Tyres you use(d) and how u would rate them

[lukits01]

I just got a quote for Bridgestone RE55S and Federal 595RS

Both are priced the same

235/45/17 $369

255/40/17 $399

Im sure I can get better prices if I shop arround some more

but why would I go for the federal's if they are the same price as the bridgestones??

[Kinks]

The good

Dunlop FM901s - great tyre, shame you can't get them any more

Dunlop FM702s - supposedly almost as good

Bridgestone GIIIs - gripped well wet and dry, was happy with them

Yokie A539s - good grip, but bloody soft. Wore out quickly

The bad

Kumho 712s - gripped ok wet and dry but they felt cheap to drive on

Nexen whatevers - compliance tyre.. reasonable grip in the dry but limits are easily reached in the wet

The ugly

Falken 326s - deathtrap. dry grip is OK but wet grip is shockingly bad.

[scathing]

Now that I've done over 10,000km on my current tyres, I feel a bit more confident about making comments about them.

Make & Model: Bridgestone Potenza RE-01

Size: 255/40 R17

Dry: 5

Wet: 5

Value: 3

These tyres aren't cheap, given their grey import status. And I am not too impressed with them. I suppose in isolation they don't grip badly, but compared to the other tyres I've driven on they're not that good.

They don't grip that well, wet or dry. I was getting noticably more wheelspin with these tyres than on my last set (DZ101s), and I got good life out of those tyres too.

The only thing I can say is that the tyre life has been quite good, but as I was expecting these to be sports tyres they're not meeting my expectations. If they were sold to me as commuter tyres I'd probably rank them a bit higher in value, but chances are I could get hard-as-f**k tyres for less.

[jmac]

  lukits01 said:

I just got a quote for Bridgestone RE55S and Federal 595RS

Both are priced the same

235/45/17 $369

255/40/17 $399

Im sure I can get better prices if I shop arround some more

but why would I go for the federal's if they are the same price as the bridgestones??

$399 is a pretty good price for the Bridgestones in that size.... You might do $50 or so better if you know a guy who knows a guy...

I guess the only reason to go Federals is if they're harder and will last longer, maybe. Although I'm not aware of anyone who's tested them back-to-back against the other semis.

(I wrote in to Motor magazine and they reckon they will do this in November - have a "track day tyre test")

My RE55s probably have one track day left in them now. They've done two all-day track days (maybe 140-150 laps of Queensland Raceway) and three days at Mt Cotton Hillclimb, plus street driving there and back. They're pretty soft but I guess when you add up all those laps it's not too bad!

[jmac]

In other news I've now got Falken FK452 on the rear for street driving (235/40 R18). They're pretty good... pretty close in grip to the Bridgestone S03's when they were new, though I had a lot less rwkw then too. They squeal more. Not much of a chance to try them in the wet yet, it being a drought here in Brisbane and all.

Pretty good given the S03's were ~$500 and the FK452's were ~$300.

[driftmeister]

Hi Jmac

Im using the same size tyre as ur for my front but my rear is 265/35/18 with 34GTR original rims on my GTT. wondering whether the rear will be too narrow (Easily spin the wheel) if i gone with the same size like u to compare with my existing tyre combination. The reason is i intend to purchase a grippier tyre but the 265/35/18 is way off my budget. Now contemplating whether i should use a narrower size with better grip tyre or go for cheaper but wide. In terms of balance and handling for FR, which would u reckon to be a better choice?

Thanks for ur help in advance...cheers!

[PatrickT]

  jmac said:

$399 is a pretty good price for the Bridgestones in that size.... You might do $50 or so better if you know a guy who knows a guy...

I guess the only reason to go Federals is if they're harder and will last longer, maybe. Although I'm not aware of anyone who's tested them back-to-back against the other semis.

(I wrote in to Motor magazine and they reckon they will do this in November - have a "track day tyre test")

My RE55s probably have one track day left in them now. They've done two all-day track days (maybe 140-150 laps of Queensland Raceway) and three days at Mt Cotton Hillclimb, plus street driving there and back. They're pretty soft but I guess when you add up all those laps it's not too bad!

The federal is not a semi-slick it has a treadwear rating of 180 so more like a RT615 which also is not a semi-slick, both are more like a sticky road tyre.

Regards

Patrick

[nfi]

  DaFuca said:

I take it you have never looked into the Federal 595 RS's? cos YEP THEY ARE A SEMI-SLICK TYRE.

Might look like a semi slick but they aren't R compound rubber. Treadwear rating is too high.

[PatrickT]

  DaFuca said:

I take it you have never looked into the Federal 595 RS's? cos YEP THEY ARE A SEMI-SLICK TYRE.

Yes I have rang Dominic the main supplier and had a chat to him, hence the treadwear rating.

If you can understand that a semislick will have a treadwear rating of around 100, but then it's your money go for your life.

[sav man]

I just got Nexen N3000, they cost $225 a corner for 245/45/18. I'm impressed for the price, I think they're better than my G-Grid II's, much quieter, and much better in the wet. I'm not gunna give them a number rating, as i have only used 2 types of tyre on my car.

[jmac]

  need4speed said:

Hi Jmac

Im using the same size tyre as ur for my front but my rear is 265/35/18 with 34GTR original rims on my GTT. wondering whether the rear will be too narrow (Easily spin the wheel) if i gone with the same size like u to compare with my existing tyre combination. The reason is i intend to purchase a grippier tyre but the 265/35/18 is way off my budget. Now contemplating whether i should use a narrower size with better grip tyre or go for cheaper but wide. In terms of balance and handling for FR, which would u reckon to be a better choice?

Thanks for ur help in advance...cheers!

Hi need4...

There seem to be two main arguments here. I asked a similar question a couple of months ago:

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...=110885&hl=

There seem to be two schools of thought.

1. Go for wider tyres on the rear, the theory being that people seem to be fitting wider rims to the rear (in my case 8" front, 9" rear). Try to keep the sidewalls as vertical as possible, and having that extra width on the rear theoretically gives you better power-down, ALTHOUGH having a lower-profile tyre will compromise this.

2. Go for the same size front and rear and compromise on the vertical-ness of the sidewalls (in my case a 235 or 245 width would be the correct size for the front, and a slight stretch on the rear). This has two advantages - better front-rear balance of the car as the aspect ratios are the same, i.e. less understeer, and also you can rotate the tyres (they obviously have to get re-fitted on the rims) to the front if necessary.

I picked option 2, mainly because going down from a 255/35 to a 235/40 saved me $120 and I can rotate to the front if I wish. I also picked option 2 for my semi-slicks because understeer sucks, and fitting as wide a tyre as possible on the front maximises braking performance too.

GTT/GTSt Skylines are a front-heavy, RWD car so fitting a significantly bigger tyre on the rear won't help the handling balance much. But if drags are your thing then by all means squeeze a 265 back there, but going down to 17" rims would be a better move...

IMHO the practice of fitting the 1" wider rims to the rear is a cosmetic thing. It does look pretty nice with the extra dish at the back.

[godspd]

Just fitted a set of Toyo T1R's last friday on my stock R32 GTR wheels, so 225/50/16. $180/tyre fitted at Blairs Tyres.

Driving for two days and it has been raining, scoring so far:

Ride Quality = 8.5

Dry = 9

Wet = 9 (yet to fully test them out)

Edited July 24, 2006 by godspd

[Birnie]

Been using crap tyres for 3 years and sliding everywhere.

Thought i'd ring for some prices on Toyo T1R's as they seem very well used/liked here

The results were funny

Tyre for test quote was : TOYO T1R 265/40ZR17

Price 1 - $440

Price 2 - $560

Price 3 - $340 !!

Hehe. $220 difference !!!! (or $440 for a pair)

I wasn't ever going to buy them but looking at the last quote, i might just do it!

...twas Blair's in Peakhurst (Russell's the dude)

Don't suppose anyone can beat that?

(Tempe wouldn't supply Toyo)

[d00dz]

Did you ring up your nearest tyre power?

http://www.tyrepower.com.au/

Yea expensive ey lol

[JieLine]

Wondering has anyone had any experiance with Regal RD3100? Ian diffen quoted me on 175 bucks each (215/45/17), and the guy says he had them on his ute and they handled very well in dry/wet... But then again he is trying to sell his tyres. Thanks

[driftmeister]

Hi Jmac

Interesting read on the tyre size for FR car like ours. I think i want to save the money & go for 245/40/18 for the rear since the price diffirence is RM$200 each for the 265/35/18. I wish to get back the balance handling of the right first. My mind always tells me to push it during corners since i have more confidence in wider tyres. hehehe

[hrd-hr30]

I bought some Federal 595SS for my GTR last week. I wasn't expecting much at all from them, but I've been very surprised by their performance! 234/45*17 front and 245/45*17 rear (rears are 9" and the 235s weren't recommended for them)

I also have a set of RE55S semi slicks that I use for track days, and i have been competing in Hillclimbs and supersprints for years, so I know a thing or two about tyres and handling, and I drive the car quite hard at times.

The Federals are fantastic! I took them for a drive over a nice winding mountain road I use quite often and couldn't believe the grip they had compared to the previous Dunlop and Falken combo on the car. Its now very hard to provoke oversteer exiting a corner , and the lateral grip was very impressive too.

I even left them on for the Lakeside track day last Monday, and they were pretty damn good there too! Which is saying something, because normally even good performance road tyres are just rubbish on a racetrack. But they were very good for stability, braking performance, and cornering power, with very little squeal. And they didn't even get chewed up like alot of tyres do on the track! If you can't tell already, I'm very impressed!

No need to spend more than the Federals if you want a good performance road tyre.

[DaFuca]

  hrd-hr30 said:

I bought some Federal 595SS for my GTR last week. I wasn't expecting much at all from them, but I've been very surprised by their performance! 234/45*17 front and 245/45*17 rear (rears are 9" and the 235s weren't recommended for them)

I also have a set of RE55S semi slicks that I use for track days, and i have been competing in Hillclimbs and supersprints for years, so I know a thing or two about tyres and handling, and I drive the car quite hard at times.

The Federals are fantastic! I took them for a drive over a nice winding mountain road I use quite often and couldn't believe the grip they had compared to the previous Dunlop and Falken combo on the car. Its now very hard to provoke oversteer exiting a corner , and the lateral grip was very impressive too.

I even left them on for the Lakeside track day last Monday, and they were pretty damn good there too! Which is saying something, because normally even good performance road tyres are just rubbish on a racetrack. But they were very good for stability, braking performance, and cornering power, with very little squeal. And they didn't even get chewed up like alot of tyres do on the track! If you can't tell already, I'm very impressed!

No need to spend more than the Federals if you want a good performance road tyre.

What did you pay for them? interested to know, and where you get them from?

[hrd-hr30]

  DaFuca said:

What did you pay for them? interested to know, and where you get them from?

I got them mates rates off a friend in the trade for

235/45*17 $115

245/45*17 $165 (not a common size)

I'd guess retail would be somewhere around $150 for the 235/45.

[jmac]

  hrd-hr30 said:

I even left them on for the Lakeside track day last Monday, and they were pretty damn good there too!

Side point Harry - Lakeside is open???!??