Anybody else out there excited for this?

I believe the US release date is feb 2013? (my birthday)

I know what im getting

I think they are supposed to be slightly cheaper as well.

Dunlop is claiming more grip, more consistant deformation, reduced track wear, and 1-2% faster on their test tracks (0.6-1.2 seconds on a 60 second course!)

It looks like it wont be as good in the rain, by just looking at the tread pattern, but who knows.

 

That is a whole lot more rubber on the road!

 

I was set on getting the RS3's in the spring but I'm going to look at these now as well.

 

you can place a reserve order at TireRack (for the last several months), they will have exclusive distribution for the USA

I wouldn't get too wrapped up in the marketing baloney just yet ...

 

They are looking more like the Falken Azenis on the cornering shoulder.

 

Which is a slower tire ...

 

It will either be this tire...Or a complete move to DSP...Decisions decisions...

 

Im pumped for it. Hopefully what they say is true and it infact gets the same or slightly better treadwear than the z1's. In my situation, 90% daily, 9% mountain, 1% autox per year, im just not sure i would ever utilize the tire to half its potential.. im just hoping that its increased grippyness makes up for my shitty driver mod slightly.

I put in about 8-10k miles per year, so milage is important to me.. but it sucks when my car feels like a boat on the mountain with stupid all season tires.

 

they tested it on the track, so you have no idea what the performance tradeoffs may be for autox, like maybe they now need to come up to temp like a Hankook etc.?

 

They are now listed on tire rack and they even have a quick test. It's mostly subjective but got me excited enough to order a set... I needed to order some tires anyway and was basically waiting for these to be released before doing so.

 

i got a woodie watching the video im SO excited for these!

 

According to their same testing the Michelin PSS is faster than the Dunlop Z1 Direzza which is a bunch of bull in my experience. I was torn between a new set of Toyos, Hankooks, or to try these, but I went ahead and ordered a set to try out.

 

what size?

 

255/40-17

since the car is on jack stands for several weeks I just chose the cheapest shipping location which is still waiting to receive them so they don't ship until early Feb.. Otherwise they'd have shipped on Monday from Indiana.

$1 less, big savings there. Tirerack has the exclusive so anyone who wants them is at their mercy


.

 

I don't think you can compare across different tests. The objective results vary quite a bit, I'm assuming due to conditions and they also run different cars and tire sizes. The subjective results are all in the context of the other tires in the group. I do wish they would do a comparison across tires of different classes. Pick a single manufacturer and test 1 snow, 2 all seasons and 2 summer tires. Throw in a runflat to make it even more interesting...

I hope Nevada get enough allocation, I ordered the exact same tire :-)

 

i think that test would be interesting, but it would end at interesting..

i think its a given that an all season does not perform as well as a summer tire.


where it gets tricky is the PSS being compared with some of the top summer tires, but they already did that test.

 

the point is that it's not necessarily relative to anything, period. It's just added fuel thrown onto the marketing hype fire for n00bs to have an instantaneous wet dream experience. You did notice that they used two separate cars, not swapped between the same car right?

people will still be winning on R1Rs and RS3s

 

From the test review from tire rack. Wet weather performance seems to have improved.

We then turned on the track's sprinkler system to make a quick assessment of wet performance. Once the track was thoroughly soaked we had time in the schedule for just a few laps on each tire. Here the Direzza ZII again showed a noticeable advantage over the Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec. The steady-state overall grip level was similar, but the ZII was much more predictable at the limit, with noticeably better communication of where the limit is, along with faster recovery once any slide began. It was just plain easier to go faster with the Direzza ZII.

 

it couldn't possibly be that, since they used two separate cars rather than swapping tires on the same vehicle or swapping them between vehicles to eliminate that variable, that one car is actually handling better than the other?

 

could it also be the fact that the ZII is freshly made? while the Z1 has been sitting for a while and the compound has hardened a little bit?

 

Unlikely. It shouldn't matter for a street compound. If anything the Z1 is known for needing a dozen runs and some heat cycles before it comes in strong. We don't know enough about the ZII to say if this changed or not. It was a bit chilly too since the test was actually run last Nov. and they only just now cut this loose as a press release prior to availability. Maybe the ZII works better at low temp, but if so does this mean it will overheat in the summer? Given that it has less tread grooving overall doesn't it seem unexpected for it to be even faster in the wet than the dry? Also, since they have an exclusive contract with Dunlop for the ZII a grain of cautionary salt seems warranted. All that ends up being BS any way. The real and only proof that matters comes as the race season progresses ....

 

Am I missing a test somewhere? I searched and I don't see anything on tire rack comparing the PSS (max performance summer tire) with the star specs or any other extreme performance summer tire.

 

I agree, it is a first drive and should be taken with a grain of salt. They are leaving themselves the opportunity to correct first impressions with a more detailed test down the line :-) As for wet grip, my guess is the difference in grooves is fairly minor and probably makes less difference than any changes in tread compound or tire construction. How it performs at different temps, and whether it is better than the other brands remains to be seen. However, I would hope Dunlop improved on their own previous tire.

 

We (Tire Rack) havn't tested the two back to back. One of the major magazines borrowed our facility and cars last spring and used their own driver and test program to carry out the test. The results TeamRX8 is referring to are their's not the Tire Rack.

As to the DZII vs Star Spec test. We did the best with the time and resources we at hand last fall. Like always, we were excited to share the results with our fellow enthusiasts and customers as its been along time since we've had a new Extreme Performance tire to discuss. We plan to do the same with the additional new tires as they become available. Its just one data point, their will be many more as we move into Spring. I'm looking forward to hearing Team's and others feedback once they have a chance to run them on ST prepped cars.

-Chris Harvey
Tire Rack

 

mine just shipped today so they should be here by the end of the week, but the car is likely stuck on jack stands until at least early Feb.