Hello,

I'm considering getting my next set of tires, where the criteria are:
1. Dry grip/handling
2. Road Noise
3. somewhat low cost
4. Wet grip (not sure how important this is to me)

Anyway, I wanted to know if anybody had quantitative comparisons of the difference in dry grip between these tires, and not just "good, very good, excellent", but maybe numbers like skidpad and stopping distance. Lap times don't mean that much to me because a lot of that is limited by driver skill and horsepower coming out of a corner.

I've already read a few reviews of these tires, so I know that their general characteristics are:
Falken: lots of dry grip, wear out fast, questionable wet grip
Goodyear: less dry grip, good rain grip, slightly expensive
Avon/Yokohama ES100/ Kumho SPT : even less dry grip, relatively inexpensive

The reason I ask for numbers is that I'm not interested in shaving a fraction of a second off my lap times, buy rather use these tires for daily driving and weekend recreational driving on twisty roads. Maybe I will do an autocross at some point. So for example if the Azenis only have 2% higher skidpad numbers than the goodyears, then I'll take the wet grip and longer life of the Goodyears. And if the Goodyears are only 2% grippier than the M500/SPT/ES100, then I'll take the extra $30 savings per tire. Anyway, I think you get what I'm asking...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by beanbag &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've already read a few reviews of these tires, so I know that their general characteristics are:
Falken: lots of dry grip, wear out fast, questionable wet grip
Goodyear: less dry grip, good rain grip, slightly expensive
Avon/Yokohama ES100/ Kumho SPT : even less dry grip, relatively inexpensive</TD></TR></TABLE>



I would also say that the dry performance of the Goodyear is a whole lot closer to that of the Azenis than it is to the Avon Tech M500 or Kumho SPT. But it's difficult to quantify numbers to measure performance or grip. For example, I've never seen anything that claims "2 percent better dry grip". You can compare lap times, or braking distances, or skidpad numbers, but all play a role in performance and grip.

Unlike, say, treadlife, which is relatively easy to quantify; the Avon and Goodyear last 2-3 times as long as the Azenis, given the same usage pattern. (Don't forget to take this into account when comparing costs - if you have to replace a tire 2-3 times as often, it's just like costing 2-3 times as much.)

 

Well, it looks like Goodyear isn't going to make this tire in my size (15") for at least 2 months. My tires will run out by then. (Goodyear's nearest size is 195/50/15) Do you have any other suggestions for tires that have more dry grip than the SPT's while not costing that much more? And at least reasonable wet grip? The size would be 205/50/15. Only one I could find was kuhmo mx at Tirerack. Also, what do you think about the road noise of the 615's? I've read conflicting reports about that.

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by beanbag &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you have any other suggestions for tires that have more dry grip than the SPT's while not costing that much more? And at least reasonable wet grip? The size would be 205/50/15. Only one I could find was kuhmo mx at Tirerack. Also, what do you think about the road noise of the 615's? I've read conflicting reports about that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

205/50-15 is a funny size; there are lots of budget performance tires, also lots of R compound track tires, but not a lot of really good top-of-the-line performance tires. Here are your options for tires that are better than the SPT:

Falken Azenis RT-615 ($73 at Vulcan Tire) - supersticky, but typically last only 10-12K miles

Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 ($81 at Edge Racing) and Kumho Ecsta MX ($79) - not as sticky on dry pavement as the Azenis, but better than the SPT; better in rain than the Azenis but nowhere near as good as the SPT; typically last 15-20K miles, which is better than the Azenis but not as good as the SPT (which lasts 25-45K).

BFG g-Force KD ($136) - similar to but not as good as the Azenis, and a whole lot more expensive

All four of these tires were tested on an autocross course in this article in Grassroots Motorsports. Read it for some good information on how their performance compares with each other.

There are also some tires that are only slightly better than the SPT, but not all that different; it sounds like you're looking for something significantly better, so these may not be what you're looking for:

Avon Tech M500 ($59) - only slightly better, basically similar to the SPT in performance and price

BFG g-Force KDW2 ($99), Bridgestone Potenza RE750 ($85.50 after rebate), and Toyo Proxes T1-R ($84 at onlinetires) - also only slightly better than the SPT, but a lot more expensive

To be honest, I don't pay a lot of attention to road noise. The conflicting reports may be because many tires get a lot louder when they're worn than when they're new.

 

Thanks for the lookup of prices