Wrx17

I was wondering what type of tires would any of you recommend. I need a tire for a 17x7.5 wheel...and something that can sustain track conditions. So probably something with a little stiffer sidewall would be nice. The most popular ones I've seen are Azenis, S-03's, and AVS ES100's. The only bad part is that the S-03's are considerably more expensive than the other tires. So...are there any other tire choices that I'm forgetting and does anyone have any input into this. Thanks.

Uncle Scotty

Kumho MX's. As long as you season(heat cycle) them on the street for a couple hundred miles before you track them, they should be fine.

ish

iTrader: (7)

s-03s since they are that much better than the others

stay away from the es100s, especially if you plan on tracking.

the falken azenis are great too, a lot less expensive, but they do suck in the rain and they can keep up on the track

Wrx17

I'm thinking between the Kumho MX and the Azenis. The S-03's are great...in rain and dry...but they are significantly more...and in California, it rains only a few months of the year.

Dexter@tirerack

Check out the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. Asymmetric and rock solid on traction. It broke my heart to have to put the snows on...

syncopation

iTrader: (3)

At $166 a tire (225/45/17) for those, you may as well get the S03's.

Dexter,
How would you rate the wear on the PS2's?

Wrx17

After looking at the TireRack website and comparing tires, it looked like the Pirelli PZero Nero was on par at the very least with the S-03 and Pilot Sport. Does anyone know how these do first hand, and is there any difference between the WR and YR rating (WR is something like 168mph rating...car can't hit that speed anyways.) Thanks.

theworx

I was not impressed with the Michelin Pilots Sports. My girlfriend 03 tiburon came with these in 215 45 17 size. They were fine for daily driving, but tried to Autox with them a few times and the damn car just slid. No traction what so ever. We ended up trading her stock rims to my cousin for a set of 18" Konig Verdicts (look awesome) and put 225, 40 18 Falken Ziex 512's and they were better. This could be due to slightly wider tires or bigger rims, but I think it was the tires.

My 2 cents

doughboy

iTrader: (3)

would you care to elaborate on this? i have s-03's on my ssr's and am actually looking at trying es100s next!

db

ish

iTrader: (7)

you are going to be very disappointed going from s-03s to es100s

they are a much cheaper tire, they have a very small time when they grip well, the rest of the time they slide around. (this is stuff i have heard from multiple people who own them)

yokohama brought out the es100s to replace the intermediates and the intermediates were soooo much better.

babysmurf

iTrader: (4)

if u are in an area that doesn't rain much, i would recommend the mx's.. im' thinking of trying those out myself. as for so3's those are GREAT tires. i've had two sets and love 'em. great traction in wet and dry weather. the azenis perform well in dry, but if they hit a puddle, it's not so good...
so yeah
how are mpsc's in rain?

mario

iTrader: (7)

If your gonna be doing any track racing ie: track days not Auto-X the Azenis get a little greasy & slick when they get really hot. The traction is still there but not as much when they really heat up.

yakker

Hey doughboy,

I ran the Yokohama ES100s for one and a half seasons.

It's a great street tire. I can't comment on race abillity as that's not my thing. But, the tire grips in fast on-ramp/off-ramp situations, handles very well in the wet, and has a great treadlife. I have never lost traction in real world conditions. I must have been driving them in the "very small time when they grip well" . Lucky me!

As wrx ish explains...they are inexpensive given the other choices in this category. This may or may not be a factor for you.

Hope this helps.

yakker

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

Yakker, you are correct that the Yokos are pretty good street tires. But WRX17 already ruled them out for his use with these comments in his first post:

That is similar to my tire needs. I am running S03s (my second set, these are 215/45ZR17 on Gram Lights after a set of 205/50R16 on stocks). I will continue to run S03s until I see a tire that is definitively better in the dry and wet as a street tire. It's kind of a toss-up between the Falken Azenis, Kumho MX, and S03s in the dry, but no contest in the wet and the wear is similar on all 3. I think it's worth the extra $100 a year to be safer in the wet on street tires. The S03s have wondefully stiff sidewalls as well, something that can't be said about the MX, though I am not sure how stiff the Azenis are. Also, I will be running a second set of wheels on the track this year, probably a second-tier R compound like Victoracers or RA1s, but the new Pirrelli club spec tire looks promising...