Autox wheel/tire question: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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March 5, 2010 1:14 p.m. jwdmotorsports Dork

SCCA in my area has decided to run some of the autox events on Saturday this season. I haven't been able to compete before because I'm busy on Sundays.

So, I'm thinking about using the 1984 CRX I just picked up to get back into autox. Since I'm driving an older car and I haven't autoxed on a regular basis in about 8 years or so I don't expect to be real competitive. I will also not be running all of the events since, as said before, I can't make the ones on Sunday.

So, my question is, if I build the car to stock class I would be able to build the car to the max of the rules. The kicker for me is:

Wheels of standard size (diameter, width, and offset within ¼”)

The CRX has narrow 13" rims from the factory.

If I interpret the rules correctly, if I go to a more common rim size it bumps me up into STS. I would be at the bottom of the STS class.

Should I run stock class and run what I can find tire wise or just throw classing the car to the wind and run whatever?
March 5, 2010 1:22 p.m. Soma007 New Reader

If you really aren't concerned with being competative I'd choose which ever class consistantly has the most drivers. Autocrossing is a lot more fun when you have people to run against.
March 5, 2010 1:28 p.m. Matt B Reader

If you're running stock class then there are a few R-comp choices for the 13" diameter.

The Kumho V710 comes in a 215/50/13, but it might have a hard time squeezing onto a 5" wide rim, dunno. Someone's probably tried it. lol
March 5, 2010 1:33 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork

HS right? You'll have a better chance there with stock wheel size than STS with whatever sized wheel. There's a guy (Ken St. Pierre) here in ATL who's embarrased more than a few minis in an '84. I remarked to him how fast he was once, to which he replied "I never lift." I chuckled. He wasn't joking. Be like Ken.
March 5, 2010 1:36 p.m. WilberM3 New Reader

my friend and i have been running our challenge e30 in our local bmwcca events in classes way above what our mod points add up to if on street tires since the massive weight reduction transformed the car and we havent had it inspected for a point value, that way we dont mess up other people's points if theyre actually competing, otherwise we just run AR if on r comps.

i dont really car if i win a class right now i just like the seat time and its easy enough to compare times between classes anyway, so i'd personally just build it the way i want it and drive accordingly. someday i'd like to build to a class but obviously car selection would be a big factor at that point.
March 5, 2010 1:52 p.m. jwdmotorsports Dork

poopshovel wrote:

HS right? You'll have a better chance there with stock wheel size than STS with whatever sized wheel. There's a guy (Ken St. Pierre) here in ATL who's embarrased more than a few minis in an '84. I remarked to him how fast he was once, to which he replied "I never lift." I chuckled. He wasn't joking. Be like Ken.

Any chance you know what tires he was running?
March 5, 2010 2:07 p.m. oldsaw Dork

jwdmotorsports wrote:

poopshovel wrote:

HS right? You'll have a better chance there with stock wheel size than STS with whatever sized wheel. There's a guy (Ken St. Pierre) here in ATL who's embarrased more than a few minis in an '84. I remarked to him how fast he was once, to which he replied "I never lift." I chuckled. He wasn't joking. Be like Ken.

Any chance you know what tires he was running?

Ken has been around for more than a few years and his tires choice has probably varied.

I've seen tires as wide as 225/50-13 squeezed onto Honda 5" rims - Robert Carpenter used that size on his CRX Si before changing cars and classes. That also means one could also go with 215/50-13's or 185/60-13's on stock rim widths.

Back in the day, I usually chose a 185/60-13 to use as a DD choice on factory 13x5 rims. Since I always ran in SP, wider wheels and tires were swapped at events. If it was raining heavily, I seldom bothered changing to R-comps.
March 5, 2010 2:15 p.m. mw Reader

The 710's in 215/50, the a6's in 225/45 would be your fastest options. I would get a set of 225/45/13 Toyo R888's. They are way better than any 13" street tire and they will last a whole season. I compared a set of R888's vs a set of a6's both of which were about 3 months old. The R88's had a few more events on them. The R88's were actually faster. When new, the a6's were a lot faster, but if you're not going to be replacing them after their 20 fastest runs, I think you are better off with the toyos. I'm considering picking up a set for my miata for local events.