for an 04 STi, 225/45/17. i probably won't be buying until spring but i've been looking around and i'm thinking about these: Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 - $158 each, "Max Performance Summer" Bridgestone's Potenza RE050A Pole Position - $135 each (for now, it says "special"), "Max Performance Summer" Kumho Ecsta MX - $101 each, "Extreme Performance Summer" from what i've looked at on tire rack, while the Kumhos are the cheapest, the other 2 have better wet traction and better treadwear. although i realize that the treadwear ratings are not very useful across different brands, and give no indication of how many miles i can actually get out of them. my main concerns are 1> how many miles are these tires going to last me? the car is my daily driver and i drive agressively but not insane. they may see 1 or 2 track days. 2> will i be ok on summer tires in an Atlanta "winter"? thoughts?
Goodyear isn't worth the cost. The other two are really good tires. Just make sure you rotate them enough so they don't get bad in the rain.
Go with Hankook RS-2 tires, 235/40-17 = $119 each with free shipping: http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/findTireDetail.do?cs=235&pc=11870&rd=17&ar=40&tc=HANHV7 -- Brian
On subject of tires what you guys think of the NeoGens? Someone told me that they were good all around tires with good life. I drive 45 min each way to work daily so treadlife is important but so is nice all around sticky tires. My Federal 595SS flat out suck. They roar insanely loud.
I'm thinking about trying Nitto for my next set....nothing really to complain about my Coopers but I want a non "V" tread design next time I think.... These look interesting...kinda pricey:
I am on the NeoGen's also. They are especially nice, because you don't have to worry about dialing back your negative camber after racing. They have a nice interlocking design that makes the inside tread last pretty long. I have had mine since last February 05 and autocrossed on them for an entire year. Probably like 10+ autox and they are still going. I have lots of tread all around.
Aren't there two brands of NeoGen's? If so which ones are the better? Also do they roar on the highway bad? Seems like the treadlife is excellent. I think they typically go for $110 a tire for 225/45/17's.
Like I can hear it (in cabin) over a catless exhaust loud? \or If your outside it sounds like a 4x4 is coming loud?
I ran the Goodyear F1GSD3 tires for a little over a year. They were very good tires but like someone else said they really aren't worth the money. They do offer the best wet traction of any tire I have used, you could drive like it was dry. The Kumho MX is a great traction tire but I would bet they wouldn't last as long as the Eagles. I am currently running Fuzion HRi they are pretty good tires, low noise, decent wet and dry traction, and I already have about 20k on them and they are only 1/2 worn. On a side note with the Goodyears, even though they say Max performance summer tires I drove on them for 9.5 hours through ice and snow from Clarksville, TN to Louiville, KY (I know it doesn't take 9.5 hours but the traffic and the road closing were that bad) and didn't have any problems with traction. I did get stuck 3 times but only because may car was too low.
i have the Fuzion HRis on mine right now also and i like them but i want more grip. thanks, this is the main thing i'm wondering about. i'm just worried that i will put summer tires on and then we might get 1 single day that it snows and i might have to go somewhere and slide all over the place.
please :sx: ***oh and if it's more than an inch they declare it a blizzard and everything shuts down...no work.....snow drifting time!!!! :ddirty:
^^^oh I hope so..... I'd love to get out and dorift0 around with my baldies. better post up if it happens.
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/fi...?rcz=29670&rc=SCGINT&tpc=NITHV5&tp=&tc=NITHV5 That is the NeoGen that I was talking about. I am running a 225/45/17 like you mentioned on my WRX. The 280 treadware is pretty grippy, but doesn't wear fast. Like I said I did a solid year of autox and over a year and a half daily driving. I have probably put close to 20 to 30k miles on them. I have a buddy who has a Turboed protege and swears by these tires after I introduced them to him. He likes to run about -2 degrees of camber up front. He had the Yoko's ES100 and wore through them in about 6 months because of all the camber. These have lasted him over a year and he said he wont switch. They were noise when I first had them, but I could barely hear them driving. After the first two days you can't even hear them.
Ya see the treadwear on those nittos though? 260....if he is doing a bunch of driving back and forth, go with something liek the kuhmo AGX with 420 tread wear, reasonably priced, all season tire. Just my 2 c
Fuzion ZRi's are good all around tires for the price but for a little more you may check out the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position. It has a treadwear rating of about 400 (which should get you 30-40k). They don't have a horribly agressive look but they are very good tires.
i'm running the yokohama avs db's and i love em. real quiet and seem to be working great as an "all season tire." traction is decent...did i mention they are very quiet? also, doesn't ride as rough like the stockers. tirerack carries them pretty cheap.
It's true about the ZRi's. They work extremely well in the extremely wet and in the dry. But they're really frikin loud! In 245's anyways. They don't have the best sidewall though by any means. I've had mine for a long time too.
Like I said, a year of autox plus 20-30k miles of daily driving on these tires. They are good for the distance. I am still running them after a year and a half. 420 will have no street traction.
the tires i listed are within my budget, but the goodyear's are stretching it. i would like to keep it under $150 per tire and cheaper is better. i'm really leaning towards the Potenza RE050A Pole Positions. but i'm getting the impression from some of the tires being suggested that people think all seasons might be a better choice than summers? can anyone explain why this would be since we don't really have a real winter here?
my understanding is that summer tires have better wet traction (as well as dry of course) than all seasons.
Not all summer tires have good wet traction. Look at the Azenis, they are scary in the wet. Going to a summer will also give you less tire life depending the brand and your alignment.
Azenis is scary? I bought my STi with those tires on...drove on the highway when it was pouring... wasn't too horrible, i suppose if you doing a little bit more than normal driving, they can be scary. I also recommend the Hankook rs2, heard great reviews from S2000 and Sti owners alike, they are going to be my next set of tires when my Azenis are worn. Edgeracing.com has the best price of $108 shipped for Rs2, i found that website to have some very competitive prices even with shipping, good luck.
The only way I could see a summer tire having good wet traction is if it's grooved and treadblocked just like an all-season. Which doesn't make sense to me because a good summer should have large treadblocks and there should be more concern for contact patch than for grooves. Because it's really the grooves that give a tire the majority of it's wet traction. The compound becomes much less of an issue from my understanding. Softer rubber just goes aways quicker in that case. Granted I'm just a casual reader of performance related mags n' stuff so I could be wrong, but that would make some reputable mags wrong too I guess, unless I've just completely lost it.