fpscolin

I need new tires to wrap my 15x8's in (205/50/r15). I've asked around and read the forums, and come up with a few realistic options. Here's what I'm looking for, with a budget of $600 CAD.

1. Can handle wet roads/rain (I live in Montreal Canada)
2. Will last at least 2 seasons
3. Mainly spirited street use, occasional track days (say, 4 per year).
4. Must be easily purchased in Canada (Tirerack is out of the question).

So far, I've narrowed a few options down with local distributors; The shipped prices (in canadian dollars):
Maxxis VR-1 - $540
Yokohama S.DRIVE - $536
Toyo Proxes 4 - $600
Dunlop DIREZZA DZ102 - $411

So far I'm leaning towards either the VR-1s or the S.DRIVES. This car is my daily, but I don't have a long commute so I think I can swing some UHP tires and get away with it.

What do you fine people recommend? Also, if you have a suggestion not listed, by all means let me know. Thanks in advance.

AndyHollis

Continental ExtremeContact Sport...new replacement for the DW...will do all of that better than all those others (maybe a touch slower than the VR1 on track, but not by much). Wet performance is the best I've ever seen short of a Hoosier H20.

Roda

S.Drive is a fine daily tire, and I run them as DD tires on my wife's NC, and had a set on my NA for a while. They're not bad for the occasional canyon run, but are not up to any serious track use if your pace is much faster than street speeds. They will overheat very quickly and get greasy.

If the car is not a daily driver, I'd use any of the good 200TW tires. If it is, you're really better off with two sets...

TalkingPie

The new Conti is on my radar as well (it sounds like it'll be amazing), but it doesn't even exist on Continental's Canadian website yet, so I have no idea how long it'll be until it's available here. You can always order through Tire Rack and get them installed in NY. Combine it with a road trip for extra win. I did this when I got my Comp2 and it worked out well, although the exchange rate was more favourable then.

Speaking of the Comp2, it runs wide at 195 - some say it's wider than some 205s - and seems to do everything better than the S. Drive. You can get them at Costco for $500/set minus any rebates. After nearly 4 years and 17,000 km I'm still happy with their performance. My only issue with them is that they've flat-spotted from sitting, otherwise they'd still have lots of life in them, despite sessions at ASE. People talk about them being noisy, but I noticed no noise difference from the S Drives I had prior.

Reposting the link to a thorough test of the Conti that AndyHollis posted on miata.net: TESTED: Continental Tire ExtremeContact Sport

Lexzar

iTrader: (2)

I like my dz102 for a daily on a miata. They were bald almost but still held their own in the wet, had to try to even swing the *** out.

Pitlab77

iTrader: (3)

They don't like the wet when wearing down on my Mazda 3 hatch. At full tread they are not bad. Apples to orange comparison though. The DW's were nice though.

lilflx

me too i live in montreal. just pull the trigger this afternoon i ordered a set of vr1. s-drive is not in the same league, fine for daily but forget about trackdays.

AndyHollis

1) My sources at Continental say the Sport has launched in Canada and retailers can be found by going to their web site.

2) For folks in the US, watch for a $70 per set rebate coming in about a week.

fpscolin

Haha right on! I'm actually at the garage right now, getting my VR-1s mounted

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