Tire Suggestions

[Tits McGee]

Going to be buying tires soon....looking for something pretty sticky for the street and for autox, good wet weather traction, and won't wear out after 4 autoxs.

Right now I'm considering Falken Azenis (of course), and the Kumho MX's.

Any reason why either of these should not be considered, or any other good tires out there that I'm overlooking???

[w0rd]

Originally posted by Leslie
Any reason why either of these should not be considered
If you are having a 2 driver car or plan on doing open track stuff, like HPDE's or Primus events, the Kumho will work better with the high temps generated.


Originally posted by Leslie
or any other good tires out there that I'm overlooking???
Not in that price range.

[PseudoRealityX]

umm, what size? that's more important.

[Tits McGee]

225/45/17s up front, 245/45/17s for the rear.

[PseudoRealityX]

what car? is that enough tire for the car?

[Muddy]

Even as a single driver autoxing in this area, where you can do 6 or 7 runs in a heat, you will find that the azenis will overheat after the third run if you are not spraying them with water. I would recommend the MX over the azenis, simply because they are more difficult to overheat. Unless you like understeer, I wouldn't go with the staggered setup either.

[Loren]

Azenis are great wet or dry when new. They seem to have the tendency to "age out" in about 6-8 months, especially if you drive them on the street. Too many heat cycles. This combined with reduced tread depth can make them pretty scary in the rain about half-way through their life.

Haven't heard much about the new Kumho MX's other than they are pretty sticky and cheap. I almost went with them, but decided I wanted to see if the F1's were as good in the rain as people said they were.

I just bought a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's. Probably a little pricey in the 17" sizes, but reasonable in a 195/50-15. Excellent tire in the dry... not quite up to an Azenis, but at least as good as any other street tire I've driven on. Very responsive, very grippy, very quiet. And they are unbelievable in the rain!

[Chin]

MX's chunk like a muther fucker when they overheat, and they arent sticky until you get them to a proper heat temp. I like the azenis for that reason.

[perdition79]

in my opinion, falken azenis are scary in the rain, even when they're brand new! the dry traction is great, but they do heat up quite a bit at an autox after your first few runs, so get a squirt bottle if you're gonna run a 2 driver car.

[PseudoRealityX]

this is florida...you won't see an event with temps under 70 for the next 6 months.

MX's, for that reason. they're idiot proof. If you get them hot enough to chunk without being a moron, ill give you a free event.

[Chin]

Ok, well me and my friend chunk them. But we drift.

[OversteerS2K]

I though a few manufacturers were coming out with drift specific tires...Why burn through regular street rubber?


Not he stickiest in the dry, but I really like the Michelin Pilot Sports that I have on the street wheels. They're excellent in the rain, have good audible feedback when you're getting to the limits on asphalt, and were fairly inexpensive (my sizes were on sale @ TireRack). The OE S0-2's were amazing in the dry, but deadly in the rain. SUV-ETR, on this board, is using the CUM-HO MX's on his STi. You may want to PM him for some firsthand feedback.

[oilleak]

What makes a good drift tire? Would old not so sticky anymore hoosiers do the trick? - I bet they'd make a lot of smoke.

[PseudoRealityX]

if you want to drift, go buy used tires...

the whole purpose is to NOT have traction. All seasons in back, something semi-decent infront, like maybe Kumho 712s.

If the crap rears chunk...then darn, get some more 20 dollar tires that you can mount with a screw driver.



and if you're overheating the front of your drift mobile, I think you're "drifting" poorly.

[Tits McGee]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
what car? is that enough tire for the car?

It'll be RWD, turbo, about 250hp at the wheels.

[Geoffrie]

PseudoRealityX - just goes to show you havn't experienced true drifting. Its more than the powersliding your thinking of... Sure for beginners crap tires in back is good, but after a while you want pretty close to equal traction all round. It not just about shear power and cheap tires - I drive a corolla GTS with around 100hp with a open diff, and I drift it just fine.

If your good at drifting you'll be exceding the traction of all four tires, which will wear out those fronts fast too. at my last autocross event was drifting with azenis' all round - sure it wasn't the showy smoky drifting, But I was crab walking a little (it was at zepherhills...)

true drifting isn't powersliding around corners, its pushing the car past the limits of traction and still mantaining control.

OK enough of a drift lesson...

On another note, I've been running around with azenis' for a while, and I've found them quite grippy in the rain. Although I'm running a 205/50/15 - that may have a lot to do with it.

-Jeff

[Tits McGee]

I've autoxed on them in the rain before, I definitely know they can hold their own, but this was in an AWD car.

[PseudoRealityX]

that doesn't matter....read the dumb thread in general car chat about "half drive vehicles" or something to that effect.

[PseudoRealityX]

Originally posted by Geoffrie
PseudoRealityX - just goes to show you havn't experienced true drifting. Its more than the powersliding your thinking of... Sure for beginners crap tires in back is good, but after a while you want pretty close to equal traction all round. It not just about shear power and cheap tires - I drive a corolla GTS with around 100hp with a open diff, and I drift it just fine.

If your good at drifting you'll be exceding the traction of all four tires, which will wear out those fronts fast too. at my last autocross event was drifting with azenis' all round - sure it wasn't the showy smoky drifting, But I was crab walking a little (it was at zepherhills...)

true drifting isn't powersliding around corners, its pushing the car past the limits of traction and still mantaining control.

OK enough of a drift lesson...

On another note, I've been running around with azenis' for a while, and I've found them quite grippy in the rain. Although I'm running a 205/50/15 - that may have a lot to do with it.

-Jeff

If you want equal traction all around, then buy 4 used tires.

Obviously, speed is NOT your primary concern if you're drifting. So why spend good money on good tires? It's the same reason you don't buy a sportscar to goto the supermarket once a week.

Also, you're still nutty if you're overheating the fronts with MX tires on a RWD car while drifting. They only get better going up and beyond 150 degrees with a probe type Pyro. Azenis start getting greasy after 125.


"true drifting isn't powersliding around corners, its pushing the car past the limits of traction and still mantaining control."

Umm, that's powersliding around corners. If you don't maintain control, that's called spinning on corner exit, or "a mistake".

My car does just fine at going sideways if you're stupid about it. 114 rwhp and open diff like yourself. Oh...and 2550 lbs before I get in.

[Tits McGee]

K, back on topic.....there's a forum for drifting.....take the arguements there.

[neurovish]

How long do the Kumho MXs last...will they make it throught more than one season allright?

Any opinions on the Sumitomo HTR Zs?

...and for drifting you want a tire that doesn't chunk easily with a stiff sidewall, contrary to what most people think traction is a good thing...you're not gonna get high speed and high angles safely on a set of May-Pop brand tires. The more traction you have available, the better you can control your car no matter what the situation.

[Tits McGee]

I'm not really too concerned with how they will hold up for drifting....just want to know about for autox and for the street.

[PseudoRealityX]

Originally posted by neurovish
How long do the Kumho MXs last...will they make it throught more than one season allright?


depends....whats YOUR season?


Mine last year was 40 weekends, usually 2 days per weekend. NOTHING will last that long.

[neurovish]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
depends....whats YOUR season?


Mine last year was 40 weekends, usually 2 days per weekend. NOTHING will last that long.

Well, my season is not as long as yours....I try to make it to pretty much any event within a 2 or 3 hour driving radius, usually one or two a month....so probably about 20 weekends, a lot of them 2 days.

...and I'm not talking about tire use while drifting, that's usually measured in hours or nights, not seasons

[Chin]

I use crappy tires all around, until Someone gives me sponsership haha

[PseudoRealityX]

20 weekends is going to push a single set of MXs. How's your tirewear now? Where you cording them? outside edge?

rears long before fronts? etc.

[sloaccord]

hmph- i thought the MX's had really low treadwear, but i was wrong. they're 220 compared to the azenis' 200. maybe the mx's are the way to go. (theyre also about 15 bucks more a tire in the 205.50.15 size i look at)

[neurovish]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
20 weekends is going to push a single set of MXs. How's your tirewear now? Where you cording them? outside edge?

rears long before fronts? etc.

Right now, I don't have a dedicated set of tires for autox, but I would like to since running on the same tires you drive around on sucks (unless you want to burn money by killing a good set of autox tires by driving around town). You described my tirewear pretty well...I have a set of sumitomo htr200s used for daily driving and autox (not much drifting) since about last July I guess. They are close to dead, I'm pretty solidly on the wear indicators but there is still enough tread to not hydroplane everywhere.

I'm getting better suspension soon, including pillowball upper mounts with adjustable camber up front, so wearing down the outside edge shouldn't be as much of an issue as it currently is.

[PseudoRealityX]

HTR200s are terrible terrible tires for any sort of performance application. I've had a set.

the wear indicators don't mean shit as far as im concerned....even for street tires.

[PseudoRealityX]

Originally posted by sloaccord
hmph- i thought the MX's had really low treadwear, but i was wrong. they're 220 compared to the azenis' 200. maybe the mx's are the way to go. (theyre also about 15 bucks more a tire in the 205.50.15 size i look at)


treadwear ratings are complete bullshit. They're arbitrary. Manufacturer can make them whatever they want. For reference, the RE-92s that come on a stock WRX are 140 treadwear, yet offer about the worst tire I've ever driven on a "sporty car". TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE.

[oilleak]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
the wear indicators don't mean shit as far as im concerned....

treadwear ratings are complete bullshit.
.

Jeeze Jesse - don't pussy foot around it... Share your real feelings with the group!;)

[neurovish]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
HTR200s are terrible terrible tires for any sort of performance application. I've had a set.

the wear indicators don't mean shit as far as im concerned....even for street tires.

I've had worse on my car, but I pretty much agree....40 bucks a tire ain't bad though.

[PseudoRealityX]

Kumho 711, same price, better performance.

I'm on set #2 after having the HTR200s. You'll be happy. They almost have a sidewall not made of marshmellows.

[neurovish]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
Kumho 711, same price, better performance.

I'm on set #2 after having the HTR200s. You'll be happy. They almost have a sidewall not made of marshmellows.

marshmellows that can hold back 50 psi of pressure at least....
Do kumho 711s come in 195/60/15? Seems like I would've gone with those over the sumitomos if they were cheap. Oh well, moot point...my next tires are gonna be like 225/50/16 or something

[PseudoRealityX]

www.tirerack.com

find out for yourself.

[Alan]

Back when I had the Focus, I was fairly impressed with my BFG KDW's. Excellent street tire particularly in the rain, and I felt they did quite well on the track. The only downfall is they cost twice as much now as they did two years ago, but if you have the money I would recommend them.

[neurovish]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
www.tirerack.com

find out for yourself.

tirerack's site is a bit messed up....they have some lazy-ass shitty web designer who doesn't realize that there are other browsers aside from internet explorer, hence 1/2 of the pull-down menus do not work (well, more than half....all except the make and year selections on the front page do not work), and none of the links such as "shop by vehicle", "shop by size", etc up top will work either.

The discount tire website came up with nothing in the stock size though, I know I can't get 712s with such a large profile. 711s are probably similar.

The HaTeRs definitely lived up to their name today, nothing but lock and plow all day with a touch of oversteer thrown in.

[Geoffrie]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Kumho&model=ECSTA+711

try that... but no 195/60/15...

-Jeff

[lstepnio]

The opinion with the Subau crew is that the MXs seem to have really soft sidewalls so depending on the weight of the vehicle this may or may not be an issue for autocross use.

I'm looking for new tires for my car and I'm stuck between the Azenis and the MXs myself. I'm leaning a bit more towards the MXs but I'm still undecided.

Your other options are going to be alot more money. :(

[Tits McGee]

The car is at about 2700 give or a take a little.

[Slash]

leslie what kinda car is it? ive never seen you say

[Slash]

Also what about AVS ES100's? whats the consensus on them?

[Tits McGee]

it's a surprise.

[PseudoRealityX]

ES100s are better than say something like the Kumho 712, but fail in comparison to the Azenis, MX, S-03, T1-S, KD, new Goodyear....etc.

[Leonard]

bandwagon!!!!!!

[Tits McGee]

Funny that it'll keep up just fine with your truck, at a fraction of the cost. :roll:

If you have nothing to contribute to the thread, don't post. If you aren't going to answer the question...just go away.

[lstepnio]

Originally posted by Slash
Also what about AVS ES100's? whats the consensus on them?

I had ES100s on my WRX and I was very happy with their street manners but they fell short when pushed at SoloII events.

Honestly, If it's going to be daily driver I think would give the MXs a whirl. The mix of value, performance and street manners has almost sold me on purchasing a set here.

[mofugga]

Originally posted by Slash
Also what about AVS ES100's? whats the consensus on them?
i second lstepnio, they suck really badly autoxing but are good on the street & great in the rain.

[Tits McGee]

The car won't be daily driven...maybe a couple times a week at most.....it'll see autox's, an occassional track day.....possible some sort of drift event.....but that's all.

[lstepnio]

Hell, If that's the case I would be leaning much more towards on getting yourself a set of the new V710 or either one of the two V700s.

http://www.kumhousa.com/images/Products/Tires/EV710.jpghttp://www.kumhousa.com/images/Products/Tires/EV700.jpghttp://www.kumhousa.com/images/Products/Tires/V700.jpg

It's not too expensive if you're not driving on them everyday. I think Jesse mentioned someone got about 5,000 out of a set being daily driven.

/me wants a set of 8" wide Rotas with the EV710s for my car to play with. :(

[Leonard]

R compounds will flatspot if you let the car sit on them. The also do not age well and heatcycle out VERY quickly.

[Bill]

Originally posted by Leonard
R compounds will flatspot if you let the car sit on them. The also do not age well and heatcycle out VERY quickly.

Well I'll be damned...
Didn't know about them flatspotting like that. Well learn something new every day.

[PseudoRealityX]

that's bullshit... they'll be fine.

If you want a R compound that'll work ok for autocross, track events, and drag racing, the Toyo RA1 might be the tire for you. I've never had a set of tires that hooked up so well on launch. And once you get over the soft sidewall, and huge slip angles, they actually grip pretty well.

Also, they only get better with heat cycles, and a lot of road racers use them as rains, so that's not a huge issue as long as you're intelligent about it. Of course, they aren't quite as cheap as the Victoracers or Escta V700s, but they'll last longer.

[Leonard]

Originally posted by PseudoRealityX
that's bullshit... they'll be fine.



Come tell that to the Ecsta v700 that dumbass me forgot to flip on it's side 6 months ago.

[Tits McGee]

The most the car would sit at a time would be maybe a week or so.

[PseudoRealityX]

Originally posted by Leonard
Come tell that to the Ecsta v700 that dumbass me forgot to flip on it's side 6 months ago.

6 months... REGULAR TIRES will do that.

[Tits McGee]

I think I'm going to go with the MXs to start, as the car won't be stupid fast and need super mega grip. If I don't like them, I won't have a problem burning through them quickly, and I'll move on to try another set.