Tire reccomendations - post em up please

[Wurf]

Gotta get tires for the summer in a week or so. I have snows for winter and I'm only really interested in summer performance tires.

So far I've narrowed it down to:

1. Continental ExtremeContact DW
2. Hankook Ventus V12 Evo
3. Nitto Nt05

The Nitto probably isn't happening just because I don't feel they'll last more than one season. Leaning toward the Continental.

Looking for what you're running, what you've run, why you like what you have, what you don't like and any other opinions for me.

Getting 235/40/18's and putting them on RX8's. I'd like to pull the trigger next week.

Thanks everybody.

 

[spdjnke]

go with Continentals.

 

[Darth Vader]

The V12 is great. It really tames the dreaded torque steer and bump steer tendencies this car has. Feels a touch less precise on immediate turn in maybe but, actual performance is much better matched to the car than stiffer carcass tires.

 

[Domino81]

BFG g-Force Sports. I was looking at the Nitto 555's, too. I think they're both cheaper, too.

 

[Wurf]

I've done a lot of reading over the last few months looking into tires. tirerack, grassrootsmotorsports, caranddriver, and consumers reports have been my sources. The Continentals rated highly with will all of them except grassroots, primarily because grassroots only tested what amounts to street legal road racing type tires. The kind of tires you'd run for autocross like Direzza star specs, Hankook Ventus RS3, Khumo Ecsta XS, etc. Ultimate grip tires that will grind off in one season. Tires in this catagory are a little too soft and not quite good enough in the rain for a DD situation like mine.

Trouble for me with some tires is trading higher wear rating for traction with the expectation they'll last longer. I think a tire rated at say 300 UTQG won't last me twice as long as a 140 tire no matter what numbers they put on the sidewall. I'd rather not sacrifice the added grip, especially when I read about other problems that seem to arise when many of these harder, less aggressive tires are about 60% worn. Noise, cupping, delamination, and other defects seem to crop up long before you've worn them out. They might have good tread left but you're going to hate having them on the car for an entire season.

 

[knokout5]

i dont know how other tires can beat hankook's price-performance value, just from looking at its reviews

 

[Jdm_Mica]

just bought nitto 555 in 235/40. they were relatively cheap and greatly reviewed.

 

[spdjnke]

I second the NITTO NT555...been using them for over 10 years with zero issues...that's what I'm going back to once my stockers wear out.

 

[Wurf]

It's weird but the Nt555 design has been around seemingly forever. It's like the tire that won't die, which probably says something for it.
Sort of tossing them around Vs the Continentals now. Local discount tire doesn't have the Nt555 in stock but I guess I should just call and see what they say.

FWIW, last year I drove down to Tirerack in South Bend to have them mount my snow tires. I spent half the day in the lobby waiting with about 20 other dudes.
I got there early, and I was there for 4 hours! Took me an hour to drive there....the whole experience was just bulls***. I was so bored and pissed off I started walking laps around the facility, which is pretty sizable.

I'm never going to do that ever again. I have better things to do with my time just to save a little money.

 

[Jon MS3]

can't go wrong with your first two choices. i have the conti's dws on my wifes acura, and the hankooks on my ms3. haven't driven DW but the DWS are superb all around, so i'd expect the same or better from the DW. the hankooks i've had for about 12k miles. and they dont look worn at all? still hook up real well too!

 

[Outkast]

I'm running the V12 EVO's as my summers. They handle well, even under wet conditions, but got caught in an early snow dusting and they were horrible. Winter blizzacks went on quickly afterwards. Low road noise and comfortable ride. Can't beat the price! Good bang for your buck. Looks are okay. Original Bridgestones looked more aggressive, but hard on ones pocket. I mostly do highway driving and gas milage remained the same so I would buy another set.

 

[Wurf]

Starting to look like the Hankooks are the winner. Between what people say here, what C&D had to say in their tests, and what Consumers Reports had to say, it's looking like a no brainer. Plus I can get them all over the place for about the same price and I don't have to drive to South Bend.

 

[Wurf]

Called Discount Tire this morning. Tried to get some feedback from the sales guy between the NT555 and the Hankook V12 Evo but he wasn't overly helpful.
Decided to get the Hankooks and ordered them this morning. Mounted and balanced, comes to $725 out the door.

The guy tried to use some on-line tools to give me advice but his system only lets him work with OEM wheel and tire setups and he was pretty clueless otherwise. I already did the hard work for him with the help of the forum in deciding on the 235/40/18 size for the RX8 rims.

Thanks everybody

 

[MSMS3]

Let us know your impression with the tires, once you get them mounted.

I made a mistake, a huge one, deciding to go with A/S tires. I got good ones, the Pirelli P-Zero Neros. They are incredible for daily driving, but the tread compound is hard. I mean seriously hard. They just go up in smoke with my mods with any application of power in the lower gears and even burn all the way through third gear on a flat shift from second at 5,500 rpm.

So, I'm gonna go back to good dedicated serious summer tires when I get the chance and study this some more. Maybe soon, get some more rims and keep the A/S for what passes for winter here.

I was looking at RE-11s. I know they are pricy and I don't see than many of our forum members are running them. Maybe the Hankooks make more sense?

 

[Wurf]

Let us know your impression with the tires, once you get them mounted.

I made a mistake, a huge one, deciding to go with A/S tires. I got good ones, the Pirelli P-Zero Neros. They are incredible for daily driving, but the tread compound is hard. I mean seriously hard. They just go up in smoke with my mods with any application of power in the lower gears and even burn all the way through third gear on a flat shift from second at 5,500 rpm.

So, I'm gonna go back to good dedicated serious summer tires when I get the chance and study this some more. Maybe soon, get some more rims and keep the A/S for what passes for winter here.

I was looking at RE-11s. I know they are pricy and I don't see than many of our forum members are running them. Maybe the Hankooks make more sense?

With your mods, I'd look at the Nitto NT-05 if you really want the most stick for your dollar. Can't really say how much more they will grip than the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo in a straight line, but they are almost certainly a softer compound with a bit more grip and they have fewer voids in the tread too. Cost is about the same for both per tire.

 

[Darth Vader]

The hankooks are definitely summer compound. They work very well until the white stuff hits. Rain performance is excellent, traction is easily as good in all conditions as the RE50s at their best, which only worked when the temp climbed over 25 degrees C. They totally make sense on this car and it transforms the car's behaviour, as I mentioned before.

 

[Tgab8]

When replacing my original tires, I decided to go with A/S. The Goodyear Eagle GT. They're good grippy tires, but the sidewalls are a little soft. They 'roll' on hard cornering. So this led me to search for a new set of tires to go with the wheels I'll be getting soon.

OP: Let us know how they work for you. I've read a lot of good reviews on the Hankooks. This might be my dedicated summer tires as well.

 

[Wurf]

Got them mounted on my rattle canned silver RX8's today and they look great. Can't wait to get them on the car and put the snows away till fall.
The rims came out pretty nice but are far from perfect. There's a few defects in the paint and a slight drip in a couple places. I don't give a s*** as they look pretty great to me from five feet. I used the Duplicolor wheel coating and did them in silver, then had them cleared by a body shop. The clear is pretty glossy but they'll be easier to clean for me and they look nice.
I promise to put up pics and post impressions of the tires.

 

[MSMS3]

^ Yes, please post up the pics. And thanks for the advice on summer tires. If I EVER wear out these hard as bricks A/S tires, I'm gonna go back to summer tires. Or maybe I'll try to find a used set of stock (I'm seriously into stealth) rims and go ahead and get some sticky soft stuff for 9 months of the year.

 

[Wurf]

Ok,
Michigan weather was cloudy today but took pics nonetheless. Very glad to get the snows off.

The tires so far - I only test drove it after mounting them today about six miles. They ride really nice and pickup every grain of sand on the roads and throw it into the wheel wells. Our roads are still a mess around here from the plows and the salt sand mix. Otherwise they seem great so far. No issues with the TPMS sensors and no shakes or shimmy. Everything is working well. Basically same as brand new with the exception of a better ride a bit less off center response like others have reported. I think that comes from the wider rubber, slightly different sidewall VS the Bridgestones, and slightly wider section width to rim width ratio.

Fender gap is a bit more than stock but I don't care and have no plans to lower. Not around these parts. You need clearance to get over the dead raccoons, rabbits, possums, skunks, tree branches, retread and asphalt chunks, and other debris on Michigan roads that unexpectedly end up in your path.

As for the pics - dirty calipers fail, fender gap fail, lighting fail, otherwise OK IMO. Probably going to paint the calipers black later this summer when it gets warmer and I have moar time.