summer performance and autocross tires

Shopping for a set of tires for the '68 Barracuda. I have moved the car from a drag race only to a multi use street-strip-autocross vehicle.
Car info is in this thread
Street Cruser

I currently have a set of 215/60/16R tires on it that are just about used up. I like that tire size for the front, plan to go up a size in the rear.
The wheels are Torq Thrust II
16x7 4.0 back space on the front
16x8 4.89 back space on the rear

I had heard that there is not much selection of true performance tires in a 16 wheel size, that is true. I want to stay with a 26 inch diameter tire and again a bit taller and wider in the rear, I found no tires that tall in a Summer Performance Tire. I did find a High Performance All Season tire in a 215/60/16 for the front and a 225/60/16 for the rear. It is a Sumitomo HTR A/S P03.

Be nice to find something like a Firestone Fire Hawk, but the tallest tire in that series is a 225/50/16 and that is said to measure 24.9 inches tall. I am thinking that would leave the wheel wells looking empty.

So if there is an option for a 26 and 26.5 tall Summer Performance tire out there that I have not found or if someone thinks a less than 25 inch tall tire would look OK, your thoughts are appreciated.

The largest and most common 16" autocross tire is going to be 225/50/R16, which is approx. 25" tall. The top 3 tires right now are Bridgestone RE-71R, Yokohama A052's, and Falken RT660's from what I've heard through the grapevine. The Yokohama's do come out in a 245/45/R16.

Bridgestone RE-71R 225/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=25VR6RE71R&tab=Sizes

Yoko A052 225/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...all=Blackwall&partnum=25WR6A052XLV2&tab=Sizes

Yoko A052 245/45/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=445WR6A052&tab=Sizes

Falken RT660's 225/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=25WR6RT660&tab=Sizes

I would say, not to worry about looks if you're serious about going fast in the autocross. Tires are the best upgrade you can make to go faster. If looks do matter that much, just get whatever tire gives you the look you want. At the end of the day, no matter what tire you get, what matters most is seat time.

If you're not running in SCCA CAM-T and your class allows you to run something less than 200TW, it seems like Toyo Proxes R888R (100TW) comes in a 245/45/R16 & 255/50/R16.

245/45/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...ewall=Blackwall&partnum=445WR6R888R&tab=Sizes

255/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=55WR6R888R&tab=Sizes

That's the best I got from Tirerack's offering.

MuuMuu101 said:

The largest and most common 16" autocross tire is going to be 225/50/R16, which is approx. 25" tall. The top 3 tires right now are Bridgestone RE-71R, Yokohama A052's, and Falken RT660's from what I've heard through the grapevine. The Yokohama's do come out in a 245/45/R16.

Bridgestone RE-71R 225/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=25VR6RE71R&tab=Sizes

Yoko A052 225/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...all=Blackwall&partnum=25WR6A052XLV2&tab=Sizes

Yoko A052 245/45/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=445WR6A052&tab=Sizes

Falken RT660's 225/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=25WR6RT660&tab=Sizes

I would say, not to worry about looks if you're serious about going fast in the autocross. Tires are the best upgrade you can make to go faster. If looks do matter that much, just get whatever tire gives you the look you want. At the end of the day, no matter what tire you get, what matters most is seat time.

If you're not running in SCCA CAM-T and your class allows you to run something less than 200TW, it seems like Toyo Proxes R888R (100TW) comes in a 245/45/R16 & 255/50/R16.

245/45/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...ewall=Blackwall&partnum=445WR6R888R&tab=Sizes

255/50/R16: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...dewall=Blackwall&partnum=55WR6R888R&tab=Sizes

That's the best I got from Tirerack's offering.

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Thanks for the reply, great info. If I end up doing a lot of Autocross, I'll look into a second set of wheels and a set of dedicated tires.
For now I purchased a set of Firestone Firehawk AS tires. I went with 215-60-16 for the front and 225-60-16 for the rear. They fill out the wheel wells nicely.
Concerning dry weather handling, These are promoted as High Performance All Season tires, a step down from Summer Performance and a step up from what is called Touring All Season Tires.
It is mentioned that these tires may be acceptable in light snow, so it is not a true All Season tire, I am good with that as I wanted tires with better dry handling ratings and this tire has that.
here is a link to a review.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Firehawk+AS

As long as you're happy with it, that's all that matters. You can technically autocross on almost any tire, you may just be less competitive. But personally, I don't think it matters all that much. Just have fun and get as much seat time as you can.

"you may just be less competitive"

I am really in it for the sport and to drive the car,, buy there is no draw back to doing well either.
And yes, I plan to run the Cam-T class.
Our Indy area SCCA has an Autocross event called a Drag - Cross, it is as it sounds a mix of drag racing and autocross. Two cars line up side by side for a Christmas tree start, then after some length each turns into their own duplicate Autocross course. Should be interesting.

I run the Yokohama A052 on mine in an 18 inch size and I tell you they are terrible when they are cold. I mean less than 70 degrees out you can't get them hot enough to grip. If you are waiting between runs they would cool down too much or never get warm enough to be effective in cooler weather.

dgibby said:

I run the Yokohama A052 on mine in an 18 inch size and I tell you they are terrible when they are cold. I mean less than 70 degrees out you can't get them hot enough to grip. If you are waiting between runs they would cool down too much or never get warm enough to be effective in cooler weather.

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I have heard that about A052's. Are the RE-71R's still the "it" tire? I haven't been to an autocross in maybe 4 years. I plan to start again, next year. My car is almost done.

my68barracuda said:

"you may just be less competitive"

I am really in it for the sport and to drive the car,, buy there is no draw back to doing well either.
And yes, I plan to run the Cam-T class.
Our Indy area SCCA has an Autocross event called a Drag - Cross, it is as it sounds a mix of drag racing and autocross. Two cars line up side by side for a Christmas tree start, then after some length each turns into their own duplicate Autocross course. Should be interesting.

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SCCA has done that a couple times. I thought it had a different name than Drag-Cross.

MuuMuu101 said:

I have heard that about A052's. Are the RE-71R's still the "it" tire? I haven't been to an autocross in maybe 4 years. I plan to start again, next year. My car is almost done.



SCCA has done that a couple times. I thought it had a different name than Drag-Cross.

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Not sure on the hot tire right now, I don't autocross, just happen to have the Yokohama's on my car.
Got to tell you how much I love your car. I think we joined about the same time and I've enjoyed watching your build over the years. Was real tempted to buy it when you had it for sale a while back but glad you kept it knowing how much you've done with it.

dgibby said:

Not sure on the hot tire right now, I don't autocross, just happen to have the Yokohama's on my car.
Got to tell you how much I love your car. I think we joined about the same time and I've enjoyed watching your build over the years. Was real tempted to buy it when you had it for sale a while back but glad you kept it knowing how much you've done with it.

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Thank you! I really appreciate that. The Dart should be making a comeback soon. As I said before, hopefully, I should be autocrossing early next year.

my68barracuda said:

For now I purchased a set of Firestone Firehawk AS tires. I went with 215-60-16 for the front and 225-60-16 for the rear.

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I wish Blu wasn't checked out. I think he would have had good input.

My gut says the tires you bought aren't really much better than a standard all season. With a 480 tread wear I bet they are pretty hard and will probably wear fine but are more for someone that feels sporty once in a while but other than that just want to run to the store or pick up the kids.

Probably a great all around tire, but I think the "performance" is probably a marketing play. Kind of like putting "gluten free" on a potato chip bag.

I do have to say they are probably better than most of the other "performance" tire offered in the 215/60R16 size though. Tirerack's performance offerings are limited to all-season options only, and all but one have a higher tread wear rating than the Firehawk AS.

I think you really need(ed) to step up to a 17" or 18" wheel. Then you could get a real performance tire with a 300 or similar tread rating without having to run a shorter tire.

Buy some cheap 17x8 Mustang wheels and run some decent 245/45R17 performance tires and I bet it would give you all that you are looking for and it would be cheap and easy assuming you don't have tie rod inference issues.

If you want to make sure to clear everything, run a 245/40R18 tire all around. You will still have almost the same diameter as the 215/60R16 tire, just under 4" of sidewall (so not a rubberband) and there are 78 performance tire offerings in that size on Tirerack.

Just my thoughts.

MuuMuu101 said:

I have heard that about A052's. Are the RE-71R's still the "it" tire? I haven't been to an autocross in maybe 4 years. I plan to start again, next year. My car is almost done.



SCCA has done that a couple times. I thought it had a different name than Drag-Cross.

Click to expand...

Drag Cross seems to be the name it goes by in this local, the video is not me or my car, just something I grabbed off of youtube that had the Drag Cross title

my68barracuda said:

For now I purchased a set of Firestone Firehawk AS tires. I went with 215-60-16 for the front and 225-60-16 for the rear. They fill out the wheel wells nicely.

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Did you have to clearance your front wheelwell lip to run that wheel/tire combination?

KosmicKuda said:

Did you have to clearance your front wheelwell lip to run that wheel/tire combination?

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It is close, with the car setting still the new front tires clear barely. The same size tires that were in the front had most of the tread worn off of them and they cleared easily.
I will know more when I get the car out and on the road, but that won’t happen till spring.