Direzza, ZRi, Ecsta, or ES100?

[aesic]

I have a '91 S13 on stock 7-spoke alloys and am looking for new tires. I'm looking for the best handling on a budget. They will be used for "spirited" daily driving. I have AGX/H&R's and Cusco F/R sway bars.

The four tires that I am looking at are (with tirerack.com ranking in parathesis):

Dunlope Direzzas DZ101 - (5)Fuzion ZRi - (6)Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 - (12)Yokohama AVS ES100 - (12)

The Direzzas and ZRI's are rated higher but have MUCH few miles driven on them (since they are newer). I know the ES100's have a very solid record. All the tires are about the same price.

How do these tires compare on treadware and comfort? Any big noticable differences (I've heard ES100 wear faster, but how much faster)?

I'm also debating between 50 and 55 sidewalls. 50's will be stiffer but might make me look like a 4x4 again since I'm only 1.5" lower. (I have 60's right now).

What tires would you recommend for me? Again, handling is the first priority.

Thanks for your input.

-aesic

[TrueSlide]

All are good tires. The thing with the Fuzions and Direzzas are that they are new and not much info and experience on them. I have actually just bought some Direzzas to use for just autoX/track use. They are no Azenias, but I think they will do great. The first time I will run on them is this Sunday. It may take a few events to tune them right, but I will report back with my results on them The Direzza I have are 205/50/15.

[aesic]

Also, should I get 195's or 205's for the stock alloys (6" wide).

[Axel Grungy]

go 205's

[nismofly]

see the one on the top of the list, the Avon?

thats what i run, its like $20 less for a set than the ES100's were...

[aesic]

Tell us how they are TrueSlide.

So 205 will be fine on the 6"? I know that they will bulge, but thats okay right. If I go 205, I wouldn't be getting the ES100's cause they are more expensive than the other ones in 205.

[blake@tirerack]

If you are looking for a good bang for the buck, good performance, and want to get some decent tread wear, get the Fusion. If you want best over all performance get the Kumho Supra 712. It is just a shame this tire wears fast and starts screaming after about 5,000 miles.

[aesic]

Should I get 205's or 195's and 50 or 55 sidewalls? What noticiable difference, if any, will these changes make?

I think I'll pass on the Kumho's if they wear fast and screech. Everyone says the ES100's are solid and now blake gives a thumbs up on the Fuzions. Any more input on the Direzzas?

-aesic

[Dano]

ES100s are worth every penny IMO. Many, many people I know run them as well, with no complaints... they're a badass street tire with light-medium auto-x use, especially in rainy climates. I've had this set on my car now for about a year and a half and still have plenty of tread left, with 15k+ miles and drives to phoenix and back. I love them and will replace this set with another set of ES100s.

-Dan

[TrueSlide]

Just got back from the track with the direzzas, IMO great performing tire. Not as Azenia, but of course alot cheaper. The track I took it took was Arroyo Seco in Deming, NM.

http://www.arroyosecoraceway.com/images/track.jpeg

That is what the track looked like, very tight, very technical. The good thing I noticed about the tires were, they provided good grip cold, and when the tires heated up, the grip was of course better and it stayed that way. I ran the hell out of tires. A whole track day from 8-5. I was going to take it to the AutoX today, but I was so tired after arroyo seco, I couldnt go. I was running 2 days already with about 3 hrs of sleep. Once I got home, I hit the bed and didnt wake up till 12. The tires respond very well, are predictiable, quick responding. I didnt have a pyrometer to take temps and tune them even better, but for what I have done, they are competative tire. IMO 4 outta 5 stars, easily.

[Dookie]

I love my direzzas, last a long time too, front pair has seen about 4-5 drift events on them, along with weekend hard driving on country roads. They are finally starting to show some wear though, once they heat up a real good bit, I understeer, but that could just be me acting stupid on the track.

All in all, GREAT TIRE!!!111!!!OMGONEIll be trying out a friends azenis at this next event on the 30th

[aesic]

Alright, so it looks like the decision comes down to what width I get. If I get a 205, I will get the Direzzas. If I get 195, I will get the ES100's. Both Dunlop and Yokohama have $50 MIR's right now (Dunlops at tirerack.com and Yoko's at discounttiredirect.com) so they will end up the same price. The 195/50/15 ES100's will cost $206 shipped after MIR and the 205/50/15 Direzzas will cost $208 shipped after MIR.

So, should I get 205 Direzzas or 195 ES100, considering they are the same price.

-aesic

(FYI, the $50 of Yokohamas at discounttiredirect.com expires on Oct. 28th and $50 off Dunlops at tirerack.com expires Nov. 6th)

[nismofly]

you need a 55 sidewall, so neither one of those sizes

the load rating is too low with the 50 sidewall

[nismofly]

id say a 205 / 55 / 15 avs es100

[TrueSlide]

Iam running 205/50/15 Direzzas, no problems here.

[aesic]

As you can tell, I know nothing about tires. I've never actually looked into buying tires, just replacing them with what the tire shop suggests. I bought the car a few months ago and I'm replacing the worn tires that came with it (2-3/32nds left on them). Here are the available sizes and load ratings on the tires I am looking at (which basically cost the same):

ES100 - 195/50/15 82VES100 - 195/55/15 85VDirezza - 205/50/15 86V

The Direzzas don't come in a 205/55/15. I'd also really prefer not to go up to the 205's in the ES100's because that raises the price considerably. However, for the reference, the ES100's come in 205/50/15 86V and 205/55/15 88V.

After doing some research I figured what load rating means and what I think I need. I figure the car weights <3k lbs (listed at 2.7k), but lets say 3k with weight of people and such. So 3k / 4 tires = 750 lbs per tire. The lowest load rating for the tires above is 82, which equates to 1047 lbs (according to tirerack.com). It seems that even the lowest load rating of these tires should be sufficient for the car. Is this incorrect? I just read/learned about load ratings in the last 5 minutes so please correct me if I'm wrong.

So, if these load ratings are fine, which of the above tires should I get? Does the extra 10mm in tire width make a noticable difference? Or, will the ES100's outperform the Direzzas enough to account for the 10mm width differnce? Also, should I take into consideration that I can get 55 widewall on the ES100's but only 50 on the Direzza?

I know this is all nit-picky but I like to make informed decisions.

Thanks for all the replies.

[skydragoness]

If you are looking for a good bang for the buck, good performance, and want to get some decent tread wear, get the Fusion. If you want best over all performance get the Kumho Supra 712. It is just a shame this tire wears fast and starts screaming after about 5,000 miles.

Ugh, being a Bridgestone lover, I heard/read less than stellar reviews for the Fuzion. I think real Bridgestones like the RE750's should be in the list, as with Avon's.

[574-240sx]

I have ran 215/50-16 direzzas on Z rims. They work very well and last the last half of the drift season for me. I noticed they started to loose grip on the front recently. They were much better than the ES100. I will be trying the BFG G-sports next if I can find a decent size, they don't make a 215 but BFG seem to run wide though.

[TrueSlide]

The direzza load index is sufficent for a 240sx.

[aesic]

Sky: The Avons aren't on the list because they are $15$-20 more per tire (in my sizes) and they do not have a $50 MIR which puts them $110-$130 more than the others. Both Yokohama and Dunlop tires have a $50 MIR right now and they seem to be good tires.

574: So you would buy Direzza's over ES100's?

It seems that the Direzzas are getting good reviews, both on tirerack and from TrueSlide and 574. They would also give me 205 width as opposed to the 195 width ES100's.

Anyone have any strong reason why I should get the ES100 (195/50/15) over the Direzza's (205/50/15)? If there are no "objections", it looks like signs are pointing towards the Direzza's.

Thanks for the responses and any more would be great.

[grimple1]

ES100s are worth every penny IMO. -Dan

I agree. The ES100s are really good.

[aesic]

One last request for input. The Yokohama $50 MIR (at http://www.discounttirerack.com) ends tomorrow incase I want to get those. I'm still leaning towards Direzzas but the more responses the better. Thanks.

[naed240sx]

I vote ES100s, but have no experience with the others. The es100s are very stable, grippy and seem to be fairly long lasting. Beefy sidewalls too.

[hannibal]

As far as load rating, remember your calculated values arent static. When cornering or braking, the loads on each tire vary greatly. The fronts easily see more than your calculated value under hard braking. Same applies to the outside tires under hard cornering. Temperature can also affect load of a tire. You need a reasonable buffer built in there.

[TrueSlide]

Update from autoX today with PCA. Ran the direzzas, they performed absolutley great!! 7th fastest time overall, 3rd fastest non porsche(beat by EM fiero and z06). Right behind a 2002 911 by .2

This is with jacked up cornerweights, to see them, they are under motorsports ---> road racing/AutoX

[aesic]

I will be getting the Direzzas. People who have experiences with both the ES100 and the Direzzas seem to prefer the Direzzas. It'll probably be a few weeks before I mount them but I will update this thread when I put them on. Thanks for all the replies.

-aesic

P.S. TrueSlide, how did you change your Screenname/Nickname without getting a new account?

[TrueSlide]

I have had this account forever. I forgot/lost password, so I created another account w/ s1ndicate. Then emailed AZhitman and asked him to reset my password( wanted the post count back ).

[574-240sx]

574: So you would buy Direzza's over ES100's?

Yes I would buy the direzzas, the ES100s tend to get greasy when you push them and heat them up.