Tire recommendations

[Gold Digger]

Ok.

I'm going to be getting some tires for the R soon, so I thought I would poll the masses on what you think are a good brand/model.

Criteria:

1. Grip. It's a GT-R and I want grip. I don't do any circuit driving, but I may once in a blue moon if the bug hits me and I can afford it. I also need something that's good in all weather conditions as I drive my car year round. We rarely get snow, but even if we do, I'm experienced enough to know how to drive in it.

2. Penetrating isn't super important, but something with a rating of at least 130-150 would be nice for the instances I may get on a track.

3. Tire life. Need something that I don't have to replace every couple years as tires here are stoopid expensive. If I could get a solid 40-50k out of them, that would be golden.

4. Price. If I can find something decent for at or around $200 a tire, that would be great.


That's pretty much it. So give me your recommendations and tell me why.

[BusyBadger]

These.

What can I say, I'm a Bridgestone fan, they've never, ever been anything less than superb for me.

[alms24sebring]

Good grip, good life, and for a good price is hard to come by. I think Yokohamas and Falkens are decent sporty tires but might fall a little short in the wear catagory.

[Rev_D21]

Check out some of Toyo Tires offerings. Excellent construction and customer service!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'm a huge fan (HUGE) for Continental DW and DWS tires. I've run my DW (which are on both my Prelude and Miata) in the snow and they were surprisingly good. I convinced a friend of mine with a BMW up north (around buffalo NY, tons of snow) to get DWS tires, and he absolutely loves them.

[BusyBadger]

I'm a huge fan (HUGE) for Continental DW and DWS tires. I've run my DW (which are on both my Prelude and Miata) in the snow and they were surprisingly good. I convinced a friend of mine with a BMW up north (around buffalo NY, tons of snow) to get DWS tires, and he absolutely loves them.

I agree they're great in bad weather, but the sidewall on the DWS is a little flexy. And the DW's are great too, but they're a summer, not an all-season.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

yeah that's what I'm saying though. They are labeled as a summer tire but hell, they performed pretty well in the snow!

[BusyBadger]

That's surprising given that they're a summer tire, but it's good to know. I've got a Mustang driving friend that swears by Conti, he'll be jazzed to hear that the DW did you ok in the snow.

[4cefed]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... +Sport+PS2

These (or a close relative) came stock on my 2003 SRT-4. UNGODLY grip in the wet. I was in awe more than once how I could put down the power and they held grip no matter the conditions.

I had them on for two and a half summers (snowies in the winter) and the performance was very consistent until the tread was worn down past the wear bars. They are a shade over your $200/tire number, but worth it.

[NolimitZ32]

Hankook Ventus V4-ES are great all around tires, I had them on my modded WRX/STI which was my DD and I never had issues with them here in Houston (no snow but LOTS of rain) never took the car to the track but I have absolutely no complaints of on-road performance, life, or cost.

[Gold Digger]

I've looked at the Michelin PS2...over here, they are over $600 a tire. Yes...PER TIRE!!!

So far, lots of good suggestions. Liking the reviews on the Conti DW...but a little over my range with my size.
Also, like the Bridgestones, but again, over the price range.

I may have to increase my budget.

Does Falken have anything good for all season performance? I had a set of Falken tires on my 240 back in the day, and I loved them. Don't remember which model, but man, they were grippy.

[4cefed]

I've looked at the Michelin PS2...over here, they are over $600 a tire. Yes...PER TIRE!!!

.....uh...... never mind I guess. Ouch,

[MinisterofDOOM]

I was fond of Toyo's Proxes4 when I ran them on the Q. They were great in the rain and the dry. I didn't use them in the snow because I had a second set of winter wheels and tires for that car. They're noisy, though. I didn't notice the noise in the Q, since the exhaust growl sort of drowns everything else out, but my dad has them on his Maxima and they are pretty noticably loud.

What can I say, I'm a Bridgestone fan, they've never, ever been anything less than superb for me.

Funny. I've never driven on a Bridgestone tire that I didn't completely hate. The only tire I've ever put on a car that was worse than the G019s I have on the back of the LS right now are the Hankook V4s I replaced with the Bridgestones. I've run a LOT of different all-season tires and these Bridgestones are just abysmal. The Ventus V12s I have on the other end of the LS are better in snow and rain and they are SUMMER TIRES!

Don't buy G019s if you go Bridgestone, whatever you do, Neal.

Hankook Ventus V4-ES are great all around <a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" rel="nofollow" href="http://motors.shop.ebay.com/eBay-Motors ... </span></a>, I had them on my modded WRX/STI which was my DD and I never had issues with them here in Houston (no snow but LOTS of rain) never took the car to the track but I have absolutely no complaints of on-road performance, life, or cost.

Good GOD man. The V4 is the single worst tire I have EVER driven on, with the exception of a set of used General tires I got off a wrecked Taurus that blew out on my Maxima at 45mph. Terrible, horrible, trash. No lateral traction, they squeal like stuck pigs, in the rain they turn to teflon and in the snow they turn to ice. They need rebalancing every 10 miles and they're noisy--they drone terribly on poorly maintained asphalt or concrete highways. They did have good treadlife but that's because they're hard as marble. I can not think of one single good thing to say about that tire.
With the V4s on the front of the LS, steering in the rain became genuinely frightening.

[NolimitZ32]

^Perhaps because the LS weighs as much as the titanic? I don't know man I've driven on many Yokohamas (which I like) but they tend to be pretty expensive, I've driven on Falkens ,non of which I would recommend to anyone, every set of Falkens I've had has Chunked on me (maybe I drive too aggressively) I've had Dunlops (SP somethings don't remember which model exactly) they were great but rubbed down to nothing within like 10k miles. Ive had Maxxis which from what I can tell shares either designs or production with Hankook on a lot of their tires, these were decent as well. Whats more I used to be very involved with the Subie community and knew a few people who ran either the V4-ES and the V12, never heard a single complaint and these ranged from daily driven non-turbo Subies to full on track duty 400awhp+ cars. As for General, they make a great offroad/all terrain tire (have them on my 4Runner now) but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone having good luck with their passenger tires. So I guess weight is a big issue with the Hankooks although I don't see how 550lbs would make that much of a difference if the correct weight range tire was used. . The R33 is close in weight to the wrx so it should be fine. All should note: I had anti-stretch going on, 235s on 7.5 wide wheels and maybe that helped.

[Bubba1]

If you're expectng 40K miles, stay away from ultra performance (z rated) tires. The Bridgestones mentioned by BB are a nice compromise between grip and decent wear and won't break the bank. They'll also do fine on a rare track day. But unless you avoid spiritd driving altogether, I dont see them lasting 40,000 miles.

[MinisterofDOOM]

^Perhaps because the LS weighs as much as the titanic? All should notee: I had anti-stretch going on, 235s on 7.5 wide wheels and maybe that helped.

There's more aluminum in the LS than a soda cannery. It's really not very heavy. Not sure why that would affect tire performance anyway. And I've run plenty of tires that didn't suck on the car. Definitely the tires.

235 was what I ran as well, on a 7.5" wide wheel. I'm not a fan of stretch either.

I currently have a set of V12s on the car. I like them quite a bit. Not as well rounded as Proxes4s, but still good. The V4 had nothing on common with the V12 side from the Ventus name though. Entirely different leagues, even on paper.

[NolimitZ32]

I completely agree, the V4s are all weather tires and cant be expected to perform like a summer UHP tire, as for performance maybe the AWD made the difference I don't know because you're right its only a 550lbs difference in weights between GD impreza and the LS, all I know is I liked them and you didn't, so hopefully GD is going to take these reviews with a grain of salt.

[MinisterofDOOM]

all I know is I liked them and you didn't, so hopefully GD is going to take these reviews with a grain of salt.

Definitely. I do tend to dislike a lot of stuff more than the average person.

I imagine AWD was at least a small factor.

[alphapig]

Dunlop DZ101

Currently I'm having a love affair with Bridgestone Potenza RE050a. Might be bit closer to $300 per tire.

[LeD ippen]

Im with BB, Bridgestone Pole Position re960 are great. although they could have a little better wet traction control. i have own 2 sets and wont mind another. but now i got more power that i want to stay planted so i looking to get another set of Dunlop Star specs and Hankook rs3 which are summer tires but grip is amazing.
money and quality i would go with either bridgestone or dunlops.

[LeD ippen]

and tirerack survey ranks them at 1

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyres ... type=UHPAS

[frapjap]

Im with BB, Bridgestone Pole Position re960 are great. although they could have a little better wet traction control. i have own 2 sets and wont mind another. but now i got more power that i want to stay planted so i looking to get another set of Dunlop Star specs and Hankook rs3 which are summer tires but grip is amazing.
money and quality i would go with either bridgestone or dunlops.

960 and 970 series Bridgestones are awesome tires. Decent tread wear, gobs of grip, and they stay planted pretty well with plenty of torque. I run them on my Trans Am and are easily the best that I've ever used on it aside from full-on summer tires.

If you don't see snow, Star Specs are pretty amazing, too. I'm running them on my Miata and would only change them for some RE-11's (which aren't made in 14" rim size).

IMO- your best bang for the buck for performance and longer life are Bridgestones.

Might it be cheaper if someone bought tires for you here and shipped them to you?

[Bubba1]

[

FWIW, I'm currently running a set of Conti DW (not DWS). I like them thus far with 10 track days on them. They don't have quite the wet/dry grip the Goodyear Eagle F1-A's had, but still good. More imortantly, they seem to wear longer. They also were not cheap (about $40 more per tire than the GY)

I've heard good things about the Falken Azeni's (good grip, reasonable price) but not long tread life.

[frapjap]

I've heard good things about the Falken Azeni's (good grip, reasonable price) but not long tread life.

Agreed. AWFUL tread life. That was the first set of tires I put on my 240sx. They used to be cheap and a good value, but now that they're in all of the car mags, they're overpriced for the length of time you get to keep them on your wheels. For the big boy prices they want, $20 more per tire will get your something MUCH better.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I ran some ZE512 Falkens years ago on the Maxima and they had extra-horrendously-bad tread life too. I see reviews stating owners got 50-60k miles out of them and I can only assume they mean two different sets combined. I got 22k on them in a FWD Maxima with no torque. Put them on the R33 and they'd be dead in a week.

[BusyBadger]

Funny. I've never driven on a Bridgestone tire that I didn't completely hate. The only tire I've ever put on a car that was worse than the G019s I have on the back of the LS right now are the Hankook V4s I replaced with the Bridgestones. I've run a LOT of different all-season tires and these Bridgestones are just abysmal. The Ventus V12s I have on the other end of the LS are better in snow and rain and they are SUMMER TIRES!

Running Grids would certainly be enough to kill of the Bridgestone name for most drivers, I've never heard of anyone that drove on them for any length of time that wasn't horrified by their performance.

I ran some ZE512 Falkens years ago on the Maxima and they had extra-horrendously-bad tread life too. I see reviews stating owners got 50-60k miles out of them and I can only assume they mean two different sets combined. I got 22k on them in a FWD Maxima with no torque. Put them on the R33 and they'd be dead in a week.

And I can attest to these Falkens being awful too, I was in a hurry to get something on my S13 when I moved to Tennessee from Chicago and they were ok, for about a month. I will absolutely never use a Falken tire again.

I was pleasantly surprised by the bargain set of Fuzions I replaced the Falkens with right before I picked up my Z though, decent performers for commuting duties, cheap and ok tread life.

[Gold Digger]

Ok...looks like I'm going to be able to increase my budget slightly. If I can score a set for under $1k, looks like I'll be golden.

Now, I've gone through the thread and written down all the recommended tires and here's what I've found.

Through Tire Rack, these are the tires I have narrowed down to.

Continental Extreme Contact DW/DSW
Bridgestone RE970 AS Pole Positions


Tires I couldn't find in my size on Tire Rack

Toyo Proxes4 - Only on size available in 18" and it's smaller than I have now.
Bridgestone RE960 - Availible in a 275/35/18, but over my price range.


The Michelins PS2 are out of my price range completely.
The Dunlop DZ101, while at a good price, have a pretty low consumer rating.

I did find that the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is a decent price and they have an 8.1 consumer rating.


So, I'm leaning heavily towards either the Conti EC DW or the Bridgestone RE970, but not counting out the Michelins. Can anyone give me any input on those tires?

If anyone else has any recommendations, please let me know. Looking to acquire to these within the next three to four weeks.

[Bubba1]

Ok...looks like I'm going to be able to increase my budget slightly. If I can score a set for under $1k, looks like I'll be golden.

Now, I've gone through the thread and written down all the recommended tires and here's what I've found.

Through Tire Rack, these are the tires I have narrowed down to.

Continental Extreme Contact DW/DSW
Bridgestone RE970 AS Pole Positions


Tires I couldn't find in my size on Tire Rack

Toyo Proxes4 - Only on size available in 18" and it's smaller than I have now.
Bridgestone RE960 - Availible in a 275/35/18, but over my price range.




The Michelins PS2 are out of my price range completely.
The Dunlop DZ101, while at a good price, have a pretty low consumer rating.

I did find that the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is a decent price and they have an 8.1 consumer rating.


So, I'm leaning heavily towards either the Conti EC DW or the Bridgestone RE970, but not counting out the Michelins. Can anyone give me any input on those tires?

If anyone else has any recommendations, please let me know. Looking to acquire to these within the next three to four weeks.

I have the DW's and like them, but my use includes track days. If you're doing almost all street, you might look at the DWS.

[carloslebaron]

I was skeptic at the beginning about the comments made by others about this brand but from now on I'll use Hankook tires until their quality drops. This South Korean tires really are what they promise...and at a very affordable price. I bought these tires for my truck and sedan vehicles, and these tires have responded very well in dry and wet conditions. The set that promised to last 70,000 miles have run 15,000 already and still looking like new, my expectations are that they will last long.

[szh]

Continental Extreme Contact DWS
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S

I have used both these tires in a 245/45-18 size on my current 2003 M45, which is a heavy car. Note that the Sport A/S has been replaced with a newer model (called the Sport A/S Plus or something like that) which I have not used.

They are very comparable (and good!) tires with similar performance and wear, but do have some minor differences (I have a longer review in a thread in the M forum at NICO).

The DWS was supposed to go to 50k miles, but seem to wear faster, down to 3/32" in about 20k to 23k miles or so.

I bought the DWS the last two times because they were significantly lower in cost than the Michelin's ... this is no longer as accurate, but still mostly true.

But, I miss having a good summer tire (both the above are "All-Seasons"), so I plan to go back to something else this next time around ... in fact, the current DWS's on my car are at 3/32", so time to start the search!

Z