budget autox tires on stock 2002 WRX rims

[lstepnio]

I'm looking to buy a set of tires of soloII autocross use. I have been looking on tirerack.com and I'm looking to purchase either the V700 Victoracer or ECSTA V700. I'm noticing that none of these tires come in the stock 205/55-16 size. I know that some people use some variations with tire sizes, but I'm not quite certain what would be appropriate. Am I just out of luck? If appropriate which tire is the better choice and at what size choices? Should I be aware of potential problems with non stock size tires on stock 2002 WRX rims?

Does any have any other suggestions for tires around $100/each that would be really good for autocross use??

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[JGard]

I have the Yokohama A520's, and for stock size, they're just under $100 each.

Loud on the road, but they grip like you wouldn't believe, and they have a nice stiff sidewall. I highly reccomend them...

I think the Kumho's are good, but I haven't met anyone running on them yet...though one of my buddies is going to use them this year. The only complaint I've heard about Kumho's are their tread-life.

[WRXhauls]

225/50-16 is the size that most people are going for in the DOT-R tires. I'm going with the 205/45-16. Falken Azenis are also a good street/autox compromise if you don't want to change tires for every event.

[Orion]

Use the RE92's for your first few AutoX's. They will give you consistent info on what you are doing wrong with the car due to their predictability. Then switch to a tire according to your class. In STX, the Azenis is THE budget tire. For DS the R Compound I would recommend is the Victoracer. The Ecsta 700 won't last as long due to the new compound.

[Chris N]

I'll second the Yokohamas.

I also second using the tires the car came with...Until your talents improve.

[Rich King]

I've been doing track events for the last 8 years and instructing for the last 4 and I'll tell you its all in what you want to spend and what kind of tire life you want out of your car. Street tires while "ok" for AutoX in terms of grip, will outlast any competition tire on the market. However, a tire such as the Victoracer (which I run on the track) will easily outperform a street tire but last probably a quarter of what the street tire will. Here's an example:

While I haven't AutoX'd in quite some time an R compound tire such as the Kuhmo Victoracer, BFG R1, Hoosier, Yoko A008, etc. was worth about 4-5 seconds a lap over the conventional street tire but I probably went through a set in 2-3 autoXes depending on how hard I drove the car and what condition the pavement was in. Over the course of the one year I did a full season of AutoX I easily spent $4-5000 in tires alone. Bottom line...plan to spend some bucks to be competitive.

If you're just learning to drive (I don't mean to down talk to you at all) then the absolute best decision is to go out there with the worst tire possible (Probably the RE92) and find the cars limits. This will teach you how the car is going to react at a much slower pace and will force you to learn the proper techniques right off instead of it being masked in the R compound tire and an artificial low time. Once you start progressing you can find an stickier tire and if needed a full on race compound.

If you've already done a couple of events and think you're ready for the race compound then I'll suggest the Kuhmo Victoracer in the 225/50 on the stock wheel. Its worked beautifully on the track events I've done so far. I DO NOT recommend the YOKO A520 for track use especially in the rain. The low profile only makes the car loud and twitchy and you'll be left wondering if you'd rather steer by sails. The car was all over the place and completely unpredictably with them on. Unfortunately I haven't driven any other tires on the track so its just my 2 cents.