15in Street/Wet tires

chief404

Active Member
Looking for some feedback on 15in tires for just daily usage and occasional wet autocross events. I plan on picking up a second set of tires with hoosier slicks. I was going to buy some R888r's but they would be on backorder for a few weeks and I want to get the goblin rolling. I really like the potenza re-71r but they do not come in a 15. The Toyo R1R looks promising, https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Toyo&tireModel=Proxes+R1R&partnum=245WR5PR1RV2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
I did run R1Rs. I wanted to go softer, and am much happier with the R888R. But if you want a longer lasting tire, the R1Rs will work.
I have a square setup for the R1Rs and the R888R (275mm, 17" wheel). My A7 slicks are 295 on the rear, 275 on the front, on 15" wheels.
 

chief404

Active Member
I did run R1Rs. I wanted to go softer, and am much happier with the R888R. But if you want a longer lasting tire, the R1Rs will work.
I have a square setup for the R1Rs and the R888R (275mm, 17" wheel). My A7 slicks are 295 on the rear, 275 on the front, on 15" wheels.
I will just bite the bullet and get the R888R's, I was hoping to find a bigger size since I have 15x10's on each corner. From searching other forums, looks like the 225 is a wide enough to barely fit perfectly on a 15x10.
 

ATMironov

Well-Known Member
225 on 10" rims will not work... Stretching the tire that much changes the loading of the side wall. Big Chace of debeading the tire or ripping the side wall.. epically if you are going to auto X or track.
A 10" rim should have no less than a 255" tire on it.

Rim widthMinimum tire widthIdeal tire widthMaximum tire width
5,0 Inches155 mm165 or 175 mm185 mm
5,5 Inches165 mm175 or 185 mm195 mm
6,0 Inches175 mm185 or 195 mm205 mm
6,5 Inches185 mm195 or 205 mm215 mm
7,0 Inches195 mm205 or 215 mm225 mm
7,5 Inches205 mm215 or 225 mm235 mm
8,0 Inches215 mm225 or 235 mm245 mm
8,5 Inches225 mm235 or 245 mm255 mm
9,0 Inches235 mm245 or 255 mm265 mm
9,5 Inches245 mm255 or 265 mm275 mm
10,0 Inches255 mm265 or 275 mm285 mm
10,5 Inches265 mm275 or 285 mm295 mm
11,0 Inches275 mm285 or 295 mm305 mm
11,5 Inches285 mm295 or 305 mm315 mm
12,0 Inches295 mm305 or 315 mm325 mm
12,5 Inches305 mm315 or 325 mm335 mm
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Wheels are cheaper than tires... buy some wheels that will have tires available.
 

chief404

Active Member
Hmm, I don't really want to argue against this as general information. Both of you are totally correct. It's good to see that in this forum, since stretched tires seem to be common in the car community and ignored on most forums...

But, some tires/manuf run slightly above or below what is actually listed. Justin had 235's on the same wheel/tire and did not have any noticeable stretch that would drastically change the load capacity of the tire. Returns are free, so if seems sketchy then I'll go with something else. I have another set of wheels with correct bolt pattern that will work for now and have RE-71 tires but are also too big at 18"
 

chief404

Active Member
Not wet tires, but should be good for street.
Finally some 275mm tires for 15" rims, with some tread.
Honestly, I'm not looking for a tire that is exclusively a wet tire - I would probably go with a real tire made for wet conditions like the hoosier wet if that was the case. I just don't want to get caught in the rain and worry about it being completely sketchy. I ended up not buying the R888r's but will consider them for the next set of wheels. I'm now considering the Hankook KINERGY ST H735, due to low price, size and tread life. My only concern is how this might look - they are almost 3inches taller than a 235/50.
27439
 

AMCAMX1969

Active Member
They make the ST H735 tires in 275/50 r15's. They also make them in 265/50 r15, these are all season tires which are not sticky at all but would be good for general non aggressive driving and also for the wet. I am tempted to buy a set of the 275/50's for just around town tires (probably a lot safer then the 100tw/200tw tires if you get caught driving after it rains).
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Um, that tire has a treadwear rating of 680!
You might as well put your car in a ditch now. No need to worry about rain, it will slide off the road when dry.

I recommend the 100TW tire, and a tire groover to make them more wet road friendly.
Seriously... try your stock Cobalt tires and see if you like them. They might be softer than those Hankooks.
 

Rauq

Goblin Guru
My 200TW RT615K+ were not bad in the rain, and probably safer in the rain than 680TW in the dry...

Back to the original question, what's your inclination towards 15" wheels? If you already know what tires you want to run and they're in 15" wheel diameters then go for it, otherwise you might have an easier time looking around a bit more in 17".
 

k.rollin

Goblin Guru
FYI, the RE-71R is discontinued. The Falken Azenis RT660 appears similar but may perform a bit differently compared to the RE-71R. The replacement RE-71RS should be available for 15" wheels (195mm section width based on the foreign market data sheet); however, it isn't clear when they'll be available stateside.
 

chief404

Active Member
My 200TW RT615K+ were not bad in the rain, and probably safer in the rain than 680TW in the dry...

Back to the original question, what's your inclination towards 15" wheels? If you already know what tires you want to run and they're in 15" wheel diameters then go for it, otherwise you might have an easier time looking around a bit more in 17".
I don't have an inclination, I have other sets of wheels and the cobalt stock tires I might end up using. I just really liked the price and look of the 15in wheels I have and was looking for some opinions.

Um, that tire has a treadwear rating of 680!
You might as well put your car in a ditch now. No need to worry about rain, it will slide off the road when dry.

I recommend the 100TW tire, and a tire groover to make them more wet road friendly.
Seriously... try your stock Cobalt tires and see if you like them. They might be softer than those Hankooks.
I actually really love the 100TW, very nice looking tire. What do you think about the CR-1 200TW? I feel like that would make more sense than cutting up a new tire. I'll definitely consider using the stock cobalt tires since they are still in decent condition.
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Maybe all of my issues are that I went with 275mm wide tires. But with that in mind, here is my opinion on tires:
200TW tires called "Extreme Performance summer tire" are HARD tires on a Goblin.
100TW tires called "R compound race tires" are MEDIUM tires on a Goblin.
Race tires (Avon, Hoosier, American Tire) have a chance of being SOFT tires on a Goblin.

Those tires might work for you. Honestly, I could hardly wait long enough to get rid of my 200TW Toyo R1R tires. They were good, but I was always having to catch the goblin when cornering (autocross) and limiting throttle to prevent the rear from swapping ends with the front. On the street, I was careful to apply throttle gingerly. With a stock SC engine.

The R888R 100TW tires are much more comfortable to drive on, as they have higher limits, and I don't like worrying about sliding around. You still have to be careful with throttle, but much safer and more comfortable to drive on.
 

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
To add to Ross’s post:

Harder tires tend to be all or nothing on traction, there is no recovery. The r888r will slide but can be recovered. They are predictable and controllable. I would assume similar 200-100tw will act the same.
 
Top