Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track Need Help with choosing tires

Okay,

I have a 99 Cougar. My stock 15" rims are sitting in my garage, and I hope to be able to use them strictly for track days.

The stock tire size for the Cougar with 15" rims is 205/60. Is it okay for me to use 205/50 tires?

If so, what tires should I go with:

Kumho VictoRacer V700
or
Toyo RA1 (If I can find a place to buy them from)

If 205/50 wont work on my rims, what size will, other than stock size?

Thanks,

Nikolas

Well, I'm pretty sure the 205/50s would be fine, and I thought about doing this myself when I was considering G-stock. You'll get quicker launches, of course, but you might also find yourself having to shift one more time than usual on faster courses. (Nothing is free...)

As for which tire, I'm not personally intimate with either of these, but I'm assuming they are both R-compounds? I'd go with the Kumhos because I can get them from Tire Rack, and based on many recommendations.

Other sizes? Maybe 225/50? Not sure, though.

Another great place to get Solo tire advice is the SCCA Forums. You might want to search and ask over there, too.

I have actually never Auto-X'd before. I will be using these on road courses throughout SoCal.

Willow Springs
Button Willow
California Speedway
Laguna Seca
Etc.

Im more into the road racing than Auto-Xing.....

I spoke with Noah at TireRack and he said the Kumho VictorRacers are good tires, and another buddy of mine says that is all he uses.

Nikolas

for what its worth i have 205/50's on my front stock 15's....only problem i see is cheap tires i bought that are now crap after only a few months

Kuhmo's are a great tire. The Victoracers were originally a road race tire then autox'ers found they worked pretty well. The new V700's are currently using the same compound as the Victoracers (all sizes will be converted to a new compound come October). I have a feeling the new compound will be much softer to try and compete with the Hoosier autoX tires.

Anyway here are my opinions on options for someone who is doing track events:

Kumho Victoracer V700's (Great tire, may not last all that long)
Yokahoma A032R's (long lasting tire, not as sticky as the Kumho's)
Hoosier R3S03 (I haven't met anyone who runs this tire for road racing, but as far as autox goes, hoosiers are the top tire. Make sure you get the R for road race and not the A's or you'll eat the tires alive. The A's are for autoxing.)

I don't know anything about the Toyo's. As far as the size goes it is up to you. If you want shorter gears go with the 205's. If you want more traction with approximately the same gearing go with some 225's. A bigger sidewall on race tires is typically better to a point. It allows you more flexibility on adjustment. Basically the pressure effects the tire when it has more sidewall so you will have more flexibility on setting your car up.

Qbert,

thanks for the informative reply. I may just go with the 225/50 tires as the gearing is already pretty short with the stock 15" tire size.

More than likely I will go with a set of Kumho's as the price is good and they are highly recommended. I will only use these tires on track days, hopefully they can get me through at least 6 events but we will see. Having fun isnt gonna be cheap, but I am prepared for that!!!

Nikolas

Just to let you know the Kumho Victoracers are shown as a directional tire. But one nice thing is they really don't have to stay mounted like that. A lot of autox'ers around here burn up 80% of the outside edge of the tire, then take it back to tire shop to have the tires remounted with the inside of the tire now on the outside of the rim. They seem to work just as well. This happens becuase most stock cars and a lot of modified cars don't have enough negative camber to actually wear the inside of the tires. I don't know how much you have, but assuming your stock and drive this car on the street probably very little. So I think this is an option to get more life out of those tires. Truthfully you get a lot of bang for your buck from the Kumhos. I'd have to say good choice if you went with them.