Best Tires for FWD Boosted Setups

[aLmk]

310whp 360tq, probably a bit more this time of year with the cooler temps. Car weighs 3200lbs. I was fairly consistent with 2.13 being my best 60ft on Dunlop RE050's and seldom over 2.2s at the local 1/8th mile, but the problems arose when I went to the nearest 1/4 mile and was spinning through 3rd from the dew on the track. 14.2 @ 107. I know the car is good for high 12s ~110mph but I don't want to buy a drag setup - at least not yet.

These tires were meant to solve my mild winter, mostly 3 season-ish, not get me killed in standing water traction desires for putting down the power as best as possible, and compromising as little as possible lateral grip. What it really comes down to is large contact patch, soft rubber, and soft sidewalls with adequate water channeling.

You can't really do that with summer tires because they get too hard below 40*F, and any tire meant for max performance is going to have a rigid sidewall. I feel like I'm getting off really well here with the only substantial compromise being the immediacy at which the lateral grip is delivered.

Gotcha you must have a good feel for the car! I cannot recommend a slick setup enough though, it makes racing the car so much better.

[EP3toMS3]

Gotcha you must have a good feel for the car! I cannot recommend a slick setup enough though, it makes racing the car so much better.

No doubt they'd ease my frustration, but I've dropped a good bit of coin in the electronics (laser jammer and radar detector) this winter - so some FD (RX-7) wheels and slicks will probably be a Spring purchase.

We've got some Mazdaspeedforum guys stock intake / exhaust just running E85 tunes and slicks clocking 12.5@110, so I'm fairly certain there's a nice 12.3~112 tucked in my car if I want to subject her to the abuse, but for me this tire puzzle was more about DD use and the ability to use 2nd gear without detuning back to basically stock load levels.

Thus far the neo gens are still providing outstanding straight line grip, not showing perceptible wear at ~2K miles, and at $490 delivered from DTD I'd say they were a great deal.

Here's the youtube vid if you guys want to check out what they're doing with stock intake/exhaust, backseat and spare tire removed and a corn tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeyY6mvWnPk

[EP3toMS3]

Just checking back in! I've made my turbo swap, putting down ~360+ now (no official dyno), and traction issues are getting to be a headache. I've installed an Airlift kit in the rear coils to reduce weight transfer, but any attempt to get away from squirmy sidewall low TWR all seasons has been met with fail. These rigid sidewall summer tires just blow through 2nd gear like it's free revving in neutral. It's probably not quite as bad for you Honda guys with lighter cars and less torque, but the 2.3L in my Mazda is also producing a near instant 360+ ft-lbs, and the reverse taper to 24.5psi isn't doing a whole lot to help.

I guess I'm stuck with sacrificing agility for grip. The Neo Gen still appears to be the best compromise tire for the dollar, but I will keep on searching.

[EP3toMS3]

I must retract my previous statement - I've found traction nirvana from a completely unexpected tire. The Continental DW is apparently fabricated with unicorn jizz, because the 340 TWR and tread pattern look nothing like a tire that could possibly harness power.

But they do.

They run wide for their claimed width, have some soft-ish sidewalls, but the way they hook is completely uncanny. I've tried Kumho 50 TWR R-comps at 20 psi - they aren't even close. These Conti DW's (not DWS, that's the all season) were apparently a deal with the devil, because I cannot further explain how they hook up 2nd gear - on a car with short gearing no less.

This is no auto-x tire with the lack of transient response, but for pure street groping prowess, this is the ticket. Apparently they wear well also, which would be just a bonus at this point. I'm amazed.

[ksboi]

I must retract my previous statement - I've found traction nirvana from a completely unexpected tire. The Continental DW is apparently fabricated with unicorn jizz, because the 340 TWR and tread pattern look nothing like a tire that could possibly harness power.

But they do.

They run wide for their claimed width, have some soft-ish sidewalls, but the way they hook is completely uncanny. I've tried Kumho 50 TWR R-comps at 20 psi - they aren't even close. These Conti DW's (not DWS, that's the all season) were apparently a deal with the devil, because I cannot further explain how they hook up 2nd gear - on a car with short gearing no less.

This is no auto-x tire with the lack of transient response, but for pure street groping prowess, this is the ticket. Apparently they wear well also, which would be just a bonus at this point. I'm amazed.

These Continental ExtremeContact DW?

[EP3toMS3]

These Continental ExtremeContact DW?

Correct!

And they semi-suck for lateral changes in direction... I'll try to clarify as best I can. They grip well once you commit to a corner, and they provide sufficient feedback to let you know you're breaking loose, but they DO NOT handle slalom style movements well at all. The sidewalls are just shy of an all-season, but the grip is on par with a drag radial.

There's no doubt you have to choose your poison with tires, and thus far, the Conti DW is easily the best all-around compromise for straight line grip, decent lateral grip, OK transient response, A+ wet weather safety, and outstanding wear characteristics (according to reviews and TWR, far too few miles on mine to back that up).

If we could all DD slicks that worked in the rain, we would... but it doesn't exist just yet. I'm convinced these tires are about as close as you're going to get, and still be able to take a few corners at fun speed.

To put this in perspective... my FWD car that eats C6 Corvettes from a sushi roll is capable of hooking 2nd gear. That is nuts IMO.