Back from dead after GRM tire comparison
 

Just an FYI. Grassroots motorsports did a tire comparison in their recent issue. Those of us sporting small width wheels don't seem to gain much benefit from cramming the rs3 onto it.

Looks like those of us with a wheel width of 7.5" or less might as well run the Kumho XS.

I thought the results were pretty interesting.

I run Nankang NS-1's or something like that on the street. They're like $96 each, and get really good traction in cold weather. They also have a cool tread pattern, and pretty sticky.

howdy, i run potenza re11 205-50-15 25 offset dd on turbo miata with no problem,i had rt-615 & no match to re11,nt01 is good for track days,noisy doest last long,rs3 is good but ill go with direnza star spec insted of rs3 for dd & weekend autox,r1r is for for trackdays,do a research on potenza re-11 good for dd & mild autox,more money but safe on street,i was using kumho 710 last year r-comp and i try re-11 this year, i was surprise.good luck,just pls no matter what happen dont get the rt-615,not enought grip.

Seconded for the RE-11, my only concern is tread life... don't know how long they'll last. But they kick the shit out of the T1Rs I had on there before. Downside for you is biggest 15 they have is 205.

my re-11 has 12,000 miles still look new.i dont drive hard on street on when need it,on i drive hard on autox.

I don't think I've ever suggested anyone run the NT-01 on the street because its too slick when cold, and wears too fast. RS-3 is my vote.

I ran rt615 and re11s back-to-back at a practice autox and it was night and day difference. I'm a big fan of re11s now.

The pic is 205/50/15 on 15x7 for both rt615 and re11. The re11s are really wide for 205s (more like 215s), just something to consider.

http://66.25.13.59/rt615vsre11.jpg

I fucking knew it! I just swapped my 205/45/16 Toyo T1Rs on 16x6.5 to 205/50/15 RE-11s on 15x7 and they just looked wider, bulging from the rims, thought it was an optical illusion with the wider tread blocks on the RE-11.

I can't wait to have Bridgestone money...

I will definitely look at those. Has anyone seen a comparo between the RE11 and the XS?

Pretty sure both the RE-11 and XS were in GRM's tire shootout last year. Too lazy to look at GRM's website right now as I must go eat lunch, but my recollection is that they were very close/competitive to each other. I know a bunch of people get the XS because they are ~$120/set less, then a bunch of people picked up RE-11s when Bridgestone was running a rebate special. What that tells me is that they aren't so different in performance that folks won't be swayed either way by a relatively small amount of money. ;) Go look and see if GRM has the article online. If not, I have it in print somewhere at home.

XS on a wheel under 8 inches because they're cheap and 99% of the performance of the RS3 on a street car.

wide wheels: RS3 unless you're cheap and not competing. then XS again, slightly stretch a la crub loadster.

Don't know what's expensive to you, but I ordered mine from Costco and they were around $120/ea mounted.

^^^^ THIS

Because of

----- THIS -----> For the June 2009 issue. Just got my Grassroot motorsports where they did some Extreme tire testing. Tires were tested in 15 inch sizes on a hond civic.

Here is a summary of times from worst to first.

6th - Falken RT 615 Mean time: 35.302 Sec Quick time 35.125 Sec.
5th - Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec Mean time: 35.209 sec. Quick time 35.061
4th -Toyo Proxes R1R Mean time: 34.522 sec Quick Time 34.452 sec
3rd- Bridgestone RE-01R Mean time: 34.478 sec Quick Time 34.430 sec.
2nd- Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 Mean time: 34.266 Quick time 34.238 sec.
1st - Kumho ECSTA XS Mean time :34.170 Quick Time 34.030 sec.

All tires were shaved to 3/32 nd and test performed on an Autocross set up.

you should keep your subscription up to date. they just retested the XS and RS3 and they were very nearly dead even on a sub 8" wheel.

I'm aware, check post #21. Last years test compares the RE11 against the XS

they just retest them at grm,its on last issue of grm verdict is rs3 did better than xs,615k and star spec.but they are all close time.re11 is more compare to rs3,ill try rs3 next time.

Best R-compound tire that can be used as a street tire hands down is the Toyo RA-1. Twice the streetable tread depth as the NT-01 molded at 8/32 instead of 6/32 rides quieter and smoother.

Unless you’re mounting on at least an 8” wheel a 225 tire will gain you next to nothing over a 205 I believe.

Bob

Bridgestone is having a $70 rebate this month. Picking up my RE-11's for my subie Monday.

I've got 4 track days on RE11s and a shitload of freeway miles (more than I ever put on RS2s or Azenis), and I'm not even at the wear indicator yet. I r plz'd.

Prob buying them again.