I have been around motorsports a long time, mostly off road dirtbikes and dune buggies. Well, I finally found a way to get into the SCCA scene and I am curious as to what tires I should run for drivers school and my rookie season.

First off, I will be racing almost exclusively at Waterford Hills. I plan to take drivers school in April, and hope to compete in all the races. I bought an IT7 (ITA) Mazda RX-7 from Rich Miller. I personally saw the car win races during the 2005 season, and I am pretty confident the car is ready to go. With one exception:

I have three well used but useable Hoosier 225/50-13 tires and three well used but useable Kumho 215/50-13 tires. FWIW I have a set of panasports, steels, and stock rims. I know I will need another set of tires before the second or third race weekend.

So what should I do? Should I buy a set of brand new 215/50-13 Sumitomo HTR 200 and run them for drivers school? Should I run the old hoosiers and kumhos out of tread first? Should I buy a set of 205/60-13 Hoosiers (which are significantly cheaper than 215/50's) and run those for my first season? I guess the question I am asking is, should a rookie run full on race tires like the 215/50 hoosiers?

What do you recommend?