NASIOC specific tire review (please respond)

[2Stroke]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)

Falken Azenis Sport RT-215 205/55-16

#2.) what is your geographic location

Southern California

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)

None.

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving

35% highway 65% city

#5.) your review and personal comments

I put these stock size tires on my stock wheels (16x 6.5) to replace the RE-92's, and used them like any other street tire for ~6000 miles.

The Good:

The grip level on dry pavement is outstanding. Even in the stock size, lateral cornering force exceeds .96g. The side bolsters in the 03 WRX seats are inadequate for these tires.

Steering response is much improved over the RE-92's, and the steering feels much more direct in mid-corner. They respond to small steering corrections quickly and predictably, whether it's a lane change or a mid-corner correction.

They slide progressively at the limit. They inspire confidence when driving quickly.

They have a reasonably comfortable ride.

They are not expensive.

They have a soft tread compound which provides good adhesion.

The Bad:

They have a soft tread compound which provides short tread life.

They are very NOISY. They are so noisy over some types of pavement that the whole dashboard vibrates.

They hydroplane fairly easily. I slow down if I see standing water.

We don't have mud in Southern California, except near the man-made lakes, but if we did, I wouldn't try to drive thru it on these tires. Ditto snow, hail, or any kind of ice.

Compared to the Toyo T1S

After 6,000 miles on the Falkens, I bought a set of 215/45-17 Toyo T1S tires on 17" P1's. Only toward the end of their life did their dry grip levels approach the stock size Falkens, and even then they never were quite as good. This in spite of the Toyo's being 215/45-17's and almost twice the price. I should note that the Toyos were equal or better in every other category of tire performance, making them better for daily use, but for sheer performance on dry pavement, the Falkens are superior by a substantial margin.

Edit: The Falkens have about 7000 miles on them now, and have about half their tread left. Because they are on the stock rims, they are now the 'spare set' of tires.

Cliff notes:

Dry performance per dollar spent is off the scale, but there are trade-offs. If you live in SoCal, you can use them as street tires.

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

[Karlfly]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review

FALKEN FK451 225/40/17


#2.) what is your geographic location

HOUSTON, TEXAS

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)

NONE YET

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving

65% CITY 35% HIGHWAY

#5.) your review and personal comments

LOVE THEM ALL THE WAY AROUND. AS GOOD AS THE STOCK RE070 ONLY CHEAPER BY $100 A TIRE.

[Unabomber]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review: Toyo Proxes 4 205/50-16

#2.) what is your geographic location: Virginia Beach, VA

#3.) what types of driving events if any: None

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving: 35% highway 65% city

#5.) your review and personal comments:

I put these tires on my stock wheels to replace the stock RE-92's, and used them like any other street tire for ~2000 miles. I hope to update this as my opinion changes.

The Good:

The grip level on dry pavement is outstanding at the extremes. For everyday driving, the tires feel the same. I will say that they are slightly "bumpier", in the way that new, stiffer springs make you feel more road bumps. I attribute this to the 50 series' smaller sidewall and probably stiffer sidewall over the RE-92s.

The wet grip is awesome! The tire noise is higher as you can REALLY tell that these tires are pumping some water into the wheel wells. By driving like an idiot in some really deep puddles, I actually tried to get the tires to hydroplane. No such luck. I have never experienced better tires in the wet.

Steering response is much improved over the RE-92's. The only sloppiness left in the steering wheel is the steering rack bushings. The firmness of these tires makes the steering rack bushings an obvious next mod.

They have a comfortable ride. Overall feeling is VERY similar to the stock tires in terms of feel and noise when daily driven. They do have more noise than stock in the rain though, but that is an excellent trade off for the fabulous wet performance these tires have.

They are not expensive. $350 shipped from edgeracing.com is a deal and a half for all season performance tires.

The Bad:

No negatives that I have seen so far, but I only have 2000 miles so far.

Compared to the RE-92s

Not a whole lot of difference. Wet traction is MUCH improved. Otherwise, in day to day driving, you won't see/hear/feel much difference to be honest. Obviously, the harder you drive, the more apparent the good differences listed above will be.

SIDE NOTE The tires I got are slightly smaller than the OEM size. I've heard that this will increase your gear ratio and you will feel a slight performance increase because of this. I honestly feel this is a true statement. Straight line acceleration is slightly improved. If memory serves, it is a 3% difference based on the slightly smaller size.


Cliff notes:

If you are looking for a bang/buck all season tire, there really is no equal to these tires. I would recommend these to anyone seeking a replacement all season tire. For $350 for all four tires, you really can't go wrong. There are equivilant tires out there, but when you compare the costs, Toyo ownz them.

[mpaone]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review: Pirelli P Zero Nero 205/50-16

#2.) what is your geographic location: Alpharetta GA

#3.) what types of driving events if any: None yet

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving: 55% highway 45% city

#5.) your review and personal comments:

So far I've had three sets of tires on my MY98 Impreza L (aside from the 15" stockers). These were Falken Azenis sports, BF Goodrich G-Force KDW and the Pirellis.

Comparing them all, the Pirellis have BY FAR the best wet grip. I can take corners in the pourng rain at about 90% of the speed that I take them in the dry.
Adversely, the Azenis become scary in the wet after about 5k miles. They are by far the best in the dry but at the cost of noise and rapid tire wear.
So far the Pirellis have been the smoothest out of all three and not noisy at first... but not they howl like crazy (after about 8k miles). I drive fairly agressively on the street and like to head to some twisty mountain roads ever now and then so they are easily half way through their usable life at this point.
The one thing I can say I don't really like about the Pirellis is that they don't feel like they really grip until you get to the max adhesion point in a turn. What I mean is it feels like they are almost all-seasons up to a point but they just keep gripping. I think the problem may be that I'm used to a stiffer sidewall overall.

Next tire I'm going to try the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 in the same size.

-Mike.

[Crash477]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)

Pirelli PZero Nero M&S 225/45/17

#2.) what is your geographic location

Balsam/Cullowhee NC.

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)

None yet, but come Sept. that will change!

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving

50-50

#5.) your review and personal comments

Well I just had these tires mounted on my 17" Rota Tarmac II's on friday, and had put them on Saturday morning. I have only put about 70 miles on them so far, but from what I can tell they are great tires! Not loud at all, perhapse just a tad noiser than the RE92's, but still VERY quite in cab. I'm going for a drive tomorrow where I can test them more thoroughly, and I will let you all know the results. I plan to go to Carolina Motorsports Park September 17th as well with these tires, so I will let you know how they do there too.

OK, update after 300 miles. These tires rock! I went for a very spirited drive on the parkway late at night, and pushed it to the limit, but these tires just stuck. I easily went 5-10 mph faster around corners than with the re92's. I love these tires!!

[Monkeynutz]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review

http://www.goodyearassurance.com/htm...verview_1.html

Goodyear Assurance ComforTred P205/55R16

#2.) what is your geographic location

East Bay area, CA

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)

Since I've only had the car and now the tires for a little while... freeway on-ramps and off-ramps

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving

60 freeway 40 city

#5.) your review and personal comments

Such an amazing difference in steering response and feel. Plus the tires live up to their name... very little road noise and they really do absorb bumps better (I have a couple of mean ones around where I live on the freeway.) I probably wouldn't have bought them if it wasn't for the other great user reviews that I've read and the grip, handling, weather rating, etc. that they have recieved since they aren't a "performance" tire like they market the tripletred assurance tire (which they don't make in the stock wrx size) I haven't driven them in the rain yet, but I also haven't even been able to reach their limits yet (and I've tried a few times ) I also like the fact that they natuarlly stay "blacker" than other tires I've had.

80k miles waranty helps too

[machron1]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)
Falken Azenis Sport 245/45/17 on a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

#2.) what is your geographic location
Portland, OR

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
Open Track, DE, AutoX, Mountain Carving

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
50/50

#5.) your review and personal comments
I like these tires. 18K miles with substantial negative camber before I finally need new ones. They are starting to drop off performance wise, but when they were fresh man they were great. Probably too noisy for most people, just about as noisy as the stock Advan A046's. Rain was never a problem. I never experienced the purported greasiness others claim to have experienced, but I never pushed them in extreme heat. The time I thought they were greasy, it was just because they were picking up rubber left by the CHAMP race cars the previous weekend.

I do recommend filling them with nitrogen instead of air for track days because they retain heat and expand with normal air, so you have to deflate them when they heat up or you'll lose a lot of grip and they will start squeeling. When they are normal temp, the squeeling is low pitched, but when they expand the squeeling is much higher.

I wish I could get them again they are on back order till October, so I'm going with Kumho Ecsta MX in 255/40/17. Winter is coming anyway, and hopefully by next season I'll have some bling rim/tires for the street, and some R compounds on the stock rims for track days.

[grindMARC]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)
Avon M500 215/45/17

#2.) what is your geographic location
Dirty Jerz (NJ)

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
Less than 5 AutoXs a year.

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
80 highway/20 city

#5.) your review and personal comments
I've already put 1000 miles on these tires in two weeks. Immediately I noticed two things about them over the previous Hankook summer tires I had. The sidewalls are MUCH stiffer and they're alot less noisy. Dry grip is equal or better than the Hankooks. Rain? Forget about it -- these tires are far better in the rain then any other tire I've driven. Its no wonder these tires were fastest in the wet at Tireracks test day. We had some torrential downpours here earlier in the week as Ivan passed through. Except in an area where there was a significant amount (3-4 inches) of standing water (imagine giant splashes of waters as I drove through) they didn't hydroplane once on my ride home -- and I wasn't driving slow.

This rubber seems softer to the touch in comparision to my previous tires, so I have a feeling that they will wear faster.

My wife also has these tires on her Protege 5 (16s) and shes mentioned more than once that she has a new confidence in the rain. I've also noticed that they're alot quieter than the Dunlop SP5000s that came with her car.

[JCampbell]

[[email protected]]please answer these questions

#1.) Conti ExtremeContact 205/55/16


#2.) Omaha


#3.) no events yet...


#4.) ~90% interstate


#5.) After selling my 17" rims I wanted an all-season that was at least 'good' in the snow so I bought the Contis from TRack after reading a lot of reviews. I've had snow tires before and I have to say that in the snow the Contis are amazing. To illustrate, my wrx is lowered on ProDrive springs; last winter I made it up my hill through ~8" of virgin snow, without a problem. In contrast, the stock RE's wouldn't make it up the same hill that had been plowed and sanded.
The tires are equally impressive in the wet.
In the dry they are starting to howl more when pushed and they are a little noisier than some other tires I've run, including the Hankook K104. The noise is tolerable, not a howl or rumble... closer to a slight whine.
They are predictable at the limit and won't let go without giving you plenty of warning that they have reached their limit.
If you don't want to switch between snows and summers the Contis are a good compromise, especially if you only get some occasional snow.

[Back Road Runner]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)
Firestone Indy 500
size: 215/70/R14

Vehicles used on: 1989 Buick Lesabre, 1988 Ford Ranger 2wd

#2.) what is your geographic location
United States, SE Minnesota

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
No events

However, daily "agressive" driving. I tend to push my cars and tires to and past their limits for fun a little more often than a sane person should. I spend lots of time with the throttle pegged and the car sideways with these tires, lol, not in a bad way.

Conditions experience: asphalt dry/wet, gravel dry/wet/packed/loose rock, winter deep snow/packed snow/icy snow/ice+gravel/ice+asphalt/combinations of all of the above, lol

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
50% each

#5.) your review and personal comments
The Indy 500 is a suprisingly amazing tire, more so than you would first expect. Coming from Firestone and all of their tread problems, one would normally be weary. However, after reading all the rave reviews on Tirerack, I figured I'd be fine.

Impressions:
Wow, and squishy?
The first thing you'll notice is their soft, quiet ride or perhaps supple and silent.

The second thing you'll notice when you take your first corner is squishiness? Yep, the sidewalls are suprisingly soft and tend to feel like they roll over quite a bit, although not as much as it feels. Also note, these are 215/70/R14 tires and I was running them at 35psi, a bit below their max 44psi.

The third thing you'll notice is that these things GRIP...on everything! If you can get past the squishy feel and start to really push the tires, they grab like no tomorrow...on everything.

Running a +2ton car at speeds 20mph over posted speeds is a pretty good achievement, well there was that one 30mph corner that I could do +80 around but 30mph was marked a bit safe. I was running Michellin MX4 Rainforce tires previously, and the Indy's could take corners a good 30% higher than the Michellins. All you'd hear was a low hum too. A soft compound means quiet, low pitched squeals too. Oddly, it's not just asphalt they're good at.

Once you hit gravel, they grab like truck tires, seriously! I've never driven so confidently at +80mph down a gravel road. Braking was equally impressive even on loose gravel.

They got switched to the truck prior to winter(car tranny died), so my snow experience is only on the 2wd truck with an essentially 100% open diff. When the snow fell, they went right through. They handled the cold temps quite well too with their soft compound. However, on very packed(icy) snow or on ice, the compound didn't seem as well as Michellin's. This might be a touch biased being my first time driving that truck in winter and the truck being oh so crappy all around, lol.

Final Thoughts:
If you're looking for a seriously grippy tire and still desire a soft, quiet ride, these are probably the number one tire you could ever find. The sidewalls were a touch soft, but being a 70 aspect ratio tire, you'd expect some. As well, going up to 44psi does help quite a bit when I did that on the truck just before I got my Forester. Oh, wear, something I haven't mentioned. These things wear unbelievably well. Short rounding off the square edges of the new tire, they show essentially no additional wear after 1000's of miles, and I wasn't being the least bit easy on them. These will be the next tires on my Forester, period!

[BriarRabbit]

see unkadave below

[unkadave]

#1.) 225/40/18" Goodyear F-1 gs d3's on 14.6lb 18x8" SSRcomps
#1.A) vehicle: 02 wrx wagon - dyno'd at 278whp 13.02 1/4 Tein coilovers.
......Link to mods
#2.) Eugene, Oregon

#3.) Canyon or country road driving for enjoyment

#4.) 50/50 road / city

#5.) Had 17" 225/45 Michelin PS2's meh. To much slop in the 45 series gave them back. Put on the 225/40/18" Goodyear F-1 gs d3's on 14.6lb 18x8" SSRcomps

The Goodyear gs d3's are very quiet, comfortable, and will pull enough lateral g's to make your eyes bleed. Not to sure about wear. Spendy $180? per.

Had to roll the fenders all four corners. Baseball bat. Worked fine.

[Uncle Scotty]

dave....ya only had the PS2's for 350(or so) miles......i think it was all in ya head...

[unkadave]

Originally Posted by Uncle Scotty

dave....ya only had the PS2's for 350(or so) miles......i think it was all in ya head...

..................HAR

Man I've had performance cars since before my 67 Sunbeam Tiger (160mph+). Think I know what a grippy tire is. Have had poeple in the car with both sets on also. Plus you said you did not really like the PS2's.

I think you may be the one stuck in an old concept. Sry.......



SSR comps with Goodyear 225/40/18" ..278whp Mustang dyno

[scrmblr2]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)
Continaental Conti Extremes (235/45/r17 i think)

#2.) what is your geographic location
Chicago Burbs

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
Auto X

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
probably about 60 hwy/40 city/burbs

#5.) your review and personal comments
These tires were purchased for my sti. I auto x with them, and 1 event oin stock. Although the cont's did not grip as well as the stock, no surprise there, they howled like banshees, but were VERY progressive. I could easily 4 wheel drift/slide them at will in corners when auto x. So much so, I took a guy who drives an evo rs for a ride, and he siad something along the lines of, "That was frigin awesome. Most fun I had today!" We have had some light snow and rain here since they were mounted. So far, they are better than the yoko es100's I had on my wrx. I was contemplating the P zero M+S. Just didnt look like they would do well in heaviers snow. I would recommend these tires to anyone right now. Very happy with the purchase.

[scotto]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)
Firestone FZ50 EP 215-45-17


#2.) what is your geographic location
So Cal


#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
eeeek, none (well one auto-x with oem stuff...) :0


#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
50/50 normally sane speeds with spirited cornering


#5.) your review and personal comments
Bought these based on tirerack research. Thanks!
This is my second set. 24-25k first set. A bit better than the re stuff.
I have about that on my second set now.
8.8 Turn in
9.0 Road holding
9.2 Braking
8.7 Wet
8.2 hydroplane resist
2.0 snow (don't! )
9.2 Steering feel
9.3 predictable-confidence
8.6 ride comfort
9.0 initial - 8.0 worn for noise
highlights took a 5200 mile drive up pacific coast + mountains to Seatle-British columbia over to Calgary, back via Glacier National Park, Yellowstone Tetons, Vegas... This on a new set of tires. Couldn't imagine a better tire overall. Rode nice, great grip, confidence, quiet (especially when newer). Very few hang with me through corners with these tires. Got the last set locally for $118 per wheel.

They really feel like they "belong" on the car. Steering weight increased with this tire wheel combo - which makes me feel more connected to the road.

I am considering a possible change to all season for some ski/mountain drives in slicker stuff, maybe pzero nero m&S. Hope I don't lose too much in the dry with these!

[nos]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)

205-55-16 Dominator cheapo tires less than $70 per tire mounted

#2.) what is your geographic location

Minnesota
#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
Road

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving

50/50
#5.) your review and personal comments

Great cheap tires ans they are a step up from the factory Re92. They are T rated, so lower speed rating, since I just wanted cheap tires for winter. But they handle, stop everything else in between better than the stock tires. Great in snow, rain and good in the corners, at least for T rated stuff.
Thanks for your participation

[The legend]

Originally Posted by RA29

#1.) what tire are you offering for review
225/45/17 Continental Extreme Contact All-season

#2.) what is your geographic location
WA

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
None

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
50% hwy, 50% city

#5.) your review and personal comments
The Continentals totally suck. They squeal like a pig on both wet/dry and it is so easy to break loose due to the lack of grip.
Previous tire was Bridgestone Potenza SO1(summer tires) which did really well and no squealing.
The Continentals do not give me any confidence.
They also have a "floaty" feeling and disconnects me from the road.
I cannot recommend these tires at all.

Going to try the Michelin Pilot Sports AS and PS2.

I couldn't agree more i've had these tires for 8 months and the only conclusion i can come to is that they are complete garbage.

[tazswing]

#1.) Toyo Prox 4, 225/45/17 (Rota SDRs).

#2.) NY Tri State Area

#3.) Spirited back-road driving, general commuting.

#4.) 50% highway

#5.) These tires grab all the power of COBB Stg. II off the line, track very well and corner well, although I notice more under-steer, but I think that is to be expected with the larger tire size. These tires are great in slush/rain, but when the temp gets below 35(F), the tires get hard very fast and hence become slippery in corners. They are also very poor in deeper snow, the treads do not release at all.

After these tires are done, I am going to a dedicated summer/winter set-up. With the changes of season we get around here in NY, an all-season cannot get very deep into the winter. I do not know how they handle real hot temps yet either.

[ripvw]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)
Falken GRB FK451 in 225/45x17 on 17x7.5 Rota Attacks

#2.) what is your geographic location
Houston, Texas

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
none

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
70/30 plus runs to the Hill Country whenever possible. These tires make you want to seek out twisty roads.

#5.) your review and personal comments
huge increase in grip over stock RE-92s both wet and dry, they do not slide like RE92s but stick noiselessly. Very impressive dry braking as well. Can't say I notice the 5lb per tire weight increase - wheels weigh the same as stock - too busy enjoying the massive increase in grip. At 36/36psi they seem to come into their own, nice and stiff without feeling harsh. Excellent dry grip - very enjoyable on twisty roads. No tramlining, and the tire is a lot quieter than the RE92 on almost every road surface. They are noisy over some overpasses and bridges, however. Incredible in the rain - complete sense of confidence, have not found their hydroplaning limit yet. Very pleased, highly recommended as a first quality wet-biased, max performance tire at a bargain price.

[nhluhr]

#1.) Kumho Ecsta MX 245/40R17 on heavily modded WRX


#2.) Northern Virginia


#3.) Always fast road and mountain


#4.) 50/50


#5.) No tire beats the value of the MX. Superb dry grip for the money. However, the wet surface grip is mediocre at best. Hydroplaning resistance is quite good until the end of the tire's life. These tended to get slippy when hot such as in extended twisties with repeated full traction cornering and braking.

[nhluhr]

#1.) Bridgestone Potenza RE070 225/45R17 on Modded STI


#2.) Northern Virginia


#3.) Faster Road & Mountain than before


#4.) 50/50


#5.) Never had a tire with dry grip this good but the wet surface grip is merely good and the hydroplaning resistance is okay when new and mediocre when halfway worn. The steering response is incredible (but the ride quality suffers badly) and they resist extended high-temperatures from canyon carving better than any tire I've used to date.

[Magnum626]

Toyo Proxes 4 205/55/16

NYC

Spirited driving....so far

50/50 hwy/city

Had these for about 4k miles, great all season, excellent in the rain.....
Took a ride in the snow....they were ok below 3 inches, anything above was eh....
So far the tread is holding up very well...

[WRC-Go]

#1.) what tire are you offering for review (please include size)
Michelin Pilot Sport 2 in 225/45x17 on Prodrive P1s 17X7

#2.) what is your geographic location
Southwest VA

#3.) what types of driving events if any (i.e. track, AutoX, RallyX)
none

#4.) percent of highway vs. city driving
70/30

Initial comments:

Just put these on yesterday. Initial impressions are these are very, very good tires. I will edit this and add more as I gain more data points - haven't tried them in rain yet, for example. On my daily-driven uphill mountain two-laner, I felt very comfortable hitting apexes at 5-10 mph more than the stock RE-92s I was using as winter tires. I wasn't really pushing it either...

They are about as noisy as the RE's. Ride quality is about the same as the RE's also, even though these are lower profile. They are really sticky new; wonder if they'll stay that way - you can hear the gravel hitting the wheel wells on the driveway, something the RE's do not do. Don't know if that's the tread compound or just the new-ness of them...More later...

Edit: couple of things: they're great in the rain. Also, almost forgot, when I took them in to get them mounted they needed ZERO weights to balance them perfectly - all four. First time this has ever happened to me personally...

[RIP_2my_GC8]

Tire: Falken AZENIS Sport - 225/45/ZR17

Car/Suspension Mods: 2002 WRX Wagon - 2004 STi "Pink" Wagon springs, 2004 STi Group-N Strut tops, GDB Rear KYB AGX struts, GC8 Front KYB AGX Struts, Ingall's Camber bolts in rear, Cusco Front/Rear Sway bars set on stiffest setting, Helix front/rear Solid endlinks, Cusco Rear Strut tower bar, Cusco Front Underbody Brace, 17x7 Buddy Club P1 wheels.

Geographic Location: South Orange County, California

Types of driving events: None

Percent of Highway vs. City driving: 65/35

Comments:

At $87/tire mounted and balanced I would definitely say these are a steal! These tires have a radical tread pattern with big solid blocks that really give them a nice grip on dry surfaces. Dry traction is easily 9.0+. Wet Traction in light rain is 8.5+. Wet traction in standing water(hydroplane resistance) is 6.0. Tramline(Tire following grooves or imperfections in the road) resistance is 9.0+. As far as noise level they aren't as quiet as the stock RE92s but they are certainly tolerable. I would rate them at 8.0+ for noise. I would rate the comfort of these at about 8.0+ since they are not the most forgiving of tires but they are quite cushiony considering their purpose. Wear I would rate at easily 9.0+ if you rotate them at the proper intervals and if you don't use them for autocross/track events. Considering how soft their compound is they wear very well. I measured them at 8/32nds after 4,000 miles. If you do then obviously you will notice they wear much faster than what I have experienced.

The only gripes I really had were the fact that they have only 1 circumferential groove(channel cut along the tires circumference to provide space for water to keep the tire in contact with the road so you dont hydroplane). They have very stiff sidewalls which provides great steering feedback. The car's body actually feels as if its leaning less regardless of suspension setup. With the setup i currently have it feels more solid going into and exiting corners than a stock STi and a stock Evo. When balanced these tires were 0.00 without needing any weights at all. If you avoid standing water or you just hold the steering wheel with both hands you'll be just fine in the rain. I can comfortably do 80+ when its pouring out without worrying about losing control of the car.

Contrary to other comments, these tires to not get greasy at all when hot. They do very well in hot/cold temperatures. You do want to run more pressure than stock though, (stock is ~32psi, I would not run any less than 40psi in these). Also if you do aggressive driving with these and you have suspension mods set your camber in rear to negative ~0.5 in the rear and negative ~1.0 in the front.

Overall I would give these tires a 9.1. They would not nearly be this awesome if they weren't such a great value.