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Tire Whisperers--your thoughts, please!

5951 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Makemfast
I need new tires. I popped one of my ZIIs (right rear). My rears were previously the more worn fronts, and I'd need to replace both (fronts just got rotated in and have a decent amount of depth). But ZIIs are out of production, and I can no longer buy the size I'd need. So rather than mixing tread patterns or compounds on a daily and possibly screwing up the handling balance, I'm faced with buying a new set and passing on or selling my fronts to someone who has better use for them.

Current top options (for a 15x6.5 Sparco), mixed performance driving duties.
  • Toyo Proxes R1R 225/45/15 - $141 ea
  • Dunlop Direzza Sport ZII Star Spec 205/50/15 - $114 ea
  • Bridgestone RE71-R 205/50/15 - $120 ea
  • Yokohama Advan NEOVA AD08-R 205/50/15 $116 ea
  • Hankook VENTUS RS-3 Version 2 - 225/45/15 $121 ea
  • BFG G-Force Rival S 205/50/15 - $129 ea
  • BFG G Force Rival S 225/45/15 - $144 ea
From a purely cost standpoint, I don't like the R1Rs. They also seem to wear too fast according to most and would make a poor daily tire. The G-Force Rival Ses are also a bit too much money, personally. I'm mostly between the RE71-Rs and the RS3 V2s. I know people have done 225 on a 6.5 wide before, it's not ideal, but it's not the worst thing either. I have a long-ish school commute (60 miles per day), but that would mostly be on my winters anyways.

Guide me, O Gurus of Grip! School me, sultans of street tires, ye theoreticians of the traction circle. For I am weak, my right rear has a slow leak, and I need these by the end of the week.
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Autocross tires on stock wheels... you're pretty much limited to the 215/40R17 Dunlop Direzza ZII and the Falken RT-615K in 205/40R17 and 215/40R17 for "extreme" performance tires. There's also Federal 595RS-R tires in 215/40R17 but they're 140 treadwear. Keep an eye on them and they might eventually update it to a 200... maybe. If you are willing to use UHP tires instead, there's the Bridgestone RE760, BFG Comp-2, Federal 595EVO, Falken FK453 (a mag. said it takes a while to warm up), and Maxxis Victra MA-V1 for an "out there" option.
I believe the 760 should be the "faster" tire by a tiny bit, the comp-2 has better water performance and wider tread. The comp-2's also been reported to have a growl. Tire rack has a great video review/comparison on those two tires.
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