Hey guys,
I am getting some new tires this week and they are going to go on my 98 civic EX. I will be using them for street duties, auto-x and also my first few track days. I want something that will still get a decent tread wear but be a little more sticky than all season. They are on the 14 inch rims so that really limits my choices. Right now I am thinking about the tokohama AVS 100's. The azenis or hankooks dont last long enough and I drive a lot so thats why I'm not going for those. Thanks for any input you guys have, Matt

 

You don't have a lot of choices in 14" sizes. The ES100 is one of the very few choices for what you're looking for. And it's a good choice - decent dry traction, excellent wet traction, excellent treadlife, and a reasonable purchase price. Go for it.

The ES100 doesn't come in your 185/65-14 stock size. (Neither does any other decent summer tire.) What size are you considering, 195/60-14? That will work...

After you've got a half dozen track events under your belt, you may want to consider getting a second set of wheels and mounting something stickier on them for track use only (e.g. Azenis RT-615 or R compounds). While you're first starting out, though, you'll be learning and you won't be using anywhere near the full capabilities of the tires or car, so your street tires will be fine.

 

I've used the ES 100s for the last 2 sets of street tires on my ITR, and every once in a while I'll autox on them if it's raining or I don't feel like changing to r-compounds. They're a good deal for street tires, and IIRC I get about 12k miles out of them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You don't have a lot of choices in 14" sizes. The ES100 is one of the very few choices for what you're looking for. And it's a good choice - decent dry traction, excellent wet traction, excellent treadlife, and a reasonable purchase price. Go for it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

agreed 100%

 

Thanks for the input guys, I know there are very few options in the 14 inch size, do any of you guys think it would be worth the switch to 15 inch wheels to get a better tire?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by madhatter07 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I know there are very few options in the 14 inch size, do any of you guys think it would be worth the switch to 15 inch wheels to get a better tire?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Probably not.

Here's why I say that. When you say "better tire", what do you mean? If you mean a higher performance tire, then you're probably looking at something like a Falken Azenis RT-615... but you said you want a tire with decent treadwear, which the Azenis does not have (and besides, the Azenis is available in 14"). Or, you could get something like a Bridgestone S-03, which has decent treadwear and higher performance than the ES100... but it costs around twice as much, which you might not want to do, either. In 15" sizes, there are other good "bang for the buck" tires similar to the ES100, such as the Kumho Ecsta SPT and the Dunlop Direzza DZ101, but they're not all that different, certainly not different enough to make it worth getting 15" wheels just to get those tires.

If you want 15" wheels because of looks, that's a different story. But not for better tires, as long as you are probably going to end up getting tires similar to the ES100 which you can get in 14".

$.02

 

I've been using the BFG Traction TA in 195/60R14 and I've been happy with them. Good all-around traction and I've gotten over 20k miles out of them even running 1/8" toe out in front. They're nowhere near the Azenis in dry performance, but I was amused to see that they're used on one of the big racing school's formula cars (Barber or Russell, I forget which), so they can't be too bad.

 

The BFG Traction T/A is an all-season tire (and it's not even a very good one, not BFG's best all-season). All-season tires are designed with a wider range of operating temperatures for those who need to use the same tire on snow and frigid cold as in moderate to warm temperatures. The compromise is, they don't grip as well in moderate to warm temperatures as even the cheapest summer tires (let alone a decent one like the ES100), and they don't grip as well on snow and in frigid cold as true winter tires. Good summer tires are designed for great grip in moderate to warm temperatures, on wet roads as well as dry roads. But I guess you need all-seasons to deal with all the snow in your area.

If you ever get a chance to use a good summer tire like the ES100 (or a great summer tire like the Azenis), you'll notice the difference immediately...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But I guess you need all-seasons to deal with all the snow in your area. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Or maybe I just don't like the idea of having to buy new tires every time I visit relatives in the Frozen North.

For all seasons they have good dry traction, but like I said, nothing like Azenis. The difference on a 50 second autocross course was about half a second.

 

Cool, awesome input guys, I think I am going to go with the Yoko's! I'll post upi here when I get them!