Think Autocross, HPDE, GRM Challenge tire, that can still be driven on the street when the weather is nice, and is roughly 23" tall.
I've read through the older threads, Dunlop Star Specs seemed to be the consensus, but thought I'd ask now that there are newer options on the market.
Working with a 14x5.5" wheel. I'd guess a 195 is probably as wide as I could realistically go on it, 205 would probably be too wide right?
The current Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Specs isn't offered in a 195, it's a 185/60R14.
Falken Azenis RT615K is offered in a 195/60R14.
Yokohama S. Drives are available in 185/55R14.
Kumho Victoracer V700 are available in 185/60R14, but they're pricy.
BFG g-Force Super Sport A/S are available in 195/60R14.
Through my own research I kind of have it narrowed down to the Star Specs and Azenis, a set of Azenis will be $100 cheaper than a set of Star Specs, and the Azenis are available in 195 vs the 185 of the Star Spec.
That said, there seems to be a whole lot of love for the Star Specs. Is a 185 Star Spec going to offer $100+ worth more performance than a 195 Azenis?
Is there anything I've missed that I should be considering?
Compound trumps width, especially a measly 10-20mms. Go with whatever is stickiest.
What's your time frame? The latest gen of the Star Spec is due in the spring, and is supposed to pick up a little bit of grip over the last iteration (now known as the Z2). From what I've seen, I'd take the narrow Star Specs/Z2's over the Azenis. My Miata has 185's on a 6 inch BBS wheel and its pretty much a perfect set up, at least for my taste. I would have probably been OK with a 195. I suspect, however, a 195 on a 5.5 inch rim might actually be a little bit pinched, in which case, your sidewall stiffness will probably suffer a bit. Personally, I'll take the responsiveness of a good wheel/tire wall line up over ultimate grip any day.
Based on the 5.5 wide rims I would run the Dunlop's. I used these for the last 2 years in a stock tire class and have no complaints. Most events the car had 2 drivers and if you switch back and forth to run the car both of the drivers will be happy. I have 14x6 rims and this year I will be running the Falkens. They run wide and hopefully rubbing will not be an issue.
In reply to kazoospec:
I'm in no hurry, can at least wait until late Spring.
In reply to: jr02518
Most of the tires I've looked at that are 195s claim that 5.5" is the minimum wheel width. Actually the Nitto NT01 and the Kumho Ecsta V710 in 205/55R14 both list a 5.5" wide wheel as their minimum recommended width, but even at that I figured a 205 on a 5.5" wheel would be pushing it. Plus the V710 is out of my budget and wouldn't live long on the road.
In reply to: HiTempguy
Both the Falkens and the Dunlops are 200 tread wear tires, I know that doesn't really tell you everything about the compound they're made of, but I'm too novice to know how else to compare them, other than searching for reviews of each tire.
I found that the Kumho V700 Victoracer is (was) available in 195/55R14, but they might be discontinued, Kumho doesn't list the V700 on their website anymore.
I am running Azenzis on my Civic. It is a pretty good all round tire but I haven't used the Star Specs so I can't say for sure if it is worth the extra money.
I ran the 195/55-14 V700 on my MR2 for a long time (like 10 years on the same set, maybe 6 events per year). They were considerably shorter than advertised (which was good for gearing on an underpowered car), they actually measured 21.5 O.D. on a 14x7.0 rim. However, that was 13 years ago. I'm not so sure that a really good modern top street tire like a Direzza II isn't nearly as good. Best I ever ran at my local kart track was a 1:09.7, best with the current tire, which is a Bridgestone RE-11 195/50-15 is mid 1:10s, not far behind. Really liked the feel of the V700 though, and Formula V treatment made them last forever (although by then they were really worn full slicks).
Update on the new Falken's: No rubbing but they do have a heaver feel. I could also call it stiffer, the Dunlop"s were nimble.
Auto cross on Sunday, life in SoCal in November.
