Tyre Choices

[nsanity]

Another Tyre to throw in the mix.

GoodYear Eagle F1 GS-D3

I rang another Tyre dealer, he also recommended the Dunlop Sport MAXX's and the Toyo T1R's. However he said probably the best choice is the GoodYear F1 GSD3's, and what he would probably run on his stagea.

~$438 a tyre, however the Toyo T1R's were ~$500 a pop, and he said that was straight retail and we could probably work something out.

[Busky2k]

I'd say go the K104s. They are a good tyre from what I had. However they have a new model, the soft compound RS2 which is meant to be a good competitor to the Azenis RT615s. I'll be giving them a go next...

[siksII]

I'd say go the K104s. They are a good tyre from what I had. However they have a new model, the soft compound RS2 which is meant to be a good competitor to the Azenis RT615s. I'll be giving them a go next...

I have not used these myself but from what i have heard, and read in the tyre thread they are not a good choice if you can afford better ie they are not good in comparison to the name brand equivalents.

Have u got a price on the RS2s?

i have been searching and reading a few reviews on them, and the consensus is that they grip like a very good road tyre ie. sport maxx or t1-r, but wear out even faster than a tyre like a 615. read a couple of reviews of people who used both on the track who said the 615s gripper better and lasted way longer.

this post sort of sums it up

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthr...230#post1153230

so if it were me i would only consider the rs2s if they were a lot cheaper than the 615s. even then it would probably make them price wise on par with top of range road tyres and judging from opinions on the net you may as well get the normal road tyres as they will last longer and grip similarly.

[Busky2k]

Well the K104s generally do OK in Magazine tests etc (middle of the pack). But the BFYB is up there with the best. If anything I have NEVER seen Toyo T1R/T1S be in the top 3. They're always on the bottom yet people

rave about them so much.. so there we go lol. So conflicting data just like the K104s.

The Hankook RS2 enjoys good feedback by Auto-Xers from NASIOC and EvoM. In fact I haven't even seen a bad review, and there are plenty. I haven't surf other site though however the general consesus is that some prefer the RS2, others the RT615. But the main point is that they are much cheaper than the RT615s. I rang up once for the RS2 in 235/40/18 and it was $250. Pretty cheap! The Azenis were twice the price... ($480 or something ridiculous?) so it would be hard to justify the extra cost for say 10% better performance. We have to remember these 2 tyres do not excel in wet conditions. Btw in the link I find it odd he says the RT615 is better in the wet than the RS2 when its regarded by many as very very poor. But at the end of the day as I mentioned people have preference for either, BUT BYFB the RS2 is a winner!

Btw I found this interesting;

(The Car and Driver max performance shootout)

Braking 50-0 mph, feet:

Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 69.1

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 73.4

BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD 74.7

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 76.6

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A 77.9

Kumho Ecsta MX 78.1

Pirelli P Zero Rosso Asimmetrico 78.3

Toyo Proxes T1R 78.4

Continental ContiSportContact 2 78.5

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 78.5

Hankook Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 80.6

Autocross, seconds:

Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 29.66

BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD 29.76

Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 29.86

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 29.92

Pirelli P Zero Rosso Asimmetrico 30.03

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 30.05

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A 30.10

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 30.16

Kumho Ecsta MX 30.28

Continental ContiSportContact 2 30.30

Toyo Proxes T1R 30.67

Skidpad, g:

BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD .95

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 .94

Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 .94

Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 .94

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A .93

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 .93

Continental ContiSportContact 2 .92

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx .92

Kumho Ecsta MX .92

Pirelli P Zero Rosso Asimmetrico .92

Toyo Proxes T1R .88

(Pity the RS2 bottoms the braking score which is very odd because noone has said anything about that in forum experience). Oh yeah and not suprisingly, the Toyo is at the bottom once again. When my Toyos are gone, RS2s are going on for sure.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Busky2k

[NickR33]

as a daily driven tire the Azenis 615 is awesome... good on the track too however I have nothing really to compare them with... treadware is pretty damn good too, I have done a track day, a motorkhana and driven a couple of thousand road kays on them and they still have heaps of meat... they definately aren't in the league of r compound tires for grip but are a pretty good compromise

[siksII]

Well the K104s generally do OK in Magazine tests etc (middle of the pack). But the BFYB is up there with the best. If anything I have NEVER seen Toyo T1R/T1S be in the top 3. They're always on the bottom yet people

rave about them so much.. so there we go lol. So conflicting data just like the K104s.

Hey, in the 2005 motor tyre test they came 5th, otherwise yes i have noticed that the later generation of tyres such as in the 2006 test seem to be rated a lot better than the toyos.

i know what you mean about the conflicting data, i honstly think the tyre companies pay off some of the tests, especially the US ones, which is why i take the results with a LARGE grain of salt

from the prices you found they do sound like the RS2s could be very good value.

Hurry up and finish off your toyo's so u can tell us what the RS2s are like

[n15m0]

i haven't heard any comments about the falkens, nor is their website uptodate.

Can anyone compare the T1R's with a 595 Federals?

I've got the Falken FK452s and can't complain, as they were the best value for money I found. Very grippy in the dry and performs well in the wet as well. They are a fairly new tyre which is a combination of the old FK451 and ST115.

www.fk452.com

[nsanity]

I'm pretty much decided on the good year Eagle F1 GS-DS3's.

I have a reasonable price on them, and tbh, the Hankooks just feel to me to be a cheap tyre. I see them on some cars they pull some nice numbers, but others below average. I'm also a believer of you getting what you pay for. So I'll give them a whirl, and get back to you all.

[driftmeister]

Im using T1R all round, the front been used almost 14 months and the rear around 2 months only. Just check the tirewear today an found that the inner side for the front is almost half gone maybe due to the negative chamber. Still running on standard shocks & springs. DO you think it has anything to do with the 36 PSI I have been running for the past 1 month.

So far i can say from my experience is that they are great in the dry & wet, but most importantly i like them for the quietness. Almost silent on highway cruise.

My next purchase should the tirewear for the front get any worse would be the AD07 or RS2. Wish to experience the grip everyone been mentioning about.

Edited September 24, 2006 by driftmeister

[nsanity]

I'm pretty much decided on the good year Eagle F1 GS-DS3's.

I have a reasonable price on them, and tbh, the Hankooks just feel to me to be a cheap tyre. I see them on some cars they pull some nice numbers, but others below average. I'm also a believer of you getting what you pay for. So I'll give them a whirl, and get back to you all.

haha.

I have to get Dunlop SP Sport Maxx's now. There is only 1 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-DS3 in the country in my size. ~$430 a tire in 255/35/R18 and $315 a tire in 235/40/R18.

Getting a wheel alignment done as well, due to what looks to be massive inside scrubbing on the rears (inside looks almost bald, outside has a good healthy amount of tread).

[siksII]

the inner side for the front is almost half gone maybe due to the negative chamber. Still running on standard shocks & springs. DO you think it has anything to do with the 36 PSI I have been running for the past 1 month.

Definetly not due to the tyre pressure. If you have stock shocks and springs they should certainly not wear on the inside like that. Get your suspension checked out somewhere that knows what they are doing, it sounds like something is wrong!

If your pressures are too high it wears the middle of the tyre out anyway not the edges, and 36 is not too high.

[GreddyGo]

By looking at the results that "Busky2k" what about the Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 ?

Or are they expensive?

Sorry don't know much about tyre brands. I normally let my tyre shop decide for me!

I Think i have the Dunlop Max on my car. Very noisy!

Cheers

Josh

[700HP-GTR33]

haha.

I have to get Dunlop SP Sport Maxx's now. There is only 1 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-DS3 in the country in my size. ~$430 a tire in 255/35/R18 and $315 a tire in 235/40/R18.

Getting a wheel alignment done as well, due to what looks to be massive inside scrubbing on the rears (inside looks almost bald, outside has a good healthy amount of tread).

Before you purchase them , have a look at the Hankook 107's that are just out.

They are going to be the talk of the town soon.

[nsanity]

Before you purchase them , have a look at the Hankook 107's that are just out.

They are going to be the talk of the town soon.

Haven't got time. Tyres are really not healthy now, the car shouldn't be on the road with them - so i'm taking the SP Sport Maxx's.

My friend with a BMW M3 thinks they are better than the Pirelli's he had on it, as well as the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's he'd tried.

[Busky2k]

The K107s aren't as good as the Hakook's Z212 RS2s. They are worth investigating.

[jmac]

I have the FK452s on the rear. They replaced Bridgestone S03s. My opinion is that they are at least equal to the S03s in dry grip, and perform better in the wet. They are quiet-running but squeal heaps more.

I looked at the K104s too, it was very interesting to compare them in the shop. The Falkens have a MUCH stiffer, wider and more solid sidewall construction, to the point were you can get away with going down 10-20mm in width. I'm now running 235/40 on a 18x9 rim and they don't look undersized. The K104s felt flimsy in comparison.

The guy in the shop said the K104 is a pretty good tyre too but very sensitive to pressure. Run them over or under-inflated and both life and performance suffer.

[SLY33]

i made a call to a dunlop "super" tyre centre today, enquiring about the rough price and what they thought of the performance of the Dunlop Sport SP MAXX's.

They told me not to worry about it - didn't even give me a price.

However they then proceded to recommend the following

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 - $937 per tyre @ 255/35/R18

Pirelli NeroZero - ~700 per tyre @ 255/35/R18

His reply, its a premium tyre.

Haha, yes they are! crazy prices hey. You could fill out all corners of your car in awesome yoko A048R semi slicks for the price of a pair!!! That said the michelin pilot sport range has given me some incredible experiences on the road in all conditions, but certainly you are paying for the premium catagory, as these tyres are fitted OEM to high end supercars/supersaloons where the budget is obviously much higher.

can you give a review on the sport maxx's? what did you end up paying? Im mostly interested in how they hook up in a straight line...

yes the hankooks are a cheap tyre. Yes you can have legal low profile rubber for a good price, but knowing you get what you pay for, unless you like drifting or dont demand much from a tyre, spending a bit more is always advisable IMO!

[nsanity]

Haha, yes they are! crazy prices hey. You could fill out all corners of your car in awesome yoko A048R semi slicks for the price of a pair!!! That said the michelin pilot sport range has given me some incredible experiences on the road in all conditions, but certainly you are paying for the premium catagory, as these tyres are fitted OEM to high end supercars/supersaloons where the budget is obviously much higher.

can you give a review on the sport maxx's? what did you end up paying? Im mostly interested in how they hook up in a straight line...

yes the hankooks are a cheap tyre. Yes you can have legal low profile rubber for a good price, but knowing you get what you pay for, unless you like drifting or dont demand much from a tyre, spending a bit more is always advisable IMO!

I'll let you know about rear traction tomorrow - well, after i've scrubbed em in

Fronts will be waiting a bit - then again guys, i'm going from _worn_ hankook 104's... All its going to be is.. "I can launch at Xrpm now"

[driftmeister]

Definetly not due to the tyre pressure. If you have stock shocks and springs they should certainly not wear on the inside like that. Get your suspension checked out somewhere that knows what they are doing, it sounds like something is wrong!

If your pressures are too high it wears the middle of the tyre out anyway not the edges, and 36 is not too high.

Thank SikII

I thought about it like you did..should have been the middle. Im running my 34GTT on 34GTR rims. Do you think it has anything to do with the offset? I like it when the pressure is on 36PSI, more stiffer sidewall but suffer a little on ride.

If im not mistaken, my last alignment the front chambers were around 1.7 degree negative. Is that too much?

Hope to pump up the pressure tomoro, you reckon it's possible to 38PSI? I know the limit is much higher but kinda worried about the tire wear. Should i start to rotate the front tire left to right since they are on 235/40/18 atm.

[nsanity]

just a quick update.

The rears are awesome. Incredible amounts of grip, whilst i only have 194rwkw, i'm not breaking traction when boost comes on now.

I'm still playing with how to launch the car, particularly with boost in mind, i have launched at ~2800rpm, but that is still just under boost coming fully on.