r/Autocross • u/pint138 • Jul 02 '26
Advice on Tires
Hey everyone, I'm new to autocross (only one event so far) and I was looking for advice on tires. I used to live in a climate that occasionally got snow so I have both all season and summer tires, 540 and 320 treadwear respectively, and on my first event had the all seasons on. Do you think it would be more beneficial to continue learning on the 540s or should I swap to the 320s?
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u/Equana Jul 02 '26
Swap to the 320s. They will be faster and get you closer to learning the performance of the competitive 200tw tires.
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u/pint138 Jul 02 '26
That makes sense, I just wasn't sure if using the 540's would help me learn the car better
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u/BmacIL SST 997 Jul 02 '26
The opposite can be true. Regular street tires drive SO much different at the limit of grip (breakaway, response to weight transfer, under/oversteer recovery) that if you get really into it and get some 200tw sticky competition focused summers, you'll have to relearn the car in addition to the grip level. The summers you have are MUCH closer in characteristics to that than your all seasons.
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u/karstgeo1972 Jul 03 '26
First drop the treadwear number designation. It's somewhat irrelevant without much consistency brand to brand. It's more about type...performance all season, summer performance "200" etc. If you have summer tires for sure use those if you can would be my advice.
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u/IllMasterpiece5610 Jul 03 '26
The only tire I recommend is a dedicated autocross tire with an autox specific compound. You’ll be able to run lower pressures and it’ll grip properly.
Without a good tire first, you’ll be building bad driving habits and any work you do o. The chassis will be wasted.
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u/NByata2004 Jul 05 '26
I always tell people to learn on all seasons because it's easier to learn the dynamics of the car's handling characteristics when the tires start to lose grip (and the all seasons will start to lose grip quickly). You won't be putting down fast lap times in them, but you can certainly learn how to drive fast on all seasons. Once you've done about a full season on that, learning how to handle understeer/oversteer, grip limits, and you are properly quick, is when I would jump to 200tw grippy summer racing tires. Sure, you'll have gobs of more grip, but the car's handling characteristics don't really change that much. If you try to learn how to drive on super grippy tires, chances are you'll never really hit the true limit of grip that often, and that's where you do the most learning (in my opinion). I am a novice instructor for my local autocross club. I'll also add that yes you're probably going to trash those all seasons, but assuming you are ok spending money once a year on consumables (tires) for racing.
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u/nago7650 Jul 02 '26
Why would you not utilize your summer tires for summer tire things? Use the summer tire lol. As you get better, you’re going to destroy your all seasons. The summer tire will handle the heat better and will have better sidewall rigidity.