Need some tire opinions

Ok, so I have new wheels for the car but no tires for those wheels. Therefore I need some help deciding which tire would be best. I don't autocross/track the car so performance in that aspect is not needed, however I want the best possible handling in the dry & wet without the tire falling apart at 10k miles. Would be nice to see 25-30k milage on these. Given the way I drive(somewhat aggressive at times) I suspect thats easily obtainable. Usually my commute is pretty straight so when I do take it out for fun I want it to grip and when it reaches the limit slide away progressively with no sudden grip changes.

Currently my tires are absoleute crap(some cheap coopers), and while they are fun to slide around in they really aren't that safe. So braking performance, particuarly in the wet, is a concern. Conveniently this means any new tire should feel fantastic in comparison!

So what are my choices? I'm not willing to spend insane amounts of money on these tires. Currently I want to hang around the $500 mark excluding shipping.


I'm thinking these:

Link


Any other suggestions? And before anyone says it, I was looking at some Re01r's but at this stage in my life I simply can not justify the $700 price tag for tires that will run out in 10-15k miles. :hsnono:

 

I love my RE01Rs and they are nice in the rain. I would push you toward a set....

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+R-S2

FFFFFFTTTTTTTTTWWWWWWWWWWW

 

I have General Exclaim UHPs on my car and I love them. Been on there about 8k and they have loads more tread on them than my RE92s did at this mileage. The treadwear rating is like 380 or something. I think that's one of the only ways to get 25-30k out of a set of tires on these cars. I don't know if I'd autocross on them, but as a high performance DD tire they're awesome. Very grippy in the dry and they have good wet performance, all with a very aggressive tread pattern.

They're also very reasonably priced. I got four for for about 380 shipped from tire rack.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Exclaim+UHP

 

i'm running falken FK-452's in 205/55-16 size. so far i've been extremely pleased. i autocross occasionally and commute 45 miles a day so i needed a good dual-purpose sporty tire. i have so far never experienced a tire so well suited to the rain. they are very grippy when its warm out and so far the limits are way higher than what i have the balls to try on the street. treadwear rating is pretty high and they are cheap (ordered through Edge Racing)....this is the first time i've ever considered buying the same tire again once these wear out.

 

Falken RT-615 for cheap and Advan Neovas if you are balling

 

Advan Neovas....

 

I had the 452's before I got the ziex's. I kinda wish I went with the 452's. I got them shipped for about 380 when I bought em.

 

RT-615's FTW

 

The $500/set, 25K mile wearing, high grip tire you're looking for is standard equipment on UFOs... I hear the Loch Ness Monster has them on his Rollerblades too. It just isn't going to happen.

615s won't last 25K and they'll suck in the wet after 50% wear (7K?). I'm not a fan. I've gotten stuck with three sets and none have lasted more than 10K. I just tossed a set that had maybe 8K on them. Good for Hondas, bas for cars with torque.

The RE01R is awesome, but may not last past 20K if you're hard on them. Good news about them is they work in the rain all the way down to the bars. So you'll get about 15K before they start to hydroplane.

The ones you linked to suck. The Hankooks are better than those. They're not bad, but didn't wow me like the RE01Rs. I've never had MXs, but I hear they're about the same.

The Dunlop Direzza Star Spec is close to the same price and supposed to be as good/better than the RE01R. I mounted my set of these Monday so we'll see. They're louder than the 615s I took off. Seem to howl a little...

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Direzza+Sport+Z1+Star+Spec&vehicleSearch=false&partnum=245WR7Z1SS&fromCompare1=yes&place=0

only $129 each!

and they come with a free Shuffle or $50 if you buy by May 5th!

 

Any initial feedback on the Dunlops, I was going to go with RT615s at first for cheap or go balls out with Advan Neovs. Spending about $100 more over RE-01R on the neovas might be worth it but that just my mindset.

Now I see these Dunlops and the price is also reasonable...

Interesting reads here:

Yahoo link

Post #11

SCCA National ProSolo win

 

Like others have said, I use the Falken Fk-452s and they are great as a daily driving tire.

 

If you're about to buy and are worried about performance enough to buy Advans, maybe the RE01R is better for you? That would be middle ground of those two and they're tested and loved.

I don't have enough on my Dunlops to say yet. And I'm going to miss the National on the the 24th because some ass clown didn't check my schedule when they set the date. I'll be in a tuxedo doing this ---> hnoes: It'll be a while before I know. They seem sticky! May not last for crap... But they did make a LOT of smoke while doing a scrub-in dough nut.

 

these are going to be my daily tires so I'm trying to experiment a bit, Dunlops...tempting

what happened to your schedule

 

http://sccaforums.com/forums/thread/294031.aspx

A wedding happened to my schedule... It would be noticed if I weren't there.

 

I'm on my 2nd set of Fusion ZRi (245/45/17's)

The 245's will fit on just about any 7.8 rim and they have a great balance of wet and dry traction. Of course you don't have to have that high of a sidewall, that was just my experimental preference, which is working ok for me.

Some people complain that they have flexible sidewalls and they ARE pretty loud but they have rim gaurd and last for 30,000 miles if you don't abuse 'em. They come in an absolute multitude of sizes too.

 

I was thinking about those, they are very tempting indeed. I'm having a very hard time deciding between the 452's and these z1 star specs. Both seem to be very good in their categories but roughly the same price.

The only worry is the tread rating on the Dunlops, the possibility of having to replace them in a year is cause for concern. It won't break the bank but likely create an unwanted expense next summer. Then again with my driving they might could last for 2 years, I've heard of people managing 30k+ on Re070's which have a far lower rating.

hmm, I want to buy tonight. so any final opinions?

 

I run the NITTO NEO GEN and I love the tires.

 

still I recommend the 452's for daily driver tire. I think edge racing had them for $87 a tire in 225/55/r16 when I got them with free shipping. I used them on several mountain runs with no issues. After about 20k miles they still had good tread on them and the only reason I got rid of them is because I screw screwed me over and I couldn't find any instock to replace with.

 

The 452s will be OK for normal driving, but don't plan on being very competitive at autoX or track days. They're an above average all season.

The reason I spend so much on tires is that I bought a fast, awesome handling AWD car for a reason. If I save $200 on tires and put my car in the same performance group with a Mazda 3, well, then why own it? And a set of crappy tires will KILL the car. Look at what it came with STOCK! RE070s... Anything less is a downgrade.

 

yeah I'm seriously considering the Dunlops at the moment. Seems to be a damn good tire at a pretty good price.

Will be nice to have good tires for once. I never would have gotten whats on there now, but eh..got me around for 2 years so can't complain.

 

+1

 

I just had a set of Dunlop z1 star specs arrive today and will get mounted next week. I currently have Dunlop FM901 which were probably replaced by the z1 (similar tread and same wear rating) and i love them. Unfortunintly tire rack is the only company I could find that had any z1s instock, seems like everyone else is going to be waiting at least a month to get some more.

 

Where are you getting tires mounted? It seems prices are pretty fair at tirerack with $50 rebates.

 

There's a kauffman tire within walking distance they quoted $90 to mount and balance the tires.

 

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/fi...cs=225&pc=28242&rd=17&ar=45&tc=DUNHZK&rf=true

cheaper :bigthumb:

 

Not the same tire, and for the same tire they are 23 dollars more expensive.


I've decided to go for it, hell might as well!

Any idea how much it is to get them mounted & balanced at GTE?

 

I just bought a set of nitto invo's, nice tire great on the dry and wet. All around great tire and easy on the pocket.

link to pic... http://www.h-c.co.jp/mt-web/reports/media/img_20051105T220931214.jpg

 

Good question, anybody know?

 

Anybody have input on the kumho mx's? All I've heard is good about them, and cheaper than re01r's. How do they compare?

 

anyone know what the price to mount/balance them is at discount?

 

its like a dollar an inch or something

 

I called discount and I believe it will be $20 a wheel to mount/balance them. I think it's $25 each at GTE, but I had a hard time understanding him so it might not be.

I think I'll be going to discount though. I like GTE, but thats a long drive for me. I just hope they don't screw up my rims!

 

Comparing those two tires is like comparing apple to oranges.... the Bridgestone is class above the mx in street tire performance. Kumho is going to release some sort of 140 treat wear tire to compete with the RE01r soon. However there is a very good reason nobody runs MXs in street tire class....

 

+1! The only addition that I have with Meredith's statement is that a 140 is NOT the same as someone else's 140. So, don't go by the numbers. A Falken 200 wears way faster than a Bridgestone 140. So Kumho *could* release a better 200 (or 240 or 180 or 140) that is above the the RE01R. It comes down to testing and results. With autocross sanctioning a 139 is an "r comp" and a 140 is a street tire. so if Bridgestone wanted to dominate, they'd make a "140" that wears like a 70. All they have to do is stamp the sidewall "140" and they're golden. My point is, don't look at the treadwear, unless it's over 280! Anything in the 200s is a performance tire. Look at results.

the Hankook is in the MX class. They are the same tire basically... run a shit ton of PSI because the sidewall is crap. Your rims better be WIDE.. or use a 225 if you're stock. 245/40 is the MOST you'd ever want if you're on a 9" rim.

RE01r is all alone for now. Tested and victorious. The Advan is above it (at $250 each!), and the Direzza is untested. I have a feeling that the Star Spec is between the two (fingers crossed so hard they cramp), but we'll have to wait and see.

Too bad the Bells are on slicks with RWD this season. They were the benchmark to all things street tire related last two years... Brian knows his street tire FWD stuff still... but they're not the wealth of info for WRX owners they were last year... Boo Hoo... I'm having to test the Star Specs myself..

 

The bridgestone is not alone.... the R1R is just as fast and some causes superior to the RE01r in certain cases (ie wet/cold, sweeper intensive courses).

Brian doesn't drive my s2000.... we do not drive together; he drives the Civic in STS, i drive my s2000 in AS. I ran my STi in AS (on rcomps) for two years before I switched to STU last year.

Yes apparently after extensively autoxing my STI for three years including several national level solo & prosolo events, I don't know anything about setup up on AWD cars anymore.

 

Damn I thought I heard the mx's were good. Thanks for the heads up.

 

I have been to the Discount Tires off ot peachtree and they were really good with handling with expensive wheels.

4900 Peachtree Road
Chamblee, GA 30341

you shouldn't have a problem and you can stand there and watcht them if you wanted to

 

yeah, thats what I've heard at other places as well. I'm going to the Gainesville one simply because it's so close and just a couple miles from my work.

 

I like discount for buys but i will take to GTE to mount cause the scratched the last rims I had.