I am gonna start my first AutoX with BMWCCA in March. The question is, should I spend the money for lighter aftermarket wheels or should I replace my LingLong L688 for some Hankook Ventus EVOs??

 

I have been Autocrossing for well over 20 years, and I am a Autocross Instructor, my advise is do NOTHING, learn how to Autocross for 1 season, learn your car and your abilitys. Then decide if you really want to improve your skills and your car, Sticky tires hide a lot of mistakes, learning how to drive smooth, knowing your turn in points and braking points all takes time, that plus being as close to the cones as possible is not something you learn overnight. Trust me, take it slow and dont make any changes yet, IMO

 

So you're the guy who bought the LingLongs. Whether you autocross or not, replace the LingLongs.

 

The female owner who had the car before me decided to put these $60 tires on. They are the loudest most vibration-creating tire I have ever experienced. I would rather have wagon wheels. At least she baught the wrong size and let me have the 50 series sidewall on my 17's providing ample comfort over bumps and plenty of unwanted sidewall rollover/ flex. I almost don't trust these for the autoX

 

Although I would generally agree with Niteflyr's advice, those tires must go or you will not likley enjoy yourself or learn anything. I should think the EVO's are a good choice for both street summer tire and autocross learning.

 

My first year of AutoX was on all seasons, Nokian WR's. all season (or at least those) were pretty easy to go fast on because the were very communicative, you would always here when you were starting to push to hard and could back off. The Sumitomo HTR-ZIII I run now, while stickier, are harder to predict and have created a lot of bad habits I am now working to break.

I think the EVO is a good compromise.

 

mini_wolf: Car and Driver found the LingLongs to be the worst tire by far in their 9-tire comparison test of July '09. They said they had to round all its scores up to keep them from having a negative overall score. The winner in that test was the Dunlop Z1 Star Spec, and the Hankook V12 Evo was 2nd. Those two would probably lose out to even stickier streets now, however.

 

I actually found that article. It made me laugh knowing that stopping distance in the rain is like 20 something feet longer than in with the EVOs. My brother has the EVO's on his R32 and my roommate on his Evo 9 and they both like them alot, so I will make the switch asap
Thanks guys