Auto X rims and tires???

[diegosurfer5]

Ok well for those of you who read my last thread you know i went down and tried the auto x i loved it now my dad lovingly and willingly decided he would help me in febuary when i get back from my trip with getting me some auto x rims and tires. i know the rims dont really matter so i want to know if anybody knows of any good cheap light weight rims that will be able to handle the auto x and then also tires. well let me know any ideas would be great.

 

[khaosman]

Couple good threads to read here:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123615212
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123615560

I would get some 15x7 wheels and the widest tires you can fit (225).
Falken Azenis RT615 are an awesome street tire, pretty much the standard:
http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm
The Hankook RS2 is another good alternative:
http://www.edgeracing.com/tire/1515/

Or go with the R compounds (read that thread above though).

As far as wheels go, you can get Mazda Millenia or 626 wheels cheap. They are 15x6 and light. Rotas are excellent too.

 

[Slow_Q]

Welcome to the addiction!

The tips by khaosman (as well as the threads he quoted) are very good. Definetely figure out which class you would like to enter, and let that guide you w.r.t. mods, tires, etc.

Just in case you want to avoid the cost of new rims, here is another idea: consider installing new Falken RT/615s on your stock/OEM rims. I had a set of 205/40R16s mounted on my MP5 throughout the spring/summer/fall of this year. They worked worked well during the occasional practice, as well as for daily summer driving. They do make your car look funny (very short sidewalls, very big wheel wells, stock ride height), will lower your gas mileage, and will ride a bit rougher than taller-sidewalled tires. They worked well in the rain (no standing water), but I would not want to drive them in snow.

The shorter sidewall gave me a bit of gearing benefit, so the car would feel a bit more responsive during acceleration, as well as quick steering response. Overall, I really liked them.
(I just replaced them last month with a set of M+S tires for the winter. I will re-mount them when summer gets here.)

I would think the 215/45R16s would work well well on stock rims (16"x6"), and would probably be a bit more practical in day-to-day driving.

Replacing your daily-driver tires with Azenis (or Hankooks) may work well for an initial dip into Autocrossing. If anything, you can always buy the tires now, and swap them to a new set of rims if/when you get those.


Good luck.

q

 

[redpr5]

xelderx can help you out a lot too hes the president of the auto-x chapter in the greensboro area. just pm if you need any help.
theres a lotta ppl on here that auto-x, you wont be at a loss for info

 

[xelderx]

There are a couple of things to consider before jumping head first into a designated set of race rims and tires.

First off...money, money, money. There is one thing very important to learning how to be fast at AutoX that a lot of people let get away from them. SEAT TIME. You should concentrate on budgeting as much money as possible into entering as many events and schools that are offered in your area. If you have to miss an event or you can't make it to a school because you don't have the money then you messed up somewhere.

Are you willing to try racing on stock rims with more performance oriented tires? It's the best budget option and. I would highly, highly recomend it for at least one season. The Azenis RT-615 as mentioned above work great on stock rims and will be far superior in grip to regular street tires. There are several benifits to this setup. You don't have to lug around an extra set of rims/jack/tools to every AutoX. You can focus more on studying the course and driving than changing wheels. I tried to make the switch to R'comps too quickly when I started racing and it ended up costing me a bunch of money. Niether I nor the car was ready for them and I went through a few sets before I realized I was headed in the wrong direction.