Dear FRRAX Friends,

I am in the process of a complete suspension overhaul and I'm spending a bunch of money on a bunch of changes. (Santa is being VERY good to me this year). As usual, i'll be buying a new set of rubber when I'm done with all these changes and getting a good alignment before I head to Dixie in the spring.

It seems that the number of tire options just continues to grow and grow every year. The Goodyear RS seems to be an option along with the standard Kumho and Hoosier A6 (which I ran last year). I thought I would get some advice from all you guru here before I plop down cash on the 2012 tire.

I am running CP this year, so I could go with a pure slick. I heard from my friend in CP is running a 23.5x11.5 16 inch hoosier slick, i don't know if they will fit without modifying fenders on my third gen. Does anybody have an old scrub i can buy for fittment tests?

Also I've heard availability of the GoodYear RS is limited, i don't know what sizes or where to buy them.

Hankook has an R-comp tire now? Has anybody run them?

Avon seems to be having some success, anybody know anything about this tire?

Thanks in advance for your advice and if some of you are too secretive to post here, i UNDERSTAND, i would accept a PM and promise not to share any information with anybody. I have a bunch of Ford Guys here in CP in the Southeast that I need to compete with (no, NOT Robert Lewis, i know I can't compete with him). Gotta get my chevy out front (or in second behind sledgehammer) where it belongs. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Brian

With a 16" rim all that extra width has to get pushed out. A17" rim doesn't get you much room either. But an 18" rim allows you enough room to set the rim further in past the tie rod and strut bracket. I run 315/30-18 A6s on all 4 corners with only a little rubbing on the front. If you search here I have the rim specs up somewhere. It took some work to keep everything from rubbing badly but the car doesn't look any different. In CP you'll get a weight penalty for rims over 16" in diameter and another for over 10" wide unless they change it for next year. I think it was 50 lbs each.

23.5"X11.5"X16" slick in the rear fits under the car with a little massaging of the inner fenderwell. Even then, you'll hear some squealing and see a little smoke as the inside of the tire polishes the inner fenderwell. We do, at least. We have not rolled our fender lips, either. For the front, you'll be cutting the front and back end of the front fender and rolling the lip to fit that big a tire up there. We run a 10" wheel and 22X10X16 slick. The car still seems to turn in pretty well, and gets 1.4G cornering forces even on a gravelly course. As Chris indicates, the issue with putting big slicks up front and keeping it under the car is interference with the steering knuckle and the strut. With 16" wheel, the only way to go is out to get more than 10" under there.

There is still the 50# penalty if you want to run wheels wider than 10", but I _think_ there is no longer a penalty for anything larger than 16"in diameter. I know the penalty was supposed to incrementally-drop over several years, in order to give competitors who want to the chance to catch up, but I think that a weight penalty for 17" or 18" wheels no longer apply. A re-read of the rules, and/or clarification letter to the SEB may be in order.

That said, penalty, or not, you can put a 11.5" X18" wheel under the front. Your turn radius will be increased some, but you can make up for that with more throttle (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif) You're still limited to 11.5 in the back unless you minitub the back, which you can legally do in CP, with limitations. Then you can run the max-allowed 12" wide wheel, and you can run 315 or 335 A6s and keep everything under the car. Mark Madarash is running a similar setup in ESP, and would have come in something like 3rd in CP in this year's Championships. Imagine that tire combination and 500# less weight!

This post has been edited by CrashTestDummy: Dec 17 2011, 07:01 PM

Gene,

Thanks SO much for your post, that is EXACTLY the type of advice that I am looking for.
I want to try some fitment with these tires and new lowered suspension before I sink $1,000 on a set...

I'll also ask around Atlanta to see if anybody has one for fittment...

Brian

This post has been edited by BrianChevy: Dec 18 2011, 04:14 AM

I have found a 23.5 x 11.5 x 16 in Atlanta so I'll be checking fitment with that tire.

I also found a great buy on Hankook 255/50 R16 tires ($500 for a new set of 4) -- so I am considering those.

The Hankooks are going to be third- or fourth-place runner ups to a set of slicks. Hopefully you're just using them for fitment purposes.

This post has been edited by CrashTestDummy: Dec 18 2011, 03:15 PM

Also the Hankooks are barely wider than factory, are they going to be your rain tires?