Finished my 4th autocross event today. I participated in two events last year. You guys gave me some great advice last fall. I won the first event this year, BS, barely. Beat two Z3's and a turbo mr2. Today I won, beat a Porsche, two z3's, older rx7(I think it was anyway) and turbo mr2. All of my runs have been on the stock tires. I had a new set of hoosiers on the stock rims sitting in the garage and did not have time this morning to get them on. How much of an improvement in my times will the race tires bring? The course we are typically running produces times in the mid 30 second range. My best today was 36.6 something.

 

Since yer still a virgin (relative to autocrossing), the Hoosiers may not make much difference at all. Once you actually max out the performance of the stock tires, the Hoosiers will make a lot of difference. To test this out, get a superior driver to drive your car for a couple of runs. If you're not right on his butt, more driving is indicated.

Don't take this negatively - it simply takes time and experience to get the most out of any car. I took FTD yersterday at an event with 177 entrants (no modifieds) but I've been doing this for over 25 years...

 

And you were on the street tires or your Kumhos r-compounds Jeff?

Yes Legend1, the r-compound tires will drop your times. How much will depend upon your developing skill sets as Jeff alluded to.

 

Kumhos. And I stand by the idea that, with minimal experience, go-fast parts don't do much good. Faster? Maybe but only by an incremental amount.

Far too many new folks spend far too much money on things that don't improve the situation. In this case, going to a faster car (or setup) won't help much since the experience simply isn't there.

 

Your point is well taken, however I finished 3rd overall in the stock classes. There is no substitute for experience but for whatever reason I am running fairly close to the best drivers around here. One fella drives a Miata in the c class and is in the nationals every year and his times thus far aren't that much better than mine. I'm thinking these tires have got to help. It it feels like I am pushing the stock tires to the max. Probably not, but it certainly feels that way.

 

If you're truly pushing the limits of what the S02s can supply, yes, absolutely, the R compounds will help by 1-2 seconds (on a ~60 second course).