Here's my first post (well, I already posted this on the mothership site but was told to come here), a cry for help. Someone said I should post this on the "tires" string... sorry, I don't know how to get around in here yet and my time is limited before I speed to Penticton on Sunday. Anyway, somebody help me out here...

I need new tires for my '02 WRX and I don't want to slide around on the crappy stock ones again (keeping the stock rims). I'm looking for something to have on all year; Specialty suggested Hankook ZR16 at $170 ea. installed, or Yokohama H4S at $202 ea. installed. Given that this is coming from a dealership, I'm guessing that these prices can be beaten elsewhere. Any comments on these tires and any suggestions on better deals would be greatly appreciated.

As for the proper tires to get... I've only taken the car to 150MPH a few times (and won't be heading to the rally realm for a few more years); however, I do drive at high speeds and corner hard all the time. Given this, are Z tires overkill for the average speed of this car or should I fit it with H? Or should I consider my manuevering over my speed and say that a Z tire would be better for my hard driving style? I'm low key and only care about technical aspects right now that fit my driving needs (still fully stock except the sti fog light protectors and window tint that were there when I purchased, and the Bel RX65 stuck to the windshield!).

K, thanks for any advice or hookups.

O.K. TIRE STORE (MARINE DRIVE S.W.)
The Max Tire Centre Ltd.
1006 S.W. Marine Drive
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6P 5Z3

604-261-6304

Ask for Johnny. His screen name around here is Bender. He'll set you up.

I would strongly recommend Dunlop SP5000's as a very solid year round tire. They manage all four seasons very well. I've had them out auto-x'ing and had them in the snow up in whistler and although they are not great at any one thing I think bang for buck it is the best all season.

hey good to see you dropped by after all :)

Tiretrends.com

Just got a new set of Proxes 4 mounted on my "winter" wheels, and so far they seem great. There wasn't much of a difference switching from my T1Rs in 17s to the Proxes 4 in 16s.

300 treadwear, AA traction and A temperature rating. And cheaper than whatever Specialty quoted you at $145ish.

All seasons, consensus so far on this board and elsewhere is to go with any of these tires:

Dunlop SP5000
Toyo Proxes 4
Falken Ziex ZE-512
Pirelli P-zero Nero M+S

pirelli p zero nero ms is the best all season hands down!

Another vote for the Toyo Proxes 4, I have them in 225/45/17 awesome tire, performance grip in summer, and decent grip in snow and mild ice.

Tim

Nothing beats a snow tire though. I ran Pirelli snowsports for the last few years, and they've been very good to me. In fact, they'll be going on my Odyssey this winter, while the WRX hibernates.

Yokohama H4s is an alright tire, but it's not very good in the snow. For the price, I wouldn't bother.

finally, check out tiretrends.ca
They have a ton of stock, and they're based in Maple Ridge. Good guys to deal with too.

hey good to see you dropped by after all :)

Thanks for leading me here, amarpauld.

Love the support, guys, thanks for the info; I'll put it to good use and think of you all while grinning on the Crow's Nest with my new sneakers.

Johnny (bender) from OK tire recommended me the Kumho ASX last year

^
I had a friend who ran Kuhmo snowies, and loved them. 3 times/week to Cypress and Seymour, he worked them hard. His little civic with LSD and twincam was unstoppable (not in a bad way ;) ) in the snow.