Cheaper or more durable alternative to the OEM tires?
 

I need new tires and don't have $250 to drop on each one. Anyone suggest a cheaper or longer lasting tire?

Falken ZIEX ZE512
Toyo Proxes4
Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S

all are all-season high performance tires at a much lower price than the stock tires sell for.

good luck.

I have had NITTO 555 on my 8 for 15months now and I like them

I have Toyo T1S on my car. Way better than stock. Not sure if you are looking for an all season tire, or a max traction, single season unit. Go to : www.edgeracing.com

BFG KDW2's are another fairly inexpensive option, and the grip is amazing dry or wet.

Avon M550, $134 in 225/45WR18. I've had them for about 3K miles and love them. A huge step up from the 040s.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...jsp?type=UHPAS

The M500, $144 in 245/40WR18, has pretty good reviews also:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...y.jsp?type=UHP (Notice that the 040 is second to last!)

Yep, that's what I got and am very happy.

How's the noise on the KDW2's? I've seen nothing but positive reviews on traction, but some people say they're noisey. I will need new summer tires after this season, so I'm kind of keeping an eye on these BFG's.

Another vote for the Toyo T1-S. I ran them on my Evo and they were great in every way.

The downside with running a tire with a longer life is the lack of grip and stickiness. Sure, you will end up owning the tires longer, but taking corners means that your car is going to slide more and the little contact patch that the 225s have is just being to be worth even less when taking those fun corners. Personally, I wish I could afford to run RA-1s for street driving, except for the rainy days of course.

where can you order them from?
im in need, and they look waaaaayyy better than the potenzas. and the price looks better too, but i cant find anywhere i want to order them from.

I have no problem w/ 3 season tires and I want the same or better grip than stock. Wil the Toyo's grip more?

I also have the Avon M550s and I love them. My ride is greatly impoved over OEMs

Same here NITTO 555s. Replaced the OEM Bridgestones about 4000 miles ago. So far so good...they did an AWESOME job in the twisties while following another 8 with wider rear tires to the cars limits on a few of the curves.

Link: Nitto Tires

Oh yeah...one more thing. If you know anything about the tire rating system.
OEM Bridgestones 140AA ~$250/tire
Nitto 555 - 300AA ~$140/tire

It's better than the original Potenzas.

I think I'm going w/ the Toyo Proxes 4's. I called a tire place and the T1-S has apparently been discontinued and Toyo claims the Proxes (I think I may be spelling it incorrectly...) are the replacement. I was quoted $550 for a full set and installation. That's a far cry better than Wayne Mazda's $545 for only TWO OEM tires and install.

good choice, you will enjoy the Proxes4's, they are very good all season tires :)

Not sure who told you this but it is incorrect. The replacement tire for the T1S will be the T1R. The line of tires from Toyo is called "Proxes," not the individual tire line. So it is the Proxes T1S, Proxes RA1, Proxes 4, etc. The Proxes 4 is an ultra high performance all season tire, the T1S is an ultra high performance single season/summer tire. The T1S will give you better traction in dry surfaces, while the Proxes 4 will give you better wet handling. Depends on how much traction you crave. If you are tracking this car, or have very aggressive street driving habits the Proxes 4 will not be good tires for you. I doubt they would be better than the RE 040's in terms of dry traction. I have driven the KDW2's and they are very good tires.

Really? Is the T1R out yet?

I even asked the guy at STS if the Proxes 4 was a summer tire and he said yeah. I didn't think that was right. I do crave lots of grip and am will to buy a summer tire to get it.

No, in the US the T1R is not out yet. It is out up in Canada, Europe, Japan, etc. The guy doesn't know what he talking about. Go onto the Toyo website. The Proxes 4 is an high performance all season tire.

Would you say the Proxes 4 tires would at least give me about the same traction as the OEM Potenza's? I don't need to gain anything, I just need new tires and don't want to pay $250 a pop for a tire that's going to wear like crazy.

Sumitomo HTR+ $110 each. They are all seasons, very good in the wet, nice and quiet, smooth riding. Like maybe 75% the grip of the OE Potenza's, a lot softer on turn-in, but I am very happy. nice tire, very affordable, and they should last a lot lot longer than the Potenzas.

I plan on getting another set of wheels soon and am looking at the Kumho MX, and maybe the BFG KDW

i'd say you would be pleasantly surprised how good they are, maybe even better than stock!

The Proxes 4's will give you decent performance, maybe even as good as the RE 040's. That is not a complement. I personally find the RE 040 a very marginal tire. Even in the Bridgestone brand the RE 050 & S03 Pole Positions are better tires. I have have had a car with Continental Sport Contact 2 & Pirelli PZero Rossos & those were better tires. My Toyo T1S are far better tires than the RE 040. You can still get Toyo T1S around (go to www.edgeracing.com). Also you may want to go to a 245/40/18 tire. The 225/45/18 is kind've an oddball size tire & that is why the RE040 is such an expensive tire. The 245 fits just fine on the 8' stock rim, and you will have a wider variety of tires.

Just out of curiosity, what's some cost no object OEM sized gripping tires for the RX-8? Mines came with the Dunlops which seem pretty good, but wouldn't mind raising the bar when my tires die. Of course if it happens to be cheaper than OEM, that's even better.

The guy at STS Tire said they have the T1-S in 225/40/R18. However, I'm a little nervous about putting an even lower profile tire on. Will it mess witht he TPMS? Is it safe?

The stock tires because the size is odd is like $225+ per tire. That will pretty much buy you any tire on the market.

In terms of maximum traction (cost no option) :

Michelin Pilot Sport 2's
BF Goodrich Comp TA KD's
Goodyear GS-D3's
Bridgestone S03 Pole Positions
Falken ST615 (though this tire is cheaper than the ones listed above, but treadwear is only 200)

Ultra High Performance tires :

Toyo T1S (great tread wear rating of 280, good price)
Kumho MX (220, good price)
Bridgestone RE 050 (level above the 040's)
Yokohama AVS Sport

Ultra High Performance All season Tires :

BF Goodrich Comp TA KDW2's
Pirelli P Zero Nero's

These seem to be the most popular tires in the categories. Again I would recommend 245/40/18 as the 225/45/18 is an oddball size & they charge more for it (not to mention less variety of tires)

I wouldn't recommend this. There is already a significant gap in the wheel well with the 45 series tire. Ask him if he carries the 245/40/18. Also I don't know if there is a Costco around you, but the carry the BF Goodrick Comp TA KDW2's. Those are very good as well.

The KDW2's are NOT all season tires. Don't even think about using them on snow.

lol, yeah I got caught in snow once w/ the Potenza's... it wasn't pretty... I think I'm going to buy the Toyo Proxes 4 since they're on sale. Buy 3 get the 4th free. It'll be about $10 more than the dealer wanted for only 2 OEM tires.

None of these tires are snow tires. That's not how they classify them. By all season ultra high performance they usually mean they can run in dry & wet conditions (so maybe 3 season is more appropriate). I wouldn't run a set of Blizzaks on an autocross.

Sweetness, thanks for the list! I didn't know I could look into 245/40/18s too (total tire newbie). I really had my sights set on those Goodyear GS-D3's but was bummed when I didn't see them in the OEM size. That's most likely what I'd get once my Dunlop tires go.

how much lower are the 40s? does it affect mileage or speedo reading? how about the ride, seems like it would be harsher..

To answer you RX-Nut, A few mm, probably yes, probably yes, and I wouldn't doubt it, lol.

I ordered my Proxes 4's yesterday. I couldn't find a place near me that still had the T1-S, which has indeed been discontinued and the T1-R isn't out yet. Hopefully I'll be happy w/ the 4's. I'll post my opinion when I get them next week.