Luke,

I really like your post showing which tires you like best. It is very rare to find an objective review where someone can truly compare apples to apples. Unfortunately, that list is over a year old and some new tires have come out. Has your list changed?

The TireRack site is really good for comparisons but many of the tires I'm looking at are not part of a direct side-by-side. I'm curious how the Kumho SPT compares to the Fuzion ZRi. I'd also like to know how much difference there is between "Budget" "UHP" and "Max HP". Is each progression dramatic even for street driving or is most of the performance gained on only noticed on the track?

I need a couple of SSR Comps and a new set of tires so those are my burning questions these days.

 

you won't be wrong with toyo T1R

 

I suspect that your are quite correct. However, I would like to keep the cost below $100/tire. Were I to go higher, the T1R and the GSD3 would become the front runners.

 

I've heard good things about the AVON tires. I think they are a hair over $100/tire though.

 

I was running Nitto Neogens on my Prelude which I autocrossed. Though I parted with the Prelude to get my RS, I would highly consider getting Neogens for my RS again. They cost me about 80 bucks a tire. Good price, but they do take a bit to get warmed up, but grip nicely after they do.

 

Hankook RS-2. You can get them for $99/tire at 225/45-17. Lots of people using these over the Falken 451's, especially auto-x.

 

top 5 are currently

Advan Neova AD07
Pilot SPort PS2
S-03 Pole Position
SP Sport Maxx
Eagle F1 GS-D3

 

What about the Top 5 budget tires?

also, when I use the tire selector at TireRack, I see Hankook as an option but cannot browse or even find any. What's the story with that?

 

I have Fuzion ZRi on my 03 wrx. So far, they're still handle great (for budget tires). They are a little over a year old and still look pretty new.

 

I just got the ADVAN Neova AD07s on my '04 STi, and I love 'em, and I used to have S03's.....these are GREAT tires!

 

No doubt the AD07s are among the best (if not the best). I just don't want to spend that kind of money.

 

Interesting...especially since Grassroots Motorsports ranked both the old and the new Falken Azenis tires (615/215) above the Advan tire...but then again TireRack does not sell Falken tires.

 

Obviously Tire Rack is only going to rate (or even know about) the tires that they sell. But they appear to sell most and so they are a good source of info, if not complete. So, they have some clearly defined biases which you must take into consideration.

Curiosity did get me to look at the Grassroots website to see what they had to say. I didn't any reviews but I did see what appeared to be one of their cars with Falken stickers all over it. I don't know if they have those stickers on the car because they love the tires or because they are sponsored by them. If the latter, that would put them in a whole new world of biased.

I've yet to see an unbiased source review all of the tires that interest the folks here on the forums. The best you can do is try to read them all and make a semi-informed decision.

 

Enigma, why buy expensive wheels then hamstring yourself on the tire budget? Better tires on slightly heavier but cheaper wheels will give you a better performing car. The Advans on some Rotas or something cheaper than SSRs will be better than the Comps with, say, BFG g-force sports or Fuzion ZRi.

 

I'm not entirely decided on tires right now, just still shopping. My current "iffyness" on high end tires is that with AWD, super sticky tires on the street might be overkill. Things that turn me on about tires at the moment are braking distances in the rain and the like. I also want a light weight tire but that is proving to be more difficult as Tire Rack seems to round up on weights and place like Edge don't match up with the manufacturers numbers.

Everyone please spare me the "don't buy crappy tires because they are light" speech. I've heard it. I think the only tires I am looking at are good. The real killer is determining how much difference there really is between a budget (<$100), midrange(~$150), and high end summer tire(~$200+).

Right now I like the Kumho SPT and Hankook 212 on the low end, the Toyo T1R and Goodyear GSD3 at the mid range and haven't really looked at the top end. Old experience with tires has lead me to the belief that you can get 90% of the performance from the right lower end tire for 50% of the price. The fact that if you ask ten different people which tire is the best and you get ten different answers reinforces these feelings.

I guess what it boils down to is that I want it all. A great, lightweight inexpensive tire on some great, lightweight inexpensive wheels. Let's see how close I can get to that.