Rep Power: 344

Ok i know theres a pretty decent amount of people here that auto-x and open track race. As most of you know i have 16's now. I was thinking about getting a set of lightweight 17's for racing (5zigen FN01R-C's to be exact)

Now am i better off keeping my 16's and putting a good set of tires on them, falkens perferably, or getting 17's with high performance tires on them?

If i should keep my 16's, or get another set of 16's, what size tire should i get, and where is the best place to get them?

Rims are 16 x 6.5

thanks

 
Rep Power: 424

Get wider 16s if you stay there. You can probably get a 7.5 or maybe an 8 in there. You're in Street Mod for autoX, so you can pretty much pick any size rim you want. If you go for 17, go for like a 225/45 tire. 16s you're limited by whatever Falken makes unless you're going for slicks, in which case I don't know whats available for 16. I'd guess a 225 something is available. Tire Rack has a pretty good selection of R-compounds, and they offer shaving and heat cycle services. Just depends how gung ho you want to be about it.

 
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Keep the 16s and get Falken Azenis for autoxing. Get 17s for street driving.
Just my .02

 
Rep Power: 344

i was thinking about getting another set of 16's probably 7's. I have a problem with offsets because the track is wider on the RSX than the Civic so my tires kinda stick out a tad.

I'm looking at the Falken Azenis in 215/45/16's I just need to find a 16 with a +47 - +48 offset.

I plan on taking them off the car when not racing and switching to my mudders for daily driving (Cooper LilfeLiners 205/55/16's)

if i wanted to get 17's are they not good for auto-x or would they work fine?

 
Rep Power: 424

They work fine. Its just that smaller is better. You go for the smallest rim you can fit over brakes if possible. Upsizing 1 size won't kill you, especially if it has tire sizes that will help you (shorter gearing or something).

 
Rep Power: 344

i'm thinking about getting 215/40/17's which would be .55in shorter in radius. So they would help on the acceleration end. And the 17's i'm looking at are actually 1lb lighter per rim than stock.

If i were to go for a 16 do you know of a good rim that has the offset i need for a decent price?

 
Rep Power: 424

16 is a tough size... not a lot of cheapies come in 16. Kosei makes 16x7.5 K1s. Stock S2000 rims have an offset thats like 48 or 50... you need 4 fronts though. Find some NSX wheels... you'd need 4 fronts again, but the older ones are 16x7 or 7.5 and they're forged, prolly rare though.
I'm sure Rota or someone has a 16xsomething that fits those high offsets.

 
Rep Power: 344

thanks for your help, guess i got some more researching for rims to do.

 
Rep Power: 381

16" tires for track days (Wont overheat like the falkens can)

Kumho:
1. VictoRacer V700
225/50ZR16 $139 at the tire rack
245/45ZR16 $144 at the tire rack
265/45ZR16 $163 at the tire rack

2. ECSTA V700
205/45VR16 $124
225/50WR16 $133

3. ECSTA V710
265/45WR16 $133

Michelin Pilot sport Cup (Why is Michelin so expensive???)
205/55YR16 $199
225/50YR16 $203
245/45YR16 $216

Yokohama A032R
205/55ZR16 $163
225/50ZR16 $174
245/45ZR16 $176
255/50ZR16 $178


There are a hand full of Hoosiers that will work too. For track days I'd run the VictoRacers before any other listed.


If you want cheeper tires then either the Falken Azenis or the Kumho MX will do well, though for track days I'd go with the MX before the Azenis (The Azenis can over heat and get greasy)

Note that all of the above tires are DOT legal so technicly you can use them on the street.

 
Rep Power: 344

I think the max i can stuff in my wheel wells is a 215. When i go home i'll take a picture of my current tires and you'll see that they're practically level with the fenders now. I'm looking for a 16x7 with a 47 or 48 offset so i can tuck the wheels in a bit.

I used to have Falken Zeix and they were really grippy tires for street use how are they for tracking?

 
Rep Power: 424

Because they're french and everyone hates the french. Michelin tires is how they get back at us.

Falken Ziexs may survive, but a lot of High perf. all seasons will chunk on the track. (Zzyzx has raced on 512s, see what he says) Kumho 711 and 712s are notorious for this. I've seen it happen to some Dunlops and Continentals too. If you're just racing on them, they can stick out of the wheel wells. Doesn't matter what it looks like, as long as it doesn't rub.

 
Rep Power: 344

thats the thing, when i lower the car it will rub.

 
Rep Power: 381

Falken Ziex 512..... Decent all season tire. Note the all season. and from running them in autocross for 1/2 a season I can say this..... You can definitly tell that they have a 400 tread wear and soft side walls. I never chunked them though When i switched to the Azenis, there was a night and day difference. and I shaved off about 1 to 2 seconds

 
Rep Power: 381

I'm pretty sure you could fit a 225, alot of the Stock classed autocrossers do, in cars like Tibberons (th old one) and Minis ect..

 
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I use Falken Azinis Sports....they are a very sticky tire.


205/15/15 on rota slipstreams

ties go from 60 to 80 per tire depending on where you look to get them

 
Rep Power: 344

if a 205\55 rubbed the inner fender with a 1.75 drop, i can't imagine what a 225 would do. Good bye body?

From what it seems my best bet is a 215/45/16, i'd like to get a large offset 16 but if i can't i'll have to stick them on my rims, they will fit. Even if i could find a aftermarket 16 with a 45 offset i'd be good, but most seem to be 43 and under. I gotta keep looking around. the Azenis deffiently seem to be my best bet for tires, now i just gotta find the right rim.

 
Rep Power: 424

You don't want to hear this... but a lot of the higher end rim companies will make custom offsets (Volk, Racinghart and Work do for sure) and theres wheels like Kodiak and Kaiser that they'll make to any spec. But you can imagine what a custom set of Volks would run. Maybe call 5Zigen and see if you can buy a blank? or if they can make you some customs? WRXs run like 55 offset, maybe they can machine a few mm off the backspacing and drill a 5x114.3 between the 5x100 holes. Just throwning ideas out now...

 
Rep Power: 296

HERE the wheel and tires u want. But my wheels are 15X7 and tires are 205/50/15



Yes i raced this PICK-UP TRUCK on the race track in the rain. I barely had any tire roll overs on this set up with 35.5 psi cold. Other people had massive tire rolls.

 
Rep Power: 381

^^ thats because the Azenis and the MX have steel belts in the side wall

 
Rep Power: 584

hawk, dont get 17's for regular driving. the roads around us just suck too much. you had 17s before, didnt you? i think theyre just a little rough on the roads...i mean my CD doesnt stop skipping when i ride on anything with even just cracks. the springs add to that im sure, but i think the lower profile tire just makes it that much more annoying.

every time i went over a pothole or a construction area on the parkway i cringed. thankfully the rims are strong as hell, but with 17s youd be playing with fire...specially if you get nice rims that arent that inexpensive.

 
Rep Power: 344

so it seems i'm sticking to my RSX rims

If i could find 2 sets of S2000 front rims that would rock, the offset is huge on those things (i know someone mentioned that). But finding 4 front rims isn't exactly a easy task.

 
Rep Power: 584

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...hreadid=141743

if you want 17's, some dude is selling ones off of a tsx. 5x114.3, he says theyre brand new. dunno...in case youre interested.

 
Rep Power: 381

Just curious, but whats your spending cap on wheels (Per wheel)?

I ask because Circle Racing wheels has 16' in every thing from 16X8 to 16X12 price ranging from $80.60 for a 16X8 to $415.07 for a 16X8.. just depends if looks really matter to you for race wheels.

Cheep 16X8

expensive 16X8


availble in just about any offset you need.

 
Rep Power: 344

i don't know if you noticed but i drive my car everyday, i'm not gonna be stick 245's on the thing!

i think i'm gonna wind up sticking with the RSX rims for now and throw a good set of 215/45/16's on there. If that doesn't help me i'll look into getting a wider set of rims.

and pb, I think i'm gonna stick with 16's, i don't need any extra rolling mass on there.

Thanks for your help everyone, got my first auto-x next weekend on my awful coopers, it'll give me a pretty good idea how much a improvement the good tires will be

 
Rep Power: 381

Well Its been well documented (by Autocrossers in STS and STX) that the Falkens, even in 205/50-15 love to be mounted on a wheel of at least 7", even 8... So if you run their 215/45-16 your going to want to mount it on at least a 7.5" wheel. So running a 16X8 may not be a bad Idea.

 
Rep Power: 344

alot of the auto-x people on club rsx have mounted other 215/45/16's on their stock 16s. Its a good possibility that falkens can't be mounted on them do to their abnormal width, but i'll look over there and see if its possible.

and once again to run a 16x8 i'd need a stupid rediculous offset, don't need to smash up my fenders. And i don't feel like spending a arm and a leg on rims just yet.

 
Rep Power: 344

just curious Zzyzx what do you think of the Bridgestone Potenza S03's? They seem like a really good all around tire. hows the grip on them?

 
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id rather say 16x7......215/45/16!

 
Rep Power: 381

Never ran them my self, They come stock on the S2000 Right? If so I remember some comments about them from our North South Challange up at hawthorn last year. A guy brought his stock S2000 and 3 people drove it... By the third driver the tires were greasy as Hell (Over heated) for the first driver they were OK, not as grippy as the MX or Azenis though.


and about the Azenis not fitting, I dont think you'd have a problem. You'd want to mount them on a wide wheel to Maximize the contact patch, but its not totally nessisary. (Example: the 205/50-15s are said to be best on a 7-8" wheel, Mine are mounted to a 6.5" wheel)

 
Rep Power: 344

i want something that i can drive around to, and take to the track and autocross, i heard the azenis have problems on a road course after a couple laps is that true? how are they in the rain?

basically i'm looking for a good tire for auto-x/open track that i can drive on every day. size i'd prefer is a 215/45/16