Grrrr Need both battery and tires!

[thstone]

In my experience with modern cars, its typical for them to kind of go crazy when the battery is very low or dies. My BMW X5 acted like it was possessed when the battery went out. As you said, hopefully its just the battery and not the alternator or any other electronics that took a hit.

I've heard lots of good things about the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1's. Seems to be a very good tire for spirited street driving and track use without giving up a lot of treadwear. The only concern that I've heard is that they may ride a bit harder than some other comparable tires but ride quality is always a bit subjective in my opinion.

+1 on going a bit wider on the fronts to 225/45-17. This will slightly reduce some of the inherrent understeer. The next step is to get a performance alignment to get as much negative camber in the fronts as possible. This will make a world of difference on the track. The trade off is more inside tire wear on the street (which can be somewhat mitigated by swapping tires/rims to even out the tire wear) but if you do a few track days (equals more outer tire wear) then the general result will be mostly even wear across the tire.