Love em, but not baller enough to daily on a set. They are a very competent road course tire.


Zigatapatalka

Doubtful. Star specs are sticky and have a soft compound. If you track a lot or run them hard, you'll burn through them in no time.

I know the tread wear ratings are flawed, but still, you're looking at a difference of 200 to 400.

There's bound to be quite a difference.

Reason i know is because rodrigo hasn't had his star specs very long and they're already almost done. Granted, he drives hard, but man did he rip those up fast.

The NT05s are a great tire, but I wouldn't ever sugguest any autocross/track-day tire to someone who's looking for relatively good treadlife (as the OP has stated).

To me, that rules out the NT-05s, Kumho XS, AD08s, Star Specs, RE-11, and pretty much everything in that class of tire...

I paid $548.00 total after $60 rebate for the V12's. America's Tire will price match (tax included) any price online +$20 per corner for installation/disposal fees. $130-140 depending on the size:
Tire Details - Discount Tire Direct

on my third consecutive set of Goodyear Eagle GT 215/45ZR18 and i love them they grip decent unless im in first second or early third. they are very responsive and take hard turns, i dont know how that equals to track grip tho, but for dd i love them and i got 400hp + on them

so what/where is this place? i ask cuz my tires are bald and i'm also in need of new tires in the socal area

Discount tire in Lakewood off of Bellflower and Del Amo.

They actually have 2 promotions going. The GPS unit rebate and an MLS jersey rebate.

I'm getting them both. I'm not really into soccer, but the San Jose Earthquakes jersey looks pretty good. You can choose any team.

Can't comment on the tires yet. Just put them on today.

They look pretty beefy on the car. A little taller than I'd hoped. I hit a dip during a hard left turn and they rubbed in the back.

I'm thinking I should have went with the 40's rather than the 45's. Probably too late now.

I run BF Goodrich G-Force Sports on my S13, 225/40/18 and I love them.
They handle great!!! Can't tell you about how they last since the car is a weekend/play car.

When my RE050's go out, i'm gonna switch them onto the MS3.

Well, after driving on the new tires this evening, I'm disappointed.

The tires are tall. These 45's look more like 50's. I've lost a considerable amount of steering response and the wheel has way too much play. Feels like I'm driving an SUV. Also, with only one passenger, these tires are rubbing in the back through dips.

I've heard so many people say the stock gen1 Bridgestones are junk, but after tonight, I'm thinking otherwise.

Luckily, after some research, Discount tire centers offer a 30 day customer satisfaction guarantee. So, I'll be exchanging these for a different set.

Now, I'm a little concerned about some of the opinions expressed around here. I'm beginning to wonder if half of you guys know what the hell is going on. I realize I may be jumping the gun, but these tires are a drastic difference from the stockers and not in a good way. Those of you with the DWS 45's, can you honestly relate to anything I've said here??


I do not recommend 225/45 18 Continental DWS extreme contact tires. Besides making the car feel totally different, they just look kind of big and goofy.

I won't be driving the car this weekend to preserve as much tread as possible. Hopefully that will make the exchange smoother.

The search continues.

^^^^This!! To sum it up.

This, total upgrade from the stock tires.

Heard good things about General Exclaim UHP tires too. Ran with a guy who used em with great effectiveness in the canyons. Was faster than just about everybody in his NA 3 sedan (just not me fortunately)

Just like other online reviews, you have to consider the reviewer as well.


Zigatapatalka

could it be an issue with the 45's being too tall and giving a mushy side wall?

i am running the 40's and i couldnt be happier

huh....like i said i will run some tire chalk at my event to show yall how the sidewalls are fairing

sorry dash....really feel bad they didnt work out for you....that is the good thing about their return policy though

Every single issue with your new tires that you stated you had a problem with is pretty much directly tied to the fact that you're switching from a very high performance summer tire to an all-season (i.e., you're making a compromise).

People talk all kinds of shit about the RE050A, but it really isn't a bad tire. It just costs too much for what you get, so most people move on to sub-$200/tire ultra high performance or extreme performance offerings.

I have a dedicated set of winter tires/wheels so personally, I wouldn't ever really consider putting any type ("high performance" or not) of all-season tires on my MS3. It's just too much of a compromise for me. Of course, most people don't consume tires like I do either (I'm on my 4th set of summer rubber for this car), so take it for what it's worth...

:dunno:

thats what i wondered too...i went from the re's to the sp sport sigs and saw loss....im comparing the dws to the sport sigs and they are both high performance all seasons...maybe that is why i was more insulated to a major change....since all i did was change in the same catagory

Waiting for the guy at the shop to call me back.

I'm gonna see if i can get the Continental extreme contact DW. Those are a dedicated summer tire and should offer better performance. Should be close to the same price as the DWS. Maybe a tad more.

I'm going back on my statement of willing to sacrifice performance for longevity. That's bullshit. i bought this car for it's blistering acceleration and agile, responsive handling. I have lost some of that and I already want it back.

No more compromises. It's all or nothing.

Okay, so it looks like I'll be able to get these replaced. Not today, but probably monday.

If I have to go with an all season, it will be the Goodyear eagle GT's. Otherwise, i have the guy looking for the Continental DW's.

What a learning experience this has been.

Lesson kids. If you want stock performance or better, stick with summer tires.

I had the same experience with those tires in 215/45/17 on my SVT Focus: completely changed the car for the worse. Unfortunately I missed this thread, as I've made a point to say this in every other tire feedback thread I've come across so far.

Go for the summer tires and don't look back. Sticky rubber and stiff sidewalls or bust.

Check out the sidewalls on the DW tires before you have them installed. Compare them to the DWS or another "performance" all-season tire. If they are anywhere near as soft, look elsewhere.

Glad to read Discount has taken care of you so far. I have purchased from their internet business a few times with good results.

yo!

pic below
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8301/photo0300l.jpg

couldnt get chalk but didnt need it...these are 225/40 at 40 psi...this is a front tire and was the worst of the 2....this was after 6 runs....tread got chewed up a bit but honestly not nearly as much sidewall roll as others were having (i think not many people were running more air)

the rears were prefect spot on

on the fronts i should have probably went up to 43-44 psi...but im really happy with how they preformed...put down the second fastest time for the speed's behind jamie barone and his pu pu (who kicked my as by 2 seconds)

hope this helps

so what did you end up doing

i have been running the hankook v12's the past few summers and they seem pretty good, but I'm about to switch to some kumho ecsta 4x's. i've decided i'm just going to run an all season rather than switch from summers to winters and back. don't really drive my car all out all the time so it's not a big deal to me.

I went with the Hankook V12's in 225/40. I wanted a slightly shorter sidewall for more rigidity and room for lowering. They're very good tires. The Continental DW's are on back order.

Be careful, man. you sacrifice a lot of steering response with all seasons. If it's anything like I experienced with the Continental DWS', your car will have more wheel play than a city bus. It feels weird and totally changes the characteristics of the car.

If you are going to go with all seasons, i recommend buying from a big tire chain like America's tire or Discount tire center. The reason being that they will give you a 30 day customer satisfaction guarantee. If for any reason, you're not completely satisfied with your purchase, you can exchange them for another set.

Can't do that if you buy them online. Then you're stuck with them, even if you hate them. America's tire will also price match online prices.

hancook ventus V12. I put them on my SVT Focus when they first came out. I paid $100 ea. (215/45/17 so slightly cheaper). From the BFG G force sports they replaced, they stuck much better, were almost as quiet on the highway as my dad's michelins he had on his subaru outback. I tracked the car a little and they handled great! Since I bought them 4 months before I traded to the MS3 I can't judge longevity but with all the suspension mods I had no wear still. Only negative is they didn't like wet roads at all.

But for the money they are as good as it gets. I am going to buy them next spring for my MS3