I have decided to buy a set of 17x8 wheels for, my R53, that I will be autocrossing in STX. This is not my daily but I do drive it on the street. The plan is to get a set of 215/45/17 tires that I can drive to and from events and if it's raining like a MF , run them and probably be faster than if I was on my Yoko A-052's,

Expected temperature range being 85-45, if that makes a difference and if it does, please state the temp where you might prefer one to another.

After looking at Tire Rack's test results, I have narrowed it down to These three, in no particular order.

#1. Michelin PS4S their best Max Performance tire.
#2 Falken FK510, their best UHPS tire, in the rain.
#3 Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate, their best All season tire, in the rain

TR, Does not cross compare tires in different performance categories and sometimes doesn't even test them on the same car.

 

Toyo R1R is hands down the best autocross tire I've ever driven in the wet. They earned me a top PAX in the cool rain years ago, against fast company.

Regrettably Toyo does not make a 215 for a 17" diameter rim - nothing narrower than 225 which takes some of the fun out of it.

If they'd make a 205 I'd run that on a 17x7 and join the AWD crowd for every rain dance.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

An excellent choice if it was only a Rain Autocross tire but I wouldn't want to drive it, on the street, on a weekly basis.

 

If using 17x8" rims then what suspension? How much drop?

Although it would be nice to run a tire size that gives more clearance in the Toyo R1R it is still possible to use-
235/40-17 which fits rims 8-9.5" wide, perfect for 8.5" rim, tire diameter 24.4", 22 lbs each

R1R also come in other tire sizes to work with 15" or 16" wheels - 225/45-15 or 225/45-16

To get better wet grip you'd need a Hoosier Radial Wet tire but again not as good tire sizes for 17", some for smaller wheels- 225/45-15 or 225/50-16

Driving street tires in the wet can sometimes depend on a bit of unpredictable luck regarding how much rain is actually coming down for each run. Conditions may vary which they often do so if we can hope for one good less wet run that will usually be the fastest time we may get no matter if the tire can handle heavy rain better, it will still likely be a slower run. E.g. light rain, good tire for some wet gives a good run time, but heavy rain and great tire in wet driven very well gives a great time compared to others in similar conditions but is a lot slower than in light rain.

Therefore looking at the three choices mentioned i would tend to go with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S and hope for light to moderate rain and maybe a hint of some drying. Of the three the 4S is hands down better in anything resembling dry conditions, but I have also see it do fairly well in wet. Maybe not quite as good under very wet but I think all the times will be very slow vs anything in less wet conditions. Driving on the street with the 4S is also much better than the other tires although cost is more. If available alternate wheel sizes as mentioned will give more options and open up consideration of Toyo R1R.

 

As usual both of you have some good ideas.

As minihune has pointed out, in a wet autocross, it often comes down to who had the best tire, for the less wet conditions, no matter who had the best tire for the earlier downpour. Of the three tires I suggested, hune's suggestion, is best for those situations. I've known people who have rain specific tires, like Hoosier radial Wet's, in their trailer and only used them twice, in three years.

Additional thoughts. After re-reading TR's test's in great detail, it is clear to me, that if it's extremely wet for every run, that the tire to have, if it's to be driven on the street regularly,(not something I'd want to do on the R1R) is the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate! It was 1.4 seconds faster, on a ~34 second course, than the PS4S, in the same car!!! Side benefit, it's an all season tire, No worries about the rare, cold and wet autocross and is said to last a long time. You/I could leave them on the car year round except for the more typical autocross's

Another thought, I have an extra set of 16x8's, get two more 225/45/16's, keep them at full tread and only put them on, ahead of time, at home, in the garage, if it looks like it's going to be a wet day and if it's not wet, before run time, swap them out for the more worn ones, That would be even better than hune's PS4S situation. Now what am I going to do about those 17x8 Konig Hypergram's or 949's 6UL's?

minihune asked, what suspension and how much drop. I think he was asking CMT but I'll answer. CMT's signature, says he has JCW coilovers on his 2018? I have TSW/KW V3's , with personally selected spring rates and lengths. My memory is KW says .8 to 2.1 inches of lowering. I set my combination, to be right in the middle of that range +/- 1/8" 12.875" wheel center to arch in the front and 13.125" in rear. And, the perch is at the top of the threaded area, giving me the maximum amount of wheel and tire clearance possible with the TSW's. 16x8, +42, with a 5mm spacer, clears the strut by 6mm and the A-052's clear the perch, diagonally by 12.5mm!!!

 

those are not good rain autocross tires, you need to be looking at what the pros run, something more like the new conti extreme contact sport tires. My new TRD 86 came with PS4s and I would rate them ok, they chunk on the edge when pushed hard.

I run hankook RS4 for my rain autocross & HPDE tires, but I run slicks if it's dry. If I wanted something that lasted a bit longer I would go with the new conti extreme contact sport, I wish they would name these things better

 

In TR's test, the Extreme Contact Sport was .23 seconds behind the PS4S. I had the Extreme Contact DW's as my dailies on the 16x8"s until I worn two of the out and couldn't get any more. They were excellent in the Rain.

 

TR finally got around to testing the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate against the new Michelin PSAS4, in a regular tire test. The Goodyear came out on top in the overall subjective ratings with a score of 7.94 vs 7.77. The GY also had the fastest wet track time of 34.15 vs 35.41. But it didn't all go Goodyear's way and if someone is trying to decide between these two tires they should take a close look at the tests. Also worth mentioning is that the smallest size they have in common is the 225/45/17. The PSAS4 does come in a R-53 friendly 205/45/17 that would work well on a 17x7 but I probably wouldn't want to put it on a 17x8 on the other hand the Goodyear comes in a 215/45/17, which I would very much be willing to put on a 17x8 even though it's .4" bigger in diameter and .3" wider and will be a trickier fit.

 

ps4 chunked for me, and one of the center ribs delaminated, peeled off like a banana peel I will never own another set of Michelin