Sticky street tire crew, represent!
 

It's getting to be time for a new set of rubber- the tread on my Bridgestone RE-01Rs has finally just about disappeared, and I'll probably need to replace them within the next six months or so. (Since we're in the dry season, I'm just going to go ahead and run them until they turn into slicks.) Frankly, I am amazed at how long these tires lasted.

Wheels are 15x7 +35, and the car is a '90, so I don't have gobs of fender clearance. (And no, I'm not going to roll the damn fenders. I just painted them.)

In the absence of reasons to the contrary, I'd probably tend to replace them with the RE-11 in 205/50/15 simply out of habit, though I'm open to other opinions. I've heard good things about the Z1 Star Spec, the R-S3 and the Ecsta XS.

I'm also curious to hear the first-hand accounts of those running tires like the Toyo R1R and RA1 in a daily-driver environment, specifically in the winter months. Winter around here means morning temperatures in the 40s, afternoons in the 50s and 60s.

It'd be nice if I can get 10,000 miles out of 'em, but that's from from an absolute requirement- dry grip and cornering stability are the only things that really matter. Tires are cheap compared to crash damage and wrongful-death lawsuits. The last thing I need is a repeat of the flaming, radioactive puppies incident.

I'm running the 215/45/16 XS right now. I'll say in the cold they arent the greatest, earlier last month when the temps were dipping into the 30-40s in the morning, the tires would hop just simply pulling out of my parking spot and were incredibly easy to break loose. once they warmed up they were fine, but they make me nervous. Otherwise they are very predictable and do their job and I feel okay with them in the rain...in fact I'm much enjoying rain driving righ tnow cause I can control the rear very well.

i keep hearing great things about star specs and rs3.

I have Yokohama ES100 on my car. No idea if they're available in your size, but I love them.

RS3 is awesomesauce
XS may as well be slicks when it rains but have baller dry grip
615k makes for a great street tire but sucks donkey balls on the track

You want 15x8 6ULs and RS3s. 225 ftw

Just get some Hankook Z214s in C51 compound... :giggle:

Several local guys that are far more hardcore than I am have run just about all of the sticky street tires on their cars at their local test track (as well as several others in the Southeast) and - last time I checked with them - decided the RS-3 offered the best package of tire life + grip.

I really don't think you can go wrong with either of the XS, Star Spec or RS-3 for your purposes.

Still loving my Star Specs. Like most grippy summer tires they get pretty hard once the temp drops below 40° or so, but above that they grip like crazy.

From Hankook's website::giggle:

Google: "Rule 34 Hankook"


So, yeah. A tire with "Stylish fire flame tattoos on tread." Given that the smallest one they make is a 225/45/15, any first-hand experience out there fitting these on an early NA with 15x7 +35 wheels?

I'm running 225 RS3s on 8" 6ULs that I DD'd for about 5-6k miles, plus 2 track days. They are holding up great and I've had no real issues. They are fine in the rain unless I hit really deep puddles and then they hydroplane simply because the car is so light and the tire is so wide. Normal rain is no issue.

My ONLY complaint about the RS3s is the fact that they are HEAVY. Like "What the f--- is wrong with my car?!" heavy. I've got a set of OE sized 195/50 Yoko sDrives on factory NB 15's that I've been DDing recently. Grip is good but nothing like that big ass RS3. The car definitely feels more nimble now. I can't crank on the throttle through a corner anymore and not expect the rear to step out :)

I dont have any of the tires you mentioned, but I have federal 595 RS-R's, theyre 140 treadwear like the RS3's.

Ive currently got 3k miles on, with about 1/64" of tread worn away. These tires drive comparably to an RS3 but reaches their limit a little quicker. Right now Im guessing that these tires will heat cycle out before the tread disappears, in the typical federal way.

I should add that before the 225 RS3, I was running 205 sDrives on my 8" 6ULs, so that may account for some of the WTF factor above.

My next street tires will be 195 or 205 StarSpecs on whatever rims (probably another set of 6ULs) and I've already got 205 NT01s for track days. I'm just waiting to wear out the RS3s or sell them off. They just don't seem to wear on a car this light/underpowered. I know EVO guys who autoX & DD the RS3 and they... don't last this long.

They will fit fine. But they look fat on a 7.5 wheel...so they would look fatter on yours.

Do you need Rain traction?

Toyo r1r - Fantastic all around. Rain, Dry and Colder temps. If auto-xed they overheat in higher temps and the tread blocks will get worn away quick like. On the street they are fine. You should be able to get 10k out of them

RS3's - VERY good dry hot weather tire. Not as good in colder temps below 60's. Wet is not good.

Kumho XS - Like RS3's but less grip in dry....other then that same everything else.

Dunlops - Like R1R's BUT a little less dry grip. Same wet traction (very good) and are better in very cold temps...even though they feel a little hard when they get into 30's. Life is much better then R1R's. 10k+ easy but they cost more.

Srsly?

TireRack lists the 225 Hankook at 22 lbs, vs 21 lbs for the both the Bridgestone RE-11 and Dunlop Z1 in 205 width.

Or do you just mean heavy as in "Wow, the steering sure is stiff now"?


It's funny that you mention this.

As the current RE-01Rs have aged, they've definitely hardened a bit. And oddly, I've found that while the rear end of the car is quite easy to slide out if I really goose it hard around a bend, it is amazingly controllable.

It's sort of like practicing stalls in a Cessna 172; very easy to start, and yet once you let go, it tends to automatically recover itself. It's a very idiot-resistant configuration, like the rear end wants to save you from being a douchebag. It'll humor you if you tell it "Ok, it is time to start sliding now," and then as soon as you let off the power, the back end of the car says "So, we're done with that now? Great- I'm going to just go ahead and start gripping again so that you won't be killed, if that's ok with you."

Is this the fastest way to get around a corner? Of course not. But it sure as hell is fun to do when there's no lap-timer involved.

R1R's....in the rain are the bestest thing ever.

I'm just going to leave this here...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1337711479

We don't get much rain down here in San Diego, so it's not typically a serious concern. Typically just a few days per year that the water actually accumulates on the ground, and when the puddles do get to any depth, you can count on going surfing regardless of what tires you've got on.



I seem to recall there being some mixed reviews when they came out- people claiming "Oh, they're no better than tire X, and last half as long." But if they really do offer the winning combination of dry grip and cool-weather performance, then they're definitely something to look at. In the winter, we get a lot of days where the temperatures hover in the 50s for a month at a time, and I need a tire that performs well right out of the garage in these temps. The concept of warming up the tires doesn't translate well into a daily commuter.



So that's one vote for the R1R, and then one vote for the Dunlop.

Temps here never get into the 30s. Literally, it just doesn't happen. Mid 40s happens frequently in the winter.

And cost? Seriously- at the levels we're talking about here, money is literally no object. Paying $130 per tire vs. $115 is completely irrelevant, even if we're talking about 5,000 miles vs. 10,000 miles.

Hmm.

That's impressive.

might as well get RA1s.

Sweet Jesus! I may need to reevaluate my tire selection.

Oh, right. That's why I had XSes on my old 15x7 RPF-1s. :)

Don't overthink this.

Buy one of each, best of all worlds :giggle: