good tires for good handling
 

i want my car to handle really well...
would an 18 or 17 inch wheel work better?
what are some good tire recommendations for tires that won't brake the bank?

please recommend offsets along with tire sizes as well...i'm a n00b at this:tool:

stock tires are the best out their period. Ask any tire shop and they will tell you the same thing. As far as rims, Try to find rims that the offset is same as stock which is 52. I went with 17x8.5 48 offset with 235-45-17 and no rubbing at all. If u find something closer to 52 you can go more than 235.

stock tires are the best? I strongly disagree.

do 17's or 18's work better? hmm... impossible to break it down that simple
how about, 17's are cheaper than 18's and will provide a softer ride than lower profile 18's (generally speaking) due to a taller sidewall, but gives up a bit of steering response and turn in crispness to a shorter/stiffer sidewalled 18.


I run 245/40/18's on a 18x8 +50, if you want to run 245's you gotta be damn close to the stock offset of 52.5
if you want to run a 235, you can prolly run an offset as low as +45
if you want to run a 225, you might be able to get away with a +42
if you stick with the stock width, you might be able to get away with a +38, but it will look geeked and the stock width is perfect for a yaris.


buying rims/tires takes homework and a bit of knoledge about what the numbers mean but its not rocket science

You need to find a new tire shop. Thats far from true. Im running nt-555 on stock rims. Bumped it up to 225 40 18s. The difference in handling and acceleration traction was stunning.

You need to be more specific on what type of weather you want handling. The stock tires are ok but by far not the best. If want dry weather handling for a great price I would look at the Falken Azenis rt-615s in a 225 or 235 width and look for a 7.5 inch wide rim. If you dont mind rolling your fenders go to a 8.0 inch wide rim and look at 245s or even 255s

I got the potenza 760 just because tread life is 340 compar to the stock ones that are 140. Is not always about super grip, How about the steering response? Or road noise. I'm sure they are better tires out their than stock that grip more, but ride quality is not going to be the same.

Falken Azenis RT615's. I just got mine from Edge Racing. You can't get a better performance per dollar tire.

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star spec.. hands down the best ones...

ones that are good and cheap right know are the kuhmo MX which tire rack have them a 111 each

for best dry weather road tire ill nominate the bridgestone Re-01
not cheap, but it is the defacto autocross street tire class (sts, stx, stu) tire for a reason

brigestone RE070a
they come stock on the new skyline gt-R
NOT CHEAP!

but i guess yeww get what yeww pay for
=]

Get some sway bars and coilovers while your at it. You said you want really good handling.

I have 235/40/18 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tires and they grip like crazy. I made my wife sick to her stomach on a 270 degree off ramp one day and the tires never made a noise. Tire Rack rated them higher than the Bridgestone RE-01. They do make more road noise than the stockers did but I can live with it.

no.

the stockers are very good, maybe even great tires, but not the best.

when mine wear out i'll be replacing them with Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 for better wet grip.

My S2000 had RE050's on it from factory. After I wore them out in 20k miles, I went with the Azenis RT-615's. The RE050's are a great tire, but after autocrossing on both, I gotta say the 615's had more dry grip and weren't much worse in the rain. The Azenis are an amazing tire for the price and it took alot of effort just to get them to squeal. Lots of grip.

this is 10000% correct.

the previous gen azenis, and the latest 615 are just incredible tires.

RE070A came stock on the 05-07 sti's. Excellent tires!

I am actually looking at getting new tires as my stockers are almost gone at 17k miles. I am looking at consumer reports and here is the break down for ultra performance.
score out of 100, to get a better review you'll need to look at the CR.
1. *Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 - 85
2. *Pirelli P-Zero - 84
3. BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW2 - 78
4. *Bridgestone Potenza RE 050 A Pole Position - 77
5. *Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 - 76
6. *Continental ContiSportContact 3 - 76
7. Dunlop SP Sport Maxx - 76
8. *Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 - 73

* = CR recommended

Best bang for the buck are the KDW2's and the PE2's. The PE2's had the best tread life. I think I'll be getting those specially since they are $173 a piece at tirerack. Tread pattern is similar to the #1 and stock. My friend has the kdw2's on his SC cobalt and says they handle very well in wet/dry conditions, the side wall wasnt as stiff compared to his stock pzeros but on the road tour (twisty high speed driving) says they handled very well. So yeah... kdw2 or pe2's for me :D

Anyone try any of those?

well considering the potenza RE050A's came on the FERRARI ENZO im pretty sure they are good tires. grated the ferrari versions had a higher speed rating and what not it was still the same tire.....uber poor treadwear but otherwise a great tire.


i went with the pirelli p-zero nero M+s. best all seasons tire out there for the money.

Lots of great tires out there, as mentioned..... but as stated it depends on how long you want them to last as well as how they perform in the rain, and looks may be a factor...it is to me anyway,. But my 2 favorites are the Toyo R1R that just came out and Bridgestone RE01R. For grip these are some of the best, but will wear quickly on the street. And they look great. But R tires for the street are questionable.

Just because an uber tire comes on a really expensive supercar doesn't mean it will work for you as well.. A lot of times, manufacturers have a tire designed specifically for that specific car.. other times, they design the car to work with a really good tire that's available, and set the car up to work perfectly with that available tire..

My old SS/SC Cobalt had the Pirelli P-Zero's on it.. it was the shittiest thing on the planet... no grip, horrible rain traction, squealed like a pig.. but to a guy in a Ferrari, it works..

The Falken is one of the better tires out there right now for the money..
I've also had previous history with the Nexen N3000, and that tire was amazing..

Buy what is within' your budget and your needs..

I will continue to groan your comments in tire threads because you dont know what youre talking about, and hopefully that will keep newer folks from thinking you do. God knows there is nothing that pisses me off more than people that talk just to talk. There is no shame in being ignorant, but to spread the ignorance because you want to be included in a conversation makes you the worst kid of poster, and the reason that people need to be careful when buying advice online.

there's a tradeoff for everything, and our stock tires are far from being the best in any category.

i currently run toyo t1-r tires in 235/40/18.

for dry performance: about the same as stock tires.
for wet performance: WAY better traction.
for comfort: noticeably more comfortable ride.
for treadwear: i'm pretty darn optimistic that these tires will have noticeably better wear than the stockers...but this is only a guess based on the 280 rating.
for rolling resistance: significantly more than stock...lost 3 mpg on mixed driving.

the price of these tires were $170 a pop as compared to $200+ each for the stock tires. overall, i'm probably going to be spending slightly more for the toyo T1-Rs even though i will be spending less on tires (initial cost and replacement cost) because of the added gas costs, but the bottom line is that if performance and comfort were my only considerations, it's not even a contest between the toyos and the stock potenzas...

this is just one example of tires which perform better than our stock tires. as demi said, you need to get a new tire shop, because they were definitely not straight with you about what's available....=/

+1

our stockers actually have downright unimpressive wet traction compared to what's available. as soon as it gets wet out, you really start losing traction on any kind of moderately hard acceleration.

The stockers have poor traction (wet and dry), slow response due to loads of sidewall flex and a piss poor tread life. I will say that the road noise is minimal for a "performance" tire. Please note that this is in comparison to some of the inexpensive performance tires available, not to the crap you can buy off the rack. If thats what were are comparing then yes, the stockers are totally tits.

Weird? I haven't had any trouble in the rain with my stock tires.. I have 34,000km on my car, so roughly 21,000 miles..
Mostly highway driving, a lot of spirited.. They may be good for another 6-8k miles if I'm good with them.. I haven't yet hit the treadwear bars yet, but close to..
To be completely honest, you need to buy what suites your needs.. If you want a tire that is going to be comfortable with good tread rating, buy a Yokohama Avid Touring tire.. those are nice..
If you want a great summer tire, I don't know.. lots of people in the thread appear to be agreeing that the Falken is a really good tire, same as myself..

it's not that the stockers are BAD in the rain, it's just that if you compare it to the competition, you don't actually have to look very far to find tires who perform noticeably better under wet conditions. all we're saying is that you can do better for your money no matter what your standards are! ;)

this forum needs a sticky thread where people post pics of their cars with the info on wheel specs, tire size, and suspension mods. it would be a great resource.

Falken Azenis RT-615

Terrible wet weather driving but I don't care.

I should qualify that. If you're driving like an asshole in the rain it's not that great.

they aren't that bad. azenis are the only tires I've owned in the last five years until I bought this MS3 four months ago. BTW the old RT-215's were better

They stockers are good tires; you wont know that until you buy a cheaper set and realize what you're missing. BUT they are very expensive, and I believe you can get better tires for less $.
All I can say is DONT buy Sumitomos, and DEFINITELY consider Dunlop Z1 Star Specs. They are the #1 ranking tires in Tirerack tests and customer reviews. I just got them, and the sidewalls are rocksolid. They also stick very well which mean that they have the whole package taken care of...

Funky

Like wise, you wont know how bad they suck until you buy some better tires. You can get 4 triple nickles for $550. I love em, but dont buy them if you live in a wet area. They are much worse than the stockers in wet conditions, but MUCH better in dry. I live in AZ, so wet performance isnt much of a concern here. My stockers were running out of tread markers at 16000 miles.....it should be noted however that a good deal of those miles were autobahn.

What about the Yokohama tire line?

I just want to chime in with my thoughts about the new Kumho XS.

I've been driving on these now for almost 2000 miles (235/40R18 on RX8 wheels), and so far I'm very impressed. Dry grip seems to be as good if not better than the Falken RT-615, and wet grip is better.

I'm excited to see what they can do on an autocross or open track course. I'll keep everyone updated!

Man I probly gonna switch to 215 tires again my steering feels so heavy with the 235 on and I bet its wearing out my power steering..

Well if you arent using at least 8 inch wheels, you are feeling the pain.

225/40/18 Yokohama Parada Spec-2 - amazing grip wet & dry

Dunlop Direzza Star Spec is pretty good too

The Azenis rt615 in 225 40, will fit on the stock rims just fine correct? Also, what is the best place to get them?

Is noise a variable in these considerations? I've had loud tires on previous vehicles and it sucked ...

On my second set and couldn't agree more plus they're only like $133 per tire. Oh, and they're like the only 225/40/18 Ultra High Performance summer tire that fit on the stock rim according to manufactory specs.
Yes, other 225/40/18's will fit on the stock rim but if you look at the Manufactory recommendations for 99% of these tires they mandate a rim wider than 7 inches, otherwise if the tire fails you're SOL not to mention it could dangerous.

I had a set of Michelin PE2 Exaltos on my modded Mini Cooper, they were by far the best tire I have ever owned, traction wise, they absolutely stuck like glue, I absolutely tore the Dragon up with those things, never chirped a tire, ever..........

Personally, I think that the Tire Rack's user survey is the best source of real world info out there and has never let me down.

In the Max Performance category, the Michelin PS2's and the Goodyear GS-D3's constantly trade the top 2 spots, and score very closely in all categories. The Goodyears favor ride comfort and wet grip slightly more than the Michelins do, but they're pretty close.

In terms of cost, no comparison. 225/40-18's are $239 vs. $179 for the Goodyears as of this writing. The Goodyears also look a lot better, IMO, and have a slightly better treadwear rating, 240 vs. 220. I ran two sets of them on my last car and got 25K+ out of each set, driven aggressively with some track days. Excellent dry grip, phenomenal wet grip (what, the road's wet?), very good comfort factor, even better than some all season touring tires. Truly excellent all around tires but they do get a little bit greasy on a very hot track.

All road tires will but these are said to go off a bit quicker than some others. Not a big deal for me since I only do 1-2 track events a year, but my times start to drop towards the end of a session. That could just be me though, ha ha.

BTW, the stock RE050A's are currently rated #11.

IMHO, I think they're quite good for an OEM tire on a $23K car, but have you seen the replacement cost? Absurd for such an average tire. The only thing they have going for them is they come in the stock size, a 225/40 on a 7" rim is pushing things a little. 10mm isn't much of a push though. The shorter diameter is more of a problem - you'll get a bit more wheel gap at the top and bit of speedometer error. Oh well. Blame Mazda for using such an oddball size.

Moving up to the Extreme Performance category, Those Dunlop Direzza Star Specs are currently #1 with similar user scores to the Goodyear and Michelin all around, and are actually $5 cheaper than the Goodyears. Being newer technology I'm likely to give them a try when the stocker's wear out (soon, no doubt). The Kuhmo MX is tempting because of their price, but their low marks for ride comfort put me off. Apparently that was the compromise they had to make get the performance and price point they wanted.

I've driven a lot of stiff cars with stiff tires enough times to put a premium on ride comfort at this point in my life. Harder tires make things rattle quicker and just annoy me when I'm driving to work. Thanks to modern technology you really can have it all, but it comes at a price. Koni FSD shocks are another example of this. I already have them and can tell you the car both handles and rides better than the stocker's did.

Oh, BTW, responding to the comments that the RE050A comes on the Ferrari Enzo. Do you guys have any idea how symbiotic Ferrari's relationship is with Bridgestone via their F1 program? It's safe to assume that the Enzo version was specifically constructed and compounded precisely for that car, and bear little relationship to what came on Mazda.

On my 98 Nissan 240sx years back I had some Yokohama AVS ES 100's that i LOVED. I dont think they make them anymore. I am not sure what replaced them. Excellent bang for the buck. That car was on rails... If i could find them I would probably get em!

They still make them and Tire Rack sells them. #18 on their survery.

What do you guys think about the FK452's? I have them on my car right now and the're ok...

I've owner ALOT of different performance tires, ALOT...in the 8.5 years I have owned my Dakota R/T I have had 13 sets of tires, tried em all...best I have had are BFG KDW2, really great handling tire..decent tread life too. Nitto's are great tires but tend to have soft sidewalls, not great for handling, bridgestones are decent handling tires too but tend to be narrow and loud. Michelins PS's are great for handling in twisties but seem to lack straight line traction. Anyway, hope that helps.

No one seems to have the size I want. thanks for the info tho.

Doesn't tire rack use a Lexus IS300 to test all it's tires?

They have a number of different cars, I believe. IIRC, they list the test car that they use for each individual test in the results...

If you spend enough time on their site you'll see they mostly use BMW 3-Series for their performance tire tests. Not exclusively, but almost always.

But their tests aren't all that relevant to me. I appreciate the effort but it's just one data point. I would rather base my decisions on the opinions of thousands of customers who have accumulated millions of miles on a tire on a variety of different cars.

One neat thing about the user survey is that you can filter it to show only what MS3 driver's think like on their cars. You get fewer data points but the comments are revealing, sometimes. With some it's clear the the owner knows what they're talking about, in others it's clear that they don't have a clue, which helps you filter the nonsense to sense factor. If someone rates a tire a 9 then says "I like them, they look cool and were cheap!" you can probably discount that person's rating. Kinda like car forums, in that sense, but useful nonetheless.

I have used up the stockers in about 20k Km.

So far I have used:
Bridgestone RE050A (Great for stock, an Expensive average tire)
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 (Great Wet and Good Dry traction)
Bridgestone RE760 (Good overall. Great Tread Wear)

And will need some new tires this spring. I am thinking of BFGoodrich KDW-2, Toyo T1R, or Yokohama S.Drive.

From the look of things I am going to be buying new tires each year for this car.

GOOD GOD!! I'm starting to get a hang of the Z1 Star Specs... OH MY GOD these things grip like honey in eyelash!! I don't know what to say, but in my case, the car was out handling me, or anything of my kind (stock everything). It was on tracks. A friend with a highly modified WRX with lots of track time was having a hard time keeping up.

BUY Z1s PERIOD DOT.

But they don't last any more than 10K

Don't feel bad, I'll be changing mine twice (2) a yr at least!

two tire questions/comments:

1) is it unsafe to run 225's on the stock sized rims? i had a set of ms6 wheels that i put 225's onto.

2) i ran hankook rs2's on my 1.8T and thought they were great. sticky and fairly cheap, i learned about them from autox guys when i was driving a focus svt. and supposedly they've now got an rs3 with better traction AND treadwear. anyone familiar with the rs2?

The only 225/40/18's that I've seen that are actually within specs of our rims (MS3) are the Yokohama Parada Spec 2's - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.j...irePageLocQty=

Test results: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...ay.jsp?ttid=18

Note: They do great in the wet.

I had a set of Hankook Ventus Z212 R-S2s on one of my Focuses.

The Falken Azenis RT-615 bests it in every category except wet traction, where the 'kooks have a slight edge. The Kumho XSs that I'm running on the MS3 right now are probably even better than the RT-615, so I'd say there are definitely better tires out there now near the same price point...

Anybody else has em?? im running 235/40's

95% of 225s are totally fine with the stock rims. I'm running 225s (Z1s) on mine and they're perfectly safe, looks just 'right', and feel great. In fact my speedo is even more accurate with the new tire size (225 45). The only thing is if you go with the wrong brand, the sidewalls are gonna be too soft and you'll feel that even more with 225s.

The car should have come with 225s to begin with.
225s will reduce your top speed tho.. by 3-5 mph (stock everything else)

That's my 2c

u only have about 1 sq ft of rubber on the ground it should be as sticky as possiable if you want to be fast

over the course of the past few years, ive owned several vehicles with lots and lots of different rubber from pricey and sticky to more affordable sticky tires. road noise was never a huge consideration to me, since i valued the tire more for its ability to keep me planted to the road securely. i think i got a pretty good idea of how each tire fared as a daily driving tire and as a more performance minded tire.

mind you, anybody can log on and read tire rack reviews, but that only gives you a partial idea of what you might be looking at. what does an 8.0 in comfort translate to in real life? or a 9.2 in sidewall stiffness. best thing to do, is find a friend with the tires you are looking for mounted and ask for a little drive.

the tires i remember most notably are:

bridgestone re070 225/45/17
goodyear eagle f1 gs-d3 225/4o/18
falken azenis rt-615 225/45/17
bridgestone s-03 225/40/18
bridgestone re050a - 215/40/18
general exclaim uhp - 225/45/17

sadly, id have to say that my least favorite tire among the bunch is probably the stock ms3 re050a's. cant say i am impressed with the grip or the turn-in, though they are decent overall.

my favorite is split pretty evenly between the azenis and the gs-d3's. the first having a fantastically firm sidewall and incredibly aggressive and sticky tread. i ran some canyons up north near napa and they were predictably audible and extremely grippy, even in some aggressive downhill driving. in the end though, they only lasted me around 12k miles and the noise became only slightly annoying. i warn against running these with lower tread in the winter though. as fun as it was sliding around corners, it was a little scary how easy it was to lose traction in wet.

the gs-d3's were overall a stellar tire. fairly stiff sidewalls, extremely grippy, and had fantastic tread life. i ran it through an extremely wet winter and even on some shadier uneven puddled roads i felt absolutely confident and sure footed. i cant say it was the stickiest rubber or that it had the stiffest sidewalls, but they did everything well and lasted a ridiculously long time.

notable mention in my list would have to be the exclaim uhp tire. i got these after wearing through my falkens and i was pleasantly surprised. not quite as sticky, but definitely enough to be fun and safe. the sidewalls squished a lot more, so i would suggest going with a 40 profile to keep your turn in a bit sharper. overall though, the comfort and performance for the money - i was extremely satisfied.

a few tires my friends have run and loved are:
re01-r
pilot sport 2's
direzza star spec

any of those would make fantastic street tires. i would heartily recommend the ps2's if playing double duty as a commuter and fun vehicle.

hope it helps!

Well spring is coming so I need to get my stock rims new rubber..Still havent got the new tires but I'm pretty set on getting the KDW2's, they are about $168 a piece. The ps2's were well in to the $200's so where the pzero's.

That's a 6 year old test. Look at where they are on the user survey results - #16, lower than the RE050A's our cars came with.

Why? They're virtually the same price as the GS-D3 Goodyears, and the Goodyear's are rated much better. verbalink is right, IMO, these are still probably the best all-around tire right now for the money once you factor in their long life.

I spent some time reading through the comments on Star Spec's and they sound very promising, but their treadwear rating is way overstated, most people seem to get about 10K out of them on average, and the ride quality is little unpleasant. If that doesn't bother you then go for them instead because they grip better. Price is in the same neighborhood too.

Me, well I think I'm gonna go back to the tried and true Goodyears. Unlike the Star Specs they actually live up to their treadwear rating. I actually replaced my first set before the tread was worn out. Reason? I only drive about 8500 miles a year. After about 2.5 years they were starting to lose ultimate grip, yet they still had plenty of tread left. I replaced them with a new set and all the grip came back. At 10K when I sold the car the second set were worn about the same as the MS3 Potenzas are now, at 3K.

My assumption is that the rubber was hardening from time and environmental exposure (no garage here). Rubber does that, especially when subjected to a lot of heat cycles. They may not have the ultimate grip that some other tires do, but they certainly aren't bad, and the TR survey results and user comments seem to generally reflect that.

BTW, they came stock on the Golf MK4 R32. A neighbor of mine has a highly modded one and is on his 2nd or 3rd set. He runs a LOT of track days, and uses R-comp's for that, but he runs the Goodyears on the road because they have plenty of grip for road use, and help take the edge off his track-biased suspension setup for daily driver duty. He also enjoys their incredible wet performance and cost-benefit ratio.

KDW2's because they were rated better for handling than the gs-d3's and I drive 30k miles a year....so tread life is fairly important along with wet/dry handling. Id rather purchase 1 set of tires per summer than 2 :P

Oh also wanted to say I am considering the conti ContiSportContact 3's. They got retty good reviews, are in the max performance summer category and are only $170 a tire.

Are they really comparable? Tire Rack puts the Goodrich's in a lesser category. Their test and the user survey says they're very noisy, too.

They look cool though!

bringing the thread back from the dead...

i'm shopping for new tires.. prolly going to get hankook rs2's b/c i really liked them on my last car.

the tire guy says 235's will fit, but 225's are available (both with 40 sidewall). any recommendations? i thought 225 was the limit for stock wheels.

Yeah, I'm running them in the same size. They're a great jack of all trades master of none summer performance tire. My only real gripe is that their turn-in could be sharper.

I'm sure you can fit them on there but they're not within mfg specs (7.5-9.0)

listen douche, I'm just giving the facts. If you don't like the facts go back to sucking a dick you 24/7 homo.

anyone? i did post awhile ago about 225's and got great responses that some 225's work. BUT the "tire guy" i generally buy from claimed 235's fit.

235's on stock wheels = major no-no?

and he also told me that 235/40 has more speedo accuracy than 225/40.

and ms3077, what do the mfg specs of 7.5-9.0 mean?

don't bother getting 235s on stock rims, because you're not doing yourself any favors. if you put wide tires on a narrow rim, it pulls the treads inwards at the edges because the rim is too narrow. this screws with handling and grip, and really just takes away all the advantages of getting wider tires to begin with. if you're going to run the stock rims, go no wider than 225s. ms3077 was talking about 7.5"-9.0" rim width.

whoops yea i meant 40 sidewall as opposed to 45.

thanks guys, i'll prolly roll with 225's. buying wider wheels is tempting, but i don't really have the $$$ right now :(

ya, 235/40 is really close to stock. i run them on 8" wide rx8 rims, and i LOVE them! :D

if you want to get a good set of wider rims for an affordable price, then consider rx8 rims. they're strong, look good, and match well with our cars (mazda center caps). their specs are: 18x8 @50mm offset...~22lbs each. stock rims are: 18x7 @52.5mm offset...~24lbs. honestly, the stock rims are ridiculously narrow, so getting that fixed up is all you need to go 235 with max benefits...:D

fyi: you can get a set of rx8 rims for about $400 used from rx8 mazda forums.

If you or anyone else wants to run with a tire not designed for your wheel I don't give a shit. However, some people just might want to know if a particular tire was actually designed to fit their wheel. Sacrilicious gave a pretty good explanation as to why it might not be a good idea. Do me a favor and get off my nutz thanx.

I'm running 235/40 Azenis on 7.5" wide rims with no issues. It grips like a mofo and looks like it was designed to fit together. I honestly can't tell by looking or driving that the tire is slightly too wide according to manufacturer specs.

fyi...this is how cool you could be with rx8 rims:

EDIT: errrr...i posted the wrong pic...blahhhhhh

:D

+45

The instructor I got at my last track day owns an MS3 and runs Azenzi 615's on the stock wheels, 235/40-18 without any problems and says they have a little more grip than the 225/40 size.

That's not to say he's the fountain of truth about everything, but he has compared the same tire in two sizes on his MS3 on the track. The 235/40 has a higher load rating than their 225/40 (95W vs. 92W), which usually implies a stiffer sidewall. He thinks that's why they work just fine, even though Falken recommends a wider wheel.

But all he really cares about is that his lap times are quicker on the 235/40's.

BTW, discounttiredirect.com has them for $150 each, free shipping with a set of 4.

Instead of making a new thread, I was wondering what you guys recommend

Nitto NT-555
Nitto Neogen

Is there something better than the above tires?

doesn't nitto have an NT-05 now? pretty sure it came out recently.

There are MANY better than the above tires...

What are you looking to get out of your tires??

Yes they do.

...and if I decide not to spring for RE-11s next time around, I may be giving them a try. ;)

i need tires bad and like everyone says the azenis are great, but i'm gonna be giving the nitto invos a try. gonna be running 235/40 on 18x7.5" rim.

i will be giving feedback when i get these installed

pretty much cornering. I had the Neogens before on my old scion tc and they were very good at cornering, not sure if that applies to a car that has prolly 3x the power of the tc lol, but i'm basically looking for a good summer tire.:684:

I wouldn't mind that tire, but with a treadwear of 200, that is alittle low for me , I wonder if I can squeeze 20,000 miles on those with alittle spirited driving.:fingersx:

Perhaps. Plenty of people have gotten over 20K out of the stock Potenzas, so it isn't out of the question.

I don't think I'd ever get that kind of mileage out of them, but I tend to be pretty hard on tires...

I was considering the NT05's also. For the money I still think its hard to beat the Azenis RT615. I want more treadlife too but once you get used to having this kind of grip every day, its hard to go to a "harder" tire.

yeah the nitto nt05's are definitely more expensive than the rt615

Yeah...a whole $3 a tire:

Tire Products - Discount Tire Direct

:shocked1:

lol my bad! I was looking at a totally different site... :bong:

From another recent thread:

That is huge, that track is very tight and only 1.8 miles long. Seriously, 2 seconds faster is a phenomenal improvement over the stock tires, and 1 second faster than the Star Spec's is nothing to sneeze at either.

Fast, good, or cheap. Pick any two. None of the Korean brands can touch the RE-11's it would seem. The only reason they're so popular is that they do work very well for the money, but for the best of everything, you gotta pay for it.

Bringing back a dead thread, but this guy is RIGHT! Nexen N3000 at $102 from Walmart is actually AMAZING for the price. Got some recently. Best bang-for-the-buck and they actually still make them in MS3 sizes:

BTW, I blew one of my Kumho tires. I just couldn't get used to those things, they were too harsh riding in the 40 series and spun wildly in corners. I had a new/unused set of old-date-code Nexen N3000s in the garage. You know something, those fricken things are nearly as good as the RE050s. They hookup very well, and spin very little in hard corners. Also makes the ride feel a bit softer than the Kumhos. Probably a bit more sidewall compliance for the same size 225-40 R18, but no squealing or bulging on hard corners. I'd buy them again if they made them, which apparently, they still do.

Seems that Walmart still has them: Customer Ratings & Reviews - Top & Best Rated Products - Walmart

One guy even put them on a Porsche Boxster with good results. Go figure. At $102, they are a steal at Walmart.

Nexen N3000 Tire 225/40ZR18XL: Tires Result Shelf : Walmart.com

Nexen N3000 tires are made for ultra high performance driving. Featuring directional wide aqua groove design, these speed-rated tires resist hydroplaning allowing you to handle wet conditions. With a new shoulder design, this tire improves cornering stability. For high speed driving performance in wet or dry road conditions, the Nexen N3000 is a quiet tire that is designed to last

Don't the 40-series tires feel rough, no matter what? I ran 40-series on the MS3 for a while, and I could feel every little pebble on the road. The slight change back to 45-series helped.

Hey, I was wondering if anybody is running the Eagle F1 Asymmetrical 2 A/S tires. I was considering between that and the Potenza RE970AS Pole Position.
I was looking for good all around performance longevity and little snow traction. I'm around 17000 miles on the factory potenzas and they are starting to crack so they need to be replaced.

Yokohama S Drive / thread

Wait....you thought the RE050s were a good tire?

I don't like or need all season tires, but I did just buy a set of the Asymm 2's. They are new to the states but have been around Europe for a while. My main source of info came from this site and the tests they link to:

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 | the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 reviewed and rated | the online tyre guide

Clearly it's a very well regarded tire across the pond and is a big improvement over the version 1's. I'll let y'all know how they're working for me in a few weeks.

@cyber-ms3 That is the perfect tire for yo.
Goodyear—Eagle F1 All Season

Best all season tire. You have no idea how good they handle. After i had them I bought summer Kumos and I could right away tell the difference(not being as good as the F1s).

Goodyear F1 all season have a carbon fiber wall too. And have a wider foot print. Super nice grip. You will be very happy with them, TRUST ME!!

I didn't mean to thread jack, but @dead-zone, I was considering the asymm 2. These F1's seem to be different.

I actually meant Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season

I had the original F1 A/S. Stiff sidewall. Loved them. I'm running the RE970AS now. They are great. A little more flex than the F1's but nice. No problems with high speed maneuvers.