I realize that the idea of an all season performance tire is a bit of an oxymoron, but please bare with me here.

It's a topic not oft discussed on performance oriented automotive boards - All season tires, AKA - The ultimate compromise. I recently picked up a daily driver. Since the steelies that are on it look like death, I called up my good pal Heather at JayDM and had her set me up with a nice set of Gunmetal/Polished lip Rota Flights.

This is where I get to my question. What is a good all season tire that won't disappoint me when I enter an onramp on a nice summer day, but also won't leave me stranded if I get caught in some light snow in the middle of January? This car will not see the track, and hopefully not see any blizzards. I have dedicated performance, and snow tires on my BMW for that. I am basically looking for an affordable set of tires that will get me to and from work year round.

I have done a bit of research on my own and the three tires I am considering are the:

Falken ZE-512's
Kumho Ecsta ASX's
Bridgestone Potenza RE950's

I am of course open to other suggestions, but if anyone can provide any reviews or experiences with the above tires (especially the Kumho's) I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

I just picked up a set of Falken 512s (215/40/17) for my Prelude. So far, so good. I haven't had a chance to really push it, but I like them thus far. They are pretty quiet.

Just so you don't consider them: Stay away from Toyo's old FZ4s - that's what I have on my stock Prelude wheels; they are loud, don't handle very well. Better-than-expected snow traction, though.

Here is a good thread about the 512s
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1170449

 

Thanks, the ZE-512's are looking pretty good.

Does anyone have anymore input?

 

Toyo Proxes 4's are always a good bet

 

i have the 512's as well. i know you are getting all season tires, but dont expect them to grip like 200-240 treadwear tires. hard turns=loudness with harder tires.

 

I currently have the ZE512s all around in 195/55/15 and love them. Just be sure to get the warranty for them its well worth the investment. They grip great and do exceptional in the rain.

 

depending on your budget, if you would really like a good all season high performance tire go look at the michilen pilot sport a/s. Be warned they are a little pricey, but Im a firm believer the old adage of "you get what you pay for" really dose apply to tires.

 

i got some pirelli pzero nero all seasons....they handle well and are good for snow too

 

Yea, pirelli is always a good choice. BTW I work as an assistant manager for discount tire co. So I have just a little bit of tire knowledge.

 

i dont know about the 512's...im gonna get about 3k miles on my front tires, and i am not happy. i never do burnouts, but do occasionally drive aggressive and rip on the car (1-2 times a week). my rear tires look like ive put 50 miles on them though, i guess they just dont wear well at all. what would be a good tire that has a harder compound so they last me atleast half a year? and after how many miles are you RECOMMENDED to rotate your tires?

 

I work at a tire shop and we recommend every 6000 miles and rotate them front to back on all applications. Basically every other oil change

 

if i rotate at 6000 miles...i'll be riding on slicks!! :: Napolean Dynamite:: Yessssssss

 

car lowered? too much toe in? Sounds like something is definatly not right. If its not the car take the tires to Discount tire(providing there is one near you), even if you didnt purchase them there and they will be able to do some sort of milage adjustment for you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Reedy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">depending on your budget, if you would really like a good all season high performance tire go look at the michilen pilot sport a/s. Be warned they are a little pricey, but Im a firm believer the old adage of "you get what you pay for" really dose apply to tires. </TD></TR></TABLE>

actually, the 512's are an exception to the rule. they are cheap and they are REALLY good tires.

also, who changes their oil at 6k miles?? that is a tad too many miles. or way too many miles

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bull_head360 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i dont know about the 512's...im gonna get about 3k miles on my front tires, and i am not happy. i never do burnouts, but do occasionally drive aggressive and rip on the car (1-2 times a week). my rear tires look like ive put 50 miles on them though, i guess they just dont wear well at all. what would be a good tire that has a harder compound so they last me atleast half a year? and after how many miles are you RECOMMENDED to rotate your tires?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would recommend rotating them when you start to notice your fronts wearing more than your rears. If I were you, instead of posting on H-T, I would go outside and rotate them right now.

When was the last time you had an alignment?

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

actually, the 512's are an exception to the rule. they are cheap and they are REALLY good tires.

also, who changes their oil at 6k miles?? that is a tad too many miles. or way too many miles</TD></TR></TABLE>

He said every other oil change.

Thanks again for all of your help guys. Keep the comments coming. I am currently leaning towards the 512's. There seems to be a lot of people with a lot of good things to say about them, and they are DIRT cheap.

 

hey, i just rotated them like a half hour ago...and lowered the back like 1/2"...anywho, i havent had the car aligned since i've owned it, and since i put new rims and tires and lowered the car more...i'm guessing it would be a good idea...i guess better to spend the $60 and get it aligned instead of bitching about having to buy a pair of tires every 3k miles...i have a little bit of camber, but i mean a little bit, so i guess ive got way to much toe in. the other thing is that before i lowered the car and put new rims and tires on, the car pulled to the left, but now it doesn't. it drives straight as an arrow...i guess i'll be spending some time at the tire place. yaaaaayyy.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Reedy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">car lowered? too much toe in? Sounds like something is definatly not right. If its not the car take the tires to Discount tire(providing there is one near you), even if you didnt purchase them there and they will be able to do some sort of milage adjustment for you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea there's a discount tire here, but what do you mean "mileage adjustment?" is that like a discount on tires cuz i got 3k miles out of my tires?

 

I had the 512s in 205/40/16 on my CRX and I loved them.

 

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I ended up ordering a set of 205/50/15 Falken ZE-512's from vulcantire.com for $222 shipped.