, I would think that real slicks would have to be the way to go, and a good bit faster than DOT semi-slicks like the A7. The tires you ran last year were almost 21" tall and 8.9" (225 mm) wide, so you have the choice of going a little shorter with a 20" slick or almost the same height with a 20.5" tall tire. If you decide to go a little shorter, I would use the 20.0x9.0-13 A2500 slick in the R25B compound. (Phil's Tire Service) If you try for the same diameter, your choice will be a bit narrower (7" wide) - 20.5x7.0-13 A2500, also in the R25B soft compound. Personally, I would use the wider, shorter tire but I don't know your gear ratio situation.

You don't want DOT slicks like the A7. Hoosier, Avon & Goodyear IIRC are the go-to slicks. You might look at the winning cars in DM/EM from national's last year & see what tires they were on. Or maybe ask loosecannon what he's using on his MGB?

See, this is great conversation. I have read while doing google searches though that the softest compound hoosier slick "R25B" is the same compound used in the A7. I think the slicks might be bias-ply though, instead of a radial tire like the A7.

Can anyone confirm or deny?

I think for E-mod you want Avon slicks from the UK. At least, that was the convention wisdom a few years ago back when I used to autox regularly.

Based on a whole lot of reading of very fast guys discussing tires...just buy the A7's. In the past ~2 years, even most fast DM and EM cars are running A7's when their size is available. Avon isn't the secret any more. The radial tire will be a lot easier to drive than any brand's bias slick, and just as fast.

Back from the dead.  I found some sweet discontinued tire deals that I’m thinking might be a good fit for El Rabbito and I to get back to autos after a few year break.  The 10/22.5/13 mg5 midget tires at 50 each look like an awesome budget setup for my 10.5x13 panasport...  I get that A7’s will be better and faster.  It’s just that I don’t see myself demonstrating enough driver skills to take advantage...  

My only gripe is Gear ratios as they are a fair bit taller than the 255/45/13 A7’s.

Structurally the only concern is weight.  It appears Midgets tend to be ~1,000 lb animals cs the Rabbit’s 1790 lb weight...