What's the best (grippiest) tire that I can buy that will fit the stock steelies? I know that it obviously won't grip like a good track tire and will be limited due to the narrow wheel width, but anything with more grip than the stock tires is better than nothing. I know that my tire options are limited, but I'm probably going to be selling my xA in a few years so I can't justify buying nice wheels for it.

Also, I live in Florida, so I won't bee needing all-seasons. Many people run UHP summer tires all year around here since we never have to worry about snow.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

You should rock 205/50/15 Toyo R888. Everyone I know that rocks these tires say they are the best tires they have used and pretty damn grippy. Toyo FTW!

 

Would those fit? I'm just asking because the stock tires are 185 mm in width and the ones you're suggesting are 20 mm wider. Would that be too big or would I still be able to squeeze those tires on?

 

You should be ok with 205s on the steelies. 215s or wider would be pushing your luck. The Subaru I used to have had 6.5" wide wheels, and people would routinely run 225s on them. 205s on a 6" wide wheel is no big deal.

I've got a set of 195/60-55 Kumho Ecsta ASXs, because I had a set on my last car (an 05 Subaru Impreza which wore 205/55-16 on 6.5" wide wheels), and their ratio of price to performance is pretty good (less than $400/set installed for each car).

@MattyRattyPoo-
Those seem like pretty awesome tires. If I lived in a climate that didn't warrant at least all-seasons, I'd be all over those. As a tangential aside, I've never heard anything bad about Toyos from truckers, oddly enough. Needless to say, they are people that take their tires seriously (even if for different reasons than we do).

 

^ Yup just like WhoKilledTheJAMs said, you can rock 205s on stocks. Yea I havent heard a bad thing about Toyo. They are worth the $$$$!

 

The Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec was rated #1 in the extreme summer performance class by Tire Rack, and are only $87/tire. I'm getting a set of these in the spring for autocrossing.