Topic: Summer Tire Recommendations/Research

[bigdl]

Alright I am starting to do research for summer tires for my new wheels, 17X8.  For size I believe 225/45r17 is closest to stock 16 size.

I wont be pushing the car hard but I do enjoy the occasional spirited drive.  I do have a separate set of winter tires which are on the car now.

As for budget I definitely want to keep it less then $800 for a set, but I know  you got to pay to play  .  Now for wear rating, I know this is a relative term, if I remember correctly a 200 tire would wear 2x faster then a 400 rated tire is this correct.  What range of wear rating should I look at so that I could get hopefully at least 2 summers out of the tires with the milage I put on them.

Now if someone has a website that contains good information that I can look at that would be great.  What I have done so far is just google up the model name and read user reviews, or go to 1010tires and tire rack and look up those reviews.


Car Usage:
Daily Driver, mostly high way 90km a day
Volunteering for TSDs and Rally Events, so there will be gravel road driving
I may give AutoX a try, maybe a event or two depending on time.


Recommendations found so far via search on WSC:

-Dunlop Star Specs, seems to be the ever popular choice for AutoX and everone seems to love them, quoted to me at $780 for a set
Car and Driver Review
1010 Tires Listing

-Khumo XS
Car and Driver Review
1010 Tires Listing



-Hankook Ventus Evo V12
1010 Tires Listing
Car and Driver Review

-Falken FK-452, Ambystom01 mentioned that they worked good for him as a DD
1010 Tires Listing

-Bridgestone Potenza re760 Sport
Car and Driver Review
1010 Tires Listing

-Khumo SPT, recommended by Kyle Ho for a more DD frendly Khumo tire.
1010 Tires Listing

Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 Specs, useful little chart to see what tire size should fit what wheel size.  link posted by GrantC in another thread

Thank for the help WSC.

Edit:
Added links to 1010 Tires
Added links to Car and Driver review
Added a few more models

[GrantC]

Now for wear rating, I know this is a relative term, if I remember correctly a 200 tire would wear 2x faster then a 400 rated tire is this correct.  What range of wear rating should I look at so that I could get hopefully at least 2 summers out of the tires with the milage I put on them.

Wear ratings are only really accurate within a particular brand, and even then they're hocus pocus "extrapolated" numbers compared to a control.

-For a more economical option I heard Kumho makes some good tires.  Which model should I look at.

The Kumho XS is the equivalent "Extreme Summer Tires" to the Dunlop Z1 Star spec.

[gd8]

Tirerack.com

The wear rate is relative but does give you some idea on what to expect for Bang/buck.  I bought a set of summers with 280 wear rate.  They are pretty much done after 2 summers.  Give you an idea I both summers I drive to Vancouver and back one trip per.  Nothing too crazy with the occasion of fun.  For sure next set I will look at tires with higher numbers.

[Ambystom01]

For the money, the Falkens are a good buy and they hold up quite well. It does depend on what you want out of the car and the tires as well a degree of personal preference.

[JasonrMorrow]

Look at the Bridgestone RE760 Sport.

They are a great looking tire (I think a V pattern is ugly), assymetric tread pattern, quiet, and perform well. My father in law ran them for a half season in autox on his RX8, they worked well, predictable and quick enough for him to improve all year and make it to mid pack. He sold them mid season after buying some 265 wide RS2's on closeout.

It sounds like you aren't really in need of the
faster street tires like Star Specs, Kumho XS, RE-11 or RS3. I think 2 years is a stretch for those.
Even if you plan to autox 3-5 times a year they are sufficient.

The 760's get great reviews on tire rack, and they are one of the cheapest options in their category.
They are still a high performance summer tire.

My boss has a set of 245/40r18 on his STI and my cousin also has them on his 2000 2.5rs in 225/45r17.

[bigdl]

Perfect, this was the kind of response I was looking for.  It will help me narrow down the choices.

[Klautt]

I was also considering the 760's for this summer.

[JasonrMorrow]

I can get them at a decent price at work as well. I will probably put them on my wifes LGT Wagon this year.
I really like the tread pattern. Tread pattern looks seem to matter to me for some reason.

[zewks]

I got a set of Kumho ECSTA MX last summer and I was fairly happy with them, I wouldn't say they are a great tire but I wouldn't say they are bad either. There a decent tire for the price. Just my $0.02....

[Canuck]

Hankook Ventus Evo v12.  Fantastic reviews, fantastic price.  Google Car and Driver high performance summer tire comparo to see how they stacked up against Star Specs, Azenis, Kumhos, etc.  Only the Star Specs beat 'em, and not by much.

[IETVTS2]

Hancook Ventus are the best bang for the buck dry and wet.

[AdamMc]

For the price off tire rack i like the direzza star specs and/or the Azanis 615's.

New summers are coming NEXT summer for me so i havn't committed to 1 tire over any other at the moment.  Price is one of the biggest factors currently.

[Claw]

I have 18x8 BFG KDW2's as my summers at the moment.  Other than road noise I find it to be an excellent summer tire. It's extremely sticky tire, but I'm not sure how it would perform for your requirements.

I've got a new/used set of 17x7 BBS's, I'm debating whether or not I want a new set of KDW2's or some other tire...

[Tenacious_B]

I ran Star Specs on my MS3 last year and they were by far the most insanely sticky tire I every had... Decent wear as well, but gravel roads will chew them to bits.

[4stAir]

I helped a friend to find tires with similar wants that you have. He has a A4 Quattro. We ended up going with Kuhmo Ecsta SPT. Their a High Performance Summer tire with a tread wear rating of 320, Traction A,Temperature A and speed rating of Y. This will be the 3rd summer he'll be running them and he still has 65% tread left.

While I realize they aren't the newest technology out there, they hold the road very well at the limit. The are predictable in the dry and the wet.

Check out the prices too. They are quite inexpensive. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+SPT&partnum=245YR7KU31XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

[trunger]

i ran a048r for couple months before the winter..

too grippy for the roads.. haha

[bigdl]

I went with the Hankook Ventus Evo 12's due to price/performance

[sniper512]

I am looking for the best wet/hydro-plain resistance. Nothing bugs me more than being pulled around by puddles on the highway. Anyone have recommendations for a good tire that has this and is good all around? I had a set of Nitto Invo's on my S4 and they were amazing in the water, but I am not sure if that was the sheer weight of the S4 compared to my GC8.

[AdamMc]

Actually the Hankook Evo's quoted above your post get excellent Hydroplaning reviews and the tire cost is on the cheap (atleast at tire rack).  I was impressed with what i read about the tire.

[bigdl]

Actually the Hankook Evo's quoted above your post get excellent Hydroplaning reviews and the tire cost is on the cheap (atleast at tire rack).  I was impressed with what i read about the tire.

Added the Car and Driver review link to orignal post for sniper512 to look at .

[jhtopilko]

has anybody here put there summer wheels back on?

[Catalyst]

yep Stefan did last Thursday......and look what happend!

[MarMacMan]

I did last Tuesday also. Oh well. Need a custom tune on my car now anyways.

[richie_rich]

I went into summer mode about 3 weeks ago, but I've got an MS3 on winters to drive when the conditions are cold/snowy... or blizzarding like yesterday. 

After the driveway was shovelled, you can see the Mazda hiding in the snow in the background:

[snackers]

After the driveway was shovelled, you can see the Mazda hiding in the snow in the background:

I see one hiding in the foreground too.