Had my tires doing the stretch and poke thing...

What5647 · 07-21-2009, 07:15 AM

Guess I need some tires with stiffer sidewalls...

Yes, I finally went to an autocross event. Had a blast, can't wait for the next event. I'm hooked.

Here's a vid. Pretty obvious I'm new at this, but seat time will work wonders.

Saturn Sky Redline Sykesville MD Autocross Run 5 - Car Videos on StreetFire

LaserRacer · 07-21-2009, 10:13 AM

Stretch and poke + AutoX = Certain fail!

Stretch and poke severely limits the performance of your tire, If you want to get anywhere near the performance available from your car, get properly sized tires. A stiffer sidewall will only last a little longer until it eventually leads to the exact same failure.

As someone on another forum I frequent recently said "you are at a crossroads, you may choose the track and autocross section, or the style and rides section".

Most of the style related modifications (such as stretch and poke or drastically lowered ride hight) will be working against you in a track setting.

What5647 · 07-21-2009, 11:38 AM

You misunderstand.

Perhaps I should have been more clear. I've got normal tires on a properly sized wheel. The stock tires have very weak sidewalls. Weak sidewalls + hard cornering makes the tires roll. If you look at the pic, it's kinda obvious I'm running on the sidewall of an otherwise normal 245/45R18 tire on a 18x8 wheel. When the tire rolls underneath the wheel, presto, that stech-poke look the ricers go nuts over.

Notice: I will NEVER drive on tires like the ones we saw in the other thread. I'm not that dumb...

LaserRacer · 07-21-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by What5647

You misunderstand.

Perhaps I should have been more clear. I've got normal tires on a properly sized wheel. The stock tires have very weak sidewalls. Weak sidewalls + hard cornering makes the tires roll. If you look at the pic, it's kinda obvious I'm running on the sidewall of an otherwise normal 245/45R18 tire on a 18x8 wheel. When the tire rolls underneath the wheel, presto, that stech-poke look the ricers go nuts over.

Notice: I will NEVER drive on tires like the ones we saw in the other thread. I'm not that dumb...

Got it... My bad, I didn't get a chance to look at the pics. What kind of tires are you running that have folding sidewalls on a 245/45? I have been mulling options over for tires for the M3 myself and have been pointed towards a few options... I would say that if you aren't sure what you want, go to tire rack as a first step...their reviews are somewhat helpful.

What5647 · 07-21-2009, 01:39 PM

They're the stock tires, Goodyear Eagle F1 GS2's. For street use they're not terrible, for A/X they're awful.

At this point, I'm planning on getting a set of the Dunlop Direzza star spec tires sometime early next month.

LaserRacer · 07-21-2009, 02:16 PM

Let me know how the Dunlops work out for you... They are what I am considering for the M. They are very highly recommended elsewhere FWIW.

robinson · 07-23-2009, 09:50 AM

Welcome to the autocrossing club!