Well it's time again to buy my wife some new tires for her itr...

She currently has the hankook ventus in 225/40/16 on her car, and I don't want to buy plastic pep boys tires that wouldn't do the car justice.

This is for her daily communte and occasional spirited corner here and there.

As such, I wouldn't mind moving down to the oem jdm size - was it 215/45/16? Or even a 205/45/16...

How do the bfg gforce sport and yokohama s-drive tires compare?

Anybody got these tires on their itr?

I lean toward the azenis or ecsta xs myself, but those may be a bit too noisy/ pricey/ performance minded for a daily driver.

So far I've found a 205/45/16 sumitomo at $68 each, and 215/45/16 ecsta xs at $99 each from tirerack.

I've also found a 205/45/16 riken raptor at $71 each, and 215/45/16 azenis 615 at $106 each from discount tire online.

I used to love ordering tires from edgeracing.com but that url is gone - I guess they're out of business now.....?

We don't see snow, and as it's spring here, will likely only see nice weather for a good long while and rain is a consideration but I really don't want an all season tire that'll ruin the handling characteristics of the car if I can help it. This car does has koni yellows, and is lowered a good 2+" Something around 300 treadwear would be nice.....

NSXTACY?

 

oh please, don't buy sumitomos ! i remember being given a pair of those HTRZ tires of theirs and can honestly say they are the worst "performance" tire i have ever driven on. you're on the right track with the 615 and XS, if you want some mileage out of the tire the yoke s-drive is hard to beat. i personally think it's better than the BFG sport and KDW.

 

I had a weird size on mine when I bought them 215/40r16 on my R when I bought it, but it couldn't of thrown the speedo off much at all; they were Toyo T1R's, not the greatest tire but definitely pretty great for the price.

 

you don't want to "stick" with the hankooks?

 

First of all, you're better off sticking with 205/45-16 or 215/45-16. And most tires come in one of those sizes, not both - so choose the tire you want, and get whichever size it comes in.

Since it doesn't snow there, you don't need all-season tires. Remember, as long as the temperatures are above freezing, summer tires grip better than all-seasons - in rain as well as on dry pavement.

Summer tires for our cars basically come in two varieties:

(a) "supersticky" tires that are awesome on dry pavement, but in rain vary from okay to pretty good, and which don't last all that long (10-12K miles for the Azenis, 15-20K for some of the newer, stickier tires that now compete with it). You may as well go for the stickiest; here are the best, starting with the stickiest and working down from there:

1. Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 205/45-16 $159/tire plus shipping from Tire Rack
2. Kumho Ecsta XS 215/45-16 $107/tire with free shipping from Discount Tire Direct
3. Toyo R1R 205/45-16 $128/tire plus shipping from TireDeals4Less.com
4. Falken Azenis RT-615 $106/tire with free shipping from Discount Tire Direct

My money, if I wanted one of these, I'd get the Kumho XS.

(b) "daily driver" type tires that are still pretty good on dry pavement, are awesome in rain, and last a lot longer (25-40K miles). Here are the best ones that are still affordably priced:

1. Yokohama S.drive 205/45-16 $98/tire with free shipping from Discount Tire Direct
2. Fuzion ZRi $88/tire plus shipping from Tire Rack

My money would go on the S.drive.

HTH

 

I have the S. Drives on my car, I love the performance, but I need new tires after 11k. Could be the way I drive on these mountain roads though.

 

That's unusually short treadlife for those tires. Sure, driving style is a possibility... but my first guess would be an alignment problem, particularly the toe settings. Proper inflation pressures are important also. And of course rotating the tires will even out the treadwear; otherwise your rear tires will last a lot longer than your fronts.

 

Thanks Ken, et. al.

 

i currently have 205/40/16 Azenis on the JDM 16" and i find that they are to thin. Id like to the get 215/45/16 but im pretty slammed right now and i know for a fact if i turn all the way im going to rub becuase i ran the older azenis in those size. Any way i can get thicker tires without rubbing while being slammed? Sticky tires prefred , something along the lines of Azenis or even better would be great. O and the car is a dc2.

 

Well, you could undo some of the suspension changes to raise it partway back to stock ride height.

You could also get 205/45-16 tires, rather than 215/45-16, to help your chances of not rubbing. (That assumes your term "thin" refers to the sidewall height being too short, not to the tread width.)

 

nsxtasy gives the best guidance when it comes to buying tires. heres a link.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/wheel-tire-56/215-205-tired-thinking-about-2368870/

i purchased direzzas for my jdm 16's. i ran them since purchased in august, and i bet ill need new tires by the end of the summer... i wouldnt recommend them for DD, but they are definately super sticky.

 

Kumho Ecsta ASX
Size: 205/45ZR16
Load Range: XL
Blackwall
ZR Speed Rated
Serv. Desc: 87W
UTQG: Treadwear: 420
Traction: AA
Temperature: A420 AA A
Price: $79.00 (each)
on my R, and has been very good for 10,000 with no signs of wear or trouble.

 

nsxtasy, couldn't agree with you more

I would call this "perfect advice"

/end thread

 

The Kumho ASX is an all-season tire, and a very good one - IF you need all-season tires. All-season tires are designed for use in wintry conditions (snow, bitter cold) as well as in moderate to warm temperatures. The downside of this added flexibility is in moderate to warm temperatures, summer tires will give you better performance than all-seasons (in rain as well as on dry pavement). If you have to use the same tires in snow as in warmer weather, then you're stuck with the compromises of all-seasons, in which case the ASX is a good choice. If you don't have to use the tires in snow, either because it doesn't snow where you live or because you have another set of tires or another vehicle for wintry weather, then you'll get better performance with summer tires rather than all-seasons.