Review: I bought these tires for my winter setup. I didn't need snow tires since my car probably sees heavy snow covered roads maybe 2-4 times each winter season and I much rather preferred something that would perform well on dry and wet asphalt. So far going on almost 3k miles and I love these tires. I've driven in mild snow conditions and they've worked flawlessly. I've also driven in rain and there are no complaints there. Overall the tire is comfortable and quiet and has met all my expectations. Even though the pavement has been cold, at WOT they do really well with minimal loss in traction. I can't say much for cornering performance since I haven't done much of it in these cold conditions but the few encounters that I've had I feel confident in the handling. Unfortunately I'll be selling these wheels/tires soon to cover the cost of my summer wheel/tire setup but you can bet that I'll be going with the ZE-512 once again at the end of the year for my stock wheels.
Tire Make and Model: Hankook Ventus HR2
Size: 225/45/HR17
Review: I bought these tires with my new wheels for around 70 bux a piece. I was planning on running them for a little while, then going with some rt-615's as a summer tire. Now, I don't know if its the wider wheel or not(i'm sure that plays a big role) but these tires are actually really nice. They grip incredibly well. They are a high performance all season tire, that being said, they do exactly what they claim. Excellent wet traction/grip. Incredible dry traction/grip. combined with coilovers, sways, strut towers, and wider wheels, i can literally point my car anywhere and thats where it goes.
Now, the good stuff. I used to be able to break loose in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd on the kdw's. now, i can't for the life of me spin in second. that's right, second gear is 100% usable. 1st gear is also a lot more useful. i don't have to featther the throttle and clutch as much during a launch, and i can launch at a higher rpm.
Tires have, i believe, a 340 or 360 treadwear rating, nice aggressive pattern, and come in a variety of sizes. i'd definitely recommend these tires for someone who wants a good compromise between all season performance and track day grip. also a great tire to get in a package deal. i will probably continue using these tires for a while as street tires, and maybe even track tires. all in all, great product. i'd do it again!
Review: Bought these in the fall of 04 to replace my factory tires. MUCH improved wet grip, both straight line and cornering, and the tires are MUCH quieter and no 40mph vibrations. Dry grip is improved but whether or not that is due to the wider tire or the tread design/compound is a guess. Steering response is not quite as sharp but when the tire takes a set in a turn it provides good feedback and is much more confidence inspiring than the stock tires and you can make mid-corner corrections easily. Also, using these tires changed the balance of the car in handling, the back of the car is less likely to come around but understeer is not increased, just a more neutral feel. Straight line dry traction is very good, I can launch a little harder than with the stock tires, but I haven't been to the track to get any true numbers. The only bad thing I can think of in the roughly 20k miles is that the tires are sensitive to changes in air pressure when it comes to tire wear, and the tires tend to "flat spot" when left parked for a few hours on a cold day. A couple of miles and the tires are smooth riding.
Highs: wet weather traction, quiet, confident handling feel.
Lows: "flat spotting", tread casing stiffness doesn't seem to match tread compound (possible cause of increased wear with slight overinflating)
Conclusion: Amazing performance for the price, will buy again. Keeping an eye on the air pressure (33-35psi) and rotating every 6k miles should yield 25k-30k miles.
Review Picked up these with a new set of wheels from Edge Racing down in Miami. I could have cheaped out with a set of the Toyo's, but I am getting old or something and wanted a better tire so I spent a bit more cash. After getting them mounted and balanced (damn crush washers) The first thing I noticed was how quiet they were. No more of that all too familiar BFG Hummmm. They do a nice job of soaking up the pavement seams and potholes here in Chicagoland in the winter. The dry grip is close, but not quite up to par with the BFG KDW2's. I didn't expect it to be with a treadwear of 400 on the Pirellis. Wet grip is great, but have not had a chance in heavy rain yet. I will update as soon we get some good rains around here. Overall a great tire choice and value ($125 or so each) for our cars. Pick up a set today from Edge Racing (edgeracing.com) or the Tire rack.
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Ken 110HP 110TQ on PUMP GAS!
CSC Official Member #72
REVIEW Just put these on a few days ago. They were purchased used w/rims but not many miles on them. The grip seems good in dry and seems good in the wet although i havent pushed it. They are loud like the stock BFGs which i dont like though and id like a higher speed rating/load rating. There is a balance problem of some sort at highway speeds, removing thouse crush washers helped at low speeds but thats a separate problem.
Review: The best high performance tire money can buy. In keeping with the spirit of of the moderator's thread, I will try to go this whole post w/o saying anything durogatory toward other tire brands or designs. I have had these since April 05, for a little over 12k miles. These Goodyears have superior wet weather traction (I can produce video footage of me beating an both an STI and an Evo from a dig on both wet & damp roads b/c of this traction). I would rate these tires as 8/10 dry and 11/10 wet (they're THAT good). These tires have been used for both drag racing and autoXing, and even with all this abuse and 12k mileage, I still have 8/32ds of an inch on them (shipped w/ 11/32ds). If there's a negative to this tire, it's that if you live in a place that gets any snow accumulation, you're also going to need snow tires. It's a small price to pay, if you ask me. Cost: about $150 per tire from tirerack, which is almost exactly in the middle of the so-called Maximum Performance Summer tire category. Thus, there are tires that are less expensive, and tires that are more expensive, but none w/ all-around wet & dry goodness. I think the tire is quiet, tho the car is loud, so it's hard to tell. The sidewall is very rigid, so larger bumps are felt more frequently. This rigid sidewall helps immensely on the autoX track, and the old timers that rode with me were amazed at how a street tire could perform w/ virtually zero sidewall flex.
Disclosure: I believe tires are an underrated aspect, and I don't minimize their importance - hence all the tires save for the Sumitomo were "premium" performance. I would rather have great tires than a big turbo. I have used Michelin PS2 (6 out of 10), BFG KDW (2/10 - sold after 1 mo and <1k mi), Sumitomo (1/10), Kumho (4/10), Falken Azeni (2/10), Toyo Proxes (2/10), and Dunlop SP 9000 (5/10) before finding this Goodyear. I bought them all new for this vehicle (SRT-4).
REVIEW I ordered these tires to go along with my new rims (5zigen Pro Racer GN+ 18x7.5). I wanted a high performance tire comparable to the stock KDW's but with better tread wear and less road noise. So far I have nothing but good things to say about the G-force tires, not only were they a great price at $119 a piece from tirerack.com but the performance is top notch. No longer do I hear the tires moaning while I am on the highway and the grip is excellent! I have already had a chance to test these out in the wet and they actually seem better than the stock KDW's though I imagine some of that is due to the 235 width. I plan on going to the track in the next couple weeks to further test out the grip and will update accordingly.
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2007 Subaru WRX stock with some Buschur Racing parts
SIZE: 225/45R17 25.8Lbs. 280 Treadwear MaxPerf Y Rated
REVIEW:
I got mine FK451's from EdgeRacing combined as a package with Enkei RP02's at 17X8 and a 35 offset. Be CAREFUL to MATCH the DATE CODES on the tires for the front and rear (same date code on front 2, same date code on rear 2). You may experience partial or serious radial pull on these if not matched up properly on a powerful front wheel drive car like the SRT-4. Don't mix date codes where each side of the car (left/right) has a different date code. I originally had date code 1505 on the left side (as mounted by Edge) and 2505 on the right side. Had serious left pull even at slow speeds. Alignment and tire swap showed that tires were bad, at least those date codes (1505, 2505 --- stands for 15th week of 2005, 25th week of 2005). Under warranty, the Falken folks were real supportive about getting the situation resolved for replacements. Tim Weidner at Falken in Rancho Cucamonga, CA was of great help.
The new replacement tires (date codes 3705 in front, date codes 4105 in back) resolved my radial pull and the car tracks great now. With the proper new tires from Falken warranty exchange, I no longer get wheelspin and dry traction is much better over the 17X6 wheels with 205X17 BFG KDW's. Wet traction with the FK451's is EXCELLENT, bar none. Even taking high speed corners in a teaming rain the tires held tight, as if it hadn't even sprinkled. Only have about 1000 miles on them so far, but treadlife seems good as well at this stage. At launch time, they grip well, and get little spin, even when launching pretty hard (stock engine and suspension) and maintaining no or only slight wheelhop if you do bad clutchwork. Overall, minus the initial hassle and possible bad tire runs in 2005, they are good tires. Maybe not as good as the Eagle F1-DSG3, but similar.
1/14/08 update with about 2 years and 15,000 miles on them.... Treadwear down about a little more than 1/2 (at 5/32nds), and these tires have lost their grip in dry and wet conditions. The softer outer silica rubber apparently is now gone, and a harder rubber exists at this new lower layer in the tread. It's become noisy and I'm not all that enthused with the grip under any condition. The only credit that I'll give them is that I'm now on stage 3, which has higher torque characteristics that might "aid" in the loss of grip. But, turns don't feel as sharp and you are out of boost in turns. All in all, I wouldn't get another set of these, and would seriously consider not using Falkens if they all have this condition as they wear.
Last edited by cuda340man : 01-14-2008 at 06:02 PM.
Reason: More mileage on the tires
Tire Make/Model: Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3 Size: 225/50/16
Review: My performance tire experience is limited, but after a fair bit of reading online and otherwide, I decided to get a set of these tires mounted on a set of SSR Competition rims.
So far, there are several drastic improvements over stock: First off, they have superior dry traction on cornering. My car has stock suspension. When I cornered hard on the stock KDW, the car was very prone to understeer giving it a very nose-heavy feel. These new GSD3s mask the shortcomings of the car's suspension, and give it alot more traction than the stock tires, even at large roll angles. When they do lose traction, they do so very gruadually (due in part to being a smaller rim size). The steering response is very similar to the stock tires ~ perhaps marginally less responsive due to the higher sidewall.
In straight-line, I have somewhat reduced wheel hop (due to bigger sidewalls, no doubt), but alot more straight-line traction. 2nd gear would often lose traction on the stock tires, but that no longer happens with the GSD3s. 1st gear traction is significantly improved, and I was WOT through first gear as long as I can hook the launch. This was never possible on stock tires.
The most amazing thing about this tire is it's wet traction. I would compare the traction of these tires on wet roads, in heavy rain, as comparable to the stock KDW's on hot, dry pavement. Like with their dry performance, traction loss on wet roads is gradual and managable.
Another good aspect of this tire is it's availability in various rim sizes and widths. Finding a tire that can fit on a 16 inch rim is more difficult than most other tire sizes, but the GSD3s cover the 16-inch area reasonably well, and all other rim sizes very well.
Tire Make/Model: Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3 Size: 205/50/ZR17
Review: I bought these tires only a week ago and can feel a much better than stock (Michelin) turn in. The wet traction is excellent as stated before. I did notice the straight-away stability is not as good as the stock Michelin as they seem to wonder a bit. The tire is quiet but has a spongy feel at 35 psi. I have lowered them to 32 psi and it rides firmer. Overall I'm satisfied with the wet performance but haven't really pushed the dry yet to tell. I do not like the straight-away stability.
I feel this is among the most important threads on the entire forums. Traction owns the SRT-4 , and tires make the single biggest impact on traction for us , all other things being equal.
I have been fortunate to have been able to try quite a few high performance tires on my SRT-4 due to a great friend owning a tire store and allowing me to test some tires for his own personal database needs.
Here is a list of the tires i have had on my car : Tires I have personally owned ( bought ) :
BF Goodrich KDW
Yokohama ES-100
Falken Azenis Sport RT-215
Falken Azenis Sport RT-615
Tires I have tested for the shop :
Kuhmo Ecsta MX
Hankook Ventus R-s2z212
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
Bridgestone Pole Positions s-03 ?
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3
Tires I have borrowed from other SRT owners ( traded for a day ) :
Toyo Prox 4s
Nitto NT555
ALL tires were 225-45 / 17
The tests I put the tires to on my car have been fairly accurate with regards to each other , due to my having a very stable suspension to factor out anything else. My suspension mods are :
Mopar Stage 3 coilovers , Psi Fi solid lower control arm bushings , Progress rear sway bar , Energy suspension bushings , and lightweight Centerline Storm 17x7" rims ....
Having said that , I liked the Falken Azenis RT-615 the best , and still own them. I bought my first set of Azenis when Super Steve ran a 12.0 quarter mile on his with 550 hp , and it was on his reccomendation.
They have a stiff sidewall , and are fairly stiff riding due to it. They are semi-noisy due to the HUGE treadblocks , but the soft compound masks this some. As far as cornering , these tires seem to pretty much rule the autocross scene along with the Advans , and while I am not a twisty road kind of person , I have tested these tires on hard corners ( off and on ramps mostly ) to the point where I think the car would have flipped before the car spun out. They do not make any kind of squealing noises at all , under any amount of force. Maybe i'm chicken , but i have never been able to make the tires " let go ' in a corner. I have taken a few hard off ramps at almost 3 times the posted speed.
The first Azenis tires , the Rt-215s were like slicks when it rained , but these new RT-615s seem very safe to me. I have driven at 80 mph on the freeway in the rain with these tires with zero issues. In the snow..... THEY SUCK , and should NEVER be used in the snow.
I got 20,000 miles from my first set of Azenis , but should have probably replaced them at closer to 17,000. If you buy a set , you should probably expect 10 to 12 thousand if you spin your tires a lot with agressive driving , and 17 to 20 thousand if you drive conservatively until you need to light them up. Overall , they inspire insane amounts of confidence with handling in my car , and EVERYONE who has driven my car has voluntarily commented on the grip i have. They are the single closest thing to a drag radial I have found for straight line accelleration. I put this to the test with 477 whp in my car. Almost every other tire i have tried on the front , just blows off the minute I hit over 17 lbs of boost in first , second , and third gears. despite their stiff sidewall , the HUGE tread blocks and soft compound make for insane straight line traction.
Until something better comes along , I will continue to buy these as my daily driven street tires. Below is listed the simple results of the other tires I tested.
Nitto 555R - good all around , but spun in 3rd gear... Good feel though
Kuhmo Ecsta MX- SUCKED badly .... Spun THROUGH even third gear.
Potenza s-03 - fairly good feel , great ride , spun through first of 3rd gear
Hankook Ventus R-s2z212 - Great feel , and probably second in stickyness
Pilot Sports PS-2 - Quiet ride , great feel , spun through third
Toyo Prox-4 - Nice ride , spun through most of 3rd gear.
Yokohama ES-100 - Harsh ride , let go INSTANTLY in corners , loud, and spun ALL the way through 3rd gear.
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3- Sweet ride , quiet , nice cornering feel , spun through most of third.
BF Goodrich KDW - Nice tires really , SCARY in the rain , wore out fast , and spun in 3rd gear too much.
The only other tires I belive to be in the same class as the RT-615 , are the Advans , Federal 595RS ( suck in rain bad ) , and the Nitto NT-01 ( not a street tire , NO better grip suprisingly , and expect about 3000 miles of treadwear before they are gone !!!
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE : All of my comments about the tire comparisons were based ONLY on dry cornering , accelleration , braking , ride noise , and ride comfort in DRY weather. NO WET SURFACE testing was done , nor was treadwear for any extended period. My comments are not to be a total judgement on ANY tire , only about the specific things mentioned above.
BFg G force sports.
Size: 225/45/17
Awsome tire, great traction and awsome cornering. Treadwear is also awsome!
They are only $95 from tirerack but the best bang for the buck!
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2005 SRT-4 for sale
22,xxx miles, flame red
Mods: greddy turbo timer since 5k miles, Gutted cat, mopar bov, and 180 t-stat.
2 door dings. great shape. clear carfax. Pm me with offer
I just them on a couple days ago. I was running Kumho Ecsta ASX tires, and my first impression with the Nexen tires is that they are a lot quieter than the Kumhos. They also seem to roll slightly smoother, with no noticeable vibration. I bought my Nexen tires off ebay also, and paid $280 shipped for all 4 tires. These tires are a steal for the price.
update(5/5/06): I took them for a spin on the highway, and at speeds up to 85mph, they still were smooth and quiet. I tried taking a corner that I would go through all the time with the Kumhos, and the Nexen tires gripped very well with no noise. The Kumhos gripped but would give me a little bit of noise at the same speed, even when they were brand new. I also had trouble with traction going WOT at 40mph in 2nd with the Kumhos. With the Nexens, traction still is a problem. No surprise there.
well i paid $73 a tire for these and they have been awesome. the wet traction is amazing compared to the kdw2. i actually feel safe driving in the rain. as for dry traction ill bow down to these tires. with the set up in my sig. i would literally roast all of my second gear and the car would be pointless to drive on the kdw2's but with these general exclaims the car chirps second and grips all of second . ( depending on the road.) i can bark 3rd pretty good now too.
also i have managed cutting 2.0 60ft's at the track and running into high 12's with these tires.
the only noise i have in cabin is the exhaust as i do no longer hear and tire howling . and these tires have a great tread wear
they really are the best bang for the buck tire i have ever had on my vehicles.
Just got my generals UHP (225/45/17) installed in about 45 minutes from Discount Tire = $488 OTD, plus a $30 mail-in rebate & a $25 mail-in rebate for putting them on my Discount Tire Card.
So far, the ride is crisper, smoother & quieter than the Nokian All Weather's I had on before (which cost me $983 & took 6 hrs to install)
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