Street Tire 225/45/15 RS-2 or R1R
 

Ok so after going through the threads and looking into different tires for different applications, i have come to conclusion that i would like an aggressive street tire.

But i have hit a snag, not sure if i want to go with the Hankook RS-2 or the Toyo R1R

The Toyo will have more grip but will wear faster and costs around 670 otd

The Hankook will has less grip but will wear better and costs 530 otd

So the penny pincher in me is screaming to buy the Hankooks since they will last longer and cost 140 less, but the driver in me says buy the Toyo's for better grip and i would be getting them from a better source, good-win v.s. discount tire.

So basically looking for peoples impressions and thoughts about these two tires.

Also does anyone have a place that would have RS-3's on the west coast because i would buy them but the only place that i have seen that still has them is the place stein found Performance Tires Online|Treadzone.com Tire Specialists and they want 124 per wheel plus 100 shipping which would be 600 plus install, the shipping kills it.

do you track? do you drive your car to its potential often? if you answer to both of these questions with yes - buy some real tires. if you answered no one of the questions - get toyos. if you answered no to both questions - get hankooks.

The R1R is a track only tire that should probably not be driven on the street. Sure un-shaved you'll have some wet performance, but the adhesion limit will come up and bite you without warning. Get something like the toyo proxxes 4 or faulken 512, much cheaper and a great tire, rain or shine (Granted there's no rain in Cali, but still). I've been tracking my proxxes 4's for 5 track days now, with about 20k DD miles mixed in there. I started tracking them seriously once I turned it into a track only car. Problem is I can't seem to kill them, yet they seem to be a decent track tire for the money. Just my :2cents:

How much will it cost when you enter a corner too hot with less grip and trash a rim, autobody part or worse?

Somehow I think it'll be more than the $140 difference in tire prices...

- L

I love my R1R's they're definitely the best street tire I've run. They are wearing quick though. If you're daily driving the car I think I'd go with the RS2's as they seem to last a little longer. If it's just a fun/weekend/track car I'd probably go for the R1R's.

Interesting tidbit:

They quoted me $75 shipping on the website and that's what I signed up to pay. Today I get a copy of the paid invoice for the tires and they charged me $15 each or $60 to ship. So, it was $556 OTD for mine. Might warrant a call to them to see if it will be less than $100 to ship. I was pleasantly surprised.

dude get some Gforce sports good grip wet and dry and fair price/ wear. A 225 50 will fit perfectly to :D
BFGoodrich g-Force Sport tire rack also only charge me 15 bucks a tire to ship but they only charge me for shipping one tire for some reason so i scored on that.

Rs2 are great.
have you consider the falken 615? also great.

Performance wise the 512 doesnt really cut it.. The proxe4 I like better for daily. They dont compare to the 615 or the rs2. They all smoke well too..

If you are driving and having a blast, tire wear shouldnt matter much. If you have a tight budget forget having a car hobby ;)

Good luck. Both tires will kick ass for you..

I have considered the 615's but as far as i have been reading they might not be able to last as long as i would want them to and there is the size issue being they only run in 205's

The mileage might also be a concern for the R-S3's

I still have a few other things to do with the car in the next couple weeks so I would rather spend 500 than 700 on tires although the 615s in a 205 are 450 installed so they are definitely price competitive

Still over my head here to a certain degree, because all i really want is a tire the will grip 200-225whp with spirited street driving and not give out until at a minimum 15k miles at the cheapest possible price so i have money left over for everything else that needs to be done sooner rather than later.

I think I will probably end up in R-S2's since i can now pick them up for 480 installed, they should last as long as i want them to, and grip hard enough for the type of driving i will be doing. But the other options like the 615 the R1R and the R-S3 give me pause.

People still asking for the best grip vs longest lasting tire?...just give up, pay to play, grip or longevity, pick only one! That's all there is to it.

not going for best grip v.s. longest lasting tire, going for best grip in a tire that will last 15k

I was thoroughly unhappy with my RS-2's. They were trashed in ~10k miles and ~4 autocrosses, the lateral grip was decent and the breakaway was nice and progressive, but fore/ aft grip sucked and feel was nonexistent, leading to lots of brake lockups in situations where I should have been no where near the grip limit. And they're ugly. For the money, I won't be buying any more. I might consider the RS-3 after I get a chance to drive on some.

For my latest set of street tires, I went with 205/50 DZ101s, and while they make better street tires, they have a HUGE rim protector that makes them look really stretched. I'm not so happy with this. I would try Falken ZE912s in 225/50 or RT615s in 205/50, OR go with the R1Rs for my next set if I had to buy one today.

I'm particularly hard on tires, but after 2500 miles my R1R's are showing some significant wear. I'm sure I'll be at the wear-bars by 4000, that's "spirited" street driving and a couple autocross events, no crazy burnouts or dr1fting. I'm sure you could do a good bit better with "normal" driving but I doubt they're going to make 15k unless you're driving like grandma.

Update:

My RS3's that I ordered from TreadZone Thursday arrived today. Not bad, considering a weekend in between and they came from PA to NE. They look massive. The flames?.:greddy: Well, at least they are shallow and should be gone quickly. Now I just need wheels. Emilio said the container should arrive around 6/6. Hopefully, I'll have them by the end of the month.

Got some NT01 225-45-15 from discount tire for 600 otd in el cajon great tires, not sure about how long they will last though. have the 615's for street because that get greasy and unresponsive when they get hot on the track (4 or 5 hot laps in) :( . but i have 12k on them right now and they still look ok. I have only been to streets of willow, and spring mountain in NV. both on the 615's and it was dissapointing. But i will be ready next time :)

What wheel width do you have these on?

RS2 do have a sloppier side wall. So you dont want a 205/50 on anything smaller than a 8" wide wheel. Ithink it would then be pretty sloppy..

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OK street radial. Lousy occasional autocross tire. I miss my Kumho Ecsta MX's. They were fine as both.

The RS2s grip poorly for a performance tire. They squeal too easy and just don't grip like they should. Feel is poor, transitions seem too numb. I drove back to back between Joe Perez's car and mine and the Bridgestone RE-01R's he was running were night and day better. And that's his daily tire on his only car.

I really, really miss my V710s, but that's not a street tire and not what we are discussing.

So as a Hankook RS2 owner I'd say look at the Kuhmo Ecsta MX as an excellent inexpensive tire or the Bridgestone RE-01R if they aren't too much money.

Good luck.

oh BTW Nitto is made by Toyo. and the bridgestone's RE-01R are way decent also :).

thanks
 

Update

Thanks for all the help, decided on going with the R-S3, turns out through a whole day of calling that hankook has set aside a few sets for "competition tire" distributors so race shops are still able to get it even though tirerack is sold out, called up a semi local shop in south L.A. was quoted 101 plus tax giving me a total of 440 OTD plus maybe 30 in gas, add 80 for mount balance and install and at 550 otd for a tire that is comparable to the R1R i pulled the trigger.

That's a friggin' great deal!