What the best performing tire in terms of max performance? I am looking for the best handling tire that will last around 8-10000 miles. Price is also factor.

So what i'm looking for is a tire for auto-x and road racing. That will handle very well and last acouple of years.

I was thinking Kumho Ecsta MX tires 245/45-17 and 275/40-18. Or KD's or KDW's. Maybe even Nitto's.

What are your opinions and experiences? Any comments anything!

Thanks

 

I use Falken Ziex tires.. thier ok.

I'm going to get BFG KDW's

Some of my friends took 2 tenths off thier 1/4 time with those tires over stock.

 

Any others?

 

What is the budget?

 

$800

 

Id get Bridgestones Potenza's, 730's, 750's, 950's or the So3. The s03's are the best. Im kinda biased towards a bridgestone.

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tires...earchbyproduct

 

I've heard nothing but good things abuot the Ecsta MX tires, though if I could afford it, I'd probably take the KD's over the MX's, and if I could afford even more, I'd take the S03's. Since I have to buy 275/40R18 and 245/45R17 and I'm a poor college student, I'm going to have to stick to the Kumo MX tires. They are great tires though, even if they aren't as expensive as Potenzas or something.

 

If you want no-holds barred tires in 275-40-17, go for the Nitto 555 extremes, which are drag radials with stiff sidewalls (specificially for road racing). No other street tire comes close.

 

Good because i was kinda leaning towards the MX's. I read an article in Euro Tuner mag that said the Kumho's were fast, but they felt kinda wierd.

http://eurotuner.com/techarticles/0411et_tires/

 

BFG KD G-Force are the best handling "street" tire on the market in dry conditions hands down on any track time testing and braking.

The Nitto 555RR is not what paul is talking about and is the Autox version of the drag radial. The standard Nitto555 is a harder 300 treadwear and is an above average tire, but does not hold acandle to the well reviewed and tested KD G-force. The 555RR is DOT rated but has about a 80 treadwear that is not considered a standard "street tire" and will wear very quickly in hot temps.

What is commonly considered a normal "street tire" for everyday use is any compound treadwear of 200 or above. Do not buy anything below this unless you plan on buying new tires every 6 months or less. The only tire that has good wear reviews and is a 100 treadwear rating is the Toyo RA-1. I know someone who has gotten 1 years use out of them (about 10,000 miles) on a C4 Vette.

what extreme but daily use, got to the KD's hands down.

Bridgestone Pole-03's are merely overpriced becasuse they are standard OEM equippment on Mercedes, Porcshe, and a few other high end cars. People tend to replace their worn tires with standard OEM and bridgestone can fetch the outragous price as a result to ingnorance. They are a very unforgiving tire on max traction situations. They grip and then let loose without warning, not predictable at all.

 

The s03 isnt really an oem tire. The s03 is kinda pricy but u get what u pay for. The lines like the 010 and 040 are more of an oem tire.
Ive never had a problem with a bridgestone having traction then just loosing it. If BFG's are the best, why arent they in the Indy racing series like bridgestone? Dont u think they would be pretty good if they make tires just for racing?

 

Cuze its sponsored Racing is why.

 

man, you all make me laugh, let me let you all in on a secret, any racing series out there will make their drivers use certain brands of tires depending on who is paying the most money to that specific racing series. for example goodyear is paying nascar millions to use their tires. i mean from what i delt with from racing tires, i would rather have a set of m/t's or a set of hoosiers any day of the week rather than a set of goodyears on my car.there are exceptions to that(world of outlaws) but most race series make their drivers and teams use one specific type of tire.

 

I gave up trying to find a good compromise between good street/rain manners and track performance, both on tires and brake pads. Sticky track tires don't last on the street and don't handle in rain. Decent street/rain tires howl like a b!tch on the track and get greasy quick.

For tires, I use Goodyear GS-CS DOT slicks in 255-50R16 on the track. BFG KDW 275-40R17 on the street.

For brakes, I use Hawk HPS pads up front on the street, Hawk HT-10 pads up front on the track.

With the rear seat removed, I can fit all four race tires inside the car easily. I just change pads and wheels at the track, then change back for the ride home.

 

personally i don't need 4 drag radials, and i am looking for a set of dr's around 255/50/15's heck i don't even if they make them in that size. i am about to do some work and research on that one.

 

So its between the KD's and the MX's maybe even the KDW's. The KDW's are on special at Tirerack.

 

You've got a lot to learn. They are factory tires on any one of the thousands of Mercedes SL500 running around in So. Calif.

As for BFG and racing? Take a look some time at the Trans Am Series cars that run the racing version of the G-force BFG tire. Trans AM series is the ultimate full bodies V8 powered musclecar racing series
http://www.trans-amseries.com/TransAm101/CarTech.asp

 

After what happened at the USGP, not being a sponsoring tire company looks to be a good move.

IMHO, the MX, KD, RA-1 are all good choices. I would be intrested to know how the Yoko A032R or A048 would hold up to street use though. I know some of the super7 boys at the auto-x's run them, and drive their cars to and from events on them. Not sure what type of life you would get on them in a big car like ours though.

 

Why? Michelin screwed up, plain and simple. For that matter, unless you've got way too much money to spend on their top of the line pilots most of their tires are utter junk anyway.

 

What I like is after the race, everyone at the press conferences were bitchin and moanin about how Michelin screwed the whole thing up...Then they cut-away to a commercial and first up is a Michelin commercial.

Its too bad F1 hasnt caught on here in the US because its superior to Neckcar in about every respect...except for its obvious lack of PR skills.

 

Honestly, i'm not a great big fan of either, but I love to see the tech involved and how they apply it to fit in the rules. One thing for sure... between the other sponsors, the teams, just about anyone that has an interest in promoting F1 in the US... they should all get together and castrate michelin

 

I think there was more at play than just michelin bringing the wrong tire. The politics in F1 are out of control. Most of the teams have said they want to start their own series, so those teams were unwilling to work with the FIA to put on a race, the FIA was unwilling to compromise. Heck, I actualy commend michelin for making the choice they did in the name of saftey, it has proven to be a PR nightmare for them, but they did do the right thing when it comes to protecting the drivers.

 

I have the original Michelin Pilots on my Camaro in 245-50-16 size.

I will tell you this right off the bat - they are the absolute wrong tire for the car - the sidewalls are so stiff that the car skips over minor bumps in the road. The KD, S03 and other hi-po european tires will do exactly the same, not the right tire for a thridgen at all.

I would go for the Goodyear GS-CS for the fact they have 99% of the grip of the top of the heap tires with a not-too-stiff sidewall.

Just becuase Mercedes puts a certain tire on a $90K car doesn't mean squat......

 

That just sounds like you need better shocks and struts.

 

I just put BFG KDW tires on the Camaro a few days ago (I cut a tire on the road and needed some quick replacements in a pinch)

They are a decent tire, but right off the bat feel a night and day difference between the Goodyear F1 GS-D3's I just had on it. The KDW feel like half the tire width under me when driving. It does not give me a stable secure feeling.

The best way I can decribe them is it feels like I put a 15" 75 series tire onto the car and it wants to steer so easily like I have no contact patch. (They are the same 245/50-16's that the Goodyears were)

Performance wise, they are really inferior to the GS-D3 under braking and cornering. The only positive attribute is they do have a better transition feeling where the Goodyears had a bit of slop feeling in the wheel for a "slight instance" but you get use to it.
The KDW's do not feel stable at all at high speeds and the car walks around.

Bad choice this time, but I kindof knew it going to them in a pinch.

I wanted really to go back to the Firestone SZ50EP's and try them again one more time but they are discontinued. It really was a tossup between the Firestones and the Goodyears, the goodyears really "looked" the best by far if thats is any conselatation prize- I tend to like the looks also if I have a choice without compromising performance.

I just am skeptical about the new Firestone Wide Oval since Bridgestone bought the company. Want to see moire reviews on them before I stuck them on the car. I should probably have gone this route though and tired them since they weren't greatly expensive.I just went to good ol BFG's because I have bought probably 30+ sets of BFG tires in my lifetime and trust the name for at least being an above average tire. Wish I could get the KD in a 245/50 16. Next time I am going to 17's for a better choice.

Nothing wrong in my book with the Goodyear GS-D3's I just had, I just wanted to try something different. I would strongly suggest them still and I wish I had them on the car still.

 

I just bought the BFG G-forece KDW and put them on my car this morning. Coming off 10 year old (dry rotted) BFG Com T/A's they are much better, but so far, they aren't "wow"-ing me...and for the money, they should.

Also -and this REALLY pisses me off- they are a solid 1" NARROWER than the tires I just took off!!

I just took off BFG Comp T/A's that were 245/50-R16's
I just put on BFG G-Force KDW That are 245/50-R16's...but they're 1" narrower. This is B.S. I paid for 245's but got 220's that say 245 on them. I'm going to see if I can get the vendor to take them back on Tuesday.

I aggre w/what RTFC said about the "light steering/narrow tire feel". That may be because....they're narrow!

Grrr.

-Tom

 

Ok so its a no for the KDW's.

Thanks guys.

Looks like MX's now!

 

I have to say the MX test track #'s look impressive ESPECIALLY for the price (regardless of price though).

The are hangingon the coatail of the BFG KD's in dry and are surpasing better lap times in wet and under braking grip wet and dry. Very impressive.

 

I really like my BFG KWD tires. These are 275 17s, so I can't compare them to what others have said about them on a 16" rim. Seem to handle fairly good on wet roads the few times I've had to drive in the rain in it. They are noisey on rough roads, sort of a low pitched droooone, but stick very well cornering. Seem to wear very well.
Now the 245 Kumho tires I have on 16" rims, P U! They'll just spin for ever and smoke. But they are not the MX's. so hopefully those are better.

 

No comments on this inconsistency?

-Tom

 

I wont buy n e thing but Bridgeston/Firestone.
the new Firestone Wide Ovals, are good tires, also Bridgestone/Firestone sells Fuzions, which are made by Bridgestone but dont have the Bridgestone name on them, because they're meant to compete with like (tuner tires) kumhos, hancooks etc.. but the fuzions are a good tire. Just put a set of fuzions on a 2002 SS the other day. If any of you guys need a deal on any Bridgestone/Firestone tires give me an e-mail I get an employee discount. I have some Firestone indy 500's on my camaro (until i get my C5 rims) and i payed $98 for all 4 instead of retail ($412). My dad put some Potenza pole positions on his 01 vette for $650 normal cost is around $1,300 +.
So if any of you are around Fayetteville NC. holla at me .
tpi86z@yahoo.com