Im in the market for buying some new tires. The tire size is going be 245/40/18. My current choise right now is between Yokohama S.drives or Goodyear Eagle F1 Asummetric. My budget is less than 200 per tire. My 8 sees only weekend use and autox maybe once a month. What do you guys think will last me a while and provide me the traction i need.

 

You can find a set of Nitto NT05's for that price, which have amazing grip. But won't last you as long as a normal DD tire will.

The Kumho Ecsta SPT is a popular tire with decent grip, that will last you much longer.

 

I had Kuhmo SPTs, but recently changed over to the Nitto NT555. It's still a 300 rated tire, so it will wear well, and I feel like it has better grip than the SPT did. They were both really quirky in the rain, so you'd want to be light on the gas regardless when it's wet.

They dont list the tread wear on the SPT, but I'm pretty sure that it's 300 as well. You really can't go wrong with either tire for every day use.
http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...iremodel=NT555
http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...SPT+%28KU31%29

 

onlinetires.com had 245/40/18 Bridgestone RE01R's for I think $95.

 

^ those look nice, any experience with them?

 

Not personally. I know I'll have a set soon though.

 

WoW! good deal on those Bridgestones.

 

i use them as my track tires.. in 245 45 17.

that is a great tire for the money.. if you are going to daily drive it, it will not last real long.

but a damn good tire at that price..

beers

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes
Also saw something else you might be interested in.

 

Hankook Ventus V12 K110s. Cheap on tirerack.com and good reviews from C&D and German auto mag.

Pep Boys has buy 3 get 1 free. Get them to get close to TireRack price and you got it made.

 

the Bridgestone RE01R on onlinetires.com are sold out. Just called them up and confirmed that. Ill look into the others that yall suggested.

 

Doh! I ordered mine on Friday...wonder if I'll get them or not. Apparently onlinetires.com has a hard time contacting you when they are sold out...and they don't update the website.

 

Just checked and they took my paypal payment. Guess we'll see what happens with that.

 

lucky what size did you order them?

 

i think ill go with Ventus V12 evo K110 thats the only affordable tire in 255/40/18 i could find

 

I recently got the General Exclaim UHP and have been extremely happy with them. They are quieter than all other tires I've had (Kuhmo SPT, KDW 2, OEM Bridgestone).

They are a bargain for the performance that you get...and it looks like I'll be getting more than 18k miles out of them, which is nice.

My $0.02

 

i was looking at those but i double taked because ive never seen the brand before.

 

I have to say, I did the same double-take as you, but I read a lot of the reviews on TireRack and they all seemed very positive.

I found out General Tire is a subsidiary of Continental Tire, and started out as an American company. My experience so far is that these tires are pretty bad-***, especially for the price. There are better performing tires out there, for sure, but you will pay dearly for them.

On a side note, I went back to the OEM size (225/45/18) for the General UHP from the Kuhmo SPT (245/40/18) and have noticed much improved handling all around.

Make sure jumping to 245 is right for you. If you are looking to do auto-x, you should know that 245/40 is really pushing the limits of a 8" wide tire, for performance anyway. I noticed a lot of "squirminess" (side-wall flex?) with the 245/40/18. I agree that 245/40 looks better, but I have experienced a much better ride and performance on the OEM size.

Also take into account getting a proper balancing and alignment job.

Good luck.

 

i found some wheels that are 18 x 8.5 and im going to end up down 255/40/18. Would that be good for autox?

 

That I don't know...I have yet to get an Auto-x day. I was just referring to 245 wide on an 8" wide tire...that is (arguably) a bit large.

Someone else can chime in about aftermarket wheels and recommended tire sizes. 255 sounds about right for 8.5" wide wheels.

 

i found some nitto invo for a good price so if that goes through im getting those.

 

tirerack is a great resource for tire size to wheel specs..

i will say 245 on a 8" rim is no issue. i have run them on 7.5 wheels..

beers