I am in the the market for new tires for my 06 Grand touring Z, and it seems like the Yokohama ADVAN sport tire is the best all around tire that fits the larger GT wheels. Being in california, I have to worry about wet road performance when the winter comes around. I also of course want great dry weather performance as well. So is the Yokohama ADVAN sport tire the best street tire available?

 

The Michelin PS2s are awesome wet or dry. I have not tried those yoks, so I can't provide feedback on them, but I have tried various bridgestones and Kumho street tires and the PS2s are in a whole other league compared to those.

For what it's worth, this is a good review of several tires...

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....ticle_id=10252

 

i heart toyo's

 

I didn't like the Michelin PS2's. They have a high treadware rating of UTCQ 220. I like either the Potenza RE050 UTCQ 140 or the Advan Sport UTCQ rating of 180. The softer the tire the better the dry and wet grip should be.

JET

 

Have you looked into the Goodyear F1 GSD3? I dont have any experience on them put they have been getting good reviews.

 

Jet - keep in mind treadwear is a pretty useless number - there is no universal std. for treadwear so its only an apples to apples comparison with other tires by that manufacturer

A softer tire has little to do with wet grip - that's all tied to tread design.

 

I posted Consumer Reports and Car & Driver tire tests 50 times. Please search.

 

I have to disagree. The tread design has to do with water evacuation and the tires ability to resist hydroplaning. But when standing water is not present in the quantity necessary for hydroplaning to occur a softer compound rubber is beneficial in helping the tire stick to a wet road.

It is true that there is no standardized UTCQ rating, but in my experience I have always found that the softer the treadware rating from any given manufacturer is neither grossly harder or sfoter than the other manufactuer with the same ratings.

Silica is the new technology added to black carbon to soften the tread compound without sacrificing durability.

JET

 

I understand what you mean on the compound with respect to wet, but not standing water. I've honestly never had a tire not behave acceptably in merely wet conditions - I've always sort of rated them myself based on how well they handled standing water because in my own eyes, I find a bit of common sense driving can help keep things on the shiny side up in inclement weather.

As for the Conusmer Reports thing, its honestly old at this point and several of the tires are no longer made. Not to mention, tires are a very subjective thing that I find to be car dependant. Not every tire that is rated well does well in execution on every car. If you search on the boards here and see what Z owners are using, I think you'll find everyone has good things to say about the same 3 or 4 tires over and over. Use those recommendations and your budget to reach a decision

 

FTW!

Had a set of 17" on a celica that rocked! Put about 20k miles on them and they had plenty of tire left. Wet or dry they were predictable and gripped well, handled water pretty good when running down the highway.

 

The Advan Sport's are great tires for price...The P Zero's and Cup's are great tires as well but they cost quite a bit, but it all comes down to personal preference. Good luck with your decision.

 

I love the RE050As that come on the GT. I guess they aren't the best rain tire. I don't drive my Z in the rain much.

 

Got the yoko's on the rear, you cannot rotate them (left rear to right rear) as the manufacture doesn't recommend it. (written on the sidewall) So wear could be un even due to camber if car is lowered, but the tyre performs quite well in wet and dry.

 

you can rotate directional tires, its a sticky on this forum

 

I thin the consensus here is tha the OEM RE040's are less than desireable... But they have the same UTGQ rating of 140 as the RE050a's.

I am impressed with the RE050a on the 06 GT so far. On the m3, I went through many sets of tires and stopped trying other tires once I tried the PS2's. To be fair, I have not tries any yoks. But I tried several bridgestones on the bimmer and a couple Kumho models. When I got the PS2's on there, I had to really try hard to get the traction control to come on at all (in the dry). I wondered if it was broken for a while. It came on more often with lesser tires.

My impressions of the PS2:

- Very cushy ride, yet surprisingly crisp turn-in. not sure how they managed that
- VERY quiet tire from beginning of life to the end.
- very little carcass flex under hard cornering. Bridgestone were good as well, but the kumho sidewall felt loosey-goosey in the transitions. Once it settled into the corner it stuck well.
- very tough sidewalls. I have had bridgestone and Kumho tires (MX) wear very fast on the inside egde of the rear before the rest of the tread wore out. Even after alignments. I thought I had suspension problems until I put on the PS2. wear is perfectly even, edge-to-edge.
I'll find some pics. The bridgestone was not so bad, but I don't think the Kumho MX was up to the loads the M3 could dish out...

BTW, PS2 has dual-tread compound. outer 1/3rd edge is stickier for dry handling and the inside 2/3 is optimized for wet weather.



I'd be curious to know what THE tire is for the Z. Never occured to me that different tires might be better on different cars. I'll stay tuned...


FWIW... here's some pics of the Kumhos... (can't find the bridgestone pics, but their wear pattern was much better than the kumhos, just not as even as the PS2)





And here are the PS2s... nearly worn to the wear bars, but wear pattern is VERY even. nothing changed on the car from the Kumho to the PS2...