Calling all... Tires
 

So I was thinking we could all post our likes/dislikes on specific brands of tires we bought to help everyone on their next decision for what kind of tires to buy.

The following format (like most tire websites have) should help organize it the best.

Tire Specs: Make, Model and Size
Rating: 1-10 (1 being poor, 10 being amazing)
Vehicle: RX8 or any other car you own
Location:
Driving Conditions:
Driving Style: Granny, Average, Aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires:
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes or No
Comments:

To search for a review on a specific tire, Click the button below, then Enter the brand or model into the Search field.

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/159...tirethread.png

Tire Specs: General Exclaim UHP [245/35/19]
Rating: 5
Vehicle: :uhh:
Location: Houston, TX
Driving Conditions: Hot, Rain
Driving Style: Daily Driving, Somewhat aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires: 6000
Would Buy Tire Again? No
Comments: A good cheap tire that should only be used for daily driving and light aggressive driving. Slides out semi easily in corners with a touch of gas. Rain driving is decent, no hydroplaning. Again, easy to slide tires out in the rain. Overall a good reliable tire with very good tread life but not quite the grip I like on a daily driver.

Tire Specs: Kumho Ecsta SPT [235/35/19]
Rating: 6
Location: Central Coast, CA
Driving Conditions: Sunny, mid 80's, rain.
Driving Style: Spirited
Miles Driven on Tires: 10K
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: Much better grip than the exclaims in the dry; when it's raining I hydroplaned a bit once, easy to control. Tread life is good as well, not quite as good as the exclaims. Price is similar to that of the exclaim, maybe a bit more. Would buy again for a daily driver tire.

Tire Specs: Toyo RA1 [275/35/18]
Rating: 9.5
Location: Central Coast, CA
Driving Conditions: Sunny, Hot
Driving Style: Dedicated Track
Miles Driven on Tires: 30?
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: Great tire, very expensive (I got them used; only tracked on them once). VERY hard to break these loose, literally like driving on rails. Heat cycled after a few

Tire Specs: Toyo Proxes T1R 225x45x18
Rating: 10
Vehicle: Mazda RX-8, 2005 Shinka
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Driving Conditions: 3-season weather dry and wet (also rare dry cold weather)
Driving Style: Spirited Street
Miles Driven on Tires: 8k
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes, definitely
Comments: Toyo Proxes T1R are the best street-performance tires I've ever owned, period. :)

Tire Specs: Potenza RE-01R
Rating: 8
Vehicle: RX8
Location: Los Angeles
Driving Conditions: Daily
Driving Style: Average, Track Occasionally
Miles Driven on Tires: 5000
Would Buy Tire Again? Discontinued, but i would buy Re-11
Comments: Awesome grip, not too loud, decent thread wear if driven conservatively, feels very predictable on track, i bought this tire at discount when they were being discontinued for 120 each

Tire Specs: BFGoodrich KDW2 255/35/19
Rating: 7
Vehicle: RX8
Location: Pacific NW
Driving Conditions: Dry, wet, track
Driving Style: Daily driven. Spirited driving and used on the track.
Miles Driven on Tires: 30k
Would Buy Tire Again? No (due to sidewalls and being very loud)
Comments:

Positive: Decent dry grip. Really good wet grip. Tread lasts a long time.

Negative: Very loud. Soft sidewalls. Loses grep below 40˚.

I'd have to give a "+1" here. I think I have put more miles on mine, though. Unless the RE-11's get sold off in similar fashion, there is no way I'd pay the current running price even if they are all that great. My next set of tires might be the Z1 Star Specs, FWIW.

Also, for my winter set:
Tire Specs: Dunlop SP WinterSport M3 225/45-18
Rating: 9
Vehicle: RX8
Location: St. Louis, MO
Driving Conditions: Missouri Winter
Driving Style: Average
Miles Driven on Tires: ~7000 (two winters thus far)
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments:
These interestingly enough cost me more than my summer tires, however I feel they were completely worth it. My first winter with the RX-8 I went with Avon all-seasons which were okay, but they got me stuck in certain places one too many times. The WinterSports have never failed me in that regard. These tires maintain a fair amount of sporty handling even in compromised driving conditions.

Tire Specs: Hankook Ventus EVO V12 K110
Rating: 8.5
Vehicle: RX8
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Driving Conditions: Dry, Summer
Driving Style: Average/Aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires: 500
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: Pretty pleased with this tire overall. Grip seems on par with most other summer tires I've driven on (Michelin PS2, Dunlop DZ101), maybe even a little better. Far more comfortable and quiet than the garbage tires my used rx8 came with. Tires seem a little soft in the sidewalls but I haven't had a chance to play with the air pressure yet.

gareth,

I just had the Hankook Ventus EVO V12 K110 mounted yesterday. They are so quiet and smooth compared to my old KDW2 tires. I am looking forward to testing them on some back roads soon and I may have a track day next month :D:

Seems a lot like that Hankook model. I got the same thing using 255/40 for past 2 months. So far on dry and wet it handles good. I tried with DSC off on the rain to see how it would hold up, on a tight corner, I mean tight, it wasn't hard to slip the car out sideways so even with DSC on it would activate it. Overall it's soft and quiet but on rain while it performs good, I wouldn't say it's superior. I'll give a rating when I've run it more over the summer.

Tire Specs: Hankook Ventus EVO V12 K110
Rating: 8
Vehicle: RX8
Location: Eastern Shore, MD
Driving Conditions: Dry, Summer
Driving Style: Average/Aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires: 1000
Would Buy Tire Again? Maybe
Comments: I have taken some real sharp turns on these tires and they hold up decently well. But my back end tends to kick out with little gas around the turn on a normal basis. When I had the psi at 35 they really slide out a lot. I since increased it to about 38psi and it has a bit more traction but yet still slides out more than the stock bridgestone RE40's I had on the car. I wonder if I should go higher on the psi, maybe 40??

Overall they are very comfy, quiet, inexpensive, and decent rain handling.

vlaze, adamwzl, what is your alignment and suspension setup?

right now still stock suspension, I am waitng on my Bilstein HD's to come in before I put my progress tech springs on. I have yet gotten an alignment on the car since I had it and since I've put the hankooks on. I am waiting to install the shocks/springs first.

Once I get the shocks/springs put on, what type of an alignment would you suggest? Just the normal type, I am not too familar with different alignment settings.

Any opinions on Nitto Invo or Falken Azenis RT615K ?

Mine is lowered down, past 26" from the fender to the ground but not slammed. I am running then again -1.5 camber in the front and -2.5 camber in the rear. Stiff suspension with Stance GR+ coilovers and progressive sway bars so I am stiff indeed :yelrotflmIt grips great in the corners and I've pushed it quite hard a few times, but it may be due to my setup and camber helping and the fact it's a 255 size as well. Only in rain on a tight corner going 20 mph getting on it (it was quite tight) was I able to get them to spin so far.

I'm just now seeing how they'll hold up life wise.

Tire Specs: Nitto NT-01, 275x35x18
Rating: Performance 10, Practicality 2
Vehicle: RX8
Location: NJ
Driving Conditions: I've driven these tires (or tried) in almost everything
Driving Style: Aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires: 31k first set (to belts), 7k so far on second
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: While technically street legal, these are basically dry weather track tires. On dry pavement, grip is phenomenal. On wet pavement, the grip is still strong. These tires do not channel water well (which would be obvious if you looked at them) and snow is laughable. They are also pretty loud. The size/tread combination elicits a lot of comments.

Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110

Tire Specs: 265/35/18
Rating: 9
Vehicle: RX8
Location: New Jersey
Driving Conditions: Summer-- dry/wet
Driving Style: Average, Aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires:5,300
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: Great tire for the money. Good grip in and out of cornering, good ware, very little road noise. If your looking for a great summer tire these are what you should look for.

31K on NT-01's!?! Wow... Very impressed. How many track days did those see? (1 or 2? ;))

Tire Specs: Bridgestone RE050A Pole Position 255/40/18
Rating: 9
Vehicle: RX8
Location: Washington, Oklahoma
Driving Conditions: Wet, dry, hot, cold, daily, track, autocross
Driving Style: Fast & smooth
Miles Driven on Tires: 35,000+ 8 track days and countless autocrosses
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: These tires exceeded my expectations in every way. They provide good ride quality, they're quiet, they have excellent grip and predictability, the rim protectors are fat and have saved my wheels more than once and OMG they are bulletproof. I've had these tires for over two years and I've put a ton of miles on them. Once they already had a ton of miles on them i started autocrossing and tracking my car. I figured i'd get a couple events in and have to replace them but they keep going and going. 8 track days and countless autocrosses after considering them "on their last leg" i'm still using them. In fact, i think i'll go use them this weekend -- at the track :)



Tire Specs: Sumitomo HTR Z III 245/40/18
Rating: 1
Vehicle:RX8
Location: Washington, Oklahoma
Driving Conditions: Hot, cold, wet dry
Driving Style: daily
Miles Driven on Tires: 5k??
Would Buy Tire Again? Absolutely not
Comments: I got them free with a set of wheels. They were almost new so i'm going to be stuck with these pieces of sh*t for a long time. They're just my daily drivers so i dont really care but i guess they're round so they have that going for them. Everything else pretty much sucks about them. They're loud, have zero grip, look like crap, they make my otherwise perfect handling RX8 feel like absolute and utter sh*t and i'm not over exaggerating. They're ruined my driving experience but i'm too cheap to scrap them before they're worn out. Stay away.

Tire Specs: falken fk 452
Rating: 10 Vehicle: 07 RX8
Location: philly suburbs
Driving Conditions: hilly, turns and flats
Driving Style: Average
Miles Driven on Tires: 500 so far
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: love these tires. good in the wet too and good braking

I have a dedicate set of winters on 17' wheels

Tire Specs: Nexen N3000[225/40/18]
Rating: 6.5
Location: Florida
Driving Conditions: Sunny/Rainy
Driving Style: Spirited Street
Miles Driven on Tires: 23,000
Would Buy Tire Again? No
Comments: Tire performed decently, just didn't last very long for no track use. That 23k miles was getting tires rotated and car aligned regularly. Had 1/32 left of tread when replaced, so I don't see anyone else getting much more out of them.

Tire Specs: Bridgestone 960ASII Pole Position[225/45/18]
Rating: 9
Location: Florida
Driving Conditions: Sunny/Rainy
Driving Style: Spirited Street
Miles Driven on Tires: 300 so far
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: Performs better than the N3000's. About all I can say so far, haven't had em long.

Anyone tried the new yokohama AVID ENvigor's they are all season but seem to have everything I want but they had mixed reviews last I checked and wanted to know if any 8 owners had tried em out

Tire Specs: Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec 245/40 - 18
Rating: 9
Vehicle: RX8
Location: Detroit
Driving Conditions: Street, Autocross
Driving Style: Street = Average, Autocross = Retarded
Miles Driven on Tires: 9000
Would Buy Tire Again? Yes
Comments: Very, very loud tire. Decent in wet. Stickiest non-R comp I've tried in the dry. Front outer shoulders are about done after 6 autocrosses + 9k miles, but I have insufficient camber on my car. Rears still in good shape.

Tire Specs: Falken Azenis RT-615 275/35/18
Rating: 7
Vehicle: RX8
Location: New York
Driving Conditions: Street
Driving Style: Aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires: 13,000
Would Buy Tire Again? No
Comments: Good, sticky tire for the price. Decent in the wet. Tires grip really well but lose grip when they get very hot, which really defeats the purpose of this tire. At 13k miles, tires are almost on the wear bars, so the tires last a decent amount of miles. Going to be looking at Nitto NT-05 or Dunlop Dirrezza Z1 Star Specs as replacements.

has anyone tried the Hankook RS3's or the Kumho Ecsta XS?

Forgot about the Avon A/S tires I first used:

Tire Specs: Avon Tech M550 A/S
Rating: 6
Vehicle: RX8
Location: Missouri
Driving Conditions: All seasons
Driving Style: Average / aggressive
Miles Driven on Tires: ~25,000
Would Buy Tire Again? Discontinued -- No
Comments: I pre-emptively swapped my stock RE040's off for the sake of the pending winter when I first got my car. If I can vaguely recall, these had similar grip and flex performance as the RE040's, if not a bit less. They are definitely a compromise in both directions, however; there are many summer tires with considerably more grip than these and there are winter tires less prone to getting stuck in the snow. It was the latter condition that prompted me to go the dedicated season tire route after perpetually getting stuck on an uphill highway off-ramp lightly dusted with snow.