Hpde1 tire choice

[thegr8one013]

What would you guys recommend for someone who's going to the track for the very first time? Its a stock S13 that will be driven to the track (about 300 miles round trip.) I saw these below on Tirerack.com and I would like to stick with tire-rack because their warranties are pretty much hassle free

225/50R16 (stock Z32 wheels)

FIRESTONE FIREHAWK INDY 500 340 Treadwear 103.86 ea

FALKEN AZENIS RT615K+ 200 Treadwear 123.54 ea

CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT SPORT 300 Treadwear 123.99 ea

BRIDGESTONE POTENZA S007A 240 Treadwear 126.95 ea

[rv_zenki]

I think it depends on how much you value tire life vs track performance. If performance matters more get the Falkens. If life matters more get the conti's or the potenzas. I'd skip the Firestones. There will be a noticeable difference between a dedicated 200tw tire and a non 200tw tire.

[tacotacotaco]

Nexen SUR4G's

But if its your first track and the suspension is stock maybe just do the falken or Firestone.

Falken will be more grippy but the firehawk might be a fun match for the stock suspension

[brndck]

Nexen SUR4G's

But if its your first track and the suspension is stock maybe just do the falken or Firestone.

Falken will be more grippy but the firehawk might be a fun match for the stock suspension

for those who don't know, john (tacotacotaco) runs the Nissan Challenge Track events here in socal, and has a number of years of experience testing with multiple tire manufacturers, so his recommendations are pretty good ones.

[slider2828]

Dude I didn't know tacotacotaco ran it.... I hope to finish my build soon and compete next year!!! Having kids gets in the way a little! THat is so cool to know....

How about those other tires Nankang AR1?

[KA24DESOneThree]

I have the Firehawks on my E36 M3 and they're alright. More than enough grip for a stock S-chassis. Supposed to be decent in the rain.

They also punch above their weight in terms of ride quality. I am impressed with the combination of ride quality and steering feedback/tire response.

Anyone know how they handle track use? I'm reading mixed reports, although wear seems to be good. Some complaints about temperature sensitivity and greasiness, although the complaints about greasiness were on a 3700lb, quite fast car.

[jdmblood]

Nexen SUR4G's

But if its your first track and the suspension is stock maybe just do the falken or Firestone.

Falken will be more grippy but the firehawk might be a fun match for the stock suspension

how do the nexens compare to hankook rs4?

[earllandry]

I would go with Falken tires as they are the softest but will wear a bit faster.
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[brndck]

I would go with Falken tires as they are the softest but will wear a bit faster.
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that's really vague.
WHICH falkens? they do make more than one tire.

[S14rebuild]

that's really vague.
WHICH falkens? they do make more than one tire.

It was his first post...give him a break. He tried really hard to contribute to the thread and gave a very educated, well thought out factual statement.

[frsh2fourty]

I haven't done an HPDE with my s13 but have tracked different cars with all 4 of those tires. For reference, the Firehawks were on a 16' Mustang for HPDE, Falkens on a 90' Civic for an endurance race, Contis on a 13' WRX for HPDE and Potenzas on a late 90s M3 for HPDE.

The Contis were on my DD WRX and were great initially for street driving and had decent wet performance but after about 2k miles of daily driving and 2 20 minute track sessions they started to get greasy and lose just about all grip halfway through the session. By the end of the second day they actually started to chunk pretty bad. I would recommend staying away from these.

We ran the Falkens on our Civic for a WRL race, 2 8 hour races. Grip seemed to hold up throughout the day and tire wear was pretty even and not at all excessive. We could probably actually get one more full race out of the set we ran. I can't speak to wet performance or street comfort as it was dry all weekend and its a racecar so we trailer it.

My buddy let me borrow his Mustang with the Firehawks for a day. It was his daily driver and he loved them for street/track use. They never really got greasy and did well when it slightly drizzled during one of my sessions. I can't really say they got greasy as someone else mentioned but I also wasn't pushing that car 10/10ths. He ran those tires on his car for about a year of daily driving and 1-2 track weekends every month and only decided to replace them because he ran over something on the highway that damaged the tire.

The Potenzas on the M3 were pretty old as the car doesn't get driven much but they seemed to have held up pretty well. They did have 0 grip until they got warmed up but hooked up after about 2 laps. I didn't really push this car either but never felt them lose any grip throughout the sessions. My buddy has tracked the car in the rain and said they do decently well and doesn't mind them for street driving either but they wouldn't be his first choice.

Overall I'd recommend the Firehawks as they seem to hold up really well for both street and track use and they are also the most budget friendly of your choices. Since its your first time on track I wouldn't worry about spending a ton of money for some high end tire because it'll be a while before you fully utilize the performance and if you decide to really dive into the track days you'll be able to upgrade them soon enough.

[loser101]

Nexen SUR4G's

But if its your first track and the suspension is stock maybe just do the falken or Firestone.

Falken will be more grippy but the firehawk might be a fun match for the stock suspension

Might be kinda hard to answer but how many track days do you expect to get out of the Nexens?

[racepar1]

Federal 595rsrr... Out of all the tires you listed the only one I wanna try is the 615k+. Nexen’s are supposedly slightly quicker, but the feddy’s are way cheaper and the Nexen’s wear quicker. Also, the Feddy’s can handle consistent hot laps throughout the session, where I have heard the Nexen’s are a bit of a 3 lap wonder, then u gotta cool them down or they start losing grip and wear quick. I got 19 heat cycles on my RR’s, still lots of wear, still consistent, a bit off their best obviously...


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