Anyone have experience with this tire?

Tried to not make another summer tire thread, but didnt find anything on this current tire. Just comparing it to the f1 gs-d3.. its slightly more expensive, offering better dry traction with the sacrafice of worse wet along with awesome "ride quality" and great handling. Wear seems to not be as good either.

I also noticed on tirerack this tire was placed in an "extreme performance summer" which is 1 catogory above "max performance summer" in which the gs-d3 happens to be in, if that means anything? Just because of that, are these tires even comparable? Ive also been reading that goodyears are way overpriced for the performance they give.

I'm in Minnesota, we get ocassional rain, not talking flood warnings every weekend, but maybe a few times a month, some months more than others. I do not enjoy feeling every bump and rock in the road which has other factors besides tires but as for tires.. i want to keep the ride comfort up as well as corning if possible. Also do not want to have to be replacing these every summer due to excessive wear (assuming proper alignment, tire pressure etc etc).

I do not do any track racing, go to a dragstrip maybe once or twice a year but i do like to get on the throttle when the situation permits. I dont mind paying a little more to get a little more out of it.

In all honesty, Id rather avoid getting the RT-615, just because pretty much every other damn honda (probably not just honda) on the road has a set and i dunno but sorta "want to be different" i guess.

 

The RE-01R is really a different kind of tire from the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. It's actually the same kind of tire as the Falken Azenis RT-615, with the one major difference that it's a whole lot more expensive. It's slightly stickier than the Azenis (on dry pavement) and has the same downsides (so-so in rain, doesn't last long at all). It's one of a whole bunch of new tires in this segment, including the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1, Toyo R1R, and Kumho Ecsta XS. If you ONLY care about dry traction - like if you autocross and/or you live in a dry area - then these are great tires. If you also care about traction in rain and/or how long your tires last, then you should probably choose something else.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ive also been reading that goodyears are way overpriced for the performance they give.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not true at all - but it really depends on what you're looking for. If you want the best wet traction, and dry traction that's pretty darn close to tires like the Azenis, then the F1 GS-D3 is a great choice. The F1 GS-D3 is also cheaper than the Azenis, if you look at it in terms of cost per mile; the F1 GS-D3 costs 30-70 percent more, depending on size, but it lasts 2-3 times longer (20-40K miles vs 10-12K miles). So by comparison, the Azenis is overpriced, more so than the F1 GS-D3. Whoever claims it's overpriced probably didn't take into account the difference in treadlife.

I'm not saying there aren't cheaper long-lasting tires on the market; there are, tires like the Kumho SPT and Fuzion ZRi etc. But they don't perform as well as the F1 GS-D3.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm in Minnesota, we get ocassional rain, not talking flood warnings every weekend, but maybe a few times a month, some months more than others. I do not enjoy feeling every bump and rock in the road which has other factors besides tires but as for tires.. i want to keep the ride comfort up as well as corning if possible. Also do not want to have to be replacing these every summer due to excessive wear (assuming proper alignment, tire pressure etc etc).

I do not do any track racing, go to a dragstrip maybe once or twice a year but i do like to get on the throttle when the situation permits. I dont mind paying a little more to get a little more out of it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like the F1 GS-D3 might be the better choice for you, if it's available in the right size for your car. Or the SPT or ZRi, if you'd like to spend less and don't mind the step down in performance. What kind of car do you have, and what size wheels (if they're not the stock wheels for the car)?

 

Ive looked at the Direzza a little bit. Read nothing but good reviews on it. Awesome price for what it is.

The individual that knocked the gs-d3 against the azenis said that the treadwear on them isnt that much worse at 200 vs gs-d3 at 280 i think is what he said?

No actually im willing to spend money, but i mean if theres tires such as the direzza that are cheaper and offer close to the same quality then yea im all game.

I currently drive a 91 civic, not even sure on the stock wheel size, i think a 165/70/13 or something of that nature. Looking for a 195/50/15 which seemed to give the best speedo accuracy, and possibly a little wider with a drag radial for a dragstrip whenever that time comes. I can go to a 16" if need be for tire option availability.

Theres also tires like the pirelli pzero and sumitumo which look badass, quite a bit more expensive but dont offer even close to the size i need

Yea i do like dry traction, but i dont want to be scared about hydroplaning and not being able to stop at reasonable speeds.

So is there kind of a general rule with tires... the stickier it is, the faster it wears?


Modified by Bjorn20 at 5:58 PM 2/26/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ive looked at the Direzza a little bit. Read nothing but good reviews on it. Awesome price for what it is.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Keep in mind that Dunlop sells two different tires with the Direzza name on them. The Dunlop Direzza DZ101 is a longer-lasting daily-driving summer tire, similar to (but not quite as good as) the Kumho SPT and Fuzion ZRi. The Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 is a supersticky tire designed to maximize dry traction, similar to (and actually better than) the Falken Azenis RT-615.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The individual that knocked the gs-d3 against the azenis said that the treadwear on them isnt that much worse at 200 vs gs-d3 at 280 i think is what he said?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Those are the treadwear ratings. However, treadwear ratings are not supposed to be compared between brands, and they need to be taken with a grain of salt because the manufacturers have a lot of flexibility in assigning those ratings. Falken rates the Azenis a lot higher than its treadwear deserves, and I'm pretty sure it's because certain race series require tires with at least a 200 treadwear rating. Compared with most other tires and most other brands, the Azenis wears as though it had a 100 treadwear rating.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No actually im willing to spend money, but i mean if theres tires such as the direzza that are cheaper and offer close to the same quality then yea im all game.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's all a matter of what trade-offs you want to make - dry performance, wet performance, treadlife, price, etc. Your choice. You just can't have everything in the same tire.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I currently drive a 91 civic, not even sure on the stock wheel size, i think a 165/70/13 or something of that nature. Looking for a 195/50/15 which seemed to give the best speedo accuracy, and possibly a little wider with a drag radial for a dragstrip whenever that time comes. I can go to a 16" if need be for tire option availability.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You have wheels in all those different sizes?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Theres also tires like the pirelli pzero and sumitumo which look badass, quite a bit more expensive but dont offer even close to the size i need </TD></TR></TABLE>

The Goodyear is better (as well as cheaper) anyway.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So is there kind of a general rule with tires... the stickier it is, the faster it wears?</TD></TR></TABLE>

In general, but there are exceptions. The Goodyear F1 GS-D3 is one of those exceptions, since it's almost as sticky as the supersticky tires, but it lasts 2-3 times longer. It's really a great tire, and not as expensive as some other tires. You're lucky, since your car uses 195/50-15, which is the only 15" size it comes in.

 

Wasnt aware that there are 2 different direzza's, but i was refering to the sport z1

Well if all those supersticky tires in the extreme max performance catagory including the falken wear that fast, they will not be the best option for me then.

Why cant someone make a tire that has all that I wouldnt mind paying $200 a tire if it had all that.

Well my stock wheel size is 165/70/13 i think, after playing with the tire calculator, 195/50/15 seemed to be the best match for speedometer accuracy as well as rim options to be able to fit my hub. I only have wheels for the stock size atm which is what im driving on, I'm just willing to make the sacrafice of switching wheel sizes if tire options dont suit my needs for the 15" wheel.

Just interesting that the gs-d3 placed 3rd out of 4th in its catagory. But 1st place (zrace ? pirella) isnt even close to my size and 2nd (michilen pilot sport ? )costs almost 2x more than the goodyear for close to same performance, so both of those are ruled out.

Funny how 1 comment can influence a person into a totaly different ball game.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just interesting that the gs-d3 placed 3rd out of 4th in its catagory. But 1st place (zrace ? pirella) isnt even close to my size and 2nd (michilen pilot sport ? )costs almost 2x more than the goodyear for close to same performance, so both of those are ruled out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

In this test of 11 top-of-the-line tires, the F1 GS-D3 came in first overall.

 

I'm no tire expert and don't have near the expertise that nsxtasy has. So maybe I'm way off on this...
But I've always taken magazines tire tests with a grain of salt. UNLESS they are testing the exact size I'll be using. And using on a car that's similer to mine.
Tread shapes, spacing and general contact patch vary with size and weight.
So a tire that works great on a BMW may not work near as well on a civic.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Relic1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've always taken magazines tire tests with a grain of salt. UNLESS they are testing the exact size I'll be using. And using on a car that's similer to mine.
Tread shapes, spacing and general contact patch vary with size and weight.
So a tire that works great on a BMW may not work near as well on a civic.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I've found (from experience) that differences noted in the tire tests are nearly always replicated from one car to another to another. So when one tire turns faster autocross lap times than another on dry pavement in the tire test, it means that it will almost always turn faster autocross lap times than another when used on a different car from the one in the test. And that's pretty much what you'll see when you check out the top competitors in autocross, where the top winners are usually using the same tires on big high-horsepower cars in one class as they are in lower-horsepower lightweight cars in another class.

In my experience, the bigger concern with the difference between test results and actual use is not due to the difference between the cars involved. It's due to the usage involved. For example, tire tests of all-season tires usually compare them only for dry and wet conditions, and not in snow - which means that you can't really tell whether one tire will be better than another in snow, only in the conditions tested. For another example, tire tests usually don't give any indication of how long tires will last, so you can't usually tell whether one tire will last three times longer than another (which can happen, and the treadwear ratings aren't always reliable at telling you this).

$.02

 

well wtf, noticed the gsd3 195/50/15 has been on backorder for sometime, ive also been told by a sponser that goodyear might discontinue that size I dont suppose i could switch over to the next size which is like a 195/45/16 which will throw my odometer off by a good 3 mph according to miata.net, but heh.

the new goodyear extreme or w/e the new catagory is looks just rediculous, problem is they dont make anything smaller than a 17" tire

spring weather is coming shortly and im still rocking blizzaks.... this might get interesting fast.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well wtf, noticed the gsd3 195/50/15 has been on backorder for sometime, ive also been told by a sponser that goodyear might discontinue that size I dont suppose i could switch over to the next size which is like a 195/45/16 which will throw my odometer off by a good 3 mph according to miata.net, but heh.</TD></TR></TABLE>

195/45-16 is fine for your '91 Civic. Assuming you have 16" wheels, of course.

 

Just my $0.02 I love the RE-01R. I just got a set mounted on my 96 Accord. 215/45-17. They are a great tire. The wet traction is not "good" but not scary either. Better than the RT-615's! Dry traction is simply stellar. Very predictable and responsive tire. Can't say anything about treadlife yet but that was not an issue for me. One word of advice, listen to nsxtasy. The dude knows his tires.