Hey guys, I need some suggestions on what to get. Im currently boosted on 10psi - GSR.

And my current Yokohama Parada Spec 2 tires are getting bald, and need replacement. Lasted me over 20k miles, about 1 year & few months. But need something that grab more then the yoko.

Any suggestions on what tires can last long and are sticky enough to hold traction?

BFG/NITTO/FALKEN/YOKO?

Any opinions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Synik-

 

I have the Kumho Ecsta 712's and they are very good. However just after I bought them Kumho came out with the SPT which is even better at right around the same price. Also check out the Yoko ES100. These tires fall into the "budget performance summer tire" category and offer alot of stick for the price.

There are prob more to consider that I am not aware of. Hopefully nsxtasy will come in here and fill you in on what I missed. He knows everything about tires

 

BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW-2
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...KDW+2
Awsome, but noisy?

ECSTA SPT (KU31) KUMHO's
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...A+SPT

But yea, any more opinions? I will have to wait for nsxtacy then.

 

To get a stickier tire you would need to get a softer rubber, higher performance tire which will tend to wear out quicker than the lower performance tire. In that size the Dunlop Sport Maxx is available. It will provide higher performance and traction than the Yokohama but unfortunately it won't last any longer. It will probably wear out a bit quicker even.

 

hmm, very true.

It just sucks to have such slipping tires on a boosted car. Any suggestion on what will have better traction over the parada spec2? For a reasonable price, that is.

 

While it is true the softer the compound the more likely it is to wear out I am still expecting somewhere between 25,000-40,000 out of my 712's. Of course I have a fraction of the power you have and do not really race so that should allow me to get somewhere in that range. Now I am not 100% sure I will get this many mile but after reading some reviews of them I found people were getting a decent amount of miles out of them, which influenced my descision.

Some of this will have to do with tire size, driving size and conditions among other things.

 

Hows the road noise on them? I may just try those out, see if it works.

But any more input and suggestions will be great.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by synik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hows the road noise on them? I may just try those out, see if it works.

But any more input and suggestions will be great. </TD></TR></TABLE>

To be honest I dont ever really think about that, I guess its not loud then since I havent noticed it. I will pay special attention to that on my way home from work today and let you know tonight. And I would get the SPT over the 712's. Newer, better, stickyer.

 

Hehe, yea. SPT is ideal.

Yea, see if the road noise, is loud under decelleration and normal cruising.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by synik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hehe, yea. SPT is ideal.

Yea, see if the road noise, is loud under decelleration and normal cruising. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Will do. I better write myself a note or ill forget

edit: Just curious, how much HP/TQ you putting to the wheels?

 

Around 300whp. May be a tad more soon enough.

I need something nice on my 17's. Just a daily driver, nothing serious. So 15" wheels isnt my option.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by synik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Around 300whp. May be a tad more soon enough.

I need something nice on my 17's. Just a daily driver, nothing serious. So 15" wheels isnt my option. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Wow that looks really nice.

Now that I looked at the TireRack reviews section for these tires it seems the Yoko Parada Spec-2 might be the better stickyer tire compaered to the Kumhos. This is going by the Tirerack ratings which arent always the best things to go by though. Hopefully nsxtasy will come in here and help you out some more. I think I am all out of ideas.

I will still let you know about the road noise just for kicks though.

 

Let's start by taking a step back for an overview. Think of tires across a spectrum from the stickiest, fastest-wearing tires to the less sticky, longer-lasting tires, and you come out with a list that looks like this, starting with the stickiest and working down from there:

1. Drag Radials: BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radial (won't last very long)

2. Other R Compound Tires: Hoosier R3S04 and A3S05, Toyo RA-1, etc (typical treadlife 2-4K miles)

3. Specialty Super-Sticky Street Tires: Falken Azenis RT-615 (typical treadlife 10K miles)

4. Best Top-of-the-Line Street Tires: Goodyear F1 GS-D3, Bridgestone S-03, Dunlop SP Sport Maxx, etc (typical treadlife 15-25K miles)

5. "Value" Top-of-the-Line Street Tires: Toyo T-1R, Kumho Ecsta MX (typical treadlife 15-25K miles)

6. Budget Performance, "Bang for the Buck" Tires: Yokohama AVS ES100, Kumho Ecsta SPT, Dunlop Direzza DZ101, etc (typical treadlife 25-40K miles)

7. All-season tires: Kumho Ecsta ASX, Pirelli PZero Nero M+S, etc (typical treadlife 25-50K miles)

For many folks who have cars close to stock and who don't go to the track, the "budget performance tires" (number 6 on the list) is perfectly fine. But if you go to the track, and/or if you have a high-horsepower application, then you really want to move up this list for better performance. For your high-horsepower GS-R, I would recommend something in categories 3-5. If you don't mind replacing tires fairly frequently, then look at category 3. (How frequently? Those using the older Falken Azenis RT-215 on an ITR typically got around 10K miles to a set.) But you really ought to get something at least as good as category 5, and preferably 4. Remember, tires are even more important than power mods, because they affect not only your acceleration, but also your braking and cornering/handling. Tires are not the place to try to save money if performance is your top priority.

The proper size for your GS-R is 205/40-17, not 205/45-17. There's no benefit whatsoever in having taller sidewalls on your car! So stick with 205/40-17.

Here are tires you might consider, in that 205/40-17 size, and are IMHO the best tires you'll find in each category:

3. Specialty Super-Sticky Street Tires:
Falken Azenis RT-615 $102 from Vulcan

4. Best Top-of-the-Line Street Tires:
Goodyear F1 GS-D3 $143 from the Tire Rack
Bridgestone S-03 $167 from the Tire Rack
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx $163 (after current rebate offer)

5. "Value" Top-of-the-Line Street Tires:
Toyo T-1R $119 from onlinetires.com
Kumho Ecsta MX $101 from the Tire Rack

Incidentally, in case you're wondering how the tires mentioned in this topic stack up in this "spectrum"... the Parada Spec 2 is a not very good "budget performance tire", not as good as the Yoko ES100 or the Kumho SPT, so think of it as Category 6 but not one of the better tires in that category. The same thing is true of the Kumho Ecsta Supra 712, which is being phased out for the SPT as its replacement. The BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW-2 is a decent "budget performance tire" but isn't really any better than the ES100 or the SPT so I don't usually recommend it.

If it were my car, I would either go for the Goodyears for great performance without having to replace them too often, or the Azenis if I wanted the most grip and didn't care how often I had to buy more. But ANY of these (even the Toyo and Kumho MX in "category 5") will give you much, much better performance than your current tires. Even the "category 6" ES100 ($67) or the SPT ($89) will give you better performance than those Paradas. But with a high horsepower application like yours, you should really step up and spend a bit more money for better performance. Even the Toyo T1-R or Kumho MX would be worth spending more for, rather than getting the less expensive "budget performance tires" like the ES100 or the SPT. Again, not necessarily for everyone out there (heck, I use the ES100 on my bone-stock GS-R), but for your particular needs.



Modified by nsxtasy at 4:03 AM 11/10/2005

 

Wow nsxtasy is my hero

Always the best info, and you explain it in an easy to understand way. The 712's def fit my needs but would most likely not be enough for what synik is trying to accomplish.

 

Yea, I meant 205/17/40. -=P Didnt notice that.

Great info NSXtacy. Honestly thinking about it, I will get the higher end sticky tires. Either way, If I was to get the "budget perfm tires" I will usually lose traction and burn them tires away anyways, so why not get something that GRIPS onto the road, and yet will/should last as long as the cheaper tires (due to it havin not traction at all, Burnnnnns up tires ).

Thanks. I will look into it.

Know any places with the best pricing? for the Toyo T1-R or Kumho MX . (discount-tires dont have toyo?)

Did anyone ever used these? O_O
http://www.discounttiredirect....mance
They have my size too. Hmm.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by synik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Know any places with the best pricing? for the Toyo T1-R or Kumho MX . (discount-tires dont have toyo?)</TD></TR></TABLE>

As far as I know, the places with the links should have prices that are about as low as you're going to find (but please feel free to shop around). The Tire Rack and Discount Tire both carry Kumho. Neither carries Toyo, because another large tire chain on the west coast demanded that Toyo not sell to them, but http://onlinetires.com has very good prices on Toyo tires.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by synik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did anyone ever used these? O_O</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Nitto NT-01 is a competition tire ("category 2" above, also known as R compound tires or track tires). I've never used that particular tire and I don't know how it compares with other track tires. However, track tires wear even faster than the "category 3" specialty tires. Right now, the Toyo RA-1 track tire is my tire of choice for racetrack use, and I get around 1500 miles to a set. However, those are almost all track miles. If you use them on the street, I'm sure you will get more than that, maybe 3-4K miles. IMO the rapid treadwear makes them unsuitable for street use, but I know some people do it anyway. That's why I included them in the "spectrum" of tire categories...

 

Thanks, appreciate it.

 

in the cat. 2 are those tires good for drag racing or autocross racing? im looking for some drag's which thats why im getting the BFG's for my 17's. but i need tires for my 16's in 205/45/16. all i could find are tires like in cat.2. will they be good for drags?

 

rt615's i ran them all year on my turbo ef hatch and they were great, way way better than spec 2's. And the azeni have no road noise, handle VERY well and lasted long time, i did 3 track events with them and drove them daily and there is still 60% or so and i beat the hell out of them and ell over 20,000 hard miles on them

 

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

. Neither carries Toyo, because another large tire chain on the west coast demanded that Toyo not sell to them,

</TD></TR></TABLE>

out of curiosity what company demanded them not to be sold to tire rack or discount tire?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by integra3586 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">out of curiosity what company demanded them not to be sold to tire rack or discount tire?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You have IM.

 

do you have traction bars? This may help some and allow you to pick a less aggressive tire that will get you more miles.