I am currently in the market for some new tires but I have two dilemmas, one being with street tires and other with autocross tires. I have an 05 S2000 AP2 with stock 17" wheels. I plan on keeping these wheels for street driving, currently using stock sizes F 215-45-17 R 245-40-17. I have bald rears which need to be replaced soon but have rather fresh RE050's for the front so I can't increase tire widths quite yet but may in the future.

Now for one problem, I just purchased a set of AP1 16" wheels that I plan on using for auto-crossing. I want to stay in the stock class so I don't want to do any suspension mods at the moment. I am looking at Kumho V710's and possibly Hoosiers (or any other recommended R-compound) and was wondering if a F 225-50-16 and R 265-45-16 would work for my ideal setup? I know the 265 is a little tall but with the ap2 gearing it should work ok right? The reason for such a large difference in width front to rear is to balance it out so I don't have a drastic oversteer/understeer problem I believe. The other reason is I am trying to avoid buying a stiffer front sway bar because I will still use the stock 17" tire sizes for the time being and won't have time to switch out sways between driving/tracking. When/if I increase the width of the street tires for the street I do not want understeer on a daily commute But at the same time I don't want oversteer if I increase the tire size but don't buy a front sway bar.

Now back to the street wheels, if I do increase the tire size I would want to stay with a pretty sticky tire... I have been nothing but satisfied with RE050's but wouldn't mind trying something new out. I like the idea of RE-01R's but not sure if 225-45 and 245-45 would be a good idea since it's a decent amount taller and will be running on the street. Would you recommend the RE050A Pole Positions? Are the Pole Positions actually a better tire than the regular 050's? What would be the recommended tire size for these F 225-45-17 R 245-40-17?

Basically I'm trying to make the 17's work for the street and the 16's for the track without sacrificing anything at either end of the spectrum, I rather have a little bit of oversteer than understeer though.

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated, please don't the noob I tried to do a PM to avoid this but Jim@tirerack doesn't accept them

 

Hey Kenny...I'll let others chime in since we've already talked. But one thing you didn't mention before was that you wanted to stay in stock class. Can't run the AP1 wheels and stay in stock. More than likely no one will protest in this region, but wheels have to be the stock dia and width per the rules. No updating or backdating allowed.

You can run the AP1 wheels on the street and use your OEMs for autox though.

 

Thanks Robert, I figured I would see what others thought of our 265/225 setup idea and any other possible ideas. Thanks for all the help you've given me, its been a great help. As far as the ap1 wheels for stock I agree, I don't think they'll give me a problem with that but ya never know. keep it on the DL

 

I would run the AP1 wheels on the street. Aside from the *legality* issues of backdating...the AP2 wheels allow much better stock class tire choices.

AP1 - 225 Front / 265 Rear

AP2 - 245 Front / 275 Rear

No contest really, especially considering the above AP2 wheel tire combos aren't that much heavier than the AP1 (same in the front and 2.9lbs extra in the rear using Kumho V710 tire weights).