Of course, it needs to grips well too.
Azenis is definitely out of the question, since it's heavy as fawk (205/50/15)
It basically offset what you pay for a set of lightweight spoon....

And i think lightweight tires has a even better advantage than lightweight rim since it's distance is furthest away from the hub center.

Now that it think about it, OEM RE010 might be the best choice.

 

I'm under the impression that the tradeoff between weight and grip comes in to play... that's why Azeni's are so heavy? *shrug*

 

we know azenis are heavy as hell, but I would love to see some actual weights on some other tires

 

yeah...i remember from some other thread...that 205 azenis is about 5 lbs heavier than stock 010 per tire (that's a lot).

If somebody know of a database of tire weight...that would be great

 

"Many of the tire manufacturers quote tire weight on their spec sheets. For example, the Bridgestone website says the 195/55-15 RE010 weighs 20 pounds, and the Falken website says that the 205/50-15 Azenis Sport weighs 22.6 pounds."

I have a hard time beliving that, not that I say your lieing but that I have the two tires in question in my garage and they are way more then 2lbs apart. more like 8-10 apart.

 

Are they both brand new tires?

 

...and the same size?

 

is it really a tradeoff with grip.. i would think it would be a tradeoff with sidewall stiffness

 

I use Hoosier RS303s and AS303s and they are the lightest and have the stiffest sidewalls of any tire I have ever used.

There isn't always a tradeoff.

 

that's good to know.. but then cost??..

 

Tire Rack sells Hoosiers.

They are a DOT R-compound tire.

 

I considered the idea of tire weights too. The problem is, one can purchase extremely lightweight wheels (e.g. Spoon SW388, Rega EVO, etc.) that still provide an acceptable amount of durablity. With tires, there are the best performing tires, there are the lightest tires, and in between there are tires with varying proportions of weight/performance. The nature of a tire's primary function (connecting the car with the road) is such that few people are willing to trade their preferred performance tire for another that weighs less but provides less desirable traction/handling. In most cases it is a question of grip and response over unsprung weight, and the former wins.

EDIT: Boldness added for Reid


[Modified by Padawan, 9:13 PM 2/26/2003]

 

Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position 205/55R15 23lbs
Bridgestone Potenza RE010 195/55R15 20lbs
Falken Azenis Sport 205/50R15 22.6lbs

What are some more popular performance tires?

 

Exactly.

In most cases (especially when dealing with street tires), tire grip is far more important than tire weight.

For example:

A set of stock wheels with 205/50/15 Azenis tires will outperform 15x6.5 Spoons with 205/50/15 Toyo FZ4s, even though the Spoon/FZ4 combo weighs less.

On a semi-related note, putting junk tires on lightweight wheels negates any gain that the lightweight wheels may have given.

 

I don't know too many people running a 205/55R15 S-03, but scroll down a bit and you'll see the 205/50R15 is 22lbs. These are the tires I'm running currently.