Opinions: What is a great tire for autoX use. I want something that I can put on at the house and drive to the event. (Don't have any way to trailer the car).

Are stock tires the best: RE050.

 

Any Help !!!

 

if I had an '04 and wanted street tires I'd be tempted to try the Falken Azenis Sports...

I drove to the last event on my V700 Victoracers...

 

It depends on how much you want to compromise. The Kumho Victoracers are streetable (marginally) - they have very little void space and are a handful at highway speeds in the wet. Toyo RA1s are another good choice with the same caution. I'm not certain of tire size availability for the new 17" rims though. In a completely streetable package, I've always recommended OEM tires. If this is your first season autocrossing, that's what I'd do. Focus on your driving this year and then do tire upgrades next year.

There are some good discussions on '04 autocross setups in the Racing and Competition forum.

 

Second (and third) what CoralDoc said. I have shaved Victoracers. Went out to get some lunch from an auto-x without changing my tires and I hit some water - very little - and the car felt like it was on ice. So if there is any chance of driving in the wet - don't do it on shaved tires.

 

Un-shaved Kumho Victoracers work fine in the rain and are fast predictable auto-x tires. Not as fast as Hoosiers but much less finicky. Another option that very few people bring up is Yokohama A032's. I tried a set recently and they have great dry grip, stiff sidewalls, pretty good wet grip, and you can get great sizes for stock wheels 205/245 to maintain the original balance without requiring a bigger front bar. The only downside I could find is that they are very loud - they sound like a 4x4 with mud tires.

 

What is the downside to driving to an Autocross with Victoracers? I have a new set (my first race tires), and I have an event across town this week-end. It's about 6 or 8 miles each way.

Would I be wearing the tires excessively by driving to and from the event?

Would I be wearing my wife excessively by asking her to follow me to the event with my pick-up so I can change tires there, and then come and pick me up?

It's not likely to rain here again until October, and I still have the stock alignment.