I went autoXing yesterday, and it wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life. The previous owner put Fisk tires on my car(any one ever heard of Fisk tires??) I think that company only made one set of tires and they managed to find their way onto my car. I had about 40-42psi in them, and I couldn't get traction to save my ass. I'm in HS, and against 4 Mini Coopers and a civic. I lost by atleast 8 seconds....

I think my struts are also blown(before hand). When I go over speed bumps my car kinda goans when it comes down.The noise is coming from the suspension.

Please tell me that if I replace the struts and tires that I will see a dramatic improvement in the way the car handles...


I'm done..

Very sorry to hear that. BUt you are diff right, Tires i would say is 1st in performance! What good is power when you cant even put it to the grounds? And im pretty sure the strut contributed non the less. Springs and strut also makes up for alot in a car's handling abilities. So once u get those 2 things on check, im sure you'll do alot better.

Not sure if it can hang with the Mini-S though. Those things are crazy for stock cars.

they weren't S, but I used to run my friend's camaro and was with those S boys.....Jesus they were fast.

Might just be me, but, 40 psi a tire sounds WAY high! Ridin on rocks there... maybe if you backed them down to 32 psi or so, you'd notice an improvement? I'd try that before writing the tires off...

Like mentioned above, tire psi does make a huge traction difference. But yeah go with some new set of tires and you'll see a huge improvement. I just sold my 16inch wheels with 205/45/16 nitto 450's on there, and those baby gripped and handle really well. After putting my stock 14inch wheels on with some unknown brand name tires, the car handles a lot worse. If you upsize your rims and go with lower profile tires with wider tire width, there's a night and day difference. If you just plan on buying tires, go with a reputable Z rated tires.

DAvid

Yeah I was going to drop the psi after my first run, but I had them at 40 psi and was still riding on the side walls at times, I'm afraid if I back them down the tires will roll and
that = bad=$$$...which I don't have. Thanks for the input guys


-DaBat

Yeah, sounds like you need better tires then... I run my 195/60/15's at like 32 pounds, and I take some fast ass corners and I haven't really had them fold on me like that... sounds like they are just crappy tires if they're folding with 40 pounds in them... :-\

As for the suspension.... try somethin' stiff next time... :) How about some GC coilovers?... ;)

I went to an autocross yesterday and had a blast. I'm thinking about running sometime this year.

I'm not saying that autoX isn't fun bro....because it kicks ass. It teaches you how to drive really, really fast. I think I'm gunna grind up these Fisk Pieces of shit, and ship them back to Fisk headquarters so that they can have a souvenier of how great a tire they make...or not. As for the coilovers I'm looking into that right now.

Yeah, I did it on Summit "Premium Radial Ride" 195's, and it was more or less still awesome, but the tires were horrible.

Even running 40#s or so, I would have the edges fold over, and it was generally just mediocre.

Dropping the PSI would just make the tires bend more, and it would still be crappy.

Of course, if you really want to compete in the stock class, you run R compounds, which I consider pretty lame. Give it a try in STS once you get the coilovers and some other mods, and some Falken tires, or really any sport tires.

i havent autoxed my g yet. But i would get some gr-2s and azenis. 195/60/14. They are 3 ply sidewalls. Still rollover some but not like normal tires even if they say sport on them. if you got some money to play with try agxs and bigger wheel and tire combo but then you wil have to change classes. If you dont mind changing classes you can lower it or get ground controls. I hear swaybars are like rare/non existant so adjustable shocks are a must. Also, ground controls are a double good idea because you can adjust your cornering attitude with the ERS springs until you get the right balance. good luck. I cant wait till i autocross my g.

i've autoxed my car w/ both 14s and then 17s on coilovers. what's the difference? the jawdropping experience. you can't even compare the two.

nevertheless on my 14s i was able to place at the midpack on my first runs and i had an auto tranny too. i did have a great deal of body roll and lean, but i just managed to throw it around pretty well.
my tires were 195/65/14 potenzas.

Update:

Got 4 new Yokohama Yk420's. 195/60/14 's. Absolutely no comparison. Those tires rock. I got em for 430 w/ rebate, balanced and installed at Discount Tires. I love em.

-DaBat