ka-nife_

I need to buy new tires for my lude. I have the stock SI 7 spoke wheels on my whip (205/55/15) w/ BF Goodrich Traction T/A's. I like them but looking for something better. I've been told to check out the Yokohama ES 100, Nitto NT-450 Extreme Performance, Falken Azenis (not sure which model). Any other tires out there I should be looking at??? I want good grip in dry & wet, not concerned about winter snow season cuz I have snow tires @ home.

Also if I move down to 205/50/15 I get more of a selection of tires. What are the pros & cons of moving down to a slighty thinner tire???

thanks
mike-dizzle

flyrod

The latest GRM has a good review of autoX tires. The new azenis came out slightly on top, and they are pretty cheap compared to some of the competition.

bubs

If you don't want to spend a ton of money, I've heard good things about the newer bf goodrich g-force sports and they have good treadwear. I tried to order some a couple months ago, but they were out of stock everywhere, so I went with Kumho 712's instead which have similar specs. So far, I have 0 complaints

If you go with a smaller tire, your speedo will show faster than you're really going, and it will look like there is more empty space between your tire and fender. I'd personally stick with the stock size or maybe try 215/50/15's instead.

BTW: Just checked and the kumho's are only $57/tire in your size on tirerack..

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...t=All

ka-nife_

I had the Kuhmo 712 on my 17 Motegi's didn't like them much. Went back to my Toyo Proxes. I don't mind spending $80 bucks a tire though, I work @ a body shop so I get everything @ cost. I'll check out the BF Goodrich g-Force Sports.


thanks
mike-dizzle

ka-nife_

Hey Flyrod, what's GRM???

95PreludeSi

GRM = Grassroots Motorsports.

Out of the tires you've listed the Azenis are by far the best (either model). I wouldn't expect to get more than 15k miles out of them though. The older azenis (215 model) aren't the best rain tire either once they wear a bit. Not sure how the newer azenis are in the rain.

I've heard from some fellow AX'ers that the NT 450's are total crap (for their street tire)

Yokohama ES100 would be a good compromise to the azenis. Give up a little grip and get more tread life and rain stability.

hope that helps

IHateJDM

I had the ES100's and switched to the Azenis RT-615's (new ones), and the azenis have far better all around traction. I think the biggest improvement over the ES100's is wet traction. I am very happy with them (just wished they had a bigger side wall, damn 205 40 16's).

drachir

I've found the Khumo 712's to be the best value all around. They're very linear in lateral grip. I had no problems with them in the rain. IMO they are definitely the best bang for the buck.

But the Yokohama Parada Spec 2's are really good tires too. They're the ones I'm using now. They are definitely a stickier tire anad perform better all around. The only downside is that they're a bit louder too. I would go with these if budget is no issue...

Wiseguy619

Oh, you were talking about tires . I read the first 2 words and was mislead. Anyway, I have heard good things about BFG G-Force, I think I will try to get those soon because the pepboys tires I got for near free are bald like a 7th grade school girl.

typeS

I'm a huge DUNLOP fan. My FM901's are a great summer tire. Excellent in the rain, and great in the dry heat. Dunlop is all I use for the prelude and the crotch rocket.

Unlimitationz

I would give the Bridgestone Potenza RE750 a shot

K-Spec

iTrader: (1)

If money wasn't the issue, I would personally go with the Potenzas s03's pole position. Sticks like glue and cuts corners like butter...smooth

1epmugenlude

I have the es100's from yokohoma on my lude and I think they have excellent dry traction.

piotrush

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by khalal538 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If money wasn't the issue, I would personally go with the Potenzas s03's pole position. Sticks like glue and cuts corners like butter...smooth</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ditto - I've had my set for (surprisingly) well over 35k and I have no complaints whatsoever aside from the price.

I've also heard great things about the toyo proxes 4, my cousin has em on his mx6 and a customer has em on his Tl 6 spd - good feedback from both.

97Preludeguy

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ProjectPenny &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oh, you were talking about tires . I read the first 2 words and was mislead. Anyway, I have heard good things about BFG G-Force, I think I will try to get those soon because the pepboys tires I got for near free are bald like a 7th grade school girl.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bubs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you don't want to spend a ton of money, I've heard good things about the newer bf goodrich g-force sports and they have good treadwear. I tried to order some a couple months ago, but they were out of stock everywhere, so I went with Kumho 712's instead which have similar specs. So far, I have 0 complaints

If you go with a smaller tire, your speedo will show faster than you're really going, and it will look like there is more empty space between your tire and fender. I'd personally stick with the stock size or maybe try 215/50/15's instead.

BTW: Just checked and the kumho's are only $57/tire in your size on tirerack..

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...t=All</TD></TR></TABLE>

Trust me, the BFG G-Force sports are some kick *** ******* tires. The last tires I had were Michelin Pilots which set me back $184 per tire for a 215/45/16 and these BFGs grip just as good and wear a hell of alot better then they did. Also, at less then half the cost, including mounting and balancing, these tires are the way to go. Great wet and dry grip, stiff side wall for quick response/turn in, and at $75 a pop for the size I get them in (205/50/16&lt;same overall diamiter as stock) these tires are a great buy. I'll keep rockin them till they don't make'em any more

EDIT: I forgot to mention that they were rated as having best in class dry weather handling recently

flyrod

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by typeS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm a huge DUNLOP fan. My FM901's are a great summer tire. Excellent in the rain, and great in the dry heat. Dunlop is all I use for the prelude and the crotch rocket.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Dunlop makes great motorcycle tires. I have used up 2 sets of 208GP's and some 207's before that, and they were all great, even in really hot conditions. They need to talk to their car tire division though, because I bought a set of SP Sport 9000's and they sucked the big one. No traction. I even tried using them in an autoX while it was raining and they sucked for that too. Even my old old set of bald, used up, heat cycled azenis 215's were tons better than those dunlops. My dad had a set of dunlop all-seasons on his civic and two of them slipped a belt. I'm not trying to start a war or anything; I'm just saying I'm not a fan of dunlop car tires...

2lude4u

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drachir &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

But the Yokohama Parada Spec 2's are really good tires too. They're the ones I'm using now. They are definitely a stickier tire anad perform better all around. The only downside is that they're a bit louder too. I would go with these if budget is no issue...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I loved my Parada's, as soon as my older Azenis wear out I'll be putting some Parada's back on. I absolutely love how well they grip. I had a 400 whp+ turbo set up with a Quaife LSD and could not peel out with them (unless I REALLY wanted to). I'm now at 200 whp NA set up on some Azenis (still have the LSD) and I peel out way too easily. The Parada's performed well in dry and wet and I didn't find them to be too noisy.

bad-monkey

first question is:

do you want to turn? or are you a line racer? or does it not matter?

high performance tires will perform differently depending on their inherent qualities in a drag race vs. a circuit race. Whereas the azenis generate tons of grip and are the God of street tires in A/X, they're not an ideal drag tire because of their sidewall stiffness. Yet, it's their sidewall stiffness (in addition to the compound) that makes them so great in A/X - aka turning situations.

Take a tire like the ES100, which is moderately sticky, compound wise, but has mashed potato sidewalls. the tire will be better at the strip than the azenis or an S-03 because of sidewall loading and lighter weight (softer sidewalls means less reinforcement means less weight.)

If you ever compare a hoosier DOT race tire to a drag slick this will be very obvious.

now, onto my recommendations:

Real, no holds barred, fit for competition street tires are few and far between. Generally speaking if it's not a:

Falken Azenis rt 615 (stay away from the 115's)
Falken FK451 (and only in the bigger/low aspect ratio sizes, and better shaved down or with less tread)
Kumho MX
Hankook Z212
BS S-03

then it's just a regular "High Performance Summer tire" aka, mediocre when it comes to handling. All of the above have decent to good (S03 being the best, MX or Azenis 615 being the worst) wet traction. The knock on the old rt215 azenis were that they were crappy in rain, but even then it was only with large pools of standing water and when the tread had worn down significantly. It appears that Falken has addressed and fixed that problem with the 615.

As far as tire size pros and cons:

Pro's:
205/50 will perform much better. The car will feel much faster with the smaller diameter tires due to the increase in final drive ratio, will have better turn in (compared to the same 205/55 model), and will generally give you more performance tire options.

205/55 will be better rim protection.

Cons:
205/50 will make your speedo slightly inaccurate (by roughly 2%) since the car is using the OEM tire diameter to calculate speed, distance travelled, etc.

205/55 will be outperformed by the 205/50 in every relevant category.

*Advan has since released their Neova in the US market. No one's really using these tires cuz they're expensive, but they might be an alternative to what i've listed.

ka-nife_

Can I do 205/55 in the front & 205/50 in the rear??? I buying new tires for handles not for dragging. & I'm willing to spend $100 a tire if it's going to make a big difference. My car is slammed on Ground Controls & KYB AGX's, Neuspeed Upper Tower, DC rear upper Tower.

thanks
mike-dizzle

ka-nife_

What about these tires... BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW-2. $101 on tirerack.com, great rating on dry & wet conditions.

mike-dizzle

bad-monkey

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93_pre-lewd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Can I do 205/55 in the front & 205/50 in the rear??? I buying new tires for handles not for dragging. & I'm willing to spend $100 a tire if it's going to make a big difference. My car is slammed on Ground Controls & KYB AGX's, Neuspeed Upper Tower, DC rear upper Tower.

thanks
mike-dizzle</TD></TR></TABLE>

if anything you'd want to do 205/50 in front and 205/55 in the rear, but, i wouldn't.

the KDW's are great tires. a little soft in the walls, and not as much overall grip as some of the ones i mentioned, but definitely solid.

XtremeSpeed

i have falken ziez ze512s on my car. they r great, amazing wet/dry handling. also they r not expensive and they r great for daily driving.

mr abstract

if u drop from 55s to 50s, youre gonna gain a lil better response on your suspension set up. i ran yokohamas es 100 205/40/17 and they were awesome but they wore out kinda quick. then i bought some falken ziex 215/40 and the yokos were much better. definieely recommend the yoks.