Ok. Details:

02 RS Sedan. 17 x 7.5 Rota's. Prodrive springs.

My top tire choices (95% daily-street. Maybe a lil auto-x in the future if I can ever get free time) They'll most likely be 225/45's, but maybe I'll go with a 235/45

I doubt I need an all-season tire. I'm here in Charlotte, NC, where we haven't even gotten a drop of snow in the past two years. A good deal of rain, but otherwise pretty mild temperatures and good weather. I really want a summer tire that will have decent treadwear. I don't drive that aggressively, and I may only put a max of about 11-12k on the car a year. However, it seems so hard to find a decent treadlife when it comes to summer tires. Only reason why I really care about treadwear is that I'm a college student and I need these tires to stretch for a while :)

Here are my picks:

(in order of top priority)

1.) Falken Azenis St115s. I've heard these are great all seasons, and they are perfect when it comes to pricing.

2.) Kuhmo Ecsta SPT - I've heard these are a great new tire from Kuhmo, and supposedly they have better performance and grip than the ST115's.

3.) Sumitomo HTR ZII's - I've heard a few good comments, but nothing much.

4.) Kuhmo MX - was at the top of my list awhile ago, but I heard of awful treadwear stories.

Finishing it up:

5.) Pirelli PZero Nero M+S - I've noticed many people running these, but they are at the end of my budget when it comes to price.

6.) BFGoodrich Gforce T/A KDW2 - Discount tire around Charlotte have these going at super cheap prices. I've heard they have a crappy sidewall though, with only decent/fair treadwear.


As of now, I'm really torn between the ST115 and the SPT.

Ok. So, which would you pick? Any other recommendations?

Any help would be great! Hm, I'll add a poll

11 views? Not a single opinion? :)

Aw comeon guys. No opinions?

Here are my picks:and my notes are in red

(in order of top priority)

1.) Falken Azenis St115s. I've heard these are great all seasons, and they are perfect when it comes to pricing. they are not all-season, they are summer tires. never been tested that I'm aware of, but people that have 'em love 'em. designed to be much quieter and have longer treadlife than the higher performance FK451's

2.) Kuhmo Ecsta SPT - I've heard these are a great new tire from Kuhmo, and supposedly they have better performance and grip than the ST115's they tested pretty well here:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testResultsModel.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=ECSTA+SPT

but unless you see them tested against the ST115 in a controlled objective test, I would take anyone's opinion about which is better with a large grain of salt

3.) Sumitomo HTR ZII's - I've heard a few good comments, but nothing much. did not test well against the Yokohama ES100, which is a tire that the SPT beat in its test - forget 'em

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testResultsModel.jsp?tireMake=Sumitomo&tireModel=HTR+Z+II

4.) Kuhmo MX - was at the top of my list awhile ago, but I heard of awful treadwear stories. that's because it is an extreme performance tire with excellent dry grip - much better than the other tires you've listed. The Hankook RS2 Z212 is a similar tire, and perhaps a better choice. treadwear is not the reason for buying either of them, however

Finishing it up:

5.) Pirelli PZero Nero M+S - I've noticed many people running these, but they are at the end of my budget when it comes to price. also all-season, which you say you do not need. if you don't need M&S - don't get it

6.) BFGoodrich Gforce T/A KDW2 - Discount tire around Charlotte have these going at super cheap prices. I've heard they have a crappy sidewall though, with only decent/fair treadwear. they probably have a stiffer sidewall than any tire you've listed other than the MX, and they'll outperform any other tire you've listed as well - wet or dry - except the MX in the dry. their main problem is that they're noisy, and treadlife is nothing to write home about


As of now, I'm really torn between the ST115 and the SPT. good, because these two tires meet your stated needs better than any of the others

Ok. So, which would you pick? Any other recommendations? which is cheaper? ST115 is likely to be quieter, if that makes any difference

Any help would be great! Hm, I'll add a poll I hate polls!!!

MXs: will provide far more dry grip than the rest. Too much grip to be a practical drift tire. MXs are good in the rain. They are near-R compound and will wear quickly (as they should) in competition/aggressive driving. They must be properly rotated for maximum wear. I've got 30K miles on the MXs: mostly freeway miles to work and back with some aggressive highway and county road driving every weekend. I run 38F and 35R on 225 45 17.

for performance tires in general: longer tread life = less grip

ripvw, thanks for the in-depth opinions! I appreciate it!

I'm thinking now that maybe I should have added the BFGoodrich g-Force Sport in with the rest.

Man, I never knew there was such a wide range of tires and debates about tires. Lot to absorb.

Free bump, I'd like some more info from anyone who has driven on the SPTs. The reivews on tirerack are fairly mixed, the test results seem good (although against the Yokos, which are not highly spoken of here).

Free bump, I'd like some more info from anyone who has driven on the SPTs. The reivews on tirerack are fairly mixed, the test results seem good (although against the Yokos, which are not highly spoken of here).
Haven't driven on the SPT's, but rode with a friend who has them on his winter beater (lives in FL, so summer tires on a winter beater are acceptable). He likes them very much and would recommend getting them again as a good daily driver tire. He is quite knowledgeable about such things and is a very good autoxer so I trust his opinions.

Update:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/images/catalog/tires/gforcesport_large.jpg

I actually did a last-minute flip. I decided on the BFGoodrich G-Force Sports. 225/45/17. Reviews are great about their dry performance. Not nearly as noisy as the KDW series, and the Sports are reviewed to have a way better treadlife.

Honestly, it was a flip of the coin over the ST115's and the Sports. The BFGoodrich's just seemed to have better performance with a far superior looking tread pattern (I'm a sucker for "cool" tires.) ST115's were supposed to be quieter with a bit longer treadwear, but I don't mind a lil bit of noise and a lil sacrifice of treadwear for some better performance.

Never used BFGoodrich before, so hopefully I'll be plesantly surprised.

Thanks mucho for all the help guys! :D

Let us know how you like them- I'm pretty much set on them myself. They're rated pretty well on Tirerack and are less than $100 a piece. Worth a try.

As far as BF Goodrich tires- I had good luck with my Gforce KDWS' for all-seasons.

^^^^

Thus far I can't comment too much. I've only put about 100 miles on them. However, my initial thoughts of them are very positive. They are FAR quieter than my Kuhmo 711's. I'm sure some of that is due to the 711's being 215, and the BF's being 225. A bit more padding.

Cornering is very good, with what seems to be a very nice sidewall. Firm, but not extreme.

Wet traction is again better than the 711's, but as it's still a summer tire, it's nothing amazing. I have a lot more confidence in these though.

They set the tire pressure to only about 35 PSI all around. Max load is about 44, so I assumed I could try about 38-40 and try for some more results.

These are just some quick comments on them. I'm only a n00b tire-nut, so my opinions aren't going to be the most reliable. I can really only compare these BF's to my Kuhmo's and to the stockers.

But for under $100 a tire, I think they are the best option for a good performance tire. I couldn't be happier with the purchase. If I didn't get these, I would have definitely scooped up the ST115's from Falken.

^ I guess you didn't happen to read Tireracks own Test results for that tire. It is rated just above the dunlop FM901s which are complete trash and just below the Kumho 712s which suck.