Time for Tires: DD + Autox Opinions?

Well, autocrosses and no small amount of daily hoonage has worn down the rears on Falken Ziex 912's. They were good daily driver tires, but I'm getting out to autox more this year so I want something a bit better. That said, I don't need the expense and short life of RE11's, pretty much the only competitive ST tire in my size. I'm thinking more along the lines of the good mid-range summer tires. I just want something that won't fall on it's face at autox.

The car is a 86 MR2 running 205/45-16 (and I want to keep that size). Ideally, it'd be nice to have an additional set of 15's with competitive ST tires, but it's not in the cards right now. The car isn't competitively built anyway, so I don't see the point in trying to run with the big boys in the Atlanta region. I'm still just learning and having fun. These tires will be used for daily driving as well, so wet traction is important to me, especially in a rear-heavy short-wheelbase car.

With all the back-story out of the way here's what I'm considering. They're all pretty much summer tires in the 300-ish treadwear range. While I don't want to cheap out, I feel that anything above $100/tire is getting a bit too spendy (again, I know it would help here to have 15's). Feel free to throw in any choices I've forgotten about.

Yoko S.Drive - they're the known quantity for me. We're using them on our integra. Sidewalls are a little soft, but the compound is sticky enough to compensate most of the time. This also makes them forgiving dailies. Price is on my high side.

Fuzion ZRi - I kinda hate the branding, but the Tirerack test reviews says they're a good tire. Same price as S.Drive and tests pretty evenly. I'm leaning towards these just to try something different.

BFGoodrich G-Force Sport - tests a bit below the first two, but is also a little cheaper. Just looking for first-hand experiences.

Sumitomo HTR ZII - Dunno anything about them and no Tirerack testing to go from. Haven't heard very many good things about the brand in general though. They are cheaper though.

Nitto NT NeoGen VR - Total dark horse to me. I've never owned Nittos since I've always ordered from Tirerack. Moderately priced from discounttiredirect.com

Well I was going to suggest RE-11's, so I guess thats out

In reply to Matt B:

For street tires used in AutoX on your list we ran BFGoodrich G-Force Sports on the XR4. They were cheap, had good reviews, so we went with them. We're happy. Very stiff sidewall, good mix between wear and grip. Look for when BFGoodrich runs a rebate or special and then they'll be priced waaaaaay below the others.

Since you're in the ATL, just check Discount Tire for rebates, I've had many a good set of tires for very low pricing from them (much cheaper than TireRack) but I use the Rack for my reviews, along with this site

Star Specs?

NeoGens are decent... Probably those or the S-Drives are what i would choose out of that bunch.

No Star Specs in that size.

That's a rough size... IMHO, I'd go with the cheapest ones and save up for a better wheel/tire size that allows for better tire options (like Star Specs ).

If your willing/able to go to a 215/45 R16 you could run the kumo XS. at $107 a pop, great tire if its warm/dry.

also you can get the falken RT-615k's in 205/40 R16

Where are you hearing the short life story on the RE11's? After being super pleased with the RE01R's I was running on in ST, I bought some for my daily driver. They are getting to the bars now, but I got a good 25k+ out of them. Couldn't be more pleased.

mtn wrote: Well I was going to suggest RE-11's, so I guess thats out

Yeah, they're $171 apiece before shipping in that size.

I could almost afford a set of cheap 15's with tires for that much.

In reply to Raze: Thanks for the heads-up on the rebates. The BFG's are not expensive already, so I'll keep that in-mind.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Good to hear it about the NeoGens. Never knew anybody who ran them.

In reply to Capt Slo: Those might be good options. Thanks for pointing those out. However, I'll need to run these year-round, so I'm a little wary to run the really stickies in the winter. Part of me thinks I should just save up for 15's so I have two sets. Not sure if 215/45 is going to rub either. There' really no room between my tire and the front spring perch.

In reply to DILYSI Dave: Really, I just assumed they wouldn't last very long. Thanks for correcting my erroneous assumption. Still, at those prices I might as well wait till I can get a second set of rims.

Don't think that the NeoGens are near as good as the RE-11s or anything, just as a heads up, but they're just what i said, a decent tire. No more, no less.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

As long as they're a significant upgrade from the Ziex then I'll be happy.

For the record on RE11's - my favorite tire I ever ran was their granddaddy - the S-03 Pole Position. Absolutely fantastic tire and worth the highish buy-in. I really miss those tires and I can only assume that the RE11s are an improvement on the formula. Once the conditions are right I'll pick from that tier once again. For now though the requirements say I need something else.

I hate Ziexs in the first place, so yes, i would think they would be an upgrade.

lol fair enough.

Mind you all my driving has been DD and a little back road burning, no pushing them through an AutoX. That said...

I ran the BFG's on my last set of wheels, initial turn in was nice, but the rest just left me wanting. They're a decently old design and kind of feel like it. Not bad, but not great.

I'm running the Fuzions now on my new set of wheels. They feel very nice, turn in is softer, but not wallowy. Traction feels very good across the board. I had the same initial feelings you did, but I've been very happy with them.

The NeoGens are another UHP all-season tire much like your current Falkens. Huge focus on Wet and dry traction, but I honestly don't think they're in the same class as the other tires mentioned.

I wanted to try the S.Drives, but I'm still soured from a real poor impression of ES100's from years ago.

I have gforce sports on my milano, and for daily driver tires they work great. I don't autocross it or drive really hard, but for everything else I have no complaints.

neckromacr wrote: The NeoGens are another UHP all-season tire much like your current Falkens. Huge focus on Wet and dry traction, but I honestly don't think they're in the same class as the other tires mentioned.

Doh! You are correct sir. The 280 treadwear had me fooled (plus Discount Tire doesn't list the "classes" on their site). On that note, that's the lowest TW I've ever heard of on an all-season. At least in the 15-16" sizes I'm familiar with.

They're light years ahead of the Ziexs, though... I'd put them above the ASX by a margin, and if a gun was to my head forcing me to pick the Ziexs, i'd still pick the ASXs over them.

I have to be honest, the SPT's from Kumho seem to be a pretty decent tire. Great in the rain, forget snow and dry they seem to take the heat well. Be aware that once you cross that limit they become greasier than warm snot from a 6 year oldplaying with slime with a cold.

Does everyone really hate the Direzza DZ101 that much?

I got a good rebate on them last year and got a set to run in the summer. Sidewalls are a little on the softer side, but they have plenty of grip for the street (in my fwd subcompact). wet traction is ok, not spectacular.

I would say I have 15k (including 6 or 7 autocrosses) or so on them and theres plenty of tread left on them, ready for another summer if not more. I need a set of tires for another set of rims in 205/45/16 and I am considering another set.

Customer reviews are not kind to them on tirerack or discount tire though.

DILYSI Dave wrote: Where are you hearing the short life story on the RE11's? After being super pleased with the RE01R's I was running on in ST, I bought some for my daily driver. They are getting to the bars now, but I got a good 25k+ out of them. Couldn't be more pleased.

Yeah, I've gotten almost 30k out of mine. My only complaint is that they are noisy as hell.

I have Continental DWSs on my wife's TSX and I think I am going with DWs on the BMW very soon. The DWSs are great in all weather, particularly wet, but I have snows for the BMW so I think I will jump up to the DWs.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Cool, I hear ya. It sounds like they're some of the better all seasons out there. I'm just not sure I want to go with an AS again. Although it may be smart after the winter we just had in Atlanta.

In reply to Bobzilla:

I like the SPT's as well. We had them on the integra before the S.Drives and they were a similar balance of grip and road manners. Unfortunately they stopped making them in our 15" size and nothing smaller than a 50 ratio sidewall in 16's.

failboat wrote: I got a good rebate on them last year and got a set to run in the summer. Sidewalls are a little on the softer side, but they have plenty of grip for the street (in my fwd subcompact). wet traction is ok, not spectacular. Customer reviews are not kind to them on tirerack or discount tire though.

I left them off the list due to this reason. Stability in all conditions is rather important in an AW11. More so than my previous fwd compacts imho.

In reply to Duke:

The Conti DW's almost made it on the list as well, but at $120-ish a pop they were a bit outside my intended budget range. If they're really much better than the Fuzions or S.Drives then I might be swayed though. Anybody have an opinion on the comparison?

failboat wrote: Does everyone really hate the Direzza DZ101 that much?

It seems the DZ101 is sort of like the Yoko ES100 and Dunlop SP8000 - it was a decent tire when it was new, but now they're a bit outdated in both compound and tread pattern.

A friend of mine bought DZ101 when she thought she was getting Star Specs (retailer sold her a line of B.S.). She lives in a hilly area with a lot of fun roads on her drive to work. The DZ101 turned out to be no better than the uninspiring Firestones they replaced. Boy was she pissed.

I know from personal experience the 200 rating on the SP8000 does not make them an exceptionally grippy tire.

I am not a fan of the DZ101s.