Rep Power: 262

im going to be getting some wheels and tires soon (took me long enough) and i need some advice on the kumho ecstsa SPT... i want tires that will do ok for auto-x but have semi good wear so i can use them for a couple summers and these seem to be the ones....
i wanted to get these in a 225/45/16 size for my 16x7 rotas that i am going to get but i just want to know:

1. will the tires fit without rubbing? ive heard that 225 doesnt fit...
2. will they look rediculously wide on these rims?
3. will they hold up to auto crossing?
4. any other comment on these tires.....?

thanks people

 
Rep Power: 425

1. roll fenders, check rim offset
2. Yes
3. nothing holds up to autoX very long
4. Get the MX or Hankook Z212

 
Rep Power: 262

yea i was looking at the mx but i didnt see any sizes that would really fit without messing up the speedo.... but i can check again. i dont want anything that im going to regret buying

 
Rep Power: 262

ok boiler you convinced me
i was looking at the mx and thinking that it was a little excessive for me but im just gonna go for it...

___size___rim width range__section width___weight___

205/50R15 --- 5.5 - 7.5 --- 8.4 on 6.5 --- 19.9

205/55R16 --- 5.5 - 7.5 --- 8.4 on 6.5 --- 19.9 <good width?
225/50R16 --- 6.0 - 8.0 --- 9.2 on 7.0 --- 25.7 <too wide?

215/40R17 --- 7.0 - 8.5 --- 8.6 on 7.5 --- 19.9


these are some possible sizes in the Kumho MX. their only sizes for 15 and 16 inch rims...
none of them are perfect sizes except the ones for 17s, which i dont want.

the 16s are slightly bigger (2.7% too slow) and the 15s are smaller (4.7% too fast and a full 1 inch smaller in diameter than stock) so i might get the 15s for better accel. but i dont know... i reallllllly like the look of 16s more especially for slipstreams

the 205s seem like they would be perfect but i dont know if i want to just go crazy wide and get 225 (40mm offset on the 16 inch slips i was looking at might fit???) and they might look stupid so i dont know, decisions decisoins

 
Rep Power: 327

i was thing of getting 225/45/16 kdws next, but if they rub prolly decide on 215/45/16 kdws

 
Rep Power: 327

i've had my tires for a year now, and daily driving and often abuse still have more than half tread left! highly reccomend these!

 
Rep Power: 425

Look into the hankooks. Having tried all 3 (MX, Azenis and the Z212), I'd say the hankooks proved to be the best for actually driving on the road. They're better in the rain than the MX and leaps and bounds above the Azenis (which is really a dry weather tire). The Z is also quieter than the MX, it loses points in grip.... there's quite a bit of grooving, which helps its wet performance, but there's not as much rubber on the pavement. As far as heat tolerance, it falls between the MX and the Azenis... it will get greasy, but it'll take a while. It has a bit more cold grip than the MX, but not as much cold grip as the azenis.... it happens to be available in 225/45/16, but its wide. I've got them mounted on 8's and they're wide.

 
Rep Power: 262

yea... i was looking at the hankooks today actually and they have so many more size options that will actually fit, and im probably going to get them over the MX and Azeins for the same reasons you are talking about boiler.
i thnk i am going with the 205/50/16 that they have, 225 will just look too rediculous and its seems like more trouble than its worth to me anyways.

hey i have one more quick qestion here.. when rotating these, i know theyll wear fast so ill have to do it every 1500 miles or so, but will front to back rotation be alright, and then an 'X' rotation where i have to have them remounted for the end of the season?

 
Rep Power: 425

they're directional, you can't X rotate them.
I always rotated mine front to back every race (i only track em), and when one side is noticeably worse than the other, I flip them inside to outside and do the same thing until they're shot. If you're gonna race, the mileage thing goes out the window. Either flip them every other autoX or something like that, the road miles won't show the wear like the autoX laps will.

 
Rep Power: 262

yea, thats what i was trying to say actually, flipping them and getting them remounted to rotate side to side, i just thought an X rotation was side to side and then front to back too, so thats why i said it like that.
i guess i just wanted to know how often i needed to do side to side but if theyll be gone in a season anyways i guess i dont have to
worry about it that much



edit: how often do you replace a set of tires?

 
Rep Power: 425

It varies. I haven't been racing much of late, so they last a while. I blew through a set of MXs in 17 autocrosses and 2 track days ( a little over a year).