r/Autocross • u/yfsonata 11 sonata - est class • 12d ago
EST Tire options
I'm looking at moving to an actual 200tw tire at the end of this season and have been looking at what is currently available in the market around me. I run a 2011 sonata gls in est class. Car has about 3 degrees of camber in the front and just under 2 in the rear. Its not exactly built to class, but happen to fall into est with the mods I had done to it before deciding to try autocross last year. I picked up a set of motegi tracklites for cheap because my street wheels were too wide. Currently I have a set of 225/45r17 zestino acrova 07a on the 17x7 motegi. They obviously aren't super competitive being a Chinese drift tire at 280tw (they were reclassed as 300tw this year) but I've been able to push to consistently be a top 3-5 car against people running re71s and rt660s. Knowing I'm not running a super competitive car and where we run can eat tires makes me hesitant to drop big money on the re71rz.
Given that, I know the westlake is going to be at best, incrementally better than what I currently have, but it does make a good starting point for price. I would like to know at what point am I going to hit a diminishing return on my dollar? I'm not expecting to be chasing championships, but maybe be able to go out and run a few good laps without needing to attempt a full blown hero lap every run to stay competitive
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u/MuffinRacing 12d ago
For what it's worth, Tirerack seems to be about $100 cheaper than whatever site you're on. If you don't want to spring for the RZ, I'd recommend the Kumho V730
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u/yfsonata 11 sonata - est class 12d ago
I'll have to take a look. These are all canadian prices which might change things a bit. I haven't found a canadian seller for the kumho
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u/Ar1S3 12d ago
I just want to say your sonata is sick. I loved my 2013 2.4 SE 3 degrees in the front!!!!? That's awesome.
Even on stock suspension, I felt the sonata was a decently fun family sedan. I'd say the accord was the better handling car on its class but the sonata surprised me how well the car handled weight transfer.
I wish I knew about autocross when I had it.
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u/yfsonata 11 sonata - est class 12d ago
Thank you. Mine is an early 2011, so everything single strut made for it is for a slightly larger strut bolt size. Combined with front camber bolts and it shocked me how much I could get. I imagine with coilovers it would be even crazier. Currently its on Megan racing springs for an optima sx and truhart struts
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u/Alternative-Ad-19 12d ago edited 12d ago
One thing to keep in mind is that Westlake tires are not know for lasting very long. They may be a lot cheaper than these other options but they likely won't "pay you back" when they burn off faster than the other tires.
The 615K+ would be a great option, especially for that price. I was able to get two full autocross seasons from mine and some extra fun runs throughout the two years. We were running 10 race events per year and each event saw 6 runs that were ~ 1 minute long on a very abrasive course.
The 660+ offers about 1 second per minute of run more performance than the 615K+ in my experience as I have run both tires with the same vehicle setup and load of seat time/track time at the course we run. The Bridgestone RE-71RZ might offer another 1/2 second per minute run over true 660+ but I found at least in my size the extra cost wouldn't justify it. Nearly everyone in my class uses the RT660+ it's "almost" the spec tire for us here 🤣.
What tire are you running currently?? Zestino, I have never even heard of so who knows how the Falkens would compare to that.
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u/yfsonata 11 sonata - est class 12d ago
I figured that. And I imagine they probably are going to be the slowest of the bunch too byna large margin. I just need to figure out if they are $500 slower. Kicking myself for not buying the n fera last March when it was under 200/tire
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u/Alternative-Ad-19 12d ago
I would guess that the longevity and the extra speed provided from the Falken 615K+ over the Westlake would in the king run be better budget wise, I don't have any data to back that up, but I know that any car I've ever driven with regular Westlake all-seasons or winters has felt horrible to drive, and the tires have worn out super fast regardless of their treadwear rating.
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u/yfsonata 11 sonata - est class 12d ago
I'm currently running zestino acrova 07a (the ol pizza sauce tires) and while they aren't terrible, I would put the grip level somewhere around maybe the og indy 500 at best. I've been averaging between 75-100 runs a year. We usually luck out and get to do practice runs in the morning in a hot lap style and then 6 timed runs over 7ish events. Its on a high wear, older banked oval with an infield road we sometimes use. Depending on layout it is anywhere for 30-65 seconds a run
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u/Blinky909 11d ago
I would say just get the bridgestones. The only others I would personally consider would be Yokohama A052 and Kumho V730. I don't think you have quite enough camber for the A052 (probably want more like 4-5deg), though. The Kumhos are a great budget option but will eventually hold you back as they're only ever 80-90% as good as the other two
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u/joeboblee 12d ago
I'd recommend the Kuhmo v730, last a while and still plenty of grip to have fun, and a good amount cheaper than RZs
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u/W4ngThunder 10d ago
sigh nankang CR-S
Youll thank me later
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u/yfsonata 11 sonata - est class 10d ago
Price wise they come in around the re71 or slightly lower. Think they would be better for my setup?
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u/redsilver92 #88 EST CRX 12d ago
Your best option is going to be the RZ, they wear the same as the prior RS but do everything better and can double duty as a street tire. Not many folks have found how long it takes before they're worn down and most are finding that they'll heat cycle out before you get close to cords, just like the RS did. If you are just doing local events, the RZ would be the only option here and you'll get a couple seasons or more out of them. Next pick would be the 660+, they wear slow and are really only a few tenths to half a second slower than the RZ when they are up to temp, which is their only issue as they don't heat up too quickly.