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[RTShadow]

Tire Make/Model: Yokohama S-Drive
Size: 205/50/17

Initial Review: Just purchased tires, had a day or so now. (I'll expand more in the coming weeks)

Highs: Road noise reduced, ride is improved.

Lows: VERY spongy, poor steering response, loss of stability in cornering.

In Depth Review: I've had these, like I said above, for a little while now, maybe 30 miles, and I wouldn't normally write a review this quickly but so far I'm quite disappointed in this tire. My first thought as I drove away from the tire shop was "WTF did they screw up my suspension?". I'm used to the stock KDW's which have very good steering response, you twitch the wheel the car responds. With the S-Drives, you have to tuurrrnnn the steering wheel to get any response, and then the car feels like it's on a layer of fat or something, spongy, lots of body roll, made me feel like I'm back in my old turbo sundance or something. It seems like the car is a half a second behind you when you try and make quick steering corrections (like swerving around a pothole, etc). Road noise is not nearly as noticeable, and the ride is improved, but I think that's only because they put a very soft sidewall on this tire, which is not a good thing for me, I prefer 'feeling' the road and having high performance more than a soft 'comfy' tire. I seriously do not know how this tire got a high speed rating, they feel more like an H rating. I'm hoping maybe that it's just because they are brand new and in a week or two they will wear in, if not I'm going back to the stock KDW's, I'd rather deal with the noise, than have a reduction in cornering/steering response.

Yokohama S Drives (stock KDW's in paranthesis, for comparison basis)
Ride Comfort - 9 (7)
Noise Comfort - 9 (5)
Cornering - 6 (9)
Steering Response - 5 (10)
Wet Surface Performance - N/A (7.5)

Conclusion: If you are looking for a tire that provides decent performance, and you want an upgrade in ride comfort and reduction in noise, this might just be your tire, if you are willing to sacrifice about 25% of your cornering ability.