Since spring is around the corner and a good number of us are going to be in the market for new rubber I'd like to get everyone to place their favorite tires & tire information in this thread. Please list the following.... Tire name/type, ratings, prices (at least what you know), and where to buy. Also include why you prefer the tire. :biggthumpup:
Potenza G009 / High Performance All Season 195/60/R15 Ratings: i dont know Prices: I paid ~$60 m/b a tire through a hookup at tires plus. This tire has great dry traction, and really really good wet traction. I got ~55k-60k miles out of them driving like a maniac. My hookup at tires plus was an experienced rallyx-er and he said these tires are dope for rallyx. I never had a chance to try them in that situation really. They are pretty good for the first winter also. I would buy them again, if only they werent so expensive for 17" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nokian Hakkapiliitta RSi / Supreme Snow Domination 205/50/R16 Ratings: i dont know Prices: ~$105 +m/b through the annual group buy This tire has great snow traction. They are pretty good on the ice, they are not as good on pure ice as the REVO1. They are very predictable and it is very easy to regain control on snowy surfaces. this is my second winter with them and the tread looks almost brand new. I would definitely buy these again. worth every penny!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Falken Azenis RT-615 / High Perf. Summer 225/45/17 Ratings: I dont know Prices: 102 + s/h + m/b That place in Florida I only have about 3k miles on these so far. So far they have been very impressive for summer tires. I have yet to loose traction on dry pavement. I have noticed understeer when playing around in very wet parking lots. These have made the corners a whole lot more fun. Now I only need the power to fully enjoy them.
I've got the basic Kumho Ecsta's (ASXs? whatever the cheapest version is) for my summer daily tires. only put a few thousand miles on them last fall before switching to winter tires, but they handled very well, and didn't have any trouble dealing with some rain. for the price, you can't really beat them. I got them for ~$220 with the discount tire direct $100 off and free shipping deal. and mounted and balance for $7 each at Sam's Club.
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. I don't feel they are as soft as some folks say they are. I've found the grip to be excellent, especially in high heat, and they brake loose quite progressively and predictable. Great feedback, fairly quiet. Awful in the cold. I do notice more tram-lining with these tires than others and that may be a factor of the tread pattern. I've got an aggressive alignment and the tire wear seems even and average for my setup. When they do wear out, I will buy another set ($155/ea). 215/45/17 (I really really love switching from winters to the D3s. It is as if angels came down and blessed the 4 corners of my wagon with rivulets of angel sweat) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D in the winter. I think they're a great tire as well. Traction is fantastic and made the snow days this winter fine if a little disappointing. What's the point if you don't slide a little? Aside from a recent flat from a pothole on 94, they've done me well. I only wonder if they might have been overkill for the winters MN's been getting these past 7 years. 205/55VR-16 @ $94/ea
Here is a link to a really good test of several tires, its a bit dated but includes most of those tires people are interested in. http://www.eurotuner.com/techarticles/160_0511_et_2005_tire_buyers_guide/conclusion_scores.html Follow the link for more detailed graphs.
Toyo Proxes 4 215/40/17 Paid $110 each w/ free m/b No complaints here, they do well in all weather (summer weather :roll: )although I may be looking at different brand when these are done for. I have about 30k on them so far, with plenty of tread left, and I like to drive pretty hard most of the time.
Fuzion HRi's 195/60/15 TiresPlus pricematched TireRack @ ~$42/tire thanksgiving sale (48$normal@15") I got a friend at a gas station oil shop that does my tire work for free M&B Tires are really nice all seasons... Low treadwear rating ftl though, tread seems shallow, but rubber is much firmer... I am expecting they'll need to be replaced after next winter.
what do you suggest for max performance summer tire? I currently have the kumho ecsta MX, that I liked and never had a problem. So let me know what you think is good and why.
Yokohama Advan Neova AD07. However they are spendy. When I got them they were either on promotional pricing or else Yoko has jacked all their prices since last spring. I think the 17" are running $268/tire at TireRack. That being said... They are absolutely fantastic on dry pavement. I've run them for almost 15k miles on my daily driver and I've also taken them to Brainerd for some tire-thrashing road course goodness. For daily driving they are not the most comfortable of tire (road noise is higher than the Michelin PS2's they replaced, and they are one of the stiffest tires I've ever driven) but for those of us who spend thousands of dollars to make our suspensions less squishy and turn our daily drivers into exit-ramp speed-challenge champions of the metro area (I got second last year but only because I'm pushing 4,000 pounds in the beast) road noise and cruising comfort are on the low end of my priority list. On the high end of my list are stickiness, cornering ability, and high-heat characteristics. All of those get the highest marks from me with these tires. Stickiness: Above 70 degrees (more on temperature later) these are the stickiest tires I've ever driven. 6k clutch drops with the M5 only give me a few blessed moments of wheel spin (like 2 seconds, maybe) before they catch. I can only chirp them on the 1-2 shift and barely get a squeak out on the 2-3 shifts. In contrast, my Michelin PS2s could almost go all the way through 1st gear squealing and get nice squeals in the 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4 shifts. When at the track they make my 4k pound behemoth act like a normal WRX (minus the ability to AWdrift through the turns) and when I was running the technical course out at Dakota County BMW driving schools it simply carved through the cones like a car about 2/3 its weight. And when they get warm they get stickier. More on that later. Cornering ability: I've already mentioned the cornering ability in Auto-X conditions and they are fantastic, but on a road course (BIR) it's quite amazing to take through the #3 corner. The 4-5-6 complex is an absolute blast for your 50-60 mile an hour complex and I was able to get almost to 90 on the exit of #9. They go where you point them. Even with this car's tendency to understeer (fat rear tires and smaller front tires will do that) I had to severely overdrive to make it do so. Turn in is phenomenal. On the normal roads (like westbound 62 onto southbound 100 in the metro area) these tires just grip. The warmer the better, too. Heat characteristics: Other tires I've driven (Falken Azenis, Michelin Pilot Sport 2s, Kumho MX, BFG g-force T/A KDs, and any number of A/S tires) tend to get squirrely under high heat stress. Falken Azenis are really great Auto-X tires but turn into absolute mush after a few laps. Even the vaunted Michelin PS2 (stock on a number of higher-end Porsches) would lost the ability to withstand punishing understeer conditions and lose chunks after a few laps (the reason I went with the Neovas to begin with). These tires have almost race-tire characteristics in that they perform better when they get hot. By lap 3 at Brainerd I was getting faster entrance speeds on turn 1 (the first turn after the long straight) because I was stickier and able to take the 7-8-9 complex faster and still push it through turn 10 without plowing. My fastest laps were always the 8th or 9th (last laps). That's 20 minutes of high-speed driving on a pig of a BMW resulting in extreme temperatures on a STREET TIRE. Bad points: Cold weather. Don't drive these in the winter. I could drive my Kumho MXs in the snow and still be able to function if I took it easy. Same with the BFGs. These things at 40 turn to slightly adhesive rocks. At 20 I wasn't able to back out of my flat, snow-covered driveway. Even with traction control. AWD might make it a bit better but I categorize these under "Summer Only". Stiff: If you like driving comfort and don't like road noise these are not for you. The sidewalls are extremely stiff and even in the tomb of my M5 interior there was a very noticeable increase in road noise. So much so that I had to turn up the radio 2 clicks. However I did put 15k cross-country miles on them and didn't really notice it so much after awhile. Wear: They are performance tires. 15k cross-country miles and a 4 track days have taken about 50% of their life. I've got maybe one more good summer on these. Summary: Even though the price has gone up I would still buy these again. Before they were a cheaper alternative to the Michelin PS2s (about $150 cheaper for all four corners) but even though that price differential has reversed I would still buy them. Keep them out of the snow and on the track and you can't go wrong with these tires. From the same test that Mike Wagner so helpfully provided
I am running these exact two tires on my Forester XT (well, the wintersport M3's instead of the 3D's) and love them both, 245/45-17 F1's and 225/60-16 M3's. I've run the F1's on a previous car and they were amazing. I haven't thrown the M3's through snow yet but I'm not worried about them performing well. -Steve
Guy at my work got the Cooper tires too. Nice tires but the company I bought them from sucks to deal with.
For winter tires ivr got 205/55/16 bfg Traction T/As, and for summer i've got 225/40/zr18 bgf KDW T/As. Good tires i'd raccomend them.
*Summer* Kumho SPT Really nice tire, great dry traction, and very good wet traction as well, but I believe the sidewall to be a tad on the soft side. Took it up to Nemadji last year and under some hard cornering i managed to snap the sidewall. As for when the temp drops the tire turns to a rock. Still driveable but totally not recommended. *Winter* Hankook Icebears This was my first set of winter tires so i really dont know how to grade how well it performed against others. As for my driving experience i want to say it was just alright. When theres just a few inches it does okay but as the snow stacks up it gets a little squirmy. Still way better than all seasons though.
*Summer: Michelin Pilot sport A/S, I just got these about a month ago and I love them (for an all season) the side wall is stiff, the tread handles water really well. They have a great wear rating and I havent found anything to complain about so far. I bought the All seasons because I needed something with a long life. *Winter: Yokohama Ice Guards. I HEART SNOW TIRES, I really really like these tires. last winter was thier third and I will use them for another winter. Great latteral grip and decent stop/start grip. They handle deep snow and slush like a champ.
I gotz myself some Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 My review- so far so good. They are 280 treadwear rated, so right in the middle of the road. Not too sticky and not too hard. The cornering so far as been solid and very predictable. Howeve, road noise is a bit more than I expected. Here's the tire rack review. The Eagle F1 GS-D3 is Goodyear's Max Performance Summer radial developed for driving enthusiasts who want more performance from their factory stock or aftermarket-tuned sports cars, sporty coupes and performance sedans. The Eagle F1 GS-D3 excels in wet conditions by delivering class-leading hydroplaning resistance and traction, as well as offers competitive dry performance. Like all summer tires, it is not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice. The Eagle F1 GS-D3 tires feature Goodyear's AAtrax tread compound molded into a distinctive wet weather racing-derived OneTRED directional tread design and earns the highest "AA" Uniform Tire Quality Grade wet traction rating. The Eagle F1 GS-D3's OneTRED design combines three distinct patterns to enhance dry and wet performance. A solid and continuous center zone maintains constant road contact to enhance straight-line tracking and initial steering response. Next, sweeping intermediate power transfer bridges use "virtual rib" technology that emulates racing slicks by delivering shoulder-to-shoulder tread contact to further enhance steering response and dry road cornering traction. Then, sweeping aquachannel grooves, which are three times longer than the tire's contact patch, angle forward and out to the edges of the tread to avoid trapping water between the tire and the road enhancing wet traction and hydroplaning resistance. And finally, the virtual ribs flow into the shoulder area to form long, stable shoulder blocks that grip the road during cornering and help resist the wear associated with aggressive driving. The tire's structure includes twin, high-tensile steel belts reinforced with spirally wound nylon that distribute the vehicle's load across the tire's footprint to provide high-speed durability and uniform ride qualities. Slightly angled body ply construction with high-ply turn ups enhance steering precision and high speed stability while exterior sidewall rim flange protectors help guard wheels from curb damage.
I have GForce Sports on mine (16" rims, not sure of the exact size off-hand and too lazy to go look right now), but I couldn't say how much they cost as I got them with the car when i bought it from the previous owner. Figured I'd through my $0.02 in. Previous owner says they have about 8k on them, but they look much more worn than what 8k (plus 6k more from me) should show, though to be fair I do drive quite .. umm .. enthusiastically. The rubber appears somewhat dry and even cracking along the edges. Dry performance seems quite adequate. Wet performance is much less so. At speeds under 45 mph while turning (and losing traction) they tend to shudder. At speeds over 45mph while turning they tend to be more predictable with a smoother spin-out. I've slid around some highway curves and on-ramps at 60+ mph and felt very safe and in control, but hard cornering at street intersections does not work so well (lots of shuddering and understeer). Also, these tires seem to hydroplane in not so deep water. I put the GForce Sports on a bit too early this year and had to drive on them in snow. The slightest amount of snow on the road eliminates nearly all traction (they did warn me ). When it comes time to buy another set of summer tires I will be looking for something different. Unless I am highly overestimating the possible performance characteristics of other tires, I would not buy another set of these GForce Sports. 10,000 miles later EDIT: 10k miles later I feel better about these tires. They have held up well over a summer of quite hard road driving. Best of all they have been consistent and predictable. These tires have acted the same the entire time I've had them. They are a decent tire if you want to go cheap but still get a dedicated summer. However, I still plan on trying the Yokohoma S-Drives next year.
Toyo Proxes4 225/45/R17 Mild performance tire being geared as an all-season product. The compound is hard and ultimate grip is limited. It's good for a performance level tire and the tire is well-mannered. The grip limit is a brick wall though. When you hit the limit, you're there, zero wiggle room for manipulation. Wet grip is a slight drop from dry. The tire feels stable in wet and has very good hydroplaning resistance. Handling is a touch soft, but this makes for a pretty civil ride for a performance tire. The tire holds up to daily use well, however, sport use tears the tread apart. It takes very little time to turn the tires into slicks via sport use, say an hour of heavy use. The tire gets stickier though when the tread comes off and makes for kind of a fun tire, still a little mild on overall grip. Because it chunks apart, it will never get gummy/slippery, so the tire is consistent. Bridgestone RE-01R 245/45/R17 A considerable jump up from the Proxes4. This is one of the top few summer tires on the market in terms of ultimate dry grip and it shows. The tire is ridiculous on the street, not even usable to its limit even driving stupidly. For auto-x, I can barely get the tires to warm up. Dry grip is quite high and when heated bumps up even more. Wet grip is comparable to other options, high but a considerable drop from dry levels. The tire has some room for modulation when dry. Wet, this modulation between grip/slip lessens. The tire has great hydroplaning resistance for a tire that has so much rubber surface area. The tire isn't as "grabby" as I would like to feel in the wet, but they are stable and with competitive grip levels. Durability has been awesome so far. Without track time and only a few auto-x events a year, these tires will last a few years very easily, even with me trying my best to wear them out. 20k miles doesn't seem very hard to do. I'm sure the abundant meat of the 245 is a big help. Handling is good, not tremendously rigid/firm compared to the other top level options, but this does allow for some civility, a very daily friendly tire that has more grip than you can sanely use. The tire is civil, incredibly sticky, and almost silent. If you seek uber grip that's nice for daily use, it's win win. Nokian WR/WR SUV 205/55/R16 / 215/70/R16 Good winter oriented all-season tires. The WR is well-footed in dry and warm weather use, making for a widely usable tire during the varying winter months. The SUV version adds a second sidewall ply that firms up the ride a little bit, a nice thing that's missing some from the single ply WR, even the V rated version. The WR version is sensitive to tire pressure with the single ply, easily going between too mushy to bouncy and skitish if you're not in the sweat spot. the SUV version with the second sidewall ply doesn't vary nearly as much and allows for lower pressures while maintaining a good handling feel. Dry grip is on par with a good all-season. It's plenty usable but not high. Wet grip is very good with these tires, almost the same as dry grip. Snow traction is decent as long as the tread depth is still good. Bite isn't tremendous, but it's predictable and easy to work with, even sliding. Ice grip isn't that great, usable but not high. Stability is a good key for this tire. It's engineered in a way that makes the car easy to drive on slipery surfaces. The V tread has a self-centering effect that helps straight you back out. However the V tread also makes for less than stellar side bite. It usually takes a little slip angle to gete the tires to really grab. I'm more of a fan of squared off tread. Wear is pretty good for a winter oriented tire. The tire is also very quiet with only a light amount of noise. The WR may not outperform a lot of other winter tires. However, it is probably the most balanced winter tire on the market, a lot of good behaviors that make up for its slightly lower ultimate levels. The tire is very easy to work with and has no surprises. Not my tires directly but what's on my bro's car that I have driven... Kuhmo Ectsa SPT Decievingly cheap tire. This tire is very good for the performance category. Dry grip is pretty good, wet grip very good with great "bite" feel. There's a lot of room for modulation in either condition. The tire handles heat and abuse well, not really getting squirmy nor really wearing badly. Durability is impressive for what isn't what I'll call a "top teir" sport tire. Handling is decently firm for a milder sport tire and very compfy to drive on. The price is dirt cheap. Really, there's nothing to complain about. It's a very good tire in every regard. You just won't get the ultimate dry grip nor crispness in handling as higher performing tires. They're comfortable to drive on, pretty much silent. For anybody that doesn't need ultimate grip, these are awesome tires. In wet, I'd rather be on the SPT then my RE-01R actually. Both are very comparable, but the SPT has better feel and modulation during hard use. In the dry, my RE-01R spanks them by a decent margin though. If you don't mind stepping down one knotch from the "big dogs" (RE01R, AD07, StarSpec), these should be on the top of your list. Goodyear Ultra Grip GW3 A pretty good winter tire. Snow grip is quite good for a performance geared winter tire. Ice grip is good too, offering a decent amount of usable bite. On dry road, the handling is firm but slighlty rough/bouncy, more so than you would expect. Wet grip is very good too. I am uncertain about ultimate grip levels on dry/wet, never driven that fast off of snow/ice, comparable to all-season at least. Compared to the WR, these are better in grip pretty much everywhere, better ice, better snow, better dry crispness. They don't seem quite as pleasant at the limit and are a little rougher to work with. Dulop Wintersport M3 Older contender, was on my bro's Protege5. This tire is very nice in many regards. It's a performance oriented tire, offering a firm (cept the soft tread), grippy ride. Dry grip is actually quite high for what is a winter tire, out pacing many all-seasons. Snow grip is very good with heavy braking bite. Ice grip is only ok though, not real grippy. The tire is well mannered and quiet in the dry, grips really well in snow, and manages ice well enough. The replacement 3D is a top all-around winter tire still and the M3 isn't that far behind. This is a really good sport tire as long as you don't mind the small amount of tread squirm and merely ok ice grip. It's just a really, really good winter tire that gives you great snow and dry/wet grip and firm handling (as far as the carcass is concerned). I've got a set of Bridgestone LM-25s in the garage, 205/55/R16, but I have yet to run them. I'm expecting nice things. From test data that I could directly compare to the WR, the LM-25 should be a small gain in most every area. We'll see.
Bridgestone RE92A's (baseline): I'd like to point out that they had 25k on them before I got the car, only drove them for 7k before swapping. Dry grip was ok. Low, but they would definitely tell you long in advance before they'd let go and start sliding. Rolled over on to the sidewalls a few times at an autocross, peeled it slightly off the bead on an offramp once (oops... :hsugh: ). Just enough to leak air, not enough to blow out. Wet grip was ok. Again low, but I think it was a function of the wear, mostly. Kinda fun to tool around in/with though. Snow/ice grip SUCKED. Highway oriented allseasons with lots of wear... I don't think I need to say any more. Gravel grip ... was more like skating around on marbles, than any sort of grip. _________________________________________ Nokian WR, car version: Dry grip is ok. Did a driving school day at BIR on them, held up as well as can be expected... just some lack of camber wear on the outside edge. Wet grip is good. I distinctly remember one night, driving between Detroit Lakes and Moorhead at 2AM with the wipers on hyper and still not being able to see, where I was feeling out whether or not I was still on the road by moving right slightly and hitting the water trench (ruts in the road), same with the left. Never had a scary "oh shi-" moment that night. Gravel grip is good. Mirrors what BRR said, going in a straight line its decent, add any sort of slip angle and it will straighten the car out. Love that about these tires. Dirt grip is ok. Didn't seem to like Cannon Falls' dirt, though I suspect I was very much overdriving. Not a whole lot of lateral grip to be had, but braking and accel was ok. Snow/ice grip is good. By comparison at least, the car doesn't skate around anymore. Much like the gravel, it will straighten out given a little bit of slip angle. Still vulnerable to sliding sideways when stopping at icy intersections, but I'd imagine every tire w/out studs would be, at least a little bit. ________________________________________ Firestone Winterforce: Have had them since the first snowfall in November (09). Loud tires. Loud. Can hear over the typical subaru wind noise loud. Post-rock concert muffled noises cause your ears are trying to save themselves loud, after an 8 hour trip to the cities and back. Fantastic deep snow tire.. have not been stuck all winter, and I've been plowing some of the roads with my bumper while out and about for work. Ice grip isn't particularly good, don't know how to describe it aside from about par for an all-season.
Wider is generally NOT good for a winter tire. FITMENT, it MAY squeeze on the STi rim if its an 05+, they're an 8" wide rim. It'll be a very tight squeeze, but it may. Try to stick with 225 rubber for winter.
well i just ordered them hopefully they fit, im pretty sure they will fit with some doin. little strapped for cash and i didnt want to pass up on this deal, i just want them to work, its not my daily driver. just want to have some fun in parking lots this winter, last winter in storage was... well... the most boring slow depressing winter ive ever experienced.
www.michelinman.com, mustangs.about.com/b/2008/10/02/cooper-zeon-rs3-is-the-new-official-tire-of-roush-performance-mustangs.htm, www.indiacar.net/news/n7743.htm, jalopnik.com/5060075/cooper-becomes-official-tire-of-roush-performance, www.autospectator.com/cars/tires/0031089-bridgestone-blizzak-now-039-official-tire-winter-039
this summer i decided to treat myself to bridgestone's "ultra high performance summer tire", the potenza re760 sports in 225/50R16. there is some rubbing occasionally so i may need the do something with suspension or rolling/cutting fenders soon. i can't wait for it warm up so i can see what they can do.
The re760 aren't a bad tire, but they are easily driven past their limit. I was much happier with re070s. I have a set Nitto's new NT05s on their way in a 235/40/17 and I am very much looking forward to seeing what they are capable of. Oh and they were $115 a tire hook up at a Tires Plus.
Enjoying my new (to me) 225/45/17 Bridgestone g-Force T/A KDW 2s. Remarkable improvement from my stock RE92s which I'd had stretched on my STi BBSs. Mean looking tread provides excellent as-parked machismo . They are pretty loud though - almost drone out my exhaust and bike rack noise on the freeway!
My Nittos came in and so far I have been impressed with their traction capablity. Not a noticable increase in tire noise, quite possibly a decrease in noise compared to the re760s that were on there. Will have to see yet on how wet traction is and what they can do autox.
I am rocking Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec's this summer in 225/40/18 and they make me happy down below. The grip is amazing and it is an overall phenominal tire. Highly recommended.
I've been running the dunlop Spar Specs this year as well, 235/40-17, and they are excelent grip, acceptable road noise, and great wet weather handling. Next though, i think i'm going to go with the new Kumhos... the XS.. early reports are that they are STUPID grippy on the dry... kinda suck in the wet.. /me prays for dry @ nats
So I have finally decided to order new summer rims and tires. I am going with 18x9.5 Rota Grid - Flat Black (5x114.3/e38/73). Only problem is I don't know anything at all about tires. I decided that I was going to go with Bridgestone Potenza RE-11's but I'm not exactly sure what size I should go with...My car's suspension is stock and I'm curious what size tires would best best for me?
yeah, a 255 should fit.... +38's a little low on the offset though... probably going to have to roll the rear fenders at least.
I think I am going to try the 245/45/17 Dunlop Direzza Sport z1 Star Spec for my next tires on the WRX. I have ALT Rush Wheels +45 offset. I do some auto-x events. I think this will be a HUGE improvement over my 225/45/17 reo70s
I had Falken Azeniz RT615's on my WRX and I really like them. Not good on wet roads though, and a little on the noisy side.
W00T.. scored another set of wheels, so i won't have to pray for dry! 235/40-17 Dunlops (currently on car) for rain and short coruses 245/40-17 Kumho XS for dry, long courses
shane, i am interested to see how the kumho's are.... they seemed quite a bit cheaper than the star specs (at least when i was looking) i just hadnt heard anything about them...
