Ok, after a long hard elimination process I have narrowed it down to two tires in two sizes. It is not so much the tires but the size that I am wondering about. Here are the choices:

Falken Azeniz RT 615
-215/40/17
-200 tread wear
Is this really the tire that I am looking for?? It will keep the crazy short gearing that the 6 speed type S tranny gives and make this car excel just as fast as it does now. The 200 tread wear is perfect for the fun drives and the autox/road race fun

Nitto NT01
-225/45/17
-R compound
This tire is wider and stickier than any tire I have dirven on. It should handle great on the track and autox course. The biggest downfall is that it is a taller tire (even taller than stock) so it may rub and it may make my car slower due to the change in gearing.

I am really worried about going with a taller tire. There is the chance that it could make my car slower, but there is also the chance that it could make it faster because it allows it to hook up better and gets a better range of gearing. I am not sure what to do

The thing is a 215 the falkens are a wide tire for their size. They are 8.7 inches wide from wall to wall. The Nittos at 225 are 8.86 inches. Is there REALLY a gain in width that I benifit over going to a taller tire???

can you get the nitto's in 225/40??

not that tire

i dont know if you want a sticky tire or not. but the RT-615 are a stickier tire imo in those 2 compared. but if you want or dont car about treadlife get some Michelin pilot sport cup or yokohama a032r i think they are called. they both have a 40 treadwwear.

Dont get R-compound i was just at a auto-x/road course orientation today and they kept stressing "please dont get R-compound" they dont allow the drive to feel how the car really acts, it hides your mistakes.

what class are you in autocross wise? i assume your k swapped so im guessing that puts you in street modified? i say run a autocross only tire. not sure on brands but look into it. (are you daily driving on the tires or not?)

you should not really follow any "treadlife" ratings because all treadlife ratings come bias from the company. not saying that it will lower the life of the tire but in general it comes down to your driving style. my buddy had azenis rt-615 for 30k~ miles until he bought new ones and they were great. its all about your driving style. my .02cent

They are saying that because you don't have much experiance in driving the car. I have gone from competeing really well on the local level in STS for a couple of years, then I did my Kswap. This puts me in SM, which is against 400whp STIs, EVOs etc. It was not a mistake, I compete and really only lose to cars that have racing tires. Really the cars that win our class locally are both Bswap civic hatches . Racing tires help a ton, what they are trying to say is that it makes the edge so much sharper compared to street tires. With street tires you get some indication that the car is about to go, with racing tires you don't get as much. I have learned the car and have a good racing platform from my experiance, so I don't need feedback as much as I need a tire that will do what I want.

With that I ended up going with the RT-615s for a couple of reasons: First I do daily drive my car, while DOT race tires will allow me to do this they will not even last a full year and run around $170 a tire compared to $100 for the RT-615s. Second is that locally they are talking about making a TSM class, which will be a street tire SM class, in this class my tires will be at the limit between racing tires and street tires and will be as good as it gets.

As far as the tires go I know that the treadwear is a nominal #, but it does mean something, a 200 treadwear will be stickier than a 300 or a 400 of a different brand tire (which is why SCCA partially bases Street tire vs race on treadwear). There are two main tires that are at the pinnacle of street tire boarder line race tire and are still economical (not $200 a tire) the Hankook RS2 Z212s and the Azenis RT-615s. The hankooks are a great tire and are cheaper, I even have a friend that does well at nationals with these, but I think they reach their max performance when shaven (hence why my friend shaves them). Shaving them reduces the life a ton and makes them less street friendly. The RT-615s do not shaved are almost as good as the Hankooks shaved, so for what I want the 615s are the practical choice.

Another thing was size avalibility, I could not find a race tire that I liked (the Nittos) in the 215/40/17. This size makes the type S gearing optimal, for autox IMO. Most tracks are designed to not allow you to go much faste than 60-70mph, 215/40/17s get me to 62 in second @ 8300 rpms , even on the fastest courses it is more practical to stay in 2nd and bounce off of the rev limiter than the time it takes to shift and then down shift.

They are ordered and are being heat cycled before I get them, my only concern now is that I ordered to soon because I will not drive my car until mid March or so, and if the tires sit to much the have a chance of drying out and will be no good. Hopefully the cards fall right and there is a TSM class this year, if not I will pick up some rota 16" rims and throw full race slicks on them for next year.

If you want to stay with a streetable tire the 615 is a good choice, as would the Kumho MX, or Hankook Z212.

if you want an "R" Compitition tire... there are much better tires out there then the Nitto NT01... Like the Kumho V710 or The hoosier A3S04 or A6.....