time for new tires for my autocross car, 2006 R53 JCW running D-street so only mods allowed is rear swaybar I'm on 16x7 wheels

205/45/16 re71r I currently run these and the outside front wheel edges get destroyed very fast, lots of tread left but the edges are about to cord, already flipped once

225/45/16 rival-s maybe easier on the edges? more contact patch, probably not as precise feeling maybe faster?

I need to get about 1/2 second faster to catch the local d-street 20 year vet, he's also in a r53 JCW

anyone wanna give feedback on these two choices?

 

At our AX folks are either on RE71R's or want to be on them. Tire of choice for sure.

 

they do make a 225/50/16 but I would gain some gear ratio, I really like the short tires

is 225 faster on a 7" wheel ? Speed is more important than wear, I'm 1/2 second behind the fast guy when he runs

 

following

 

Your outer tread tire wear is to be expected with a D Street car that cannot change front negative camber to be in the optimal range. You'll probably find that with most soft autocross tires the wear will be consistent.

The way around that is to get a more durable rubber compound like a road course track tire but then you compromise more grip or better wear.

For RE71R the tire you have 205/45-16 is the best choice on MINI OEM size wheels. Truely the only downside is wear. Best approach may be to learn how not to overdrive and help minimize tire wear.

How late do you brake? How much understeer do you get at each event? How much sliding and how noisy are your tires during your run. A video will easily show the sounds of what you are looking for.

To be fast you don't need to overwork your tires, you shouldn't have a hint of understeer, and your RE71R will hardly be heard. All signs that you are driving smoothly within in the limits of the tire. Overdriving is the most common cause of wear and tear on your car and the most common reason for not going as fast as the competition and the largest barrier to improving.

Take an instructor or other experienced driver along and have them watch you during a fun or practice run. Try your best and see what they say.

If your area has Evolution driving schools, sign up for one or two or more. They teach the basics and you can take the various courses more than once.

Looking at other tires is OK, taller tire sizes aren't my first choice. Rival S is not bad but not as fast. Comes in 215/45-16, fits rims 7-8" wide best. Another option is Hankook Ventus R-S3 version 2 in 205/45-16

For more durability-
Falken Azenis RT-615K in 215/45-16, weighs a little more, doesn't have XL load rating for stiffer sidewalls. Not for wet.

And an oldie-
Toyo Proxes R1R in 225/45-16, also a little heavier, fits rims 7-8.5" not really ideal but can be fit and won't rub.

Also in 225/45-16
Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec, a good tire in dry or wet. This size will give you more rubber but whenever you use a wide tire on a narrow rim you won't get as good handling and wear as if you had at least a 7" wide rim.

 

Last event here, beat stx times too, I think my tires are heat cycled out the rear end is very very loose

 

forgot to mention, these 205's look stretched on the 7" wheel, like I'm part of the stance crowd :(

 

Your video is good, first half well in control and smooth, could push speed a bit more everywhere. Only way to tell is to get an instructor to drive your car and you watch. Do a comparison video split screen and see the difference.

It will always seem that you are going as fast as possible but it nearly never is the case.

In the second half during the two lane change sections there was some tire noise but it was OK.

I would say that your driving lines can be cleaned up a little but you are going in the right direction. Have you done a driving school? It's worth the effort.

If you feel that the 205 mm wide tire seems stretched (too wide) for a 7" wheel then 215 or 225 might be OK as long as it doesn't rub.

Good driving. If you beat STX times that's very good.

 

General rule of thumb for a Street class autox car is, if it fits, stuff it on there. Sorry to hear about the sidewalls on your 71Rs, though what tire pressures are you running? They seem to be able to tolerate a wide pressure range and still be fast, maybe crank it up?

I second what minihune said, go harder. More throttle and more brake. From :07 to :20 in the video it looked like you weren't really on it. Also, if you're serious about getting faster, have a local hotshoe codrive your car for an entire event. Then, pick someone from your region who's trophied at nationals and see how you compare to them in PAX, and compare yourself to said person from event to event to see if you improve. Accomplished drivers tend to be pretty consistent despite course variations, and it's a good benchmark.

If you want to get a good idea of what a top FWD autocrosser looks like behind the wheel, look up David Whitener's videos on Youtube, especially his STF national championship winning runs. Smooth and aggressive at the same time. Though fisting your roof is optional

 

we have a seriously fast local guy in a GTI I watch all his videos and I'm trying to mirror his lines now, he's usually #1 or 2 pax and top 5 raw, I have made it to top 20 raw but trouble getting past that

I took a close look at the tires I have now, gonna flip them on the wheels and I should get a bunch more events out of them

the grip seems to have dropped off, how many events these re71r take to heat cycle out?

When I run the "non competitive" events with another club I experiment with pressure, over 38 the grip drops off fast, I like around 36 and I would probably like 32 better but I'm scared what it'll do, I guess next event I'll try it out on a last run of the day. Running the FSP car end of the month, with 9kg springs and camber plates it does not suffer body roll as bad, so the tire wear is a lot better