Xevuhtess7

60mph on an autox course? no way. unless the club running your event is nuts or something. the fastest ive gone is aroun dlike 40 to 45 mph. im not completely sure though (who has enough time to look at their speedo while autoxing anyways)

staying in 2 will be fine, dont worry

MongooseGA

iTrader: (6)

Well, it might not be 60 MPH. The club website says something like "a low speed racing sports (below 60 MPH)."

I have seen some of their videos and they're on actual race tracks, no just a parking lot with cones. But the place I'll be driving is on the Navy base and is a big *** parking lot with cones- which I know are going to confuse the hell out of me.

Xevuhtess7

hmm... in that case mabye your first run just put it in d with overdrive off so you can have 3 gears, in case the track is too fast and you end up banging off the rev limiter in 2nd. after that run you'll probably have a good idea of whether you should use 2 or 3 gears

not getting lost on the track isnt too difficult. just walk the course a couple times and you'll know. always be looking ahead while you're racing too.

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

second will take you up to 80mph.... so unless you think ur gonna go faster than 80mph, just leave it in 2.

MongooseGA

iTrader: (6)

What kind of tires should I be looking at?

Are there any kind of practical ones I car wear for daily driving, too? Auto-X isn't going to be priority with rubbers, but it'll be kept in mind.

I'm guessing I have a budget of ~$800 for tires. How long should a good set last me with little road driving and only occaisional tracking?

Inabj2

Locally autoxes consistently break way past 60 mph barrier sometimes as high as 70 or even 80+ mph on higher end cars.

I often shifted into 3rd (read past 60 mph on my anemic powered 240sx.

Inabj2

Seeing how you live in virginia.. and not in arizona .... hard to say. Otherwise I would of recommended you any good set of summer tires.

If you have a seperate car for foul weather Personally I really like my falken Grbetas theyre affordable and the performance they give for the money and practicality is awesome. Obviously they might fall slightly behind the max out perfromance super duper expensive street tires but the performance difference here for the money well its like comparing a C6 Z06 vette vs an italian exotic.

you wont be taking top time of the day with anything less then a full blown set off race tires anyways.

SCV8

I have heard stories from a co-worker about how one course was setup back in the seventies to provide a back stretch where the Vettes would hit 90, pretty nuts when you think about the tires they were using.
I'm glad to hear good things about the Falken 451s, I have a set that I have yet to really try out.
My friend went autoXing for his first time with a brand new set of S-03s, they had so much tread that the tires chunked out the tread blocks and basically trashed a nice set of road tires.

Xevuhtess7

you will find that a TON of autocrossers use falken azenis tires. they are cheap, street legal, and grip really well. however using them on a daily driver is questionable, though you could get by, you'd have to be really careful in rain

MongooseGA

iTrader: (6)

I'm seeing alot of good word for Falken.

My car won't be driven in the rain. For back and forth driving to school and work, I drive my Dad's Jeep. He might take my car on occaision, but I trust his driving in any kind of weather. If it came down to it, he's got another car he can still drive daily.

What kind of mileage can I expect on a tire of this caliber?

jag_600

I absolutely love the Goodyear F1 GS-D3's for the track and for daily driving, best tire I've ever had in the rain. My second choice would be Dunlop SportMaxx. I put about 300 miles a week on my car and of all the different tires I 've used the GY F1 GS-D3's have no equal.

I get about 20 mpg highway on average, never really worried about it

I do switch over to dedicated snowtires in the winter. We get a quite a bit of snow up here.

Xevuhtess7

just a suggestion: hit up the miata and bmw forums. those guys are nuts for autocross and you'll probably find tons of info about the sport and specifically about tires, which you'll see the falken azenis pop up often probably

MongooseGA

iTrader: (6)

Holy Hell... that Falken Azenis looks insane. Great price, too.

Obviously these tires aren't going to give me the 40,000 miles my Dad might be used to for his truck tires. What kind of mileage would this give? The wear rating is 200, but I don't know how to compare the numbers to other tires.

I've also heard good things about Pirelli P Zerno Nero tires. Any insight?

Inabj2

10,000 -15,000 k depending how often you autocross and how you drive.

And which kind of falken..the 451 last a little bit longer then a azeni sport would but the azeni sport grips a little bit better then the 451... that is ironically until you shave the 451s..

The pirelly P zero Neros are excellent tires excellent enough that is the standard equipment on the worlds hottest cars. But theres a reason why you seldom see autoxers with such a tire. Price and available sizes.

If you have the stock wheels the only pirelly P zero available is both more expensive and has a higher tread rating indicating its a tire for more of an all season use rather then a summer dry grip tire. The price that some of the hot pirellis go for well a little bit more and a SERIOUS autoxer can buy his set of racing tires.

I know you stated you wnat new wheels but since it seems youre just starting autoxing at this point frankly itd be a mistake.

You would be pushed out of F stock an already competitive class (youre against faster Camaro's and mustangs) And to possibly a street prepared cars with same as above but with mods most of the time engine mods in addition to much bigger wheels and tires. Learn the car stock. Good stock sized tires would be an improvement that would feel dramatical over the stock all season worn out rubbers you have now. Not to mention your learning curve would be that much longer if you start in a modded car. its kinda like seeing the new guys in a Viper yet here I am with an automatic SC300 running the same times as him. He would improve in a much quicker rate if he had started in a more ordinary car since he would be exposed to the limits of siad car much sooner at slower speeds therefore making said car more forgiving if you do breach those limits, same applies to stock vs modded cars.

But it wouldnt be a bad idea to go from the stock 55 sidewall to a 50 foot sidewall to have even less of a chance of sidewall flex. Not to mention your car picks a bit of turn in response from this alone.

MongooseGA

iTrader: (6)

Wow... upgraded wheels will take me out of stock class? What if they're Toyota wheels?

10,000-15,000 miles is very low. That definitely won't pass with my Dad (who has agreed to buy tires for me since they're a necessary item) and just won't be practical for me. I think I'm looking at about twice that number. What about the Falken FK-451? The thread wear is at 280 instead of the Azenis' 200. I don't know how to read the ratings, so I don't know what kind of numbers to expect. I've got to keep in mind, this tire's going to be on the street more than the track.

I wanted to upgrade wheels because my tires need to be replaced soon anyway. It just seemed to make sense to upgrade at this opportunity. I'd imagine more performance tires are made for 17"-18" wheels anyway, correct?