[jy326]

/thread

[The HACK]

Why try to fit a square peg into a round hole? If you're going to get a set of rims anyway, why not just get a set of lightweight, 18" rims for auto-cross use only? Or get a set of rims for daily drive, and retire whatever you're driving on now for auto cross duty?

[vwong]

Originally Posted by The HACK

Why try to fit a square peg into a round hole? If you're going to get a set of rims anyway, why not just get a set of lightweight, 18" rims for auto-cross use only? Or get a set of rims for daily drive, and retire whatever you're driving on now for auto cross duty?

Maybe he doesn't want the hassle of changing wheels?

I, for one, am one of those who don't want to swap wheels. I've done that before in my Prelude. I used to carry a set of wheels, jack, and tools to autox and track events, then swapped them out at the events. Now I just want to arrive, check tire pressures, take my runs, then adjust tire pressures back to street pressures, and take off.

[jbass524]

Been using ARC-8s on my E92 for DD wheels for 4 years and they've been perfect. Live in Marin County and am the City often so bad roads are common.

[vwong]

OP, first of all, are you planning to run with BMWCCA or SCCA? Do you care about competition in certain classes? In BMWCCA's stock classes, you're allowed to run pretty much any size wheels/tires, so just pick the size that fits your car and be done with it. But in SCCA's stock (or their new road tire classes), you're limited to factory sizes. So if your car came with staggered wheels/tires, you gotta stay with the same sizes.

For me, if I were to get a new set of lightweight 18" wheels, Volk TE37 is the only choice. But they're quite pricey!!!

[jy326]

Originally Posted by The HACK

Why try to fit a square peg into a round hole? If you're going to get a set of rims anyway, why not just get a set of lightweight, 18" rims for auto-cross use only? Or get a set of rims for daily drive, and retire whatever you're driving on now for auto cross duty?

Like vwong said, I don't want to swap wheels back and forth =/, and plus I don't have the funds to buy tires and rims for autox AND buy tires for my dd.

Originally Posted by vwong

Maybe he doesn't want the hassle of changing wheels?

I, for one, am one of those who don't want to swap wheels. I've done that before in my Prelude. I used to carry a set of wheels, jack, and tools to autox and track events, then swapped them out at the events. Now I just want to arrive, check tire pressures, take my runs, then adjust tire pressures back to street pressures, and take off.

exactly what I want to do!

Originally Posted by jbass524

Been using ARC-8s on my E92 for DD wheels for 4 years and they've been perfect. Live in Marin County and am the City often so bad roads are common.

Yeah,,, I've heard ARC-8s are pretty awesome for DD and autox, but I am still open for options.

Originally Posted by vwong

OP, first of all, are you planning to run with BMWCCA or SCCA? Do you care about competition in certain classes? In BMWCCA's stock classes, you're allowed to run pretty much any size wheels/tires, so just pick the size that fits your car and be done with it. But in SCCA's stock (or their new road tire classes), you're limited to factory sizes. So if your car came with staggered wheels/tires, you gotta stay with the same sizes.

For me, if I were to get a new set of lightweight 18" wheels, Volk TE37 is the only choice. But they're quite pricey!!!

I run with BMWCCA, for now I don't care about which class I am running. I want to start from ground 0 and build up from there.
Oh and I also thought about TE37s,,, but they are pricey like you said lol. I want to stay near the arc-8 range!

[VMRWheels]

Be sure to check out our wheels. Many of our employees use VMR's on the track and even the guys over at EAS - european auto source and Berk technology's 1-series. Awesome for both the track and the street. PM me if you'd like a quote

[BigSkyBimmerfan]

Originally Posted by The HACK

Why try to fit a square peg into a round hole? If you're going to get a set of rims anyway, why not just get a set of lightweight, 18" rims for auto-cross use only? Or get a set of rims for daily drive, and retire whatever you're driving on now for auto cross duty?

I hope the OP doesn't mind me piggybacking, but I'm in a similar situation. I drove my first SCCA solo event on Sunday and had a blast, but am thinking I need to revisit my tires, although I'm unfortunately on a pretty tight budget.

The car is an e90 330i, which currently has 19" Morr VS8.1s with Goodyear F1 Asyms at 245F/275R. I have the stock 18's on hand, shod with Blizzaks for winter at the moment.

I'm debating just using the stock wheels with dedicated tires for now, which I believe would drop me from STU to STX, where I'd be more competitive based on times I saw on Sunday, assuming I don't lose a ton of time. I could then go to a lighter rim at some point in the future.

Any feedback on that approach?

[vividracing]

I agree on the RPF1s... They just don't suit the E90 lines like they do on other cars.

You could look at OEM wheels from other models, or go aftermarket. VMR posted above; their wheels are a viable option for sure. In addition to VMR, you could go with ALT, BBS (some of their wheels are very affordable), Enkei NT03, Enkei PF01, Enkei RP03, or a Miro wheel. Take a look at our website for more info!

[vwong]

Originally Posted by jy326

I run with BMWCCA, for now I don't care about which class I am running. I want to start from ground 0 and build up from there.
Oh and I also thought about TE37s,,, but they are pricey like you said lol. I want to stay near the arc-8 range!

What wheels/tires do you currently have? Are you new to autox?

[vwong]

Originally Posted by BigSkyBimmerfan

I hope the OP doesn't mind me piggybacking, but I'm in a similar situation. I drove my first SCCA solo event on Sunday and had a blast, but am thinking I need to revisit my tires, although I'm unfortunately on a pretty tight budget.

The car is an e90 330i, which currently has 19" Morr VS8.1s with Goodyear F1 Asyms at 245F/275R. I have the stock 18's on hand, shod with Blizzaks for winter at the moment.

I'm debating just using the stock wheels with dedicated tires for now, which I believe would drop me from STU to STX, where I'd be more competitive based on times I saw on Sunday, assuming I don't lose a ton of time. I could then go to a lighter rim at some point in the future.

Any feedback on that approach?

Since you're new to autox, I would recommend you to just get another set of tires for your stock 18" wheels for the autox if you don't want to ruin your 19". By "ruin", I mean wearing out the tires much quicker. Then get more seat time to build your skill.

[jy326]

Originally Posted by BigSkyBimmerfan

I hope the OP doesn't mind me piggybacking,

not at all

Originally Posted by vwong

What wheels/tires do you currently have? Are you new to autox?

I have the stock e90 lci wheels with stock rft tires. and I have 235/265 18" evo v12 that i have to put on the new rims.

I have 2 autox experiences with bmwcca with my car and 1 with evo. so i am def a beginner.

[The HACK]

You'll end up burning up your "daily drive" tires much faster if you do more than a half a dozen events per year. The end result of using your street tires for street and autocross duty is you'll end up replacing a set of tire every year (or maybe even sooner as you pick up speed in AX) rather than replacing 2 sets of tires every 2.5 years. This also gives you the freedom to run different tires, put cheap stuff that will get you through the daily drive in comfort, and something a little more suitable for AX for AX.

My personal experience? When I was using my daily wheels and tires for my driving events, I'd have to replace them every ~12,000 miles, or roughly 9 months. Resulting in ~$3,000 over the course of a little over 2 years. Picked up a set of used R-Comps from a racer friend of mine and picked up a set of BBS RGRs for street, and miraculously went for 2.5 years without changing tires.

And since at every event, I know for sure the wheels were swapped, so I know the wheels are properly torqued and not over-torqued, which you can't check for unless the wheels are removed. If you do enjoy this sport, this is the very basic step you absolutely must do every time, remove the wheels, check your brake lining (or swap to track compound as I do), and replace wheels/tires.

Still think you're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

[jy326]

Originally Posted by The HACK

You'll end up burning up your "daily drive" tires much faster if you do more than a half a dozen events per year. The end result of using your street tires for street and autocross duty is you'll end up replacing a set of tire every year (or maybe even sooner as you pick up speed in AX) rather than replacing 2 sets of tires every 2.5 years. This also gives you the freedom to run different tires, put cheap stuff that will get you through the daily drive in comfort, and something a little more suitable for AX for AX.

My personal experience? When I was using my daily wheels and tires for my driving events, I'd have to replace them every ~12,000 miles, or roughly 9 months. Resulting in ~$3,000 over the course of a little over 2 years. Picked up a set of used R-Comps from a racer friend of mine and picked up a set of BBS RGRs for street, and miraculously went for 2.5 years without changing tires.

And since at every event, I know for sure the wheels were swapped, so I know the wheels are properly torqued and not over-torqued, which you can't check for unless the wheels are removed. If you do enjoy this sport, this is the very basic step you absolutely must do every time, remove the wheels, check your brake lining (or swap to track compound as I do), and replace wheels/tires.

Still think you're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

So you are suggesting that I should get another wheels+tires for autox and get another tire for daily right? But as I stated above, I don't have the funds atm to make that possible.

My brother has 265 Rs-3 square on his evo (yes, a different platform) but still, he has about 20k miles daily and 4~5 autox and still has some tread left.

mind you I only do 4~5 autox/year so I think that my tires should last more than 1 year.

I just need a simple recommendation for good looking track wheels! lets not make it too difficult...

[The HACK]

Originally Posted by jy326

So you are suggesting that I should get another wheels+tires for autox and get another tire for daily right? But as I stated above, I don't have the funds atm to make that possible.

My brother has 265 Rs-3 square on his evo (yes, a different platform) but still, he has about 20k miles daily and 4~5 autox and still has some tread left.

mind you I only do 4~5 autox/year so I think that my tires should last more than 1 year.

I just need a simple recommendation for good looking track wheels! lets not make it too difficult...

If you think this is difficult...

What I'm trying to do, is actually save you money on the long haul. The extreme heat cycles auto-cross can potentially put on these tires dramatically shortens their life. What you will do on a single auto cross weekend can equal 3 months worth of wear if you ask me. Based on my experience, even at 4-5 events a year you will still see accelerated wear enough that picking up a set will be far more economical in the long haul.

Especially if you're intent is to get a nice set of rims for street use. You can use the nice rims for the street, mount your old tires (or just leave them) on the rim that's on the car (because that's going to take the majority of the 'abuse' from the track) and pick up a set of cheaper tires for the nice street rim.

Look, if you want simple? I'm going to tell you exactly what you need to do.

Buy a set of whatever rim that you feel "floats your boat", put the current tires on those rims, then find someone selling USED factory tires or used tires of the right sizes online and put those on your current rims and use that for AX. Not going to have the grandest of time on the AX course, but hey, they're used tires, it's not like you're shredding brand new, $400 ea run-flats for a few minutes of fun out of 4-5 times a year.

It'll be better than having to buy a new set of tires by the end of this year anyway, and then ended up doing exactly what I told you to do 12 months down the road because you didn't listen to me, but having to do so with TWO new set of tires instead.

[jy326]

Originally Posted by The HACK

If you think this is difficult...

What I'm trying to do, is actually save you money on the long haul. The extreme heat cycles auto-cross can potentially put on these tires dramatically shortens their life. What you will do on a single auto cross weekend can equal 3 months worth of wear if you ask me. Based on my experience, even at 4-5 events a year you will still see accelerated wear enough that picking up a set will be far more economical in the long haul.

Especially if you're intent is to get a nice set of rims for street use. You can use the nice rims for the street, mount your old tires (or just leave them) on the rim that's on the car (because that's going to take the majority of the 'abuse' from the track) and pick up a set of cheaper tires for the nice street rim.

Look, if you want simple? I'm going to tell you exactly what you need to do.

Buy a set of whatever rim that you feel "floats your boat", put the current tires on those rims, then find someone selling USED factory tires or used tires of the right sizes online and put those on your current rims and use that for AX. Not going to have the grandest of time on the AX course, but hey, they're used tires, it's not like you're shredding brand new, $400 ea run-flats for a few minutes of fun out of 4-5 times a year.

It'll be better than having to buy a new set of tires by the end of this year anyway, and then ended up doing exactly what I told you to do 12 months down the road because you didn't listen to me, but having to do so with TWO new set of tires instead.

the whole reason why i created this thread was to find a new set of wheels that are suitable for track idk why you have to go into this whole shredding tires getting a second set.
if you have suggestions for good track RIMS for decent price please tell me. if not, please stay out

[SpeedOften]

Originally Posted by BigSkyBimmerfan

I hope the OP doesn't mind me piggybacking, but I'm in a similar situation. I drove my first SCCA solo event on Sunday and had a blast, but am thinking I need to revisit my tires, although I'm unfortunately on a pretty tight budget.

The car is an e90 330i, which currently has 19" Morr VS8.1s with Goodyear F1 Asyms at 245F/275R. I have the stock 18's on hand, shod with Blizzaks for winter at the moment.

I'm debating just using the stock wheels with dedicated tires for now, which I believe would drop me from STU to STX, where I'd be more competitive based on times I saw on Sunday, assuming I don't lose a ton of time. I could then go to a lighter rim at some point in the future.

Any feedback on that approach?

If you use the oem wheels and you dont have any other mods you can stay in stock class for scca.

[BigSkyBimmerfan]

Originally Posted by SpeedOften

If you use the oem wheels and you dont have any other mods you can stay in stock class for scca.

Thanks, but I do have qualifying mods which put me in ST. At this point the plan is to go with the stock 18's (8" front / 8.5" rear) and find a good summer / dry tire that will drop me to STX. If I'm reading the rules correctly that means up to 265mm, as low as 140 treadwear, and depth > 7/32" which I know leaves me tons of options. I just have to pick one, find the money somewhere, and I can bag me an RX-8 A little yellow one that sounds like a whole hive of pissed off hornets leads STX for my region and I was real close to his time on my first day out. Hopefully the changes I'm considering will have dual benefits of dropping me a class *and* dropping time. Just not sure if that's an accurate assessment because I basically don't know what the hell I'm doing yet.

Anyway, that was more hijack than even I intended so I'll take the tire talk to its own thread...

[vwong]

Originally Posted by BigSkyBimmerfan

Thanks, but I do have qualifying mods which put me in ST. At this point the plan is to go with the stock 18's (8" front / 8.5" rear) and find a good summer / dry tire that will drop me to STX. If I'm reading the rules correctly that means up to 265mm, as low as 140 treadwear, and depth > 7/32" which I know leaves me tons of options. I just have to pick one, find the money somewhere, and I can bag me an RX-8 A little yellow one that sounds like a whole hive of pissed off hornets leads STX for my region and I was real close to his time on my first day out. Hopefully the changes I'm considering will have dual benefits of dropping me a class *and* dropping time. Just not sure if that's an accurate assessment because I basically don't know what the hell I'm doing yet.

Anyway, that was more hijack than even I intended so I'll take the tire talk to its own thread...

If I were you, I would maximize the allowance from the STX rules. Get 18x9 wheels and run 265/35 tires all around.

[SpeedOften]

Originally Posted by BigSkyBimmerfan

Thanks, but I do have qualifying mods which put me in ST. At this point the plan is to go with the stock 18's (8" front / 8.5" rear) and find a good summer / dry tire that will drop me to STX. If I'm reading the rules correctly that means up to 265mm, as low as 140 treadwear, and depth > 7/32" which I know leaves me tons of options. I just have to pick one, find the money somewhere, and I can bag me an RX-8 A little yellow one that sounds like a whole hive of pissed off hornets leads STX for my region and I was real close to his time on my first day out. Hopefully the changes I'm considering will have dual benefits of dropping me a class *and* dropping time. Just not sure if that's an accurate assessment because I basically don't know what the hell I'm doing yet.

Anyway, that was more hijack than even I intended so I'll take the tire talk to its own thread...

What mods do you have? The biggest impact on your times are you, and then tires. If you can definitely try and get a school or two in.

I run my 335i in STU, although all I have for mods are H&R sport springs and TR MT1 wheels in 18x9 (square) with 255/35/18 Dunlop Star Specs. There is talk that the 140 treadware will be pushed up to 200 for the 2013 season. I can beat everyone in my class locally except a heavily modified 2010 STi co-driven by a couple who compete on the National level. The only way I will be competitive with the STi is if I somehow learn to drive faster as well as really stiffen up my suspension and maybe get 285 rubber with more camber dialed in.

[BigSkyBimmerfan]

Here's a thread I started with some more detail on my setup. We now return you to your regularly scheduled rims discussion...

[SpeedOften]

Originally Posted by BigSkyBimmerfan

Here's a thread I started with some more detail on my setup. We now return you to your regularly scheduled rims discussion...

LoL apexs or tr mt1's 18x9 square... Thats my recomendation.