Compendium of Tire Reviews: Please sticky

Not to take this thread way too off topic (you may want to post your question elsewhere), the F1's are summer tires. If that is what you are looking for, go ahead. If you need A/S tires, I can recommend the 960AS. There is a whole thread in here dedicated to them, and my lengthy review in this very thread.

 

After reading this review thread and the one quoted above I replaced my PZero Neros this morning with Bridgestone RE960AS. Obviously not ready for a full review yet.

HOWEVER, where I live is the pitts for sharp expansion joint bumps which irritate the piss out of me every day. As the few intown miles unfolded it felt like I got a new car instead of new tires. The bumps are there but not punishing anymore. There is a softness that makes these previously hateful sharp jabs ok now. Wow.

My suspension is lowered by Teins, and I have poly bushings here and there especially the Superpro LCA bushings which all contribute to magnifying road irregularities. Until now I just accepted that some roadways were going to make me pay for the superior handling I have. If I had known these tires would have made the difference they do I'd have thrown the Pirellis out long ago, despite my otherwise love of them.

1) Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position. $756.

2) Southern West Virginia

3) Autocrossed my Pirellis to death . Probably not these. DD from long interstate to tense mountain twisties.

4) 50/50

5) RE92s (of course) and Pirelli PZero Nero M&S

6) This will have to be edited later. For now I distinctly notice a) softer over previously bad road surfaces...despite 40psi front and 38psi rear, where I kept the PZeros. b) Quieter than the ride to the tire dealer on the Pirellis. c) Oddly, a more precise steering response and no (reduced? time to tell) tendency to follow road camber. After the LCA install I felt my car dramatically improved, becoming laser-like in steering response. I'm amazed, it is now better....despite what I would think extra tread would degrade.

After I have put some miles on them I will edit this post. I started it so that I could express my appreciation for the informative guidance I have gained here, for one. For another to post my initial impressions on what is obviously a great tire.

#1) Dunlop Direzza DZ101, 215/45/17 on Rota SDR 17x7.5", $85/each from Tire Rack. Installed with a Road Hazard warranty was $413. Currently have about 5K miles on them (they are summer-only tires).

#2) Detroit MI area

#3) The tires have one track day (not counting the "snow day" at Gingerman last October), plus daily 3-season driving

#4) 60% highway, 40% city

#5) Previous tires were the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s (see post #38: http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=850090&postcount=38 )

#6) These tires have a stiffer sidewall than the Pilot Exalto PE2s, which was encouraging. After buying them (I decided to be a pioneer, since no one I knew had tried them), I saw the Tire Rack test, which placed them third out of three tires tested. They work fine on the street in the wet or dry. For typical street/highway use, they should be fine.

BUT.....these tires are absolutey wretched for track use!! They are the worst tires that I have ever had for a track event, and that includes some a/s tires I have run in the past. They are "OK" for about half a 20-minute session (4-5 laps), then they become extremely greasy as they heat up.

I have another track event in July, when it's hotter, and I will NOT use these tires. This will be the first time that I have ever shytecanned a set of tires with only 5K miles, but they will be totally useless in the July heat at Grattan. I have yet to decide on their replacements.

looking to replace the craptacular stock rubbers on my lgt w/ a/s.

seems like i came to the right thread.

here in ny/northern nj, we get rain, sleet, snow, slush, along w/ garbage potholed roads. if i was in socal, id get summers and call it a day.

currently deciding b/w:

toyo proxies 4

were on my prev car and had no issues. maybe not so hot in snow as a prev poster mentioned.

avon 550s

seen great reviews, but would like more opinions.

conti extreme contacts

these were on my prev prev car and i liked them lots, except for the occasional flatspotting and difficulty in balancing. hm, perhaps thats out of contention now...

anybody wanna chime in on their merits and opinions on choosing b/w the three?

yes, i have read the entire thread, so ive narrowed them down to these three (two?).

thx vmuch!

^^^^I went with the Conti Extreme Contacts, 225/45/17 on stock rims.

I got them about 3k miles ago and they are GREAT in the rain and very good on dry. I never got the chance to drive in the snow with them but other members say they are solid.

They add a tiny bit more road noise.

I have heard bad things about the Proxes in the wet.

#1) Hoosier R6 (225/40-17), R-Compound Tire , $$ = Cheap since they were heat cycled twice , 60-80 Track miles...

#2) Colorado

#3) Track time

#4) 100% Track Time

#5) RE92s, W300s, RS2s, Eagle F1s

#6) Let's see. There is NO COMPARISON between these and any other tires I have driven on any car. These have incredible amounts of grip. Almost every turn I thought I was carrying too much speed, and I only was once These will not perform well in standing water as they have NO tread. Braking performance is stellar with the limits incredibly high. I can still get ABS to activate w/ my brake set-up and XP12/XP10 brake pads I probably need wider tires to truly use my brakes. Overall, an incredible tire for the track. THEY ARE NOT SNOW TIRES

looking to replace the craptacular stock rubbers on my lgt w/ a/s.

seems like i came to the right thread.

 

here in ny/northern nj, we get rain, sleet, snow, slush, along w/ garbage potholed roads. if i was in socal, id get summers and call it a day.

 

currently deciding b/w:

 

toyo proxies 4

were on my prev car and had no issues. maybe not so hot in snow as a prev poster mentioned.

 

avon 550s

seen great reviews, but would like more opinions.

 

conti extreme contacts

these were on my prev prev car and i liked them lots, except for the occasional flatspotting and difficulty in balancing. hm, perhaps thats out of contention now...

 

anybody wanna chime in on their merits and opinions on choosing b/w the three?

 

yes, i have read the entire thread, so ive narrowed them down to these three (two?).

 

thx vmuch!

Proxes if you want bang for the buck and gobs of dry grip (they're solid in wet as well), P-Zero Nero M+S if you're willing to pay a little more. Forget the Avons and only go with the Contis if you have a lot of snow/slush. I've had the Proxes, P-Zero's, and Conti's before and would rank them P-Zero's 1st by a slight margin over the Proxes, and then a decent gap to third for the Conti's.

These will not perform well in standing water as they have NO tread. Braking performance is stellar with the limits incredibly high.

^ Killjoy!

:lol:

Proxes if you want bang for the buck and gobs of dry grip (they're solid in wet as well), P-Zero Nero M+S if you're willing to pay a little more. Forget the Avons and only go with the Contis if you have a lot of snow/slush. I've had the Proxes, P-Zero's, and Conti's before and would rank them P-Zero's 1st by a slight margin over the Proxes, and then a decent gap to third for the Conti's.

I would primarily recommend the Contis as a winter tire. They perform pretty well all around but their forte is definitely inclement conditions.

#1) Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 225/45/17

#2) Northern NJ

#3) Commute/spirited/autox

#4) Percent of highway vs. city driving: 50/50

#5) RE92s

#6) These advans are the best extreme performace summer tire ev4r!! They are the stickiest tire without going to a full race tire. They are so good that i was able to beat sevar cars running r-compouds at autox including the other car in my class who was using toyo ra1 race tires. Though pricey, you cannot buy a better summer tire. There is a reason Lotus uses these as OE tires.

^ Killjoy!

 

:lol:

#1) BF Goodrich g-force T/A KDW NT 215/45R-17/ $133 each from Discount Tire.

#2) Austin, Tx

#3) Spirited commute

#4) 75% highway/back roads/ 25% city

#5) RE92s

#6) Very sticky. I found out early you could fishtail with the RE92s when WOT from a turn, say turning from a stop sign. You can't with these tires. I've tried several times and they just grip and go. I was a little worried, with the odd flame like tread, that they would slide in the rain, but they perform just as well on wet roads, and hydroplaning is minimal. No snow down here but I wouldn't try it.

Only complaint is after roughly 12,000 miles, they are starting to get loud. The last few weeks I thought I had another bearing problem, but from reading reviews elsewhere, they get louder as they age. If I end up replacing these because of the road noise instead of the tread, I'll go with something else. So far the tread is holding up extremely well.

1) Bridgestone Turanza LS-V 225/55VR17, All-season grand-touring, Firestone bought for about 139.00/tire, 14,000miles

2) Jacksonville, FL

3) 2 Cross-country trips, bi-weekly 380 mile (one-way and the 380 back) trips, 20 mile jaunt to work

4) 80 highway / 20 city (if that)

5) RE-92s Death slicks (OEM)

6) RE-92s wore out in 30k and were worn at an angle. Terrible. Thought I was going to die multiple times in a rainstorm on I-10. LS-Vs give a little less noise, the same fuel economy, but the roadholding in all weather conditions is straight amazing (especially since this isn't supposed to be a performance tire). And the tread pattern looks awesome to boot.

Over 14k miles there have been near no signs of wear.

Thread bump...

1) Toyo Proxes 4 225/45/17

2) Bend, Oregon

3) 50/50 city/hwy, no racing, but I do push them sometimes:cool:

4) RE-92's

5) I wore the RE-92's out at about 26k, put the Toyo's on in the fall before the snow fell. Had Les Schwab sipe them. They have been very good and I saw EVERY condition thrown my way (typical PNW winters). HOWEVER, this past winter when the tread was less than optimal they were a little scary, especially in the snow. Now at about 27k and they are toast. Looking to replace with another A/S tire.

1. Bridgestone Potenza re-01R

2. Kaneohe, Hawaii

3. 40/60 City/ highway DD and monthly auto-x

4. previous stock re-92's, avon tech 550a/s, Bridgestone Potenza 070's,

R compound Kumho V700

5. So far, with about 200 miles on these Re-01R's I absolutely love them. HAnds down the best street Max Perf. summer tyre i have ever used. Only R-compounds are better. I have a test and tune auto-x event coming up next weekend, and the monthly auto-x event on saturday aqnd sunday, so a better review can be made then. But i gotta say i love these so far!

#1 Falken Azenis 615 225/45/17

#2 Dayton, OH (originally from Kaneohe, HI)

#3 Spring/Summer/Fall DD, AutoX, HPDE

#4 RE-070

#5 These tires have been awesome so far. They've held up to numerous autox's and an HPDE. Stiff sidewall, but not as stiff as the RE-070. For autoX, you may have to cool tires off with watersprayer as they get a little greasy when too warm. I want to try 235/40/17 size next, but prolly won't since this sport/hobby is so expensive, that i may pick up another set of RE070s for $100bux-we'll see though, cuz this tire is so good, i may be willing to be in the negative to get another set.

#1) Bridgestone RE92 215/45/17

#2) Reno, NV

#3) Auto-x, Daily Driver, Snow Driving

#4) 70% street/30% freeway

#5) First tires on the car.

#6) Can't complain too much. I decided to use them at auto-x for a few reasons. One, I'm cheap and I figured I might as well burn up the stock tires while I'm still learning the car rather than burn up a nice set of tires. At auto-x, obviously they were lower on grip than other tires I've since used, but they weren't too bad. The positives, when put up to about 42 PSI, they don't roll over too much, and break traction very linearly. They also talk a lot. At auto-x, on even dry pavement, I never felt out of control and never really spun (though I frequently pushed a lot). This was on completely stock suspension.

Once I got better tires for auto-x, these continued to take daily driver duties, carrying over into the winter here in Reno/Tahoe. Again, can't complain too much.

My final conclusion, these tires aren't really worth the money, but if you have a free set, they aren't the worst thing in the world. Lasted me about 20k miles, and half a season of auto-x (one full season is ~18 events for us). I sold them to a friend, and there is another 10k on them and still looking decent.

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#1) Bridgestone RE070 225/45/17

#2) Reno, NV

#3) Auto-x

#4) 10%/10%

#5) Bridgestone RE92

#6) After graduating from Auto-x on the RE92, these tires offered much more grip (unbelievable, I know). For the price (as STi take-offs) you can't beat them. Bought two slightly used sets. I stayed competitive with other drivers in my class on these tires. If I wasn't in first, I wasn't far off, usually coming within 2/10th or less from the first placed drivers.

As STi take-offs, these are totally worth it. As new tires, I think they are a little too pricey. After two sets of take-offs, I decided I didn't want to deal with used tires anymore, and didn't want to pay retail for 070s. Each set got about 3/4 of a season out of them.

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#1) Falken Azenis 615 245/45/17

#2) Reno, NV

#3) Auto-x

#4) 10%/10%

#5) Bridgestone RE070

#6) These tires were too tall for the car, but they came on the wheels I bought. Since there was a little tread left, I decided to kill it off rather then replace the tires right away. My review might be off because the tires have likely gone through a few heat cycles before I got them, but I didn't like these tires as much as the Bridgestone RE070 tires. Its a very close call, and I may be willing to give them another shot in the future.

These were at about 50% when I got them and about 10% when I replaced them. Went though half the season on them.

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#1) Bridgestone RE01-R 245/40/17

#2) Reno, NV

#3) Auto-x

#4) 10%/10%

#5) Falken Azenis 615, Bridgestone RE070

#6) These tires aren't that great for the first 50 miles or so. I would recommend shaving them. I wanted to, but I didn't have enough time, so I just spent the evening before the event trying to scrub them a little on the street. My first auto-x event on them was simply OK, not great, but OK. The next event, though, everything changed. After my street scrub and one event, the mold grease was gone and these tires came alive. These are easily my favorite tire for auto-x now. Also, they are surprisingly very quiet driving too and from events. I would almost recommend them as a daily driver tire, except for the 140 treadwear. The sidewalls have that legendary Bridgestone sport tire stiffness, but the compound is really soft. I can't see these lasting more than about 10k miles, if daily driven.

I will likely be buying these tires again for auto-x, if I decide to continue to race on "street tires". I can't comment yet on longevity of the tires because I've only had them for a few weeks now. Initial impressions are good. I'm hoping to get a full season out of them.

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#1) Kumho MX 235/40/18

#2) Reno, NV

#3) 3 season daily driving

#4) 70% street / 30% freeway

#5) Bridgestone RE92

#6) Fairly blah tire. Nothing great, nothing horrible. I didn't keep them (or the wheels) for very long, but I found nothing in them that made me want to get another set. These were definitely an upgrade over the RE92 in the summer, but obviously worthless once the winter rolled around. I got them on sale at TireRack, but I doubt I'd buy them again.

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#1) Falken Ziex ZE512 225/45/17 (w/ reinforced sidewall)

#2) Reno, NV

#3) 4 season daily driving

#4) 70% street/30% freeway

#5) Bridgestone RE92, Kumho MX

#6) Great daily driver tire for all four seasons. For those that don't know, Reno itself sees a few good snow storms per winter, but the snow rarely sticks to the ground for more than a few days afterwards. Driving over the pass into California can be a little more hazardous. All in all, maybe about 15% of my winter driving is on actual snow and/or ice. And with this in mind, I'm in love with the 512s. They have decent enough grip in the summer (and low road noise), and can still deal with the snow/ice/slush well enough. If I lived in an area where I'd spend more time on snow or ice, I'd consider dedicated snow tires instead of these.

The only downside to these tires is that the treadlife seems to be a bit low for what I'd like for a 4-season daily driver tire. At about 10k miles, I'm a little over 50% done with them. I'd like to get about 20k-30k miles out of them, but now I'm expecting to about 18k-20k on them. But, they are cheap enough that it might not matter too much.

I noticed these have been replaced with the Ziex ZE912, which are expected to live about 5k miles longer, with the same all-around performance. I will likely consider the 912s if I'm ever looking for a 4 season tire again.

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I've also just received a set of Falken FK452 (3-season tires) to put on a new set of wheels (hopefully tomorrow). The initial review will come shortly.

1. Hankook RS2 Z212, 215/45/17, $107 each at Discount Tire online, definitely a Summer tire (street version of the Z211 track tire). About 1,000 miles plus one track day.

2. Detroit MI area

3. Grattan track day

4. 50-50 city-highway

5. Dunlop Direzza DZ101

6. The DZ101s were junk for track use as I stated in a previous post (got too greasy after 4-5 laps). I replaced them after only 6,000 miles with these Hankooks.

These are the best street tires that I have ever used for the track. I will definitely stay with these when they wear out.

Hey bro,

How do you like the RS-2 Z212s in the wet, on the road?

Hey bro,

 

How do you like the RS-2 Z212s in the wet, on the road?

I love 'em!! I have found my new summer tire for track & street.

Slight bit of tire noise, but of no concern to me (can't hear them with the stereo on). I did a bit of street/highway driving in the wet, and they seemed fine. I also changed wheels (long story), goug ack to a 17x7 from a 17x7.5, but the steering response feels close to the former 17x7.5 wheels, which is an improvement IMHO.

Big thing was that they performed very well at the track last week. Now, I had changed my suspension setup since my last track day in May. I now run -1.4 camber in the front, -1.0 in the rear with the Ksport coilovers (I had already installed Cobb sways previously), but nonetheless the tires were wonderful, especially when they hung in there when they got hot.

I will definitely buy these again, and $107 for 215/45/17s can't be beat.

^ Thanks for the reply!

And thanks to everyone's suggestions/comments/opinons.

Just two days ago, I picked up a set of 225/40/18 sized Hankook RS-2 Z212s.

I've only logged a very conservative 80-some-odd miles with them so far, to try to scrub-off the mold-release compound, so I can't really give any serious updates, but in so far as road-noise goes (big thanks goes out to thorongil on LERSOC.com for the advance warning) I think I'm A-OK. With the windows open, wind and exhaust/engine noise drowns it out, easily, and with the windows up, with the factory unit on about "5," even, it's barely a concern at typical in-city cruising speeds.

Ride quality does not seem to have changed much from the Fuzions, and I think it might actually wind up being a little better, in terms of larger impacts, after I play with pressures a little (which won't happen until after break-in, but at my rate of daily commute + errands, that might take me a couple of weeks to rack up enough miles).

It just so happened that yesterday, while I was running around on my errands, the roads were totally dry - but then again, given that they're still so new that I haven't even dared to try to probe their limits...well, it's probably a good thing that I haven't done anything stupid. http://www.lersoc.com/modules/pnphpbb2/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif

There were areas of deep rain accumulation on my local surface-street commute, and although I didn't dare yet try out any fun stuff, I did give the straight-ahead run a go, and at 40 MPH, even an appx. 2-4" deep puddle (about 4-ft. in length) didn't really cause any kind of untoward pull. I'll wait a bit more, and progressively try to probe the edge of its straight-line hydroplane resistance at increasing speeds, to let me know where its limits are on the highway under wet conditions.

Even as it stands now, for how little I've pushed (I've been told that unless the RS-2s are "talking," it means that you're nowhere near their limits, at least in the dry), these tires are much better than the Fuzion ZRis, and well worth the extra $30 to $40, per tire, over the ZRis.

I'll revisit this thread as I log more miles on the tires - again, thanks to everyone who contributed, both in terms of this tire, and others! It really did help a lot towards my purchase decision. http://www.lersoc.com/modules/pnphpbb2/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

^ Roger that - that's what the guys and gals at LERSOC reported as well.

Most say that with about two years of typical-mileage road-use, plus an AutoX day or two, the RS-2s are shot. Since I don't expect to do any of the latter, my hope is that they'll last at least two "three-seasons'" worth.

Thanks again for all your help, bruddah!

Based on the wear from Grattan, after this Fall's Gingerman day, and the two track days next year in May and July (tracks TBD), I'm sure that they will be shot. They will probably only have maybe 5K of street miles in that time, as I'm mostly down in KY/WV with my work truck.

Fine with me. When you do tracks, tires are a consumable like brake pads. i would rather have good tires than crappy ones that last longer.