Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track Contour Classes at Spring Zing

I have been following this debate for a good 6 months now.
I've met with Dave, and we have spent a few hours together behind the wheel of several simulators.

While I suck at driving on several courses, Dave is very good at driving, and strategizing his course runs.

On this tire issue, Dave is right about the tires and models.
I've been driving the last two years on a set of 205/60/15 Michelin Energy MXV4+ tires.
Now being the average Joe street racer I am, I could't feel much of a difference
between the Michelins and the FireHawks that came on the Contour,
but the MXV4+ was a much quieter tire, that gripped the wet road, as if the car was on RAILS.

This past week, I had a really good opportunity to get a new set of tires,
and I opted for Michelin Pilot XGT H4, H90 Series in the same size.

There is a, exit, that makes a long sweeping right hand turn, off the Cross County Parkway,
here in Yonkers, that is marked with a 20 MPH sign.
With the MXV4+, I could take the turn at 40mph, with the tires squealing.

With the Pilot XGT H4s, I can take the same turn at 50 MPH without as much as a PEEP coming from the tires.

Neither of these are considered RACE RUBBER, but there is a DRAMATIC ADVANTAGE or DISADVANTAGE to running anything other than the STOCK TIRES on your car.

So if you want to play FAIR by everyone, then make the STOCK CLASS include ORIGINAL OEM WHEELS & TIRES,
and let those without, AutoX with the drivers who installed
a different wheel/tire than OEM because they thought
the wheels & tires they installed were BETTER.

And FWIW, I do believe that ANY TIRE/Wheel combination, other than the original Manufacturer installed combination, should be considered a MODIFICATION, since it can change the way a car handles, DRAMATICALLY.

With everyone running the Tire/Wheel of their choice in their own class,
there is NO bickering. You either run what everyone else runs, or run what you want.
Those should be the ONLY rules on Wheels & Tires.

If you got $$$ to burn in tires, then AutoX in your STOCK Wheels and Tires, and let the rest of us enjoy our rides, the way WE want to enjoy them.