Tires BFGoodrich or SUMITOMO
If you can afford it I suggest BFG. Michelin bought them, kept their price structure, but imposed Michelin quality controls on production.
I bought bf winter slaloms for my girlfriend and I this year. Live in Canada. Really bad winter. They were amazing and was not disappointed. From what I read online these were best bang for the buck.
I have only been autocrossing for about a year, and picked up Neuspeed RS05s with 245/40/17 BFG rivals as my dedicated autocross/track setup. I have run 3 auto crosses with this setup and so far have had no rubbing issues.
BFG Sport comp 2's. $112 each, great in the dry, great in the rain. TireRack loves them as do pretty much every review I read on them before I bought a set of my own.
The Sumitomo HTR Z III gets a lot of crap for being cheapbut performance is a very solid performer
I had Falken 512s on a Miata and I hated them. Very noisy at and before the limit. For Foxes, I've always gone with 185/60/14s. Not any real reason. It was the stock size for the Rabbit GTI and it doesn't throw the speedo off too much, which doesn't really matter on a Fox. The profile also looks natural; the sidewall isn't too short or too tall. And the 185 width isn't too wide; not a bad thing on a car that has no power steering. But you should be fine with any similar size. On my current Fox, I have these Sumitomo HTR A/S P01s. I like them a lot. They're a great all around tire. Very quiet, wonderful in the rain, rides nicely and handle well. I'd like a little more dry grip, but, really for a street tire these are great. I had these BF Goodriches on the Fox I sold last summer. They were noisier than the Sumitomos and the steering feel felt a touch heavier, but they were also a nice all around tire and perhaps a bit grippier than the Sumitomos or at least they gave that impression.
In the early years (1998-99), it ran simple bolt-ons (intake, exhaust, header, no cat, software, pulleys, ac delete, LSD), but that's about it. The car did struggle on the top end grunt sometimes, but the torque was definitely there coming out of the corners...
Old BMW Alpinas w/ 175/50/13 Sumitomos
I had the HTR+ a few years back...wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking for a reliable track tire or a super performance tire...but I was quite surprised how well it did for everyday driving and the occasional spirited lapse in judgement...LOL...price was very nice too
those sumitomos are a good deal but i put those on my wifes passat wagon in april and all them ****s is hopping now. its like they are 'almost' shifted belts.
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