Star specs for me. I ran thru a set of 18″ that I used for street and autocross. They lasted me about a year and 13k miles. They grip like crazy and have a firm sidewall, something I like. As a street tire, they get very loud as they wear down. As an autocross tire they are excellent. Unlike Aleksey’s experience, i don’t think they get greasy towards the end of my runs. I do monitor tire pressure and don’t like them over 40psi hot, 38-39psi is more my preference.
I now have a dedicated set in 17″ that I use for autocross and occasional track day. I have been running r-comp tires for track days for a few years and last summer switched to the Star Spec. Reason being, I do more autocross than track and wanted a dedicated set for both. I ran them for two days in 100+ degree heat at Buttonwillow last July and was very impressed with them. I’m not the fastest advanced student out there, but I found they gripped just as good as the r-comps I was running. I had trust issues on the first day thinking they were not as up to the task as the r-comps were, so I didn’t push it. But, as the day went on, they proved they were up to the task and I really pushed it on Sunday. I was very impressed with them at the track too.
IMO they lose their grip as they approach the wear bars, so I like to replace them at that point.
I run the Hankook V12 Evo’s on my street wheels and love them. They are quiet, comfortable, and plenty grippy for my frequent mountain twisty driving (I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains). I prefer them to the RE11 for street driving. My DSC light flickers far less with the Hankook’s, hard to believe for the price, but that’s my experience. I have not autocrossed them and think I would not like them over the Star Specs. The soft sidewall on the Hankook is the deal breaker for me there. Excellent street tire though.
Some folks run the RS3, which I read and hear is another excellent autocross tire. Apparently they wear fast though, like 7k-8k miles for mixed use. I get almost twice that out of the Star Specs, so they trumped the RS3 for me.
I can say if you’re a novice/low intermediate driver, you may still be working on your technique and style of autocrossing. If you get a lot of push and power thru it, you’ll eat up the fronts quickly. I’m not saying you do that, but based on my experience, it took me a season or so to dial myself in. Grip is good, but if you eat tires, might be good to use something less expensive to start. If cost is not an issue, then go for the good stuff right off the bat.
You’ll see many cars wearing Star Specs tomorrow. I was a big Bridgestone S-03 fan on my previous car and the Star Spec reminds me a lot of that tire. Similar tread pattern, tons of grip, firm sidewall, everything I like.