There are still some aggressive options left for 16" wheels, but not in the sweet spot for SCCA competition. In many classes, the treadwear rating for tires is capped at 200. (This includes "Classic American Muscle - Traditional" (CAM-T) which I "compete" in.) In the following link, you'll see that there's nothing in between 340 and 100-and-lower for 255-50-16R tires: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...6&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17 (well you should anyway. That web address makes no sense but I pulled it from the correct page.)
17 inch tires on the other hand have much more competitive options, and if you shop for 245-45-17R you'll get many sub-340s, and at least 4-5 options landing directly on the 200 treadwear cap for autocross competition.
The main reasons I'm sticking with 16s for my next set of tires are that I already have the wheels, and I still wanna improve my skill set when it comes to keeping the car pointed in the right direction once I begin to oversteer or understeer. (A situation my 440 treadwear 15s put me in constantly.) Had this not been the case, I'd throw the baby out with the bath water and sell the wheels with the slicks that are currently on them.
17 inch tires on the other hand have much more competitive options, and if you shop for 245-45-17R you'll get many sub-340s, and at least 4-5 options landing directly on the 200 treadwear cap for autocross competition.
The main reasons I'm sticking with 16s for my next set of tires are that I already have the wheels, and I still wanna improve my skill set when it comes to keeping the car pointed in the right direction once I begin to oversteer or understeer. (A situation my 440 treadwear 15s put me in constantly.) Had this not been the case, I'd throw the baby out with the bath water and sell the wheels with the slicks that are currently on them.
We kinda walked off the plank....
