Wurmfist

I'm totally hijacking this thread but I can't believe the people that are saying they are getting 31k miles out of their OEM bridgestones??? You guys must drive like my grandmother. My 04 has about 12,500 miles on it and the bridgestones are shot.

And now more closer to the topic, really this site is great to learn about tires but everyone has a different recommendation on what to get. We need a sticky thread with definative numbers on how many peeps are using what tire. Because just when I think the Kuhmos are good, I hear they are crap, then someone loves the feel of the RE050A Pole Positions, then someone says they are crap, and on and on and on. And Firestone wants me to get the RE960AS. The only thing I know about picking the correct tire is that I'm more lost on what to get now than I ever was.

Steakboy42

I love my Toyo Proxy4's.

-Steakboy

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

I've got Kumho MX's and LOVE them. I'd buy them again in a second.

unpocoloco

Yeah. Especially when you see stuff like "This ABC tire is super-quiet!" then "This ABC tire is NOISY!" it makes it hard to trust. In the end it's like I said, I guess you just gotta try 'em out. Probably a lot comes down to personal preference and what you are expecting.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

^^^^ that sounds A LOT like what I went through before I settled on the Kumho's. People have different expectations and needs out of their tires so you need to take that into consideration when picking a tire.

ie; Razz1 tracks his car a lot so I doubt he could give a crap about road noise. I never plan on tracking my car so roid noise is more important then a super stiff sidewall, etc.

From all my research: the Toyo's seem like a GREAT tire and only few people complain about the Kumho's (STP or MX) The Yoko's and BF Kw's seem to have more people on the opposite sides of the spectrum (either love them or hate them) My $.02

johnnywfg

somehow i got almost 30k on the stock potenza's.. and i drive hard.. like if i see a wide open parking lot, its almost a gaurantee that i fish the car around.

Heres my brief rundown of tire experience;

Kumho SPT - Shockingly good tire for the price, but the sidewall is not as stiff as i would like, and im in los angeles. so being good in the rain means nothing to me.
It feels too much like your settling when you buy the SPT.

BFG g-force KDW(2) - dont want to go in too much detail here.. but i HATED these tires, theres posts all over this forum about these. 90% of people love these tires (thats why i bought them). They have grip for daaaays, but your getting alot of body roll in tradeoff (weak sidewall) high speed freeway lane changes just does not feel safe, i did not have confidence with these tires.. however on the track they are prolly pretty darn good... and ther loud... not crazy loud, but enough to annoy you after a year of driving.

Azenis RT-615 - These are my currents, and there is NO substitute. I will put these tires on everytime from now on. I only track (willowsprings) maybe 2 or 3 times a year in the summer. So these are mostly a street tire. I dont care one bit that the tread goes quick, just means i get fresh ones sooner =). ther cheap!.
They require about 1k break in before they really settle in, after that .... wow.
Smooth, quiet, grip like thers talons growing out of the rubber and a rock solid sidewall. i hang my pressure on the street between 35-40 psi. 40 is a little rough for the street. and for bonus.. they have a badass looking tread design.. people will look =).

Thats my two cents.. my last option was gona be the yoko es100, but im glad i went with the Azenis.

(note: i traded cars with my dad this weekend, went to mammoth, rx8 cant hang. He drove my car 260 miles!, said the ride from the tires was sooo smooth and responsive he just drove laps around the freeway! hah. Ive done that a few times too... i have a feeling he might buy an rx8 as a weekend driver)

Nopstnz

Haha, I guess not. Maybe I am just glad to get the old potenza pos off. I will give a good assesment hopefully next week after they are good and broken in. Might throw in a short video too.

unpocoloco

w00t! That'd be awesome.
I went for the Kuhmo SPTs b/c I want to see what I can get for that price and what I'm sacrificing, if anything. If it doesn't work out, then next time I'll get a more expensive tire. Sounds like no matter what I won't be too disappointed with 'em so it seems a safe trial.

typej

I vote for Kumho too! Awesome tires at unbeatable price. It's so comfortable that it makes RX-8 feel like a lexus. I wish I have 18 inch rims to put on my other car so I can put kumho's on them.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

i think you need to learn how to change air pressure... you would be amazed what it can do..


beers

johnnywfg

"I think you need to learn how to change air pressure... you would be amazed what it can do.."

learn shmern..,

you screw around with it all day till it feels like the car you purchased.

Wurmfist

I understand, but the only problem with "Try em out and see" is that my RX8, sadly, isn't my daily driver (I would love it if I could) and when I've only put not even 13k miles on it since March of 2004 that means what-ever tires I get I'm going to be stuck with for a long time. So that would be a VERY long trial period for me. That's why I use this site to at least get a little education first on what other peeps are driving.

With that said, since it's not my daily driver when I have the chance to be in it I drive it hard. I almost never just go for a drive down the highway with the cruise control set. It's like a motorcycle to me. If I'm in it I'm looking for the twisties and the back country roads that can test my skills. So while road-noise is important it's not the top of my list. I would rather have the handling, dry and wet, and semi-decent tread wear. So that's my specifics that I'm looking for. I don't need all season and if I can get 15-20k miles out of them I would be happy. As long as they are better than the OEM bridgestones I have now.

cavemancan

If you only need 15 to 20k out of a tire then you should be riding on Falcon Azenis RT-615's.

Tons of racers swear by them and I plan on buying them myself as soon as I get my rims for racing. Its basically a street tire that behaves like a R compound tire.

On a side note I too got the Kum-Hoes Mx (Kumho) 245/40/18's and absolutly love them. They are better than stock and cheaper! Anyone else notice how soft the compound on the Mx's are? In the mornings I get a flat spot on the tires from the car sitting there over night...thats funny!

Wurmfist

Thanks for the input. I do think the Azenis RT-615's are what I'm going to go with. That was my original intent anyways.

r1chardko

if you can still find these tires they're awesome, potenzo s03's, if not i still go with the 050's. i recently put on the toyo proxes t1r's the new model from t1s's cause they're discontinued and they are awesome. i still say go with the 050's or the t1r's.