heyyouduh

iTrader: (1)

Hi, just bought 18x9.5 and 18x10.5 +15mm RPF1s, now looking at tires:
car is an 08, stock motor and suspension (for now), stoptech brakes, os giken diff. eventually plan to strip and cage once I get a second car. currently car is 95% daily and the rest HPDEs. looking at tire choices, came up with a few, just wanted to see if any of the more experienced folks have some input on my tire and size choices:

hankook rs4: brand new tire, but have read great things about the rs3.
they come in 275/35/18 and 285/35/18 which i worry if will be a little too much tire for the wheel size.

bstone re71r: interested in this tire, but seems more like an autoX tire and i don't see any sizes that would work for my wheels

dunlop direzza star spec 2: comes in 265/35/18 and 275/35/18, again seems to be a crowd favorite for HPDE guys, but worry if the tires are too short, especially the 265/35s.

falken azenis rt615k+: 265/35/18 and 275/35/18. Ive used the original azenis rt615s as a dual tire back in the days and liked them enough on track and dry pavement. this choice is ~$800 range which is $200+ cheaper than some of the other choices, making it a value choice. again, worried if the tires are too short.

Continental ExtremeContact Sport: seems to be the replacement for the DW tires and a direct competitor to PSS. Initial reviews seem to be on par to the PSS, and better than the DW. They come in pretty much every single size and cost $8-900 for the set, which is relatively cheap in this comparison.

Michelin PSS: very popular, a ton of sizes, seems to be the standard dual duty daily/track tire everyone else compares to.

The 2 tires I have extensive experience with are falken rt615 and nitto nt05s... it's tempting to go for one of the new "extreme" summer tires as tirerack calls them, but worried about heat cycling them out before they wear out. im not too worried about winters as i have dedicated winters nor am i too worried about rain traction. someone has had to gone thru the same choice as im facing right now, let's hear your opinions on these specific tire choices and size choices, thanks.

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

I just spoke with a buddy of mine who runs 2 M3's on track and auto X... One is a full built track monster and the other is a daily.

I was asking him what tires I should get and he said unless you have major track experience do not buy a R compound tire. Especially for street/track. He said buy a standard but good rated road tire to squeal and scream in turns. Which helps you hear and feel the limits.

He said all to often he sees and hears guys say I was mid turn and then just lost it. Idk what happened. He said R rated track tires are amazing. But the problem is if they aren't warm or new track drivers find the limit it doesn't tell you like a standard road tire will, which screams and slips some before totally giving out unlike an R rated which just goes when it's past the limit.

heyyouduh

iTrader: (1)

none of the tires are R comps... though you can argue some of them are essentially R comps masquerading as street tires.

MicVelo

Wow, excellent, someone who gets it and doesn't do a lemming believing all the talk on forums!!

Ask him how he feels about coilovers.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

How often are you going to track the car ?

heyyouduh

iTrader: (1)

Not very often unfortunately. My current job situation pretty much wiped half of all weekends off right off the bat. I'd say 3-4 per season if I'm lucky.

AX8

You know what they about " Opinions on Tires " Threads....

" Everybody has 4...and a spare "

I would have never considered a Cooper tire before being offered it on this forum as a possible choice.

Did some research, and the Cooper RS Zeon series of tires rated surprising well.

I have the Zeon RS A and so far, 2,500 miles in, I'm IMPRESSED.

Check 'em out...

heyyouduh

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, in what capacity were you using them for? I googled but didn't get a lot of HPDE/daily dual reviews

MicVelo

Honestly, I'd just look at most any of the Max Performance tires (as classed by Tire Rack and now the mfgrs themselves). With 95% of your time on the street/hills, running DOT-Legal race tires would be wasted on shedding low durometer, sticky rubber on the interstate.

These max perf tires are so competent that dual running them for the limited amount of DE you plan to do really makes more sense. You'll be past the wear bars on R compounds before you have a chance at track running them.

Alternately, it makes more sense - at least to me - to save your money by picking up a second set of wheels/tires somewhere down the road just for track use.

heyyouduh

iTrader: (1)

that's what im thinking too. any comment on size? 275/295 vs 265/285? leaning towards latter as well.

JMII

I run the Hankook RS3 for DD and HPDE. I've had them 10 months which equals 8K DD miles and 7 track days - so far no complains but I also don't really have anything else to compare against. I live in FL so no worries about cold, just stay careful in the wet. I run V2 Touring wheels (8" F / 8.5" R) so can't really comment on size since I'm narrow compared to your setup.

MicVelo

255/275 is the combination closest to stock rolling diameters. But with a bit of fudge factor either of your mentions work.

My 19" sets are 245/275 (as is my 18" set), 255/275, and 255/285. Not a significant amount of height difference between them (well, nothing that causes any interference.)

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

I'm scared to.. lol

But I'm sure he'd be impartial cause on his track he's got full custom valves coils and on his daily he just runs drop springs.

Wait, you guys got a spare?!

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

Mic, I'm close to pulling the trigger (not a real one) on a set of tires. Looking at the Cooper RS3-S series with sizes 255/40/18 and 275/40/18.

I really wanted to bump it up to 285 or 295 for the rear, but I can't seem to find the right combo of tires within the brand and series.

What sayeth you?

MicVelo

That's a problematic combination in 18".

225 45% 18 25.97 Stock Reference Size
245 45% 18 26.68 Stock Reference Size

245 40% 18 25.72 Front-Alternate 1
255 35% 18 25.03
255 40% 18 26.03 Front-Alternate 2 (Best)
255 45% 18 27.04
265 35% 18 25.30
265 40% 18 26.35
275 35% 18 25.58
275 40% 18 26.66 Rear-Alternate 1 (Best)
285 30% 18 24.73
285 35% 18 25.85
285 40% 18 26.98 Rear-Alternate 2
295 30% 18 24.97
295 35% 18 26.13
295 40% 18 27.29
305 35% 18 26.41
305 40% 18 27.61

As you've found, the main problem in getting to 285 or 295 while maintaining proper rolling diameter/circumf., is low choice/availability (on a like-set of 4). Only "real" choices for real performance tires are Conti Extreme and Pirelli Zero Rosso, both very nice tires but a little pricey.

An alternative is going 35 aspect but to maintain proper F to R geometry, you'll need to go with both F&R 35 sizing, say 265/35, 295/35. Both are shorter than OE by about the same amount, around 0.50" to 0.60".

I personally don't like running my tire sets shorter than OE (speedo, wheel speed errors, fender gap) but that's MY preference. (I had a set of 265/35s that I gave away for this reason.)

With that, you also have to be careful about rear offset/clearance. Anything more aggressive than a 285 is going to cut into your offset choices.

But they work.

Downside: tire selection is still very slim though.

So, what did I do to solve this dilemma? For 18's, I run 255/40 and 275/40 and am VERY happy with the handling from this combination (Sumitomo HTR-ZIII), but all of my other wheels are 19s which affords me lots more tire choices. (And I'm selling my 18" RPF1s so that's all I'll have.)

Not what you wanted to hear about 18s but afraid that's fact if you want any width larger than 275 and are unwilling to pay the price of the Contis or Pirellis. (Or go down to 35 height s'walls and there's a decent selection)

Stay at 255/275, lots of choices.

For tires themselves:

Top three choices based on my experience on them (Z only) and their price points:

Sumitomo HTRZ-III
Kumho Ecsta PS91
Bridgestone Pole Position S-04

All of these have fit MY needs and preferences. High steering response, predictable behavior, decent utimate grip, low noise/relatively good comfort levels.

I know I'm in the minority but I'm just not a huge fan of Michelin (and a long ago experience with Pirellis that soured my palette for them: CN36s that separated, P7s that wore like pencil erasers at the SAT, P700s that flatted often.)

Every one of these I've owned - state of the art at the time - handled beautifully, but I ran into one problem or another that detracts from my repeat buying the brands... sidewall dry rot, excessive wear, and most recently, tread separation (on my Benz). Oh, and the cost.

Good luck, D!

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

Interesting and thank you for that insightful post! You are the man! I appreciate the post and you actually answered the question and solidified what I wanted to hear.

I have 245/40 and 275/40 Sumitomo's which I've been happy with for many years. However, I think if I increased the size up front to 255 like you suggested, I would be even happier.

I actually saved the 255/275 40 option in my shopping cart earlier today. Now to reach out and find someone who can fulfill that order.

The Conti Extreme DWS have been discontinued and are being replaced by the Sports. I was really set on these, but I can't wait that long for them to be available.

So my choices would include Sumi's, Kumho's, and Coopers. The cart I saved is for the Cooper Zeon RS3-S tires, but I'll go back and look at Sumitomo and Kumho to compare prices and availability.

Thanks again!

MicVelo

Anytime, D.

FYI, Kumho offering $100 mail in rebate (I think it's a Visa giftcard) for PS91s at Rack (and elsewhere I'd guess):

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...earDiameter=18

My assessment here (please take with grains of salt given that my use - and sizing - may differ):

https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-n...l#post10881561

FWIW, I've bought a lot of tires from EBay vendors - notably Discount Tire Direct - for cheaper (included shipping saves and even Tire Rack sells on EBay nowadays with "included shipping" but they price 'em the same as buying from their site plus shipping) and have had them locally installed by America's Tire (the retail outlet for DTD).

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

I'm getting my **** chewed out by a local autocrosser about my choices.

MicVelo

Just curious, what's being said?

Well, like I always emphasize, "It works for ME and MY needs." And who's to say? If I autocrossed and/or tracked my car, I would likely have a different opinion too because MY needs would be different.

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

He didn't like my brand choice, but we compromised. I found a set of Conti ExtremeSports on TR with the perfect sizes that we've been discussing.

So I'm going with the 255/275 40 18's setup.