Hey guys,

I was hoping to get some advice on tires for a '95 del Sol VTEC. After a year of sitting, I have the car running well again. I'm located in Indiana. Typically, I've used a set of summer tires and a set of winter tires, but would like to switch to all season tires.

Thus, I would like to get all season 205/50-15 tires. I am also considering going back to the OEM wheels, as I really don't care what the car looks like anymore. Tirerack has the OEM size as 195/60-14. So, I'm willing to switch if there are better tires available. I prefer safety over looks at this point in my life.

If it's optimal to continue alternating summer/winter tires, I will. However, I'll still need to find recommended tires for these conditions.

I apologize if this topic has been answered. I've been searching the web the past few weeks as well as this forum, but would like to get some additional advice. Thanks in advance and I appreciate any advice you have to offer.

 

It is indeed optimal to continue alternating summer and winter tires. That gives you the best performance all year long, with the superior traction of winter tires in the snow and frigid cold of winter, and the superior traction of summer tires in the moderate to warm temperatures the rest of the year. All year long, you will get better traction than you would with all-season tires, which are a compromise all year long, with performance sacrificed for the flexibility of being able to use the same tires year round. Since you already have two sets of wheels, it's an easy matter to use two sets of tires.

Do you already have summer tires or winter tires that you can use, or do you have to buy both types now? And which set of wheels would you prefer with which set of tires?

If you still want to use all-season tires despite the performance drawbacks, the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position is the only really good one available in 195/60-14. In 205/50-15, the Kumho Ecsta ASX is a good choice. You can also use 195/55-15, for which good choices include the ASX and the Goodyear Eagle GT.

 

Thanks!

I'm leaning towards going the summer/winter tire route again after reading your thoughts. I do need to replace both sets of summer/winter tires. My summer tires are Azenis which need to be replaced (when don't they?) and the "winter" tires are less than stellar and the tread is getting low. I'm not a big fan of Azenis due to the treadwear. This is my second set. I would have learned on the first set, but half were ruined from being rear-ended.

To answer your question, I would prefer to use the 15" wheel with the summer tires to keep them out of the salt in the winter and use the 14" in those situations. I think the 15" wheels are 15x6.5 +40. They might be 15x7.0 +35, but I'm almost sure they're the 6.5s. I would try to verify, but I am 90 miles from the car as of now.

I really appreciate the insight as I've been away from cars for a couple years and never knew much about tires to begin with.

 

First, the summer tires.

If you're looking for a really sticky tire similar to the Azenis, you'll enjoy the competing tires that have been introduced within the past year or so:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec 195/55-15
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 205/50-15
Kumho Ecsta XS 205/50-15
Yokohama Advan Neova AD08 205/50-15
Toyo R1R 205/50-15

Not only do all of these stick even better than the Azenis, but they'll last a bit longer - 15K miles, maybe even 20K, versus 10-12K for the Azenis. And the Star Spec and XS are priced similar to the Azenis. (The others are a bit more moolah.)

Which one to get? I'd lean towards the Star Spec, partly because of its nice price and partly because it's a bit better in rain than the XS. On the Tire Rack website, you can find a side-by-side comparison test of the first four of these tires and read for yourself.

Granted, 15-20K miles still isn't a lot. If you're using your summer tires primarily for daily driving (i.e. not autocross or track events, or other brisk driving) and you don't mind giving up a bit of dry traction for better value (longer treadlife as well as a lower price), you might want to consider the Yokohama S.drive in 195/55-15. (It's also available in 205/50-15, but 195/55 is significantly cheaper.) It should last you 25-40K miles. And while it won't give you the ultimate dry grip of the previous group, it's still decent, excellent in rain, and way better than any all-season tire in moderate to warm temperatures. Just something to think about, depending on what you're looking for.

Now, for the winter tires.

The "studless" winter tires are the best you can get for dealing with snow and ice. There aren't any available in 195/60-14, so you'll want to get them in 185/65-14, which is very close in diameter (and besides, narrower is better in winter conditions anyway). One of the best is available in that size: the Michelin X-Ice Xi2.

However, it's a bit early in the year to be buying winter tires, as the inventories are low. Late September and October is the best time of year to get them.

HTH. Feel free to ask more questions.

 

Wow, thanks so much for the great information. Out of curiosity, how many miles do the Michelin X-Ice tires typically last? Since you're from Chicago, I imagine they're plenty suitable for Midwest winters with dry/rain/slush/snow. Thanks again. It's been more than helpful.

 

Here's what I can tell you. On my high-mileage '94 GS-R, I've got the Michelin Arctic Alpin winter tires. The Arctic Alpin was the predecessor of the X-Ice and X-Ice Xi2. Based on how they're wearing so far, they appear to be giving up about 1/32" of tread depth for each 5K miles driven. They come with 10/32" of tread depth when new. That means they might last 20K miles if you replace them when they reach 6/32", 30K at 4/32", and 40K at 2/32". Tires must be replaced, by law, when they reach a tread depth of 2/32". However, winter tires lose their traction on snow well before that point, so you really wouldn't want to wait until then. The Tire Rack recommends replacing winter tires at 6/32" in this article:

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...jsp?techid=163

Of course, if you only have them on your car for 3-4 months a year, you will only be accumulating miles during those months. I've had winter tires last many, many years because I only put a few thousand miles on them each year.

HTH

 

how about where is the best place to buy? just tire rack? haha good info though nsxtasy.

 

That does help. I didn't know that winter tires should be replaced by 6/32". I only drive 3,000 to 4,000 miles in the winter, so winter tires would last me quite some time. I do have one more question. Do you or anyone else happen to have an opinion about the General Altimax HP wheels? Here's the link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....del=Altimax+HP

They caught my eye due to the stellar reviews. However, they seem too good to be true. Thanks again for the great information.

 

There are lots of places you can buy tires. The Tire Rack has low prices and a useful website, and we appreciate their sponsorship of this forum. Discount Tire Direct also has low prices, especially when you do an "apples to apples" comparison (since they offer free shipping and most other internet sites don't). There are lots of other sites too. Also, not every site carries every brand; for example, neither Tire Rack nor Discount Tire Direct carries Toyo, and the Tire Rack doesn't carry Falken or Nitto.

Well, as the Tire Rack notes, at that point their ability to deal with winter conditions (particularly snow) is declining as they wear. Whether you want to replace them at that point is up to you.

Yes, exactly.

User reviews are extremely unreliable. The reason is, the most knowledgeable tire buyers are also the most demanding, and have usually tried lots of other tires; as a result, the best tires don't always have the most glowing reviews. By contrast, the least knowledgeable tire buyers typically buy the same tire over and over, and like it, and often they are the only folks who buy tires that are not very good; as a result, some crappy tires get great reviews. There are plenty of cases in which worse tires get better reviews; I know of one case where two tires were comparison tested by the Tire Rack, and one tire was better in everything, all 23 characteristics tested, but the other tire got better user reviews.

Bottom line, I do not trust user reviews on the Tire Rack site.

The other question is whether you (a) really want all-season tires, versus separate summer and winter tires - see above, and no, that all-season won't give you performance as good as separate tires; and (b) whether you want a grand touring all-season tire, which is designed primarily for noise and comfort rather than grip and performance.

 

I'm going to go with the S.drive due to treadwear and my lack of need for extreme performance. I'll be picking up the Michelins later in the year. Thanks again for your help.