Tires?
 

I went to go balance my wheels and they seemed to be a bit wobly from the previouse owner. So I bought some new ones but now need tires. The wheels are 17x7. What are some good tires, I will more than likley be doing some autocrossing and other than that just for daily driving, any ideas?

Re: Tires?
 

If you are looking for handling over straight traction and don't care all that much about tire wear. Then the Yokohama Parada Spec IIs are suppose to be really good tires this year. Also if you want something a little more inbetween the Kumho Estca MX are also in that same category. I guess it depends on what you are looking to spend.

CRAIG

Re: Tires?
 

Craig, those Parada's are show tires. If you want Yoko's, get the ES100's. The Falken Azenis and the Kumho MX's are also great tires. They are more performance oriented. If you don't mind spending the cash, get some BFG KD's or Toyo's.

Re: Tires?
 

Umm so why did the Spec IIs get a higher rating in overall dry traction than the ES100s? 9.2 vs 8.6? I think you might be confusing the ES100s with the AO46 Yokos. The Spec IIs even rated higher than the MXs in overall dry traction.

Look at this. I don't know if you would consider the Spec IIs just a show tire when its rated right up there with the big boys. But what do I know.

CRAIG

Re: Tires?
 

Just get a set of Scorcher's!!!!!

Just kidding.

Do they have the AVS intermediates anymore? I remember the old autocrossers swore by those.

Re: Tires?
 

Remember that those are just consumer reviews. You don't know what experience they have had with other tires. Check out the Tire Rack tests, they offer a little more information.

All of the other tires besides the ES100's are listed in the Max category.

Re: Tires?
 

Just keep in mind the higher performance tires typically have a trade off in treadwear, I personally don't care, but if it is a concern to you, pay attention to those numbers as well, they can be pretty surprising.

Re: Tires?
 

I like Nitto's. They seem to have the same exact tread pattern as Toyo's and are a bit cheaper. Otherwise the toyo RA-1(auto-x), which a friend swears by, seems to be a good choice.

Re: Tires?
 

Where is a good place to get them besides ebay?

Re: Tires?
 

Toyo RA-1's are $$$ but they are great tires.

If you got the money, spend it on a set of BFG KD's or a set of Bridgestone S-03's. Otherwise, there's the PS2 tire which I forgot who makes...The top 10 tires out there are pretty $$$$ though, tire rack has a list somewhere on their site.

Re: Tires?
 

Depending on how much you're looking to spend, the Sumitomo HTRZII tires are great for the price. I was more than happy with mine and they lasted pretty well too. S-02's will be stickier than the S-03's will be, but not as good in the rain and wear a lot quicker (I have the S-02's on my S2000).

P.S. Nitto is Toyo's defective line.

Re: Tires?
 

I have run the Kuhmo Supra ECSTA 712s with great success. Great grip, decent wear and low price (225/50r16 at about $75 per tire).

Wiz

Re: Tires?
 

712s suck. Cost is ok but the tires are junk in my opinion.

CRAIG

Re: Tires?
 

I second the opinion on 712's. Some of the worst "performance" tires I have ever owned. The Kumho MX's are great though.

Re: Tires?
 

712s junk? I've hit 1.61 60 ft. with them and still had plenty of tread after 15,000 miles of AutoX and drag just about every week. Not to mention I heard that they did very well at some local Auto-Xs considering their cost. Sure they may not compare well to a $200 Bridgestone Potenza S02 PP, or a G-force KDW etc, but they are a great all around street tire for us poor folks.

Keep in mind that I've only ran Goodyear RS-As, S02 PP, 712s, Comp T/A, Comp VR, NT 555s and Azenis. The Azenis was by far the stickiest tire yet, but they were shot after about 11,000 miles. So while I have not personally experienced these other tires you guys mention....the 712s have been the best buy for performance versus cost so far. I'm considering some of the Sumitomo's for my next car, I've heard good things about them.

Wiz

Re: Tires?
 

I got four 205/45/16 HTRZII's for just shy of 380 a couple of seasons ago, only put about 8K on them with about four track days. Still holding up stong and good in the grip department, a bit noisy though. For the price, I like them.