Tire question, probably better answered by Auto-X guys - Honda Prelude Forum

BlueShadow · 02-07-2004, 12:36 PM

Hey everybody,

I had some questions about some tires. I was looking at the Yokohama A032R's for use in Auto-X, Drag racing, and maybe even regular street use. I thought about posting this in the wheel and tire forum, but since these are tires specifically made for road racing, you guys might have more experience with them. Maybe after all the regulars in here have thrown in their .02 cents one of the mods can move it to the wheels and tires forum?

Anyways, my first question was about the different types of tire available. I see several different types of tire, and I was wondering if anyone could give me a quick breakdown of how each tire is good/bad or what each type of tire would be best used for.

-Blackwall H-Compound
-Blackwall Heat Cycled
-Blackwall S-Compound
-Blackwall Shaved 4/32nds (looks like deeper treads)

Would any of these tires be good for normal use on the street in both dry and wet weather? if used on the street on a daily basis how long do you guys think they would last?

I may have also read on the RX-7 forums that the A032Rs are not steel belted but they are nylon belted. If that is tru what are the advantages/disadvantages of this? EDIT: just read that they actually have steel belts reinforced by nylon plies, which is supposed to help stabilize the tread and stiffen the sidewalls.

Thanks

aklucsarits · 02-07-2004, 04:25 PM

The "H" compound is the hard compound. Less grip, more tread life. Up until last year, this was the only one available in the US. Then last spring, they brought over the "S" compound too. The S compound (you guessed it!) is a softer coumpound - stickier, but less treadlife. Neither of them would make a good street tire IMHO. Although I do recall someone from the ITR forum on Honda-tech having posted a long time ago that he ran a set of the H compounds on the street and got about 4,000mi of street-only driving out of them. Now that they actually fixed their search function on that site, you can go there and search the archives for more info.

As far as autoX tires go, there are definitely better and more cost-effective R compound choices for autoX than the A032R, IMO.

Andrew

Jacques · 02-08-2004, 01:43 AM

The Kumho VictoRacer V700 or the newer ECSTA V700 are both reasonably priced R-compound tires. They are widely popular at the National level in autocross because of its cost, and that they last awhile (for R-compounds anyways). The R-compound Hoosiers are even stickier than the Kumhos, but they cost quite a bit more, and don't last very long.

monk3y · 02-08-2004, 06:03 AM

for R-compound value, there's no beating the victoracer...

pretty decent tire too, esp for that price.

the advans i hear are ok, but for hoosier money, you may as well get hoosiers.

cbusH22A · 02-08-2004, 11:24 AM

I used the V700 last year in DS and they lasted the whole season, I had to get them flipped about halfway. I heard from a Hoosier rep at the run-offs that the a03 will be discounted to around Kumho price this spring once all the a04 come out. I haven't seen that yet

BlueShadow · 02-08-2004, 09:34 PM

Thanks for the replies guys,

I guess I shoulda seen the H = hard and S = soft compound thing

I will probably end up going with a 16x7 sized rim for Auto-Xing the CRX in. My main concern with any Auto-X tires is cost vs longevity. I'm not really looking for all out performance out of these tires. Just something with a fair amount of grip, and ones that should last me a while.

KENLUDE97 · 02-09-2004, 06:07 AM

Well if you are only looking for tire that has "fair" ammount of grip and that can be run on the Street get the Falkin Azines (sp)!
They are a street tire and do VERY well in autox and pretty darn cheap for what they offer.

TimeRacer · 02-09-2004, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueShadow
I will probably end up going with a 16x7 sized rim for Auto-Xing the CRX in.

For the CRX why are you thinking about running a 16x7 rim unless you have some massive brake setup? Most CRX autocrossers are running something along the lines of 13-15x7 due to availability/cost of the tires and to keep the gearing in check esp if it's an autocross only set. What size tire do you plan to use with the 16x7?

Pork Chop · 02-09-2004, 01:31 PM

How long do you plan to keep these tires around? The reason I ask is because R-compounds tend to "harden" over time. I certainly wouldn't bother keeping tires around for a year. The difference is subtle, but IMO, it's pretty noticeable.

I'm not sure if an R-tire would be your best bet considering you're looking for something for autoX and drag racing. What makes a good autoX tire (stiff sidewalls) ends up being the opposite of what you want in a drag tire (softer sidewalls). R-tires tend to be considerably heavier than your average street tire too (unless you're talking Hoosiers, but those certainly aren't very streetable).

For the best bang for your buck, you can't go wrong with the Falken Azenis. They're dirt cheap, plus they are pretty sticky for a non-R-tire. On asphalt surfaces, they're not very far behind Kumho's. Unfortunately, they aren't as impressive on concrete, but then again, how many events are you doing on concrete anyway?

Pork Chop · 02-09-2004, 01:34 PM

Oh, I forgot to answer the original question of the thread!

Regarding the A032's, I don't know of anyone who has tried the soft compound. The old one has been around a bit and was proven to noticely slower than the Kumho/Hoosiers. I'm really surprised no one has tried the soft compound yet. Maybe this is flawed logic, but if the tire was any good, surely someone would be running them now, right?

BlueShadow · 02-09-2004, 03:08 PM

TimeRacer,

I was planning on going with a 15" or 16" rim so that way I can use the OEM Honda 11" rotors. I was thinking about going with a 16x7 and some 195/45/16, but there aren't a whole lot of tires available in that size. So I am leaning more towards the 15's because there is a larger selection of tires for that size (195/50/15.

Pork Chop,

I wasn't planning on keeping the tires around for more then a year because I've heard of the same hardening issue you mentioned.

My other choices for tires were the Azenis you had mentioned and also the Parada 2, Potenza S-03 PP. To be able to run the Parada Spec 2, I would have to run a 16" rim since16" looks to be the smallest size the Spec 2's come in.

vwong · 02-09-2004, 03:47 PM

If you're planning on running 15" R-compound tires, don't go with 195/50. Go with at least 205/50, or better yet 225/45.

Oh...and don't get the Parada. Azenis is a much better tire than the Parada.

BlueShadow · 02-09-2004, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vwong
If you're planning on running 15" R-compound tires, don't go with 195/50. Go with at least 205/50, or better yet 225/45.

Oh...and don't get the Parada. Azenis is a much better tire than the Parada.

For CRX's I think that anything wider then a 205 would need some fender rolling. Is there a particular reason as to why I shouldn't run a 195 R tire on 15's?

vwong · 02-09-2004, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueShadow

For CRX's I think that anything wider then a 205 would need some fender rolling. Is there a particular reason as to why I shouldn't run a 195 R tire on 15's?

For handling, you want as wide a tire as you can fit under the fender. Also, I don't think any tire company makes a 195/50/15 R-tire. At least the Yokohama, Hoosier, and Kumho don't have this size listed.

If I were you, I'll look into rolling the fender and stuff the 225/45/15 Kumho Escta V700 (cheaper) or Hoosier A3S03 (more expensive).

TimeRacer · 02-09-2004, 09:37 PM

What brake upgrade has the CRX using a 11" rotor? Our heavy Preludes don't even have that large of a rotor. But in any case I'd still stick with the 15" rim at most and you'd be able to keep a nice autocross gear ratio.

What class are you trying to prepare the CRX for? Since truthfully I can't see you needing more than a 205 wide tire since the CRX only weighs 2100 lbs, but it's a matter of experimentation really seeing what works best for you and the car.

BlueShadow · 02-10-2004, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TimeRacer
What brake upgrade has the CRX using a 11" rotor? Our heavy Preludes don't even have that large of a rotor. But in any case I'd still stick with the 15" rim at most and you'd be able to keep a nice autocross gear ratio.

What class are you trying to prepare the CRX for? Since truthfully I can't see you needing more than a 205 wide tire since the CRX only weighs 2100 lbs, but it's a matter of experimentation really seeing what works best for you and the car.

http://www.fastbrakes.com/products/p...partnum=EF11-4

They are the ones people on the CRX boards seem to recommend. 15 is the minimum I can run with that brake setup. But for tires, 16" is the minimum I can run for the Parada Spec 2. My other street tire choice the S-03 allows me to run 15's.

The car is probably gonna be build to conform more to DRAG racing rules. But I haven't still haven't gone into studying the rule book for either DRAG or Auto-X. So I still have not decided which Auto-X class I want to compete in. Altough I am guessing the motor swap I will be doing in the next few months will narrow down which class I fall into.

TimeRacer · 02-10-2004, 01:54 AM

Just keep in mind with the Fastbrakes upgrade you're going to have to keep an eye on your calipers since they need a TON more maintenance than OEM. Personally I wouldn't daily drive that as the seals on the Wilwood calipers tend to go out realy easily since IIRC due to the race spec design (aka no dust boots). But at least their rebuild kit is cheap. The setup is overkill for basically everything except track racing where you plan on running hard for 30 minutes at a time.

That engine swap is going to put you in SM if I recall the rules correctly. Unless you plan on doing a lot of work to the car it's not going to be competetive if that's what you're looking for.

I wouldn't buy a rim just to use Parada's as there's much better options out there. Unless all you care about is how the tread looks.

Jacques · 02-10-2004, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vwong
Oh...and don't get the Parada. Azenis is a much better tire than the Parada.

Ditto. BlueShadow, another tire you can try is the Kumho MX. Their grip is much like the Azenis, but they take a little bit to warm up.