FL8iR

hi everyone... this is one of my first posts, but i need some help. i live in southern california, and my stock potenzas are very close to being slicks at this point. i'm also a pretty "spirited" driver... haha... i'm looking to buy new tires, but i'm stuck at making a decision between the following tires... any advice or recommendations? my budget is somewhere between $600-$700. also, i'm thinking about which tire size to go with... stock or the 245/40/18 set up... thanks!

• Falken Azenis RT-615 or ST-115
• BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW2
• Kumho Ecsta SPT or MX
• ...anything else you can recommend...

Winfree

Check out the User Reviews for the Mazda RX-8 on google - they one's that talk about problems with dealer issued tires and weather - a couple of them recommend tires that can handle all conditions. Also check your Users Manual - because there are some odd requirements for the tire sensors to work

zaglo6204

i am thoroughly enjoying my toyo t1-r's, sized 245/40 on stock wheels (32 psi), which i obtained for $165 a pop.

NotAPreppie

Irvine is pretty temperate (I lived there from 88' - '92, went to Vista Verde elementry).

You could probably get away with not worrying about cold/snow traction unless you go up to Big Bear or Arrowhead (or any other mountanous area).

The Falken Azenis RT-615 are used by many autocrossers in the Street Touring classes (along with the Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212). They're considered by many to be the peak of performance for the budget market.

slavearm

I am currently loving my Cooper Zeon 2XS tires. I am in OC too. I won these at Sevenstock last year, and my Potenza S-03s finally wore out. I am really surprised by how well these tires handle and how sticky they are. They are pretty cheap in 245/40/18.

Good Luck,

Shane

Fanman

What is a bigger concern for you traction or tire life ? If you want ultimate traction then go for the RT-615's, if you want good traction, but much better tread life then look at the Toyo T1R's. 245/40/18's will give you slightly better traction, and more tires are available in that size.

Razz1

I like the Kumho's MX, great handling.

You wanted advice, go to the track it's perfect timming your slick tires will act like a true Hoosier racing tire.

Paul_in_DC

From an earlier post of mine re: Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

I replaced my OE Dunlops with the Goodyears last week and did my first Autocross on them this past weekend. I'm favorably impressed with these tires. I got the 225/40-18s, so they're just slightly smaller than the OE 45's. The tires have a slightly more "crisp" feel to them in cornering, they're about as sticky as the Dunlops were, and they're very well behaved when they start sliding - no sudden transitions or nasty surprises. The 225/40-18s were $182 US apiece from The Tire Rack.

The Goodyears got rave reviews from Car & Driver, and came in first out of a field of 11 performance tires. Tire Rack surveys score them pretty high too.

The Tire Rack has a pointer to the full report here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y_f1_gs_d3.jsp

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

AAAAHAHHHHH!!! It's so hard to choose new tires for this car...

Fli8r, I'll keep an eye on this post as I live in OC and I'll probably be looking at new tires by the end of the year.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

if you could tell us what you def of spirited driver means it would help a lot...

if you just drive hard on the street..the kumho spt are enough....

if you auto x or do track days all of the above...

really you can only drive so hard on the street...

beers

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

How many miles did it take you to slick your Potenzeeee's?

swoope

iTrader: (5)

good answer mom!!

beers

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

I've got a dilemma:

I want new tires soon and I know I'll never auto cross my car but I want something a bit on the agressive side. I do a lot of canyon runs out in Malibu and such so traction is a bit of a concern for me.

Thoughts?

FL8: sorry for the hijack but I think we might have similar interests here.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

Falken RT-615 is probably the most 'aggressive' street tire you can get for a good price right now... they probably will also wear out really fast though, like 20k at best

FL8iR

I'm not sure how long it took to slick my tires because I purchased the car used. I was told that the previous owner was an older family guy that didn't put many miles on the car. The car has just about 30k on it right now. Also, does tire tread have anything to do with the tire pressure monitor? The dealership said it does, but I'm doubting him because I felt like he just wanted to sucker me into buying some overprized tires. Thanks again for all the advice. I still haven't ordered a new set...

zaglo6204

i'm not exactly sure what ya mean here, but any tire will be compatible with the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system)- the only thing you need to worry about is size. the dealer just wants you to buy some stock tires from them.... bleh.....

do you have any tires that you're leaning towards?

copacabana44

Here in Japan I recently changed to a new set of Yokohama S-Drive. These are a great all-weather tyre and are standard 225/45 R18 91W on Standard rims.
They are a major improvement in over the Bridgestones, which only lasted me 22,000 Km (14,000 Miles).
The wet weather performance is in a different league, and there is no tramlining whatsoever- a major issue for me with the OEM tyres. The road noise is slightly lower, and the dry performance is similar, although with a slightly slower turn-in, no doubt related to the reduction in tramlining.
Another tyre to consider, particularly if you want more traction in the dry is the ADVAN Neova AD07. This tyre however has a softer compound and will wear out faster than the S-Drive.

FL8iR

The guy at the dealership told me that my tread was so low that it causes my TPMS to go off. I was wondering if that's possible.

I'm leaning towards the MXs or the RT-615s...

swoope

iTrader: (5)

[QUOTE=FL8iR]the tpms monitors air pressure.... it knows nothing of tread depth...

beers