I have my 97 M3 setup for SCCA autox in the STU class with 255/40-17 Falken 615's. Falken has a 265/35-18" on the way for next year, and Yokohama has the Advan Neova in a 265/35-18" right now. Has anyone tried the 18" Neova's yet, and got them to fit? Anyone tried the 255/40-17" Neova's?

I just ordered a new set of Falken 615's in the 255/40-17" size for now, but next year I would consider the 18" 265's if we can get them to fit. Gotta have something up on the Turbo rally cars. :D

how do you like the 615's? can they compare to the older rcomps like the victoracers or the RA1's?

how do you like the 615's? can they compare to the older rcomps like the victoracers or the RA1's?

The 615's are great for a street tire. I ran the Victoracers before, in the same size. On a typical 60 second course around here though, the Victoracers are at least 2 seconds quicker for my car. The biggest difference is the Victoracers had no trouble putting down power. The street tires I have tried are VERY easy to break loose under power. So you have to be a lot more careful with throttle application. They also don't like to break and turn at the same time. One or the other. Victoracers don't seem to care as much about that.

But for STU street tire rules, I think the 615's work out well for now.

Chris

The 615's are great for a street tire. I ran the Victoracers before, in the same size. On a typical 60 second course around here though, the Victoracers are at least 2 seconds quicker for my car. The biggest difference is the Victoracers had no trouble putting down power. The street tires I have tried are VERY easy to break loose under power. So you have to be a lot more careful with throttle application. They also don't like to break and turn at the same time. One or the other. Victoracers don't seem to care as much about that.

But for STU street tire rules, I think the 615's work out well for now.

Chris
Do you find you have to spray the 615's with water to keep them cool? Since the M3 is kind of heavy I was worried about that.

Thanks,

Scott

Do you find you have to spray the 615's with water to keep them cool? Since the M3 is kind of heavy I was worried about that.

Thanks,

Scott

If the tread temperature is 150 deg. F. or less, I don't bother. When the air temp is mid 80's or less, 3 runs at a local autox is usually fine. When it get's to about 90 or above, I use the pyrometer to measure tire temps. It's only been on the very hot days that I had to use water. They do get greasy when the outside temp is very hot, bringing the tire temp to over 150. But that's not too often, even in So. Calif. Last event, I didn't even bring the water.

Chris

I just ran my 615s this past weekend (3rd event, full tread).

With 2 drivers in the car, the tires were greasy by the 3rd run (92* ambient temps). We cooled off the tires between runs and saw marked improvement.

Grip is (from what I've seen) slightly less then Victoracers on mixed asphault surfaces. I'll be trying them out on concrete failry soon.

Transitional grip feels very good. Corner grip feels very good as long as the tires are cool. Straight line traction varys... not sure if it is temperature related or surface related, but it's not nearly as good as the victoracers.

I was going to try the Yokes... but the $$ difference for non-divisional / tour / nationals competition was not worth it (IMHO).

I just ran my 615s this past weekend (3rd event, full tread).

With 2 drivers in the car, the tires were greasy by the 3rd run (92* ambient temps). We cooled off the tires between runs and saw marked improvement.

Grip is (from what I've seen) slightly less then Victoracers on mixed asphault surfaces. I'll be trying them out on concrete failry soon.

Transitional grip feels very good. Corner grip feels very good as long as the tires are cool. Straight line traction varys... not sure if it is temperature related or surface related, but it's not nearly as good as the victoracers.

I was going to try the Yokes... but the $$ difference for non-divisional / tour / nationals competition was not worth it (IMHO).

John,
That sounds about what I have experienced. It's the over 90 degree days you have to watch for. I've done back to back runs with R tires vs. the street, and you are right, the transitional grip is pretty good for the 615's. But the cornering grip isn't as good. And the putting the power down is terrible for the street tires. It is better on concrete, but still exists.

And I agree on the Yoks. I couldn't see spending the money. Also, the Yoks come 10/32", and you need to shave them to 4 or 5/32. The 615's work OK at full tread (8/32").

Chris

You can always ask BJO if the 615s were working on my car last weekend ;)

I looks like the 615s handle heat better than the 215s... but still don't like alot of runs at higher ambient temps. If we had actually had 5 minutes between our runs, they might have been a little better seeing more 'cooling' time. As it was, we were jumping in / out of the car in under 3 minutes.

Anyone with some good first hand experience with the Yok's?

You can always ask BJO if the 615s were working on my car last weekend ;)

I looks like the 615s handle heat better than the 215s... but still don't like alot of runs at higher ambient temps. If we had actually had 5 minutes between our runs, they might have been a little better seeing more 'cooling' time. As it was, we were jumping in / out of the car in under 3 minutes.

Yeah, yeah. Let me get mentally focused on auto-xing again and we'll see :D

Anyone with some good first hand experience with the Yok's?

This year we tried the MXs, Hankook's and Yoks. We'll be on Yoks all year next year.

And FWIW, on the dry day, Yoks had the top 5 times on north course in STX. STU was dominated by 615 Azenis.

sorry i'm a noob..

what's transitional grip?

Good luck getting 265/35-18 Falken A's under your car without "illegally" pulling your fenders. You can roll them in STU; but not pull them......:shifty

sorry i'm a noob..

what's transitional grip?

Grip while in a transition... like going through a slalom where you are loading / unloading / loading / unloading the car.

Good luck getting 265/35-18 Falken A's under your car without "illegally" pulling your fenders. You can roll them in STU; but not pull them......:shifty

My 255/40-17's do rub, so I was not sure we can fit 265's. I was hoping someone had done it. Or else I was also hoping I could use the the Falken 255/35-18 tire that was listed, but it changed to a 255/45-18 tire a few weeks ago on the Vulcan web site, and the due date changed to Q2 06. I'm pretty sure we could get a 255/35-18 to fit fine. We can't use much of our tire advantage against the rally cars if 255's are all we can fit...

Chris

My 255/40-17's do rub, so I was not sure we can fit 265's. I was hoping someone had done it. Or else I was also hoping I could use the the Falken 255/35-18 tire that was listed, but it changed to a 255/45-18 tire a few weeks ago on the Vulcan web site, and the due date changed to Q2 06. I'm pretty sure we could get a 255/35-18 to fit fine. We can't use much of our tire advantage against the rally cars if 255's are all we can fit...

Chris

255/35-18 would not be [as big] a problem. I have a set of 255/35-18 Yoko AVS ES100 on my car right now with 18x9 SSR Comps on all four corners. I am pretty damn sure the 265/35-18 Falken A would not fit. I was thinking about going with the 265 but I just can't see how you could get it under there with STU rules. :(

As for chasing the "boost buggies", I wish we could get 275's under our car but no way w/o pulling the fenders. At least we handle better than they do, especially in transition (i.e. slolam).

BTW: Here are the 255 Yoko's on the ground beside my car: