Never too early to start... (Tires)

[bhwrice]

...thinking about summer tires!

Lucky me, I'll be moving from the northeast down to Houston at the end of February. My back tires are going bald faster than a middle aged man on chemo so I'm thinking I'll put on some performance summers before I drive down.

I did a quick search but didn't find last years thread, can someone link me or provide some input?

I need (4) summer performance tires. I plan on using these all year, so unless there is an amazing package deal its not worth the money to put on a LW set of rims for summer since I wont have a use for the OEMs.

Thanks in advance!

[bhwrice]

Thoughts?:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec

Continental ExtremeContact DW

[Joey]

I have heard good things about the Star Specs. They are supposed to be a comparative tire to the Michelin PS2's for less money. They get good reviews too

[imola s4]

all the subaru sti guys run star specs. they last about 10k miles if you're lucky lol. I got hankook v12 evos on my car and ill for sure run them again. less than 150 a corner and excellent in the rain...cant beat the price!

edit: just looked up the price on tire rack and they are at 175 now

[DaveD]

I'm a huge fan of the star specs, for the money its hard to beat for a summer tire. Also check out Yokohama AD08's, my buddy has them on his RX7 and raves about them.

[Joey]

all the subaru sti guys run star specs. they last about 10k miles if you're lucky lol.

Really? Are these hard miles such as track time and very aggressive driving or the normal defensive driving?

[norcal]

I've got the dunlop potenza re760s, cheaper than the direzza by quite a bit and a fantastic tire.

Potenza Re760 Sport 235 on Tire Rack

[road race s4]

Thoughts?:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec

Continental ExtremeContact DW

Can't comment on the Dunlops but I do have the Continentals on my S4 for about 1k miles now and I think they are awesome. Wet traction is unbelievable and I've hit some really deep puddles with no hint of hydroplaning. I haven't autoxed with them but I've pretty hard on them on the street and they are sticky. Some complain about the soft sidewalls but I have no complaints about that either. I keep them at 42psi all around and the ride is smooth. I've hit some pretty big/nasty potholes here in NYC with them and they've held up good, no bubble/cuts or bent/cracked rims.

As far as you the link you posted about the DW's those are not the XL rated tires. The ones you listed have a load index of 91 (1356lbs) instead of a load index of 95 (1521lbs). There are several people that run non XL tires on S4's without any issues. I'm not saying you should or should not run the 91's but its something to keep in mind.

Here's the link for the XL DW's which are about $130 more than the non XL's
Continental ExtremeContact DW

[vweater1369]

all the subaru sti guys run star specs. they last about 10k miles if you're lucky lol. I got hankook v12 evos on my car and ill for sure run them again. less than 150 a corner and excellent in the rain...cant beat the price!

edit: just looked up the price on tire rack and they are at 175 now

I second the Hancook V12 Evos. Ran them all summer on my Talon Tsi. Great tire, I put over 10K on them (mostly highway) and they still have more then 1/2 tread left.

[LJH]

As mentioned the Star Spec's are not a 95 rated tire....I personally like to run at least what the MFG recommends. I am running the Nitto NT05's and I am really happy with them, they might me a bit extreme to some but I have been running Auto-X/Track Day tires for many years and would be hard pressed going back to a more conventional tire as the response and grip are amazing though there is more noise and harshness. The wet weather performance is not bad at all but you do have to be careful in puddling situations. I just switched out to snows last weekend and put about 5500 miles on them since May and my guesstimation would be that I will see about 15K miles out of them. I only drive the car around 8K miles a year so I have no issues with that sort of life.

Cheers,
Jim

[QIKRNU]

I've got the dunlop potenza re760s, cheaper than the direzza by quite a bit and a fantastic tire.

Potenza Re760 Sport 235 on Tire Rack

X2 I got over 30,000 miles on my last set, and I'm not easy on tires especially when it comes to the twisties.

[dparm]

Thoughts?:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec

Continental ExtremeContact DW

Star Specs are horrid for daily use. Noisy as shit. They're no longer the performance leader anyways.

I've had good luck with the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric. Tire Rack had them beating the competition in wet traction and road noise, which are two important things for a DD. They took second in the dry performance test if I recall. Had mine for two years and they're wearing quite well, actually. I'll probably buy another set when the time comes, though supposedly the "2" version is out with 9% better stopping performance.

[Mark4.2]

Had Potenza RE760s on stock 18's two summers ago, then Michelin PSS on 19's this past year. Both were excellent, the PSS a bit more so.

[Extremesport3]

I used Star Specs for the M for the track and for driving to and from the events. I was able to get 12K miles out of them and thats with significant tracking. I dont recall how noisy they were as my car is noisy to begin with but for the money and availability the Star Specs are great. There are many car groups running these now, they are a really great high performance tire but for DD i would get Michelin Super Sports or the RE-11's (which im currently rocking for DD on the M....)

There are many good tires choices out there, good luck with your choice and keep us posted as to what you get.

John

[madkimchi]

i have Conti DW XL rated tires and they are fantastic. not too expensive, thread life is good, and quiet/comfy tires. i will definitely buy them again.

[bhwrice]

I've had good luck with the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric.

I didn't find them in 235/40/18 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric, what size are you running?

Based on the price I'm leaning towards... I'll post back with comments once I have them on!
Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport
Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110

thanks for all the input!

[JarrettJettaVR6]

michellin pilot super sports