tracer3030

2010 grand sport. I will be buying a set of rims also. The track is tight set up for small imports. Any other things that would help? I have the stock F1 goodyears on now Im 10 sec off fast timer awd.Best place to buy tires,rims

CHJ In Virginia

Hoosier "A" series tires are about the stickiest things around. Tire Rack is about the best price around, hold on to your CC, they are going to be expensive in GS sizings. An alignment with lots of negative camber will help a bunch and let the Hoosiers live longer. Watch the C6 parts for sale section and the wheel & tire section of the forum. There are always sets of stock wheels up for sale at very reasonable prices. The next best mod is Seat Time and More Seat Time for the nut behind the wheel.

FKING1

If for Autocross only, Hoosiers for sure.
Most of the serious crossers in the Corvette Club of Michigan use them.

Solofast

If you go out and buy a set of Hoosiers you absolutely need to do a serious alignment or you will cord the edges in a half a dozen runs. You would be a fool to try to run a street alignment and try to run those tires.

You are obviously a newbie at this and autocross is a very specialized sport. If you haven't spent years doing this putting on a set of sticky tires is pretty much a waste of money. If you are a newbie, there's more than 10 seconds in just knowing what you are doing.

That said, I'd strongly suggest a set of serious tires like the new BFG Rivals. They are a lot more tolerant of alignment and they will last for over 200 runs, where a set of Hoosiers fall off in performance after only 40 runs, and they only give up between a half and three quarters of a second to Hoosiers on a one minute course.

Add to that a decent alignment and you will have a serious competition package, and with that you'll likely be about 5 seconds out from the serious autocrossers until you get some experience and learn the sport.

Charley Hoyt

Do these come in Grand Sport sizes that the OP needs? Nitto NT05s are a great tire also. Also, the class you run in will likely narrow down your tire selection and wheel size options.

tracer3030

I asked about the tire rule said DOT only. There were cars there with the A6 tires. I had to run the vette in stock mode if I went to competition it would just spin out.It would push and be loose.I ran 30 psi in the F1 tires the front tires only rolled the edge about 1/4 inch so the A6 has a softer side wall and roll more or just because it grips more for the camber?Yes I need seat time I did run oval 20 years ago so I do understand front end set up any rough specs would be great for the A6. looks like $1600 for A6 or $1000 for something else.My though was the better tire would help me overcome some of my driving skill crazy thinking?

Z06trackman

I think most folks with a lot of autocross or track experience will say that beginning on sticky tires actually slows your learning curve as the huge grip covers mistakes. I am talking about the little mistakes that separate the good from the great. I believe the large amount of driving in the rain I did in my early years is what provided the most improvement in my driving. Many folks pack up and go home when it rains.

Solofast

The problem with the Hoosiers is there essentially isn't an rubber on the tire on the edges. It's basically a racing tire with a DOT label with very stiff sidewalls and no extra rubber on the edges of the tire where it will get punished if you don't have the tread surface totally flat on the ground when it is loaded. That takes negative camber of about 2 degrees in the front and 1.5 in the back. It's fast, in the right hands, but it is stiff and if you don't get a racing alignment you will chew them up in very short order. The other thing is that you are only giving up a half a second to a tire that is a 200 UTOG rating (the Hoosier is rated at 40, which should tell you something).

The Nitto is also a good choice, and there are a few others that are also good.

While the car is very slippery on the Goodyears and a good tire will help a lot, the bottom line is that the nut behind the wheel is what holds it all together. As I said,most likely the tires will get you probably 5 seconds of what you are behind, but the folks out there running Hoosiers have probably been running autocross for 10 or 15 years, and they are really good. If you are experiencing push and oversteer all over the place you are overdriving the car, and you need to slow down your hands and be smoother on the gas. Yes better tires will help but unless you are really smooth in autocross you will get beat and that's the facts. You simply can't be so aggressive that you upset the car, even if you know where you want to be on the track. You've got to drive further ahead of the car and be smoother with your inputs.

Just because you aren't going fast doesn't mean you can horse the car around. Yea, you can horse at the wheel and gas, and you won't spin the car because you are going slow enough that you can catch it, but that's the slow way around the track. Keeping the car hooked up and driving more smoothly is the secret.

PaConehead

Lots of great advice in the above posts. There is an extensive learning curve in being competitive in AX. Part is learning the car and learning where and when to spend your money.

I concur with the folks saying buy some good street tires (something that won't put you in a higher class), learn the car's handling characteristics, learn the tricks to AX, then mod the car to suit your level of competition . If your 10 seconds off FTD, tires won't give it you - practice will.

Oil up your credit card - sounds like you're hooked. Enjoy and good luck

talon95

Is this SCCA autox? Or NCCC? Or other??

Rules are a bit different depending on which.

NCCC has a more true "stock" class with only street tires, stock shocks, stock bars, stock size/offset wheels, etc...

SCCA starting next year will potentially have a "Street" class with 200TW tires (street tires). This class if approved by the BOD in November will allow you to change +-1" diameter on your wheels. This is the only way you could currently run the BFG Rival on a C6 (no 19" sizes). For the Vette though, you will be able to run SSR on R-comps if you prefer though (same as current SS class).

Otherwise there really are not any great choices for street tires for the C6Z/C6GS. The Nitto NT05 has a 335/30/19. The Pilot Super Sports are good too, but $$$$$.

For R-comps there is the A6, but as others have pointed out you need to do a autox alignment (need negative camber, at least -1.5 in front and -1.0 in rear, more is better). Kumho does make the V710 in sizes that work. The V710 is only a little slower than the A6 and will last 2x (or more) longer.

Dave G.

tracer3030

Thanks for all the good information! Toe setting? I do still plan on driving on the street so with a street tire v710,NT05,PILOT I can run less camber? I have no traction with the F1 just straight I roast them 1st and 2nd gear. I do have a tune in it.Right now I feel I need a better tire trying to pick one that will be good and not wishing I had a better one. Thanks again!!!

Solofast

Set the toe to 1/8 of an inch of total toe in for the street. Mark your tie rods with a stripe of paint or nail polish (see women are actually good for something) and then turn each rod one full turn to toe out on the day of the event, when you change your tires, and turn it back one full turn on each side when you take the race tires off. It only takes a couple of minutes to change the toe and it's really the only way to get decent tire life if the car is a daily driver.

Toe out on the street eats tires, so a bit of toe in keep your tire life reasonable. If you toe it out 1/8 of an inch you can eat a set of tires in 10,000 miles. If you toe it in you will get more than 15-20k miles on a set of fronts.

talon95

You can run less camber with any of those, although the V710 is an R-comp with no tread similar to the A6. Just considerably more durable. The V710 will be fast for the first 50 runs or so and then fall off some (how soon depends a lot on how much heat they see, don't overheat them). You won't want to drive either tire any significant distance on the street (better to not drive them at all on the street, although you can get away with short distances if it's dry, but they will slow down sooner).

Solofast has it right on the toe. Run stock toe on the street, mark the positions, and change it for the events. You want some toe-out in the front (maybe 1/8" total), toe-in in the rear (1/8-1/4 total).

Dave G.

tracer3030

Thanks! Ok so I think I'm going with the pilot super sports and do a camber adjustment mark and set toe.Great thanks! I did see the pilot PS2 would this be a better tire? This is a better tire than the goodyear F1? Now I won't have to have 2nd sets of wheels. Thanks for taking the time to help

autoxer6

You want the Pilot Super Sport, not the PS2. Super Sport is better is every way (except size selection) dry grip, wet grip, life, etc.

I'm not sure what you mean by mark the camber. You do need to put more camber in. I would personally max the front and run 1.2 in the back. You wont be able to easily change camber for a race. Changing toe is pretty easy, but I'm not sure it's really worth it. I used to do it, but only when I drove long distances (2 plus hours) to out of state races. Otherwise I ran just a small amount of front toe out. Then lots of toe in for the rear about 3/8". 3/8" will eat tires over long distances. Either run less (1/8" or 3/16") and dont change it, or just change the rear. More rear toe helps minimize rotation on corner exit.

Keep working on being smooth with the right foot!