Tire reviews

Tires are one of the most important parts of any car, they are the only part of the car that is actually touching the road. This is especially true when it comes to motorsports. Accelerating, braking, and cornering all rely on the tires to grip the road and deliver optimal performance.

When looking for tires for your race car there are seemingly endless options. I’m not an expert, and haven’t used every tire out there, but that doesn’t make the experiences I’ve had with the tires I’ve used not useful. This page links to tires that I have used and my experiences with them.

Another incredibly useful resource when it comes to choosing tires for motorsports is the Grassroots Motorsports ultimate track tire guide. I’d recommend checking that out if you haven’t already.

The test car

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Tire timeline

Yokohama Advan Fleva V701 (September 2021 – June 2022)

  • Tire size: 195/50R15
  • Wheel size: 15×7″ wheel

I purchased these tires as my first set of summer tires for my Miata. At the time I didn’t have any track experience, so I didn’t want to jump straight to the 200TW tires. These were chosen over the ExtremeContact Sport since these were newer and cheaper.

I attended four track days with these tires, and did two autocross events. When the tread got down to just above 2/32″ I sold them and replaced them with a set of Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires.

Pros:

  • Doesn’t require warmup before optimal grip.

Cons:

  • Wears quickly with track use (quicker than many 200TW tires).
  • Very soft sidewall.
  • Easily overheats on track.

Hankook Ventus RS4 (May 2022 – September 2023)

  • Tire size: 225/45R15
  • Wheel size: 15×9″

For 2022 I wanted to start using 200TW tires, so I purchased these. I went with these because I wanted something that would last a long time. At the time I was still very inexperienced and wanted something I could drive for many hours over the course of the season and become a better driver.

Overall I was really happy with these. They work, and they work for a long time. I attended six full track days with these, several partial days, and seven autocross events (wouldn’t recommend for autocross). After all that time? 8-9/32″ of tread left. These seem to wear at a slower rate the older they get.

What caused me to get rid of these? I got a puncture somewhere and had a blowout, which I took as a sign to probably just move onto something else. Since purchasing these I have grown a ton as a driver and am now more interested in pace than longevity in my tires, at least to an extent (I don’t have Hoosier money).

Pros:

  • Cheap.
  • They last a very long time.
  • Can push for extended periods of time without them overheating.

Cons:

  • Very narrow for a 225, a size bigger would have been a better choice for a 9″ wheel.
  • Requires a lot of work to get optimal grip (don’t try to use these for autocross).
  • Hard to drive in the wet.

Continental ExtremeContact Sport (June 2022 – Present)

  • Tire size: 205/50R15
  • Wheel size: 15×8″

 

Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS (September 2022 – Present)

  • Tire size: 205/50R15
  • Wheel size: 15×8″

Falken Azenis RT660 (March 2023 – Present)

  • Tire size: 225/45R15
  • Wheel size: 15×9″