As its time for me to get some new rubber on my rear wheels, I have been searching almost every possible forum for the best comparisons.

Looking upon the most cost efficient tires providing tread life, dry traction, wet traction, trends in heat cycles and overall feel.

Personally, I drive 10-12K miles a year. However now plan to attend a track day or two this summer also (Autocross for now)
With living in southern California where rain can have its weird moments but for majority of the year it stays dry.

I have chosen 4 different tires with varying price ranges but pros and cons to each of course. Now it is time to ask the Z community for some of their personal experiences and opinions.

1) Bridgestone Re11 Best Found Price
Said to have a hair less dry traction than RS3s(good), firm sidewall, decent wet traction and handles heat cycles fair for a street tire with moderate tread life

2) Dunlop ZII Best Found Price
Know to have good dry grip, exceptional wet grip, noisy and poor tread life

3) Nitto nt05 Best Found Price
Said to be closest tire to being an Rcomp in dry conditions, poor traction in the wet, handles heat cycles well but tread life is not so promising.

4) Michelin Super Sports Best Found Price
Good dry traction except tends to get hot and greasy easily, good wet traction and said to hold tread life best out of the 4.

All are the same price range of $250/260 for the same size except for the Nittos at $200 a pop.

Anyone care to chime in their recommendation as it may help others as well.

 

Might want to take the Hankook RS3's into consideration. A new compound just came out for them.

 

Close to no info and reviews on the new compound yet.
They are the same price as the supper sports but have read alot that they turn into a lost cause once the touch the slightest hint of water

 

Nt05 is good in the water when new, is heat cycled out after less than 1 day, over a second slower when new than a well worn set of RS3's , wear really freaking fast till they are 1/32 tread, then those rocks seem to last with no traction.

I would buy an RS3, 275/35 square and call it a day.

 

Re-11s...daily drive.. No complaints

 

What he said

 

I daily drive Hankook RS3's. And they are awesome at the track once you get a bit of heat in them. Daily driving in rain conditions has not given me any problems, even at highway speed. I have not been to the track in rain conditions with them.

They seem to resist camber wear quite well (better than my Hankook V12's did!) The only only complaint I would have is they are sort of noisy for a daily drive tire. But hey, depending on your cars other mods, you may not even hear it!

But for what it's worth. My friend has the Michelen PSS on his 335is and he loves them. Very quiet and great and the rain (his words) and his car is making more power than an N/A Z would ever dream of.

 

I know my tires are usually frowned upon due to tire noise but if you have an exhaust it doesn't matter. I love my BFGoodrich G-Force KDW2 and the price is amazing. They also last long, way longer then the Potenzas I had.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....autoModel=350Z Base&autoModClar=

 

BFG Rival

 

Do you use on the street?

I was interested in them but I wasn't sure about how they are on the street with the wear rating.

 

The funny thing is. for the same size in the RS3s and the PSS (265/35/18)
The RS3s are cheaper by $3 haha. Link

So basically I am narrowing it down between the RS3s and the Super Sports....
and its pretty tough :/ just especially at the handling and longevity of them .. ugh

 

My brother runs rivals on his Mini. (street and a lot of autocrossing) He is happy with how long they last. They are not the fastest street tire, but they are still top-tier. I just installed a set on my Z and did one event with them. Because I am on 17" wheels, the widest I could get was 255's, but they were very fast, and handled heat pretty well.

 

interested but cant find my size anywhere?

 

+1 for RS3's. Should've made a poll for this thread Niko

 

Good idea Peter! Hopefully some more knowledgeable people can put their input

 

I think the obvious member to PM would be 03threefiftyz (especially since terrasmak has already provided input). I'll be dd'ing RS3's as soon as these Sumi's run their course. Good luck

 

I could not be happier with my Dunlop Star Specs as dual purpose tires. They have really good dry weather traction, not much change for me even over a 25-30 session as long as I keep the pressures set properly, and excellent wet weather traction. I did a track day at Barber Motorsports park in pouring rain with standing water in one section and they did great. On my latest set (275/35 square) I have 2 NASA HPDE weekends on them a plus another 2 day track weekend where I got as much track time in 2 days as I did in 4 with NASA and the tires are maybe 6/32 now. I will not hesitate to buy another set.

However with all the great reviews on the RS3 I am tempted to try them as well. I would be interested to here more peoples comments on wet weather traction with the RS3 as my understanding is it is not that great so that is one of the main reasons I have stayed away from them as a dual purpose tire.

 

Thats where i am hesitant also :/ especially because LA will get no rain the entire summer (as years past) and when it finally does, alot of the water run offs where I live get clogged with crap/trash and keep alot of the water on the road for some parts. And I dont plan on hydroplaning anytime soon.

Im more leaning to the PSS, simply due to the fact they will be a progressive tire for when I start learning the limits and capabilities of my car on the track. If I spin out on shitty tires, I know it would be a driver error versus a Tire like the RS3 that would compensate for the error and not really give me much to learn from...... if can get what im saying

 

I wouldn't worry about wet weather traction in Cali, they are some of the most grippy streets around.

 

True, but us in other parts of the country (Southeast) deal with plenty of rain. I assume by your comment that what I have heard is true, not that good in the wet?