Da Groj

It's about time to replace the Contis on my GTI. They are excellent on the street; maybe I'll go back to them again.
At the auto x, I've chewed the corners off'em.
What is right on for my front driver, 225-40-18? I want to get some life out of 'em on the street, too.

Thanks for your expertise,
Mike

Well, it's a two way street when it comes to buying tires that will get dual purpose use. If you want them to last, you'll need a higher treadwear number which will mean a harder tire, which means okay to good grip. If you go the other way and buy a set of Azenis with a low treadwear (200) they won't last as long but will give you great grip.

It's basically "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. My advice would be to buy a set of cheap wheels and put a set of grippy tires on it to use just for autocross.

Thanks Brian,
It seems the Azenis are the current state of the game. I hope they are cheaper than Contis. It's hard to pay for Euro tires, especially with the dollar so low.
I got 30k, mostly highway from the Comtisport, with a 240 rating.
Now it's time, one more ax, to finish 'em off.

Thanks for the advice from another FWD.
c-ya in Lklnd.
Mike

The tire life arguement depends on how you drive the car..

I've gotten over 30K on a set of S-03's that saw track and autocross use in addition to street use, I think it was about 35-36k on the set but I forget exactly.. I've also gotten over 10K on r comps street/track/autocross driven I don't drive very hard on the street so my tires tend to last a long time.. I'm still not finished with the damn RE050's on the S2000 and they have ~14-15K on them with over a season of autcrossing and two track weekends on them.

Personally I always run fairly sticky tires for the safety factor (braking/emergency handling).

The Azenis are a great tire, but I've never had a set long enough to see how much life I'd get from them.

You may want to check out these deals:

Tire Rack has the Potenza S-03's on closeout for 225/45/18, HALF PRICE! (I have a set sitting in my garage waiting to be installed)

Edgeracing.com has the Azenis on special for about the same price for the 225/40/18's

Both of these are great deals! The S-03's may be better for all around street and track (better wet grip). For a pure autocross tire (that you can drive to the event), the Azenis may be the better choice.

I found the Falkens for 129 at TR. Then Vulken 123 at Vulcan.
This is a really reasonable "race"tire.
Gonna get me some - they seem like the thing.

thanks for your help.

I love you light weight car guys, I blisterred my Kumho VR's after only 5 auto crosses. That was a Mustang GT, trying to keep up (and mostly did) with the S2000s.
35K on a set of performance tires...only in my dreams

Front drivers have the same problem...less weight, but all on one end. Rotate the tires after every event.