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Author Topic: what tires are a good buy  (Read 8247 times)

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Offline hammy221

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what tires are a good buy
« on: September 07, 2011, 05:36:26 PM »
im looking into some new tires and want to know what you guys suggest. please feel free to share your good or bad expriaces.

im looking into getting
BF goodrich G Force TA's

Potenza RE760 Sport is Bridgestone

Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110

any other brands or types you guys suggest are welcome

Offline Brazen17

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2011, 06:22:19 PM »
I have the Hankooks. Not a bad tire and it is predictable. You can feel when it is "letting go." It is supposed to be a very good wet weather tire but I don't drive in the rain so I can't vouch for that. I do wish it had a bit better grip and will probably go with something a little "grippier" next time around. That said it is way better than stock. Hope this helps.

PS - They are also quiet in the road noise department and rarely squeal when you spin them. They are more likely to squeal on concrete than asphalt.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2011, 06:25:56 PM by Brazen17 »
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Offline hammy221

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2011, 07:05:19 PM »
I have the Hankooks. Not a bad tire and it is predictable. You can feel when it is "letting go." It is supposed to be a very good wet weather tire but I don't drive in the rain so I can't vouch for that. I do wish it had a bit better grip and will probably go with something a little "grippier" next time around. That said it is way better than stock. Hope this helps.

thank you these kinda coments are what im looking for.

Offline SHiNY

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2011, 07:28:24 PM »
Mike what do you have on yours now?

I have the Hankooks also and I agree with Brazen. I went from stock and noticed the difference immediately. Sadly I am currently driving mine in the rain and they are holding up really well. I was terrified to drive on the stock tires in the rain, these it doesn't bother me at all.

Offline hammy221

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2011, 08:05:26 PM »
stock gxp i got them on a good deal brand new tire ranck for 60 a pice but there tired now need new ones

Offline SHiNY

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2011, 08:14:55 PM »
stock gxp i got them on a good deal brand new tire ranck for 60 a pice but there tired now need new ones


Wait until you change them, you're going to wish you'd done it sooner.

Offline Gentleman Jack

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2011, 08:16:28 PM »
Now that they are broken in....

Yokohama S-Drive

(they SUCKED before they were broken in... very slick..  needed a few good burn outs / tire rotation / burn outs followed by burn outs and tire rotation.... you get the point.  took about 500 miles to really dial in)

Now, they are fantastic. 

EDITORS NOTE: THESE ARE A SUMMER TIRE!
Make the right choices now

Offline SHiNY

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2011, 08:18:00 PM »
Now that they are broken in....

Yokohama S-Drive

(they SUCKED before they were broken in... very slick..  needed a few good burn outs / tire rotation / burn outs followed by burn outs and tire rotation.... you get the point.  took about 500 miles to really dial in)

Now, they are fantastic. 

EDITORS NOTE: THESE ARE A SUMMER TIRE!

You also wiped out in the rain. :poke: Was this due to not breaking them in correctly?

Offline Gentleman Jack

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2011, 08:27:04 PM »
You also wiped out in the rain. :poke: Was this due to not breaking them in correctly?

Yes I believe it was.  I have since driven in similar conditions and the tires were much more predictable.  I believe the problem was a combination of new, non broken in tires and a light rain on SD streets.  That of course, coupled with my inability to drive.
Thanks for reminding me of my misery.  Now back to the regularly scheduled thread...

Hammy221- do you need an ALL SEASON tire?  Including harsh DC winters?  That will change a lot of the answers here.

GJ
Make the right choices now

Offline Carbon Sky

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2011, 09:35:42 PM »
I used to be a die hard Toyo fan, and went through 2 sets of T1-Ss, and 1 set of T1-Rs.  I found them to be really quiet, really long lasting, very predictable at the limit, but lacked ultimate extreme grip compared to a the comparable Michelin Pilot Sport, and Bridgestone PP SO-3.  However, the Toyo was also cheaper, but lasted longer than both the Michelin and the Bridgestone.  Before that, I was a Michelin fan, until I realized Michelin charges way too much for their top end tire compared to the competition in my opinion.

More recently, I tried out a set of Bridgestone RE760s, mostly because I didn't know how much longer I was going to keep the car, and I didn't want to get the top end stickier stuff.  And to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised.  I found it grippier than the T1-R, rode almost as nice as the T1-R, and was much cheaper.  I only kept the car about a year and about 10K km in mileage after that, so I can't compare longevity.  But I was quite impressed.  I liked them better than the Hankook V12s, which I didn't find all that grippy, but otherwise, found to be a good tire.

I don't put a lot of miles on my Sky a year I guess, and run snow tires from late November to early April, so my stock Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-2s are taking forever to wear out.  But if I had to get a set of summer tires now, I'd go with the Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec.  A lot of independent tests seem to place it higher than its more expensive competition.

Just my 2 cents.


Offline DickW

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2011, 08:20:35 AM »
I have the Continental DWS tires. I live in the mountains of North Carolina. I drive in all sorts of weather. They are excellent in rain. Very Grippy. No problems in any weather.
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Offline Brad Kenny

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #11 on: September 08, 2011, 08:41:18 AM »
I have the Continental DWS tires. I live in the mountains of North Carolina. I drive in all sorts of weather. They are excellent in rain. Very Grippy. No problems in any weather.
Agree with DICKW, I live in New England and I drive in all 4 seasons, including the harshest of winters on a lowered car. I will swear by a set of Conti DWS tires. DBG has a thread that is very old on these tires if you go look back a few years.
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Offline Critterman

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #12 on: September 08, 2011, 09:49:42 AM »
Hammy couple of questions

Summer only?

All season?

that will define the answer.
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Offline elff

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #13 on: September 08, 2011, 09:50:40 AM »
The G-Force TA's should be avoided.  They get really slick and Stupid noisy towards the mid->end of their life.

We really need to know what type of driving you do to give you the proper answer.
If the car is never driven in the rain or snow, the answer will be 100% different than if you are a warm weather sunny only driver.

For Sunny only, with the occasional getting caught in the rain
Dunlop Direzza Star Specs  UTQ200
None of the other tires mentioned can touch it in the dry, and if you are an occasional AutoXer, this is the tire you can drive to the event and do very well with.
Price is excellent for 245/45R18 as well making it the best performing tire for the money.
Tread Life is pretty decent as well.  I'm approaching 15k and still have life left.
These are not rated as high as some other tires in the rain, but I have never had issues.
Out of 10 points, most reviews give them an 8.4-8.7 in the rain.  That is pretty darn good for how awesome they are on dry pavement.

These tires DO NOT LIKE Temps below 40 degrees.   They get hard and lose grip

For All Season, you just can't beat the Continental DWS or DW
If you are not going to drive in the winter, you could go grippier with the DW.   Excellent all around performer.  The DWS will work in lower temperatures and give you some grip in light snow.  Anything more and you are setting yourself up for a helios.

Lately the BMW crowd is circle jerking themselves over the Michelin Pilot Super Sports.  These are supposed to be awesome in all categories save winter, but the BMW guys are blowing them out of proportion. 

On top of them being more expensive than the Dunlops mentioned above, they have a UTQ rating of 300, so they are not as good on dry pavement and they are marginally better in the wet.  Ratings of 9.1 to 9.2 out of 10.
Is that worth $200 more per set of 4?

Those are my thoughts.

Offline Critterman

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2011, 09:53:34 AM »
I agree with Elff on the all season choice.   I run summer only Sumitomo HTR III, great dry traction, good in the wet, as long as it is above 40 degrees.   All bets are off below 40.
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Offline Helios

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #15 on: September 08, 2011, 10:13:18 AM »
Anything more and you are setting yourself up for a helios. 


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Offline elff

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #16 on: September 08, 2011, 10:16:50 AM »
I was hoping you would take that the way it was intended
 :lol:  :lol:  :thumbs:

Offline kennysabarese

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #17 on: September 08, 2011, 12:30:47 PM »
I have the Dunlop start spec Z1's and they are awesome in the rain. They had a better wet rating than all the others tires i compared it against which is why I chose them.

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Offline Treeman

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #18 on: September 08, 2011, 12:44:08 PM »
Still love my Michelin Pilot Super Sports and I am not a BMW guy!  See http://www.kappaperformance.com/forum/index.php/topic,6644.0.html.  More expensive?  Yes, but 30,000 mile guarantee.  They are as grippy as the Star Specs (great tires and somewhat cheaper but no 30,000 miles) but have better rain traction and are quieter.
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Offline kennysabarese

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #19 on: September 08, 2011, 12:47:41 PM »
Yeah I like the super sports, but they ain't cheap
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Offline elff

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #20 on: September 08, 2011, 01:51:16 PM »
Everyone I've spoken to about the Michelin SS do have the exact same thoughts as Treeman.  They love em.
So you really can't go wrong with them. 

Here is my follow up.

Dunlops are UTQ 200
Michelins are UTQ 300

So the Dunlops are definitely grippier but it is at the cost of mileage.   

Rant Time
****
Those Mileage guarantees are such bullshit and amount to just about nothing.   You don't get a new tire if they don't last until 30,000 miles.  Instead they use some Voodoo calculation of the percentage of tread left and take about $2 off the price of a replacement which has to be the same tire.  So the guarantee is just a guarantee that you will buy a second set from them and now they got your money twice.  To me, that is a marketing scam and  I gave up on that completely. Might as well shake a bloody chicken leg at the tire, it amounts to about the same thing.
Rant Over
****

I keep hearing about the Michelins being quieter.  I don't hear the tires on my sky and I never hear them on my wife's mini.  [same tire, different size]  Kenny, do you have any noticeable tire noise with your Star Specs?

As far as the rain traction comparison, I think that is negligable.  It's been raining for about 2 weeks where I live after being hit by hurricane Irene.  the ground is saturated and we have multiple road closures and lots of roads with 1-5" of water on them in spots.
As such, We have tested the hell out of the star specs in wet and that .5 of a wet rating difference isn't something a non professional driver is going to be able to tell.  We've had no issues.  I guess in this regard, I am pleasantly surprised as they seem to be way better than people give them credit.

So overall, I'd put the 2 tires on equal footing and thus the cheaper price and better dry traction gets my choice.

Offline kennysabarese

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #21 on: September 08, 2011, 03:11:51 PM »
I don't think the Dunlops are noisy, but at 80mph it's pretty loud in a Kappa without sound deadening so it's hard to say.
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Offline Treeman

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #22 on: September 08, 2011, 03:44:33 PM »
UTQ is a measure of treadlife, not grippiness.  I have equaled those on Star Specs in the dry and surpassed them in the wet.  Take that as you will.  You point on guarantees is well taken but it is a relative indicator of treadlife.  Companies don't do well pissing off their customers with outlandish claims.
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Offline elff

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #23 on: September 08, 2011, 04:16:40 PM »
Yet they do it all the time.

As far as UTQ I am going to disagree on it being only treadlife

WHAT DOES UTQG MEAN?
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
UTQG is intended to provide simple, comparative data for your use in making an informed buying decision. However, the ratings are based upon test results achieved under very specific conditions. As a result, misinterpreting the comparative data as it relates specifically to your particular driving habits, conditions, etc., is a possibility. UTQG designates the comparative performance levels of a tire based upon government-specified tests. Tire manufacturers and brand name owners are required to grade regular and all-season tires in three categories: Treadwear, Traction, and Temperature

With Lower number generally indicating a softer compound which ends up having more grip at the expense of treadlife.

Offline Treeman

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Re: what tires are a good buy
« Reply #24 on: September 08, 2011, 05:58:28 PM »
Look at http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTQG. The 3 digit number is treadwear only. There are 2 other utqg codes for traction and temp. And look at the definition for traction is not really grippiness.

Treadwear and grippiness are generally related as a softer tire is generally grippier and generally does not last as long. But saying they are always the same says no one can build a better mousetrap.  Tires today are both far grippier and last far longer than the used to. Michelin says they built a better mousetrap and Tire Rack testing seems to confirm that. Will my tires last 30k? Wont know till I get there and frequent autocrossing wont help. Do I think they will last longer than their competiters? I do.
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