Tire Help, Dual Purpose Tires.

Steven Spampinato · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:47 pm

I use star specs for daily and autocross use. I burned my set up in 10 months.
I did an ODO count on the day I had the tires installed, it only has been about 10,000 miles plus close to a 100 runs?
This is my first season ever running a tire for a “full season” that had a below 300 rating.

Is this normal?

I will put a new set on tomorrow. Lets just say I am not in good standing with the wife. I was hopping to atleast get 15k plus 100 runs.
To be able to do this sport, I can only afford a dual purpose set of tires. So far the Star Spec has been the best for the buck.

Hopefully by next season, I will have two sets of rims and tires to prolong the use.

Need a part time gig first.

So, I wanted to take a poll.

How many of you are doing dual purpose tires? How many of you are getting decent longevity?

Do you think if I cut down on events, I can get these tires to last maybe 15-18 months?

Steven Spampinato · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:49 pm

Yes, I know...I posted this in the wrong area.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:52 pm

I think that is pretty good for a camber-challenged car like the Si. If the tire budget is too steep (indications are that next year's tires will be more $ than 2012) you might consider going to STX so you can spend a little bit on camber plates to ease up on the tire wear. For the cost of 1.5 tires you could really decrease the wear rate, AND have a car that turns :wink:

As a point of reference I got 6k street miles and 120 runs (8 events and a school) out of the StarSpecs when I had them on my WRX with its awe-inspiring -1* camber.

Naturally, the answer is MX5 or S2000, but (a) you knew that already and (b) I'm pretty sure sleeping in the doghouse isn't your goal. :lol:

edit....I hear good things about the Pilot SuperSports which are VERY competitively priced vs Dunlops. I am considering them for next year, based on how the 2013 Tire War reports come out.

double edit...just checked tirerack, and the reverse is true, Dunlops look cheaper in your size. Maybe add the Conti DW to the list at $122 each? Very good tire, works well in dry and great wet grip.

RobLupella · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:53 pm

Steven Spampinato wrote:

I use star specs for daily and autocross use. I burned my set up in 10 months.
I did an ODO count on the day I had the tires installed, it only has been about 10,000 miles plus close to a 100 runs?
This is my first season ever running a tire for a “full season” that had a below 300 rating.

Is this normal?

I will put a new set on tomorrow. Lets just say I am not in good standing with the wife. I was hopping to atleast get 15k plus 100 runs.
To be able to do this sport, I can only afford a dual purpose set of tires. So far the Star Spec has been the best for the buck.

Hopefully by next season, I will have two sets of rims and tires to prolong the use.

Need a part time gig first.

So, I wanted to take a poll.

How many of you are doing dual purpose tires? How many of you are getting decent longevity?

Do you think if I cut down on events, I can get these tires to last maybe 15-18 months?

The obvious answer is if you cut down on events you can get your tires to last longer. Conversely, if you stop driving to work you can autocross more. :lol:

Maybe try some tires that are a bit harder and live with having to drive better to make up for having lesser tires. You could be like me and drive on the same tires until they are blue. They don't grip as well but they don't need to be replaced.

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:58 pm

Steve, I hate to say it but that's not unusual. When I was running TIR in my Integra (similar car- fwd, lsd, weight...) the Azenis would sometimes only last about 8k with 100 runs and daily driving before rainy days became white knuckle adventures.

Lower treadwear = faster on course & wallet depletion unfortunately. The new Pilot Sports supposedly have a 30k warranty and may be worth the extra $$$ up front.

I eventually bought extra wheels for Azenis and ran high treadwear Yoko ES100's for DDing but having extra wheels inevitably led me down the r-comp road since I was already changing wheels.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:13 pm

don't forget.....if you do Novice Coordinator or something similar your events are paid for, so that's like $50 off each tire. Jus sayin'

michaelsmiller · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:41 pm

The car has a lot to do with tire wear. I’m sitting on 15K miles and 70 to 100 autox runs on Star Specs. The tire wear is perfectly even. Part of the credit goes to the car, an NC Miata. The rest of the credit goes to more experience driving. I have found that as I learn to drive smoother, my tires last longer. A little less pushing in the corners, trail braking, and some timely throttle lifts will reduce tire wear especially at the edges. My first set of autox tires lasted 6500 miles ¾ of a season wearing out on the edges. My other car with Star Specs is a MazdaSpeed 3 which I have been using for track and as the family car. It gets about 16K miles on the street and about 600 track miles with perfectly even tire wear. I like Star Specs a lot, but am considering Pilot SS for my Mazda Speed. Azenis and S2s lasted about 8K miles, but wore evenly. The other tire that handled well and lasted a long time, 12.5K, was the BFG DKW2 but they make a racket once they wear a little.

shawnwhipple · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 6:28 pm **Posts:** 603

That does seems about normal wear. I'd say with tires like the star specs, if you only daily drove them you might get 20K-25K out of them. The autocross runs are what is really killing your life.

Rather than buying new tires now, I'd suggest hunting for some good used high TW rating tires on Craigslist to get you through the Winter and then try to get a new set of star specs or whatever other tire you decide on for next year with a 2nd set of wheels.

I happen to know a guy who has a set of Konig Daylights that would fit your car, sitting in his garage. I'd, I mean he'd probably be willing to sell them to you cheap.

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 7:16 am

Steve, if it's in the budget Shawn's wheels are the way to go. Plus you'd be dropping 7 lbs of unspung weight. 23 vs very light 16 pound wheels that you can toss some Star Specs on. For daily driving the Conti Dws 500 TW tires are cheap, great in rain, and and will last forever.

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

I would like to meet the person who has Star Specs last 25k miles; however, I don't think he or she exists.

I've burned through a set of summer tires every year for the past 4 years. Unfortunately your Civic doesn't have ridiculously cheap wheels/tires like my toy cars do, but that's the price you pay when you gotta look good on the street.

Off the top of my head:

Falken Azenis RT-615 195/60R14: 12k, 10k, 14k
Hankook R-S2 195/60R14: 16k
Hankook R-S3 225/45R15: 10k (then sold them to James Milko)
Dunlop Star Specs 195/50R15: 11k-ish right now

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:53 am

Sounds like nothing has really changed in at least 40 years . . . :lol:

2 sets of wheels. Competition tires on one set. Daily driver tires on the other. If you get SERIOUS you have multiple sets of competition tires depending on the event importance and/or the tire "weather preference" (Yes, even in ST at major National events). Been there, done that.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:53 am

A 2nd set of used wheels for the autox tires is the way to go, at least for me. I've beat the crap out of my tires this year on that heavy a$$ mustang and still have plenty of tread for next year. I don't street drive my rs-3's, too much camber on the front end and I have roughly 50-60 runs on these tires.

I also agree w/ Steve's comment on running camber plates. For the mustang, the tire wear is amazingly even across the tread. Being able to flip front to rear is a big bonus as well.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:00 am

RodneyWright wrote:

For the mustang, the tire wear is amazingly even across the tread. Being able to flip front to rear is a big bonus as well.

Rodney, Do you have camber plates or just the stock "crash bolts"? (I know you are in ESP so the plates are legal). In any case, don't you just steer with the throttle so the front tires don't have to work very hard? :lol:

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:19 am

Steve S, 100 runs and 10k miles is pretty legit for a GS car with less than a degree of front camber and the power that the SI has.

That being said I doubt there is a street tire that will give you as good a results and longevity as the Star Spec. Granted, I am not a firm believer in treadwear ratings, the star spec will last longer in your situation purely due to the fact it has the stiffest sidewalls of the EPS tires on the market and that's needed for a heavy, powerful, camber challenged, FWD car.

FWIW:
09 WRX, -1.1* camber, 3150 lbs, 225/45/17 tires on 17x7 wheel

OEM Dunlop SP01 Sports: 60 autox runs, 10 circuitcross runs, 5k DD miles (tires have no tread)
Hankook RS2: 50 autox runs, 24 evo school runs, 5k DD miles (tires have 4/32 left and no grip...heat cycled)
Star specs: 55 autox runs, 5K DD miles, sold the car but the tires looked almost new and gripped like a mofo

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:13 am

DickRasmussen wrote:

RodneyWright wrote:

For the mustang, the tire wear is amazingly even across the tread. Being able to flip front to rear is a big bonus as well.

Rodney, Do you have camber plates or just the stock "crash bolts"? (I know you are in ESP so the plates are legal). In any case, don't you just steer with the throttle so the front tires don't have to work very hard? :lol:

I've been known to throttle steer on occasion :mrgreen:

I do have the camber plates, legal in both ESP and STX. I did have the crash bolts on the 07 GT, but didn't get quite as much camber out of them.

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