I know this subject has been beaten to death but I wouldn't post if I wasn't stuck. I have been looking around at some previous threads and archives but unfortunately most of the info is OEM size or "track tire" specific.

I have a set of 17x7.5 wheels coming in soon and I need some rubber for them. 205/40/17 is the preferred size since the offset is +50mm. These are straight up street use for the summer only. I have a set for the track and stockers for winter.

I feel like my brain is going to explode and perhaps I'll make a hasty decision.

Please share your experience .
Much appreciated. WR

 

Yokohama AVS ES 100 good, cheap summer tire, good in the rain too

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ed 341 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yokohama AVS ES 100 good, cheap summer tire, good in the rain too </TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly what came to my mind

 

I think you're expecting nsxtacy to work overtime.

Why not just search under his posts? He's practically listed all worthy tires under the goddamn sun.

 

don't know about 17's but 15's rt615 are the best you can get, stiffest sidewall, great price. as good as it gets with summer tire imo

 

Most of the tires in my lengthy post about 15" tires are available in 205/40-17, with the exception of the OEM tires, so the descriptions there are still valid. There are additional choices too, like the excellent Goodyear F1 GS-D3.

Also, you don't mention whether you plan to use them on the racetrack, dragstrip, or autocross; whether wet weather performance is important; or how much you care about performance vs cost. Those factors could determine which tire is best.

Briefly, I would say these are my top picks, depending on what you're looking for:

Best "bang for the buck" - Kumho Ecsta SPT ($49). Very good dry traction, outstanding wet traction, and last a long time (30-40K miles or more). An absolute steal in 205/40-17 at $59. Even better, through December 31, there's a $40 rebate on a set of four (must be postmarked within 30 days of purchase), so the per-tire price is $49 after rebate. The SPT is slightly better than the ES100 which sells for $85.

Best dry traction - Falken Azenis RT-615 ($92). You've heard all about them. Stickiest street tire around. Downsides are rapid treadwear (you might get 10-12K miles) and not-so-great traction in rain, and not all that inexpensive. Between the price and the treadlife, they cost 5-6 times as much as the SPT on a cents-per-mile basis, which is a HUGE price difference.

Best all-around performance - Goodyear F1 GS-D3 ($118 after rebate). Excellent dry traction (not quite as good as the Azenis, but still very good), outstanding in rain, last as long as the SPT. Not inexpensive, but just a great all-around tire.

OVERALL SUMMARY - If you're using them for daily driving and especially if you're planning to put a lot of miles on them, get the Kumho SPT, by far the best bargain going in 205/40-17. If you plan to do occasional autocrosses or track events, consider the Azenis and living with the higher price and shorter treadlife.

EDIT: Changed the expiration date on the rebate offer.



Modified by nsxtasy at 6:33 PM 8/9/2006

 

******' boo-yah!!!!!!!! THAT'S the response I was looking for. Thank you .

In my original post I did mention use. "These are straight up street use for the summer only. I have a set for the track and stockers for winter."

The bang for buck factor and long life are my primary goals.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by white rocket &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The bang for buck factor and long life are my primary goals.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That makes the choice easy. Kumho SPT all the way. For $49 each, how can you beat it? Make sure you get them by Saturday, so you can take advantage of the rebate.

 

Im really quite amazed to hear all the praises for the Ecsta SPT in the many recent tire threads. I mean it almost seems too good to be true. So good yet so cheap. I now have another tire option when it comes time for a new set.

&lt;-- Running AVS ES100s right now and interested to see the difference.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by white rocket &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"These are straight up street use for the summer only. I have a set for the track and stockers for winter."</TD></TR></TABLE>

then why settle for in between tire? might as well keep driving on what you drive during winter. no matter how you look at it, spt is far cry from mx or rt615.. eventhough in same category, rt615 are far greater than mx. the difference is in compound, you want more traction right with 200hp? then you gotta step up to top of the line.

 

I too have 17x7.5 on my car. volk te37. they came on my car when I bought it. so I dont know the offset and the sticker inside the rims are all worn beyond recognition.
anyway here is my experience

205/40/17 is perfectly fine. It also depends on your drop. I am dropped on eibach sportline springs. only when I am turning really really hard and I hit a dip like a pot hole or something, will it rub the fender. or sometimes a really big bump or dip in a straight line and my tires hit my fenderliner.

I put 215/40/17 on in the rear and had to roll my fenders. but in retropect I will get 205/40/17 again for the rear when i get another set of tires.

I got Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 for the front and for the rear I have Wanli tires. they look like my dads Dunlops, i forget the exact tire.


here is a pic

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KetteringITR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im really quite amazed to hear all the praises for the Ecsta SPT in the many recent tire threads. I mean it almost seems too good to be true. So good yet so cheap. I now have another tire option when it comes time for a new set.

&lt;-- Running AVS ES100s right now and interested to see the difference.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Tire Rack tested the ES100 and SPT side by side. They came out almost exactly the same in the dry tests, and the SPT had a significant advantage in the wet tests (although the ES100 is actually pretty good in the wet, but the SPT is even better). Click here to view the results. This past spring I rode in pouring rain at Road America on the SPT and they were simply outstanding.

The "So good yet so cheap" comment is pretty accurate. People said that about the ES100 when they came out in 2002. The ES100 was actually a groundbreaking tire in terms of price-performance; the SPT is simply matching it and going slightly better. (Back in 2002, Kumho realized that they needed to come out with a tire that would perform as well as the ES100 in the same price range, since their similarly-priced tire, the Ecsta Supra 712, was dreadful by comparison. You'll recall that the Tire Rack tested the ES100 against the 712 at that time, and the ES100 beat it in all 23 out of the 23 characteristics tested, a clean sweep.)

There are a few other decent tires in the same category, like the Avon Tech M500 and Dunlop Direzza DZ101. All of these tires offer similar performance at an attractive price. And you do need to check prices, including promotions (rebates); sometimes one of these is significantly lower than the others in a particular size, as the DZ101 was recently in 205/50-15 during Dunlop's $50 rebate promotion.

Also, let's face it, we're not talking about tires that are a match for the Azenis RT-615 on dry pavement. If you're planning to go out to do a bunch of autocross or HPDE events, the SPT and ES100 aren't going to perform as well as the Azenis (assuming it's not raining). But they will perform decently enough that if you're doing your first or second event and you are just learning, they'll be okay. Their real advantages are in price, treadlife, and wet performance, all of which are much better than the Azenis. Different tires for different purposes.

I doubt that many people will be cross-shopping the SPT against the Azenis; some people want the best dry traction, and others are looking for a cost-effective all-around tire for daily driving (such as when they already have track tires for the track). I'm often surprised how upset people are when someone else wants a different tire from what they use, when the simple fact is, different people have different needs and priorities. Don't be so narrow-minded to think that everyone has the same needs as you do! Again, different tires for different purposes. It's great that there we have so many tires to choose from, so that each of us can buy a tire (or several different tires) that best meets/meet our own individual priorities. Remember, more choices are always a good thing, and don't detract in any way from the choices that already exist.

EDIT: Corrected grammar.



Modified by nsxtasy at 10:36 AM 8/9/2006

 

I'd go with the SPT. If you already have track/auto-x wheels, you mines well get a more value based performance tire for your daily driver summer wheels (Great performance for the money with longer tread life). This is what I plan on doing now that I have Summer,Winter,and Track wheels.

 

nsxtasy, you sir know waaaay too much about tires. Jus kidding, as i said in my post before, your info on the SPT has pretty much sealed the deal on my next set of tires (assuming i dont roll over and fork out the extra money for the GS-D3s). It certainly looks like everyone who has ran with SPTs has not regretted the experience. to all of you and your info.

 

Hankooks get my vote.

 

Hey Nsxtasy, you were talking about the promotional deal that ends before this Saturday on the SPT's. Where are you talking about that offers the deal? Tirerack.com?

 

Discount Tires also has it. Just check their websites.

 

Grrr... I have a correction.

I mentioned that the $40 rebate on Kumho tires (including the SPT, MX, ASX, and many others, but not their track tires) expires this Saturday. That's what it says on the Tire Rack website.

However, I went to the Kumho website and found that the rebate certificate there is valid through December 31. I would assume that you can use that certificate for purchases at any authorized Kumho dealer.

I apologize for any statements indicating that the rebate expires this Saturday, as it is apparently not true.

However, please also note that rebate requests must be postmarked within 30 days of the purchase date on your receipt.

Discount Tire offers free shipping. Compare prices after shipping and you may find that one dealer is cheaper than another.

 

I'd like to comment on the SPT's being as the set I just recently installed in my daily driver are almost broken in.

First off I'd like to note I've ran Azenis, Potenza S03's, RE010's, Perelli P-Zero's, Kumho 712's and the almighty crap of tires Nitto 450's (not ran by choice, got stuck with them). I'm just trying to prove I know what a great and not so great tire is.


Bottom line: If the SPT's last a decent amount of mileage they will be my favorite all around performance per dollar ratio tire so far.

For starters the dry weather grip is great. They don't have the steering response of an S03 or RE010 but the overall sustained grip is very impressive. I haven't had a chance to autocross on them yet but I'm willing to bet that with good driving skills you wouldn't be to far behind in a street tire class.

In terms of wet weather performance these things are AMAZING. I live in one of the rainiest cities in the continental United States (actually sometimes it is THE rainiest city). We don't get long drawn out weeks of drizzle either. When we get rain it's often by a high intensity cell that can drop 1-4 inches in under an hour. Well a few hrs ago on my way to work I went through such a cell and was in disbelief of the performance of these tires. The raised section of interstate I was on is just flat out TERRIBLE for rain in terms of drainage and literally every car on the interstate was slowing down to pull off onto the median or hitting their emergency flashers (yes it was that bad). I was able to retain a reasonable speed of 55-60mph and didn't encounter ONE second of hydro planing the entire 5 mile stretch even when plowing through large areas of standing water. Not only that but when I made the turn into work from a dead stop I punch it off idle as I turned just to see if I could get it to spin. Even with the open diff (tires are on my RS Integra) the car hooked up until it hit VTEC.


I know I just rambled on a good bit but you get my point. These things rock even in the fiercest of rain storms.

 

i run the bridgestone potenza re750 on my boosted itr..they hook well,ride great and have lasted way longer then i expected...even with 14psi...best tire i have had on the car so far...good luck with your choice

 

http://www.grassrootsmotorspor...t.pdf

look here.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itr1143 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i run the bridgestone potenza re750 on my boosted itr..they hook well,ride great and have lasted way longer then i expected...even with 14psi...best tire i have had on the car so far...good luck with your choice</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Bridgestone Potenza RE750 is a very good tire! If anything, it's slightly better than the Kumho SPT. However, it's usually about twice the price of the SPT or more, so it's really not a very good value. You can get much better tires for around the same price (e.g. Goodyear F1 GS-D3), or you can get similar tires for a much better price (the ones I listed above).

A few months ago, the Tire Rack was running specials on the 17" size for Integras (205/40-17) and was selling them for $56 each instead of the regular $140 price. That was a great deal, and I was recommending them over the SPT to people looking for that size. They must have been discontinuing that size and running a closeout sale, because they are no longer listing that size RE750.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by P1_Variable &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">look here.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like you didn't bother reading the earlier posts to find out his specific needs.

 

WOW!!! This thread has provided me with a wealth of knowledge. Thank you to nsxtasy and others .

The SPT is now my primary choice. Bang for buck and long tread life are my main concerns when purchasing. I get my fill of "spirited" driving on the track and I have my stockers for the winter so these with be nice quiet cruising tires.

 

yeah as my next set of tires i will look into the SPTs. thanx nsxtacy.