The tires that came with my SVT are starting to show serious wear. I did a quick tread depth test (tirerack.com test) about 4-6 months ago (5000 miles ago) and I’m almost positive that every area of every tire had greater than 6/32″ tread depth. Here are the current tread depths:

LF

Inside tread: 4/32″

Middle tread: 5/32″

Outside tread: 4/32″

RF

Inside tread: 3/32″

Middle tread: 6/32″

Outside tread: 3/32″

LR

Inside tread: 4/32″

Middle tread: 6/32″

Outside tread: 3/32″

RR

Inside tread: 4/32″

Middle tread: 4/32″

Outside tread: 4/32″

No part of any of the tires has hit the critical 2/32″ mark, but anything below 4/32″ sucks in the rain. I’m sure I’ll be okay for the next few months, but when the rainy season of Seattle hits (October-ish), I will definitely need new tires. I’m considering picking up a set of Kumho Ecsta MX: great performance, decent tread life, great price. I’m also thinking of picking up a set of Team Dynamics Pro Race 1 wheels (either in black or hi power silver) so that I can have two sets of wheels, one for the street and another for autocrossing. If I have the Ecsta MX for the street, what would I have for autocross? Maybe I’ll just end up saving the stock wheels for when I sell the car and run the Ecsta MX / Pro Race 1 combo full time.

The stock wheel weighs 20.5 pounds, the stock tire only 19 pounds (the lightest tire by far at the stock size). If I move over to the Ecsta MX which weighs 21 pounds, I’m adding unsprung mass, which is always a bad thing, even in such a small quantity. The Pro Race 1s only weigh 16 pounds, so the old combo would be 39.5 pounds per corner and the new combo would be 37 pounds per corner. That isn’t a great savings, but it is something. Now if the Pro Race 1 15″ fit, I could save 7 pounds per corner…