So I've had my 205/45 S. Drives for a year now. At first, I thought they were a good tire. They squeal pretty easily but all-in-all, decent tire. I know my suspension setup needs work but I feel as if they are not sticky enough for me. So it's back to the drawing board...

nsxtasy recommended the Khumo XS and Dunlop Star Spec as 2 better tires over the S. Drives in my thread last year. The problem is, the XS comes in 215/45. And this is my current rear clearance:


I don't know if I want to risk putting 215's in there and possibly messing up the tire or my quarter, or both. I don't really want to roll my rear quarters. That's the last thing I want to do. The Star Spec's come in 205/50 at TireRack. Now, I don't know if I want something that beefy...

RE-11's come in 205/45. But $167 a tire? For my daily? No thanks. I'd love to have a sticky tire for the large amount of spirited driving I do daily but I don't want to throw money down the toilet.

I've been searching and searching and I can't seem to find any 205/45 tires out there that are stickier than the S. Drives that I want. So do I have to bite the bullet and man up and spend the money for RE-11's? Or should I roll my rear quarters and get the XS? Ultimately, I want to autocross. I didn't get a chance to this year but there's 1 more event locally and I want to try to get in it just to see how my car does.

 

What is your wheel size and specs? Can you add a little more negative camber? I would go with the Star Spec or XS over the RE11 just because of the price.

 

16x7 +42. I got an alignment when I was first lowered and I think the rear camber is at like 1.1° or somewhere around there. I don't know too much about camber and how it effects handling depending on the # and goal, but I don't really wanna go too crazy with camber. I don't have camber kits.

 

it is not a bad thing just roll your quarter panel little bit, just like 4-7 inches on the top part.

 

The Toyo Proxes R1R is another very sticky tire like the RE-11. In 205/45-16, it's $135/tire at TiresDirect.net.

Also, I've heard some folks say that the RE-11 in 205/45-16 is as wide as many tires in 215/45-16. I don't know whether or not this applies to the R1R. Just mentioning.

And keep in mind that, if value is a factor, these tires are probably going to give you only about half as many miles as the S.drive (maybe 15K miles vs 30K miles, just rough estimates of what's typical). So not only are they more expensive, but you'll be replacing them twice as often. Gotta pay if you wanna play.

 

I know I gotta pay to play. I just don't want to pay THAT much .

Thanks!

 

my 205/50 re-11s are some meaty *** wide tires. i had to rill my fenders with a 15x7 +38 offset and lowered on eibach sportlines. rear neg. camber is 1.5* too. right now im looking at about 15k on my re-11's with probably anohter 5-10k miles left to go. ive been getting great wear out of them. Potenza Re-960 pole positions are pretty decent. my buddy has them on his civic and for an all season they have some grip i must say.

 

135 is way overpriced. Honestly all the online tire places are overpriced on certain tires. There are alot of tires that fit in the same category but often times the price varies drastically just due to the name on the side. They try to specialize in certain brands & models that are over hyped. I usually find the same comparable tire at my local shop for way less installed on my car and I don't have to pay for shipping wait and then pay to install them. Doesn't even make sense...