Hi, I have a Prelude and will be running around 400hp on the street and I am looking for a tire for my 17x7.5" TE-37's that will give me the best traction but still last around 10k miles when driven nicley. I was gonna get the BFD Drags but I dont know how well I can deal with 2-3k miles out of them at $150 per tire, so if anyone has some experiences and suggestions please let me know, thanks.

 

Your Prelude came from the factory with 205/50-16 tires. The best sizes to get are either 205/45-17, or 215/40-17. Outer diameter is 0.8 percent larger than stock with the 205/45, and 1.2 percent smaller than stock with the 215/40.

My first choice would be the Falken Azenis RT-615. Second choice is the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Both tires are available in 215/40-17. Neither is available in 205/45-17.

The Falken is a bit stickier on dry pavement; it's sort of in between a street tire and a track tire. It's okay (but not great) on wet pavement, but better than its predecessor, the RT-215. It might last you around 10K miles. Cost is $114/tire at Vulcan.

The Goodyear is not quite as sticky on dry pavement, but it's still excellent. It is much better on wet pavement than the Falken. It should last longer, maybe 15-20K miles. This is the tire that won the test of eleven top-of-the-line street tires in the current (December) issue of Car and Driver. Cost is $126/tire (Y speed rating) or $144/tire (Z speed rating) at the Tire Rack.

 

Thanks alot. I will be using the car on dry pavement only, so I'm not so concered with wet traction. bump for more input.

 

anyone?

 

Bridgestone Ponteza S03s

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy4dtw &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Bridgestone Ponteza S03s </TD></TR></TABLE>

I wouldn't. The reason I recommend the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 over the Bridgestone Potenza (not Ponteza) S-03 is that the Bridgestone is similar in performance but costs substantially more ($206/tire for 215/40-17 for the S-03, vs $126-144 for the F1 GS-D3). You can see a side-by-side comparison test of these two tires on the Tire Rack website here; in general, the Bridgestone did slightly better on dry pavement and the Goodyear did slightly better on wet pavement. User survey responses of Tire Rack buyers of 24 tires in their top performance category for street tires rank the S-03 fourth out of 24, and the F1 GS-D3 ranks first out of 24. So with the Goodyear F1 GS-D3, you're getting a tire that's just as good, but for a LOT less money.

On dry pavement, the Falken RT-615 is even stickier than either of those two, though. But it won't last as long as either one, either.

 

Hankook RS2 Z212.

I've had mine for 10k miles with quite a bit of hard driving and they still have enough life left.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SMZ GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hankook RS2 Z212.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This tire was included in the side-by-side comparison test of eleven top-of-the-line street tires in the current (December) issue of Car and Driver. The Goodyear F1 GS-D3 came in first. The Hankook came in in the middle (around fifth, as I recall). The Hankook is a good tire. The Goodyear is better.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BB6-213 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">anyone?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was using RT-615 Azenis for daily use in my gsr. Great traction, incredible turn in. Also, the "rim protector", or whatever its called, is substancial, and should protect those expensive wheels nicely from potholes. They also didn't get "greasy" or anything for me doing Street of Willow Springs back in June, so they take the heat reasonably well.

Only a few complaints, which might not matter to you. They're loud, to the point that its difficult to talk on the cell phone at freeway speeds. They're very stiff, if you're springs aren't super stiff, this shouldn't be much of an issue, but it made my ride less than comfortable (400/400 GC). I put 5k miles on them, with 5 auto-x and 2 track days, and they're down to 30 - 40 %. For pure street use, 10k - 12k should be about right. I never had any issues with them in the wet, but I haven't ran them with less than 50% tread in the water either.

Now they're track tires, and I'm using some nice, soft, all season Toyos on the street. Better ride quality, no where near the same turn in, launch grip, or cornering, but good enough for me. Then again, I don't make nearly that much power.

 

Toyo proxes t1-s Have worked great for me. But im starting to lean towards yoko's parada specs maybe khumo mx's just my 2 cents.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EM1_00MRBuilt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Toyo proxes t1-s Have worked great for me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

These are being replaced as Toyo's top-of-the-line street tire by the Toyo T1-R. The T1-R did absolutely TERRIBLE in the Car and Driver test, eight out of eleven. They hated it, and said it would have finished last except for its low price.

That doesn't mean it's a bad tire. That just means that many other tires out there are better.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EM1_00MRBuilt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im starting to lean towards yoko's parada specs maybe khumo mx's just my 2 cents.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would never, never, never get the Parada Spec. It's priced the same as the Yokohama ES100, but performance is MUCH WORSE. If you want a pretty good tire at a bargain price, then the Yokohama ES100 is a good choice (as is the Kumho Ecsta SPT). If you want a tire that's a little better than the ES100, but not as much money as the best top-of-the-line street tires (like the Goodyear F1 GS-D3), then the Kumho MX or the Toyo T1-R might be good choices. BTW the Kumho MX finished last in the Car and Driver test (11 out of 11). Again, that doesn't mean it's a bad tire (especially considering that it's less expensive than many other tires), only that there are a lot of better tires out there.

So these tires - the Yoko ES100 and Kumho SPT on the low end of the price scale, and the Kumho MX and Toyo T1-R in the mid range - are about as good as you're going to do for the money. However, the original poster (BB6-213) was asking for the stickiest street tires around, without worrying about the cost. And those would be the Falken Azenis RT-615 and the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Remember, there are different tires for different people with different needs and priorities.