For auto-x, I'd wait and see what the peeps in the field say about the Dunlops first. The TireRack (and GRM for that matter) tire tests don't always show the big picture and they have been misleading in the past. Heck, as recently as last year, TireRack or GRM tested the 'Stones against the Azenis and found the Azenis to be a faster tire. How did that wind up working out?
A big factor that most people seem to gloss over with the 'Stones is that it is (relatively) easy to extract a much larger percentage of their overall performance compared to their competitors. I think that is a *much* bigger advantage locally and can easily make the difference between occasionally having one or two events per year where you are "on" versus being consistently fast all year.
We really don't know how any of that plays out with the new crop of tires and if I had to make a guess right now with the current information out there, I'd still pony up for the known commodity instead of taking a chance and having to live with a potential poor choice for a year. The safest bet is to wait until possibly as late as March or April if you can stand it.
Or you could be a PAX worshiper like me and jump classes to something with an easy index and r-comps. Now if only my confirmation letter would hurry up and get here regarding my request to re-class my newly acquired Elise to HS...
Jim
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