Tire upgrade / Wheel Size

After my first HPDE with the GTI (on stock Pirelli All Seasons) I have decided to pull the trigger on a set of summer tires. My dilemma is this, do I get a set of 18" tires on my stock (heavy) Detroit's, or do I drop the coin on a decent set of 17" wheels saving at least 10 lbs per wheel. I'm leaning towards TSW Interlagos. An added bonus is that the tires are cheaper. Either way I'll be ordering a set of steelies and winter tires come October.

Thoughts?

TomMcD said:

After my first HPDE with the GTI (on stock Pirelli All Seasons) I have decided to pull the trigger on a set of summer tires. My dilemma is this, do I get a set of 18" tires on my stock (heavy) Detroit's, or do I drop the coin on a decent set of 17" wheels saving at least 10 lbs per wheel. I'm leaning towards TSW Interlagos. An added bonus is that the tires are cheaper. Either way I'll be ordering a set of steelies and winter tires come October.

Thoughts?

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Daily driver?

Keep Detroits for daily get enkei rpf1's for the track and you are set.

If you're not planning on a bbk, get some light 17x8 wheels. Enkeis are great.

I like PF01 > RPF1. Get 17x8 and slap on 225/45/17.

Get good summer tires for track. Hankook RS3, Dunlop Z1*, Yokohama AD08 or RE11. If you are going to slap on one set of tires for dd duty and occasional track days on your 18s, just get a set of Michellin PSS.

Hankooks have best performance of the bunch but won't last as long as the others. But they handle heat and are the stickiest of the bunch. They perform as well as most entry level R Compounds.

To go into a little more detail. This is my DD, stock except for and amp and speakers. Before the track day I was going more of a Euro Tuner route. Now I've completely scrapped that and want to do some simple things that will improve the car. I have no intention of building it into a track beast. And I'm well aware that I need to tune the driver more than the car at this point, and for some time to come.

The mods I'm considering consist of maybe DG Springs, and SS brake lines. I already have pads and brake fluid on order. Two of the Pirellis are near the end of life anyway so if I'm going to buy tires anyway I'm going to upgrade them. Though I'm not at the point where I want to have 3 sets of tires/wheels. Living in Colorado I'll need winter tires from October till April. I was looking at the Sumitomo HTR Z III, but my HPDE Instructor friend highly recommends the Dunlop Star Spec as a the summer tire with the Hankook RS3 also high on the list.

I don't see myself going the BBK route simply because for that kind of money I'm well on the way to getting a track car.

I'd say search the forums for a nice set of lighweight 17x8 wheels, and drop the cash on the Direzza Z1's. Fantastic tire for the money in regards to DDing and also autocrossing. Not to mention works great in the rain as well.

There are deals to be had out there just gotta be patient and do alot of searching.

i would upgrade my brake fluid.. and move on from then..

i would get to tires at hpde2 and pads..

beers