I have 16x7 Konig Theory wheels currently have 205/45R16 Falken Ziex ZE-512 tires mounted on them but they are in dire need of replacing, I don't want to go with them again cause they suck in the rain and for the past i dont know... 5-6 months anytime I hit boost they spin, shitty traction. Anyway I am looking at some new tires and wondering if I should get some 205/45R16 tires or 215/40R16? The tires I am considering:

205/45ZR-16 BF Goodrich g-Force Sport
205/45R-16 Yokohama AVID H4S (I'm leaning towards these because of the awesome treadlife rating on them, will they satisfy me traction wise? I have a turbo LS @ 254whp)
215/40R-16 Nitto NT 450 Extreme Performance(wondering if these will fit ok, what's the difference from my current tires?)

 

For your car on 16" wheels, you should get 205/45-16 size tires. I recommend the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 in this size. Feel free to read the rest of this post if you're interested in a more detailed explanation and also reading about some less expensive alternatives (but the less you spend, the worse your car's performance will be).

That's because the Falken Ziex ZE-512 is an all-season tire. All-season tires are designed so that they can grip okay in snow and frigid winter cold; in order to make that compromise, their performance is much, MUCH poorer in moderate to warm weather than summer tires. Get yourself a good summer tire, instead of all-season tires. (Unless you often travel to snowy areas in winter and need to use the same tires all year round.)

On your Integra, 205/45-16 is best. You can also use 215/45-16, although it's possible they may rub slightly, and you won't find very many tires available in that size. You definitely don't want 215/40 or 205/40 because the outer diameter will be too small for your car.

I wouldn't recommend any of these tires, for the following reasons:

- The BFG g-Force Sport is pretty mediocre, and you can get significantly better tires (like the Kumho Ecsta SPT or the Yokohama AVS ES100) for roughly the same amount of money
- The Avid H4S is another all-season tire, and won't grip as well as summer tires (same problem as with the Ziex tires you have now)
- The Nitto NT 450 is also an all-season tire, and won't grip as well as summer tires (same problem as with the Ziex tires you have now)

So you've chosen three really poor tires to go with your highly modded car - not a good match at all. You seem to be overly focused on treadlife, but then you get pissed off because you buy all-season tires and they don't grip. Simple fact: You won't get long treadlife and great grip in the same tire, so give up on that idea. With a high-horsepower application like yours, get used to the idea of replacing your tires fairly often (see below for HOW often). Because otherwise, you spent all that time and money to add horsepower to your car, you need to spend money on good tires to take advantage of it. Without good tires, there was no point in putting all that horsepower into the car; get used to upgrading tires FIRST, then power. And yes, that means replacing your tires more frequently. So forget about getting long-lasting all-season tires that will only give you crappy traction.

Even with summer tires, there is a trade-off between performance, and price and treadlife. You can spend more on tires and get better performance. But even "budget performance" summer tires are going to out-perform (by FAR!) any of the all-season tires you have listed.

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 Integra, I would recommend something in categories 3-5; however, the Falken Azenis in category 3 is not available in your size, so that's not even an option. Since you have a high-horsepower application, 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 when performance is your top priority.

Here are tires you might consider, in that 205/45-16 size, and are IMHO the best tires you'll find in each category:

4. Best Top-of-the-Line Street Tires:
Goodyear F1 GS-D3 $121 ($131 less $40 rebate on a set of four, through January 21) from the Tire Rack

5. "Value" Top-of-the-Line Street Tires:
Toyo T1-R $105 from onlinetires.com

6. Budget Performance, "Bang for the Buck" Tires:
Kumho Ecsta SPT $75 from the Tire Rack
Yokohama AVS ES100 $82 from the Tire Rack

It's worth noting that the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 won the comparison test of eleven top-of-the-line tires in the current (December) issue of Car and Driver. (The Falken wasn't included and the Kumho came in last.) It's also worth noting that the Goodyear has the highest user survey ratings on Tire Rack's website of all 24 tires in their top performance category for street tires.

If it were my car, I would go for the Goodyears for their great performance, or the Toyo T1-R only if you really are hard up for cash. 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 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 high-horsepower application.

EDIT: Noted rebate offer on Goodyear tires...



Modified by nsxtasy at 9:33 AM 12/28/2005

 

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Wow, you even do abstracts/summaries now? that's gold!

 

whoa thats very detailed