Tires, Tire choice testimonials here please!

Hey all,

I am looking at doing my tires soon - the most important, and best bang for your buck performance mod you can do to your car, PERIOD! Too many people don't realise this...but before i get on my soapbox - what tires should i get?

I'm looking for a good all rounder, but with an emphasis on dry grip, don't mind sacrificing some noise or wet grip to get good grip in the dry. What tires have people used, and how do they find them/how do they compare to previous tires? Fire away people!

matt

also, you need to consider side wall strength coz of sydney roads..


im going to try pirelli p-0 nero's (yeh i know expensive), but i wanna try once. or bridgestone s-03's but heard they have a lower comfort ride.

dunlop fm109's have good sidewall strength.

ive used falken grb fk451's and although some say this tyre affects steering response times.. comfort ride is great, wet performance i have never aquaplaned it although i dont push over hard on wet weather. as for dry weather, they are responsive to my driving style. i mean i sorta kept up to you on the old pac run didnt i with lower handling ability of with my 19's? (i was pushing hard tho)

I still got my factory Dunlop SP9000. I think they are great in terms of milage. No uneven wear, still got at least 40% after 41,000KM. So not too bad for a 215-45-17 size trye.

I think u should be able to get B'stone SO-3 in a good price now. Also check out the back page of Sept edition MOTOR magazine. If u buy a set of 4 SO-3 in AUG/Sept, u will get an Exclusive Oregon Scientific Ferrari Alarm Clock........ (with Ferrari racing engine alarm ).

However,I dont think SO-3 will last 40,000km, maybe not even 30,000km?

Toyo T1-S also a good tyre, I have used on my previous V6 Camry 5MT, they can handle that big-torque front driver quite well.

SSML

buy the s03's from where ssml?

Toyo T1S

They are what Falkens were 10years ago, the up & coming sport tyre manufacturer.

The UK Lexus club have this argument often. It centers around

Dunlop SP9000

Bridgestone SO3

Toyo T1S

Over here the choice would be those plus-

Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3

Falken Azenis ST115

Yokohama DNA & Pirelli are just soooo expensive you never get the value back out. (unless you paint the name in white and show everyone you can afford them! )


At $180 each fitted, you can't beat Toyos. I put a pair on the back and left the Bridgestones on the front and got bumpsteer everywhere on the back roads to Rotorua. I swapped down there and coming back the tail was smooth & the front had unbelievably sharp turn-in. No problem in the wet either, so I'll see if they do 50000km.

id go azenis rt215 more so than st115

RT215's are a GREAT performer, no doubt about that, but I've found they are noisy
and being a soft compound, they just don't last... and I can't afford to replace them
at such a short interval. Make a great 'clubman' tire for trackdays if you ever
aquire a spare set of rims.

I'm Currently running ST115's on the car now, and I must say I'm VERY impressed.
performance in the wet is amazing, easily better than the Yokohamas that were
on it from japan, however I'll reserve judgement on dry performance until I've
had a chance to thrash them round taupo...

What is the deal with the factory Grid II tyres I have. They a lil noisy at times, but does handle quite well. Wet weather it is quiet easy to fish whilst driving in a straight line so may need lil work there. They do however seem to last, so I would sat not the softest compound around.

I will end up looking at some stage, so how do you find the ST115's compare then?

i forget what tyre comes stock with ours in oz but yeh i could fish them too in straight line after the worn in period even in dry

My IS came with the Dunlop SP9000 ... i liked those and they lasted 43,000kms.

I made a decision to stick with the same tyre but changed my mind
when i found out they were hard to get cause they were apparently "discontinued".
Places which did have them wanted something like $300-$375 per tire cause "they are made in japan"
^ i reckon they were just trying to fool a kid whom they thought was rich.

I went with the bridgestone S03's for $280 each (215/45/17) and they lasted a tad under 30000kms.
These tyres are great. Sticky in the dry and great in the wet (i developed a c*cky attitude about wet weather, which later f*cked me up the *ss).
Although after about 10,000kms these tyres get noisey and when new they look chunky and fat !.

There seems to good reviews and hype the Goodyear Eagle GS-D3's.

I ran my s03s down to the belt ? (wirey grid) and decided to change them before i went on my roadtrip.
The GS-D3's were out of my budget so i went with two new GS-D2's ( $175 each) for my fronts.

A week after that my accident happened.

Things to remember although you guys aren't as stupid as me.
1) Don't skimp on tyres. They are a safety issue
2) Don't be c*cky in wet weather
3) Dont drive defect-able/bald tyres in the wet.
4) Dont have brand new tyres on the front and bald tyres on the back in a rear wheel drive car.

My insurance company almost knocked back payment cause of the condition of my rear S03's.

Sorry for the long post.

Mano.

yeh d3's! another tyre i forgot mention which im tossing up choosing when i get my rims

and something to learn from your post there mano; thanks for sharin

Still running the original Potenza RE040.

I'm loving them at the moment.. one thing I found on the yokohamas is
that they tended to 'tramline' around especially in the wet, but the ST115 has
2 very large water grooves throught the middle, and just pumps the water out.

Only time I've ever even been remotely unhappy with them was at Meremere on
the weekend, as it just spun through the early gears, but thats the crap track for
you, couple of hard launches that evening on our lovely volcanic chip-seal proved
that.

I can recommend the Goodyear Eagle GS-D3`s they perform well in the wet and dry i`ve got 235and 255/17`s you could do worse than purchase a set of those.

Ron

So there you have it!

We recommend Falken or Goodyear, or Toyo, or Dunlop, or Bridgestone!

I hope we were helpful to you!!

If u buy 4XSO-3 from Bridgestone tyre centres. u get the Ferrari alarm clcok free.

Keith: TOYO T1-S for $175 each?? that's cheap . even if it's in AU $ , it's still cheap!
I had my 205-55-26 (my previous V6 Camry) for $200 AUD/each ( I compared about 6~7 shops), but I guess that's back in 2000, when the tyre still relatively new to the market.

Also The new IS200/300 (form Mid 2004) all have Dunlop SP Sport 8090 instead of SP 9000. SP8090 doesn't look as aggresive as SP9000.
A bit like B'Stone' s aggresive looking SO-2 to dull looking SO-3.

SSML

heh heh - that's okay, i was afraid this might happen, but was expecting it anyhow.

Tires are so relative to what you have driven on, and in what car, and in what conditions, not to mention driving styles and expectations differ also... but it gives me a shortlist of sorts anyhow.

There's no perfect tire really, just a bunch of decent ones to choose from (hopefully!)

Thanks everyone anyhow, and keep those TIRE TESTIMONIALS coming! I shall be posting mine here, that way this thread can become a good resource!

good go matt !

i was running on Dunlop LeMans before I got the Pirellis.
I have to admit.. the Dunlop was a smoother ride.
I think it had a softer compound than what i have now...

joe what kinda pirellis

they P7000

215.40.18

check again i swear they are 225/40 when i saw them last week!

I am also in the market for new tires soon.. I have been surfin around to try and find the best tire etc.. I would really love to go the p-zero's but will probably end up with the Eagle F1 GS-D3's I'd say.. I'll let you know how they are once i get 'em on..

yeh im getting tires with thunderbird2 within 2 weeks.

choosing between d3g, pzero nero, or azenis rt215

matt is choosin between s03, azenis st115 or d2g

Bmalar:
Did u read my previous post about B'stone SO3? free alarm clock.

I have also read in new oversea magazine. Pirelli P-Zero has a new tyre called Dragon. I am not sure whether it is availble in AUS yet? it's suppose to be a bit cheaper than Pzero rosso,but still good enough for high performance driving.

SSML

well i ended up with s03's.. at a cost of $1460 (225/40 and 235/40).. good price i thought.

rt215's was recommended against due to the softer silicon compound and my hard driving even though i would have liked it due to the semi comp style tread.. wouldnt last long.

pzero nero's .. one look at the price and i thought, no way! looking at $400 more than what i paid for the s03's.

happy with the s03 choice as a compromise.

i dont need to worry about semi comp anyway.. as im going to be running full slicks on a spare set of rims, so going street tread for street. all in all each tyre will last longer relatively speaking