how important are tires?

[Brent]

Just to mimic what these guys have already said... getting a good street tire will help you without hurting you. It will offer traction without masking your mistakes like an R Compound will. Good street tires have already been mentioned. If I were trying to keep it cheap,I'd get some Falken RT-615 Azensis. If you want to drop some change, get the Bridgestone RE-01R's. Of course, this is just my opinion. We all have them.