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Summer tire comparo?

KAOS_3.0

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
May 16, 2008
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Location
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On a scale of Nankang NS1(one) to Michelin PSS (ten) could you guys rate the Nankang NS-20, Sumitomo HTR ZIII, General G-MAX AS-03, BFGoodrich G-force Sport Comp-2, and Nitto NT555?

looking for a low cost summer tire with the most grip in the dry, rated for at least 130 mph, and that break loose slowly and with audible feedback (in other words a louder tire, but one that doesn't vibrate or hum). also looking for a thick stiff sidewall. not planning on any stanced/streched nonsense...

had some Kumho Ecsta ASTs (though smaller) in the past that stuck well, but broke loose with no audible warning, they where a bit scary to roll on. on top of that they wore out stupid fast and cost a small fortune considering their poor performance. wound up putting 235/45/17 NS1's on it for the same cost as the 225 Kumho's and was actually much happier. NS1's arent sticky, but they give you plenty of warning before they heave you into a guard rail. now I'm looking for something stickier and speed rated in the same size...

size I'll be looking for is a 235/35/17, 235/40/17 or a 235/45/17. preferably 235/45/17

I know you guys love opinions, so opinion away! I'm also open to other tires in the same spirit as the ones I've come up with, but I'd like to keep costs under $110 a tire...
 
Some great summer tires - great handling, will "talk" to you, but due to softer compouds won't last forever.

Dunlop Dirrezza Z11 (already on closeout pricing as they will be introducing a new Star Spec11)
BG Goodrich Rivals
Kumo Ecsta XS
Hankook Ventus RS3

All of these are preferred tires at Chumpcar race events - min of 180TW rating required.

I've got a set of the Sumitomo's on one of my other cars. Pretty decent tire for the money. Tread width sizing seems a bit on the narrow side compared to other tires.
 
I've heard nightmares about direzzas, with a lot of them being a bit out of round....

FWIW dunlop is now owned by Sumitomo, and the Sumitomo's where getting better reviews on BMW forums (where most talk of decent tires seems to live)

I'll look at the Hankooks, that's a brand I hadn't thought of. ([EDIT] OK holy crap those are about 50 bucks a tire over my limit. how could they possibly be better than Nitto's?)

as for Kumho, I don't like that they can only survive like three, maybe four good heat cycles before they harden up like a damn eco tire. this is what I attribute the sudden and unforewarned loss of traction to.
 
+1 on Hankook. It's hard to beat their performance for the price. I run a set of their V12s on my OZ Racing wheels and couldn't be happier. The only negative rap they get is for soft sidewalls. If you are running lower profiles on 17 or 18 inch wheels it shouldn't stand out though.
 
+1 on Hankook. It's hard to beat their performance for the price. I run a set of their V12s on my OZ Racing wheels and couldn't be happier. The only negative rap they get is for soft sidewalls. If you are running lower profiles on 17 or 18 inch wheels it shouldn't stand out though.

KAOS_3.0 said:
also looking for a thick stiff sidewall.

thanks for pointing that out, lol

I'm putting 235/45's on FSVT 6 spokes, so I'm heading in a bit of the opposite direction of "stanced". which means I need beefy sidewalls.
 
BF Goodrich G Force Sport Comp II's /thread.

I like those. as far as what I've seen around they come in as a solid second to the nitto's. I'm going to guess the trade off between the two is rain vs dry performance. the nitto's have a larger traction surface, but the BFG's appear to be able to spread water more efficiently...

I'm adding the bfg's to the OP fr others to include them in the shoot out.

what experience do you have with them and what other tires can you compare them to?

thanks for the nice suggestion!
 
I've had them on the Contour for a while now, extremely grippy, very little tire noise but they do howl when you start to get around the limit. I have them in 225/45/ZR17 on the Contour and a co worker bought some after he saw mine for his Saab 9-3 in 235/45/ZR17 neither is too wide for the rim, mine look great on 17X7.5 Motegi MR125's and his are on stock 17X7 IIRC Saab wheels but don't look like they're hanging off too much. Sidewall is decent and the tire does not look painted on.

My SVT Focus came with Dirrezzas on the front, they are about 60% worn, and while they are 215/45/ZR17 the sidewall is tiny and they hang over the stock 17X7. Handling is good on the Dirrezzas but I have had problems with certain roads being very greasy when they get wet with those tires, leaving a meet in Allentown it poured and then stopped and Zerohour and I were having fun light to light on a newly paved road (still technically a road, but mostly it was a ring road around the shopping plaza we were in) and I could NOT hook in the SVT until being very gentle on second. If I tried to put down power in first it sat still and only moved me laterally. Even with more torque in the Contour and being in worse conditions, I've never experienced anything like that on the G-Forces.

BTW, prices are going down all the time on the G-Forces, original set I bought was $123/tire, after I ate through the inside of that set with severe camber wear from lowering, it was $115/tire, now my co worker told me he paid around $100/tire. I will be putting a set on the SVT over winter while I'm rocking my snows.
 
I've had them on the Contour for a while now, extremely grippy, very little tire noise but they do howl when you start to get around the limit. I have them in 225/45/ZR17 on the Contour and a co worker bought some after he saw mine for his Saab 9-3 in 235/45/ZR17 neither is too wide for the rim, mine look great on 17X7.5 Motegi MR125's and his are on stock 17X7 IIRC Saab wheels but don't look like they're hanging off too much. Sidewall is decent and the tire does not look painted on.

My SVT Focus came with Dirrezzas on the front, they are about 60% worn, and while they are 215/45/ZR17 the sidewall is tiny and they hang over the stock 17X7. Handling is good on the Dirrezzas but I have had problems with certain roads being very greasy when they get wet with those tires, leaving a meet in Allentown it poured and then stopped and Zerohour and I were having fun light to light on a newly paved road (still technically a road, but mostly it was a ring road around the shopping plaza we were in) and I could NOT hook in the SVT until being very gentle on second. If I tried to put down power in first it sat still and only moved me laterally. Even with more torque in the Contour and being in worse conditions, I've never experienced anything like that on the G-Forces.

BTW, prices are going down all the time on the G-Forces, original set I bought was $123/tire, after I ate through the inside of that set with severe camber wear from lowering, it was $115/tire, now my co worker told me he paid around $100/tire. I will be putting a set on the SVT over winter while I'm rocking my snows.

yeah those sound really good. thanks for the write up. I hope these arent about to be discontinued. usually when a tire starts dropping in price rapidly it's because the manufacturer is already working on it's replacement...

I'm surprised nobody has any experience with the nitto's. a friend of mine who races a new edge mustang in scca/nasa swears by them. both his street and r compounds are nitto. I think he icked up a sponsership from all the tires he orders from them...
 
G force sports olny lasted 20k miles with good alignment and rotating .No burnouts or hard driving I was disappointed but handled decent I guess.
I have the kumho spt now they are ok for the price maybe I would rate them a 4.
 
Googled for a comparison of the two (g-force sport comp-2 and nt555) and both seem to be equally popular on RWD GM's...

did learn something though. apparently Nitto hasn't changed the design of the nt555 in like ten years, while the comp-2's are a fairly new tire design and a redesign of a previous model.

now one could say a newer design would be superior, OR you could make the assumption that the nt555 is so damn good from the beginning that it remains competitive with brand new tire designs ten years after it's invention....

the jury seems to be hung on the topic...

http://ls1tech.com/forums/wheels-ti...-extreme-vs-bfg-g-force-super-comp-2-a-2.html
 
On a scale of Nankang NS1(one) to Michelin PSS (ten) could you guys rate the Nankang NS-20, Sumitomo HTR ZIII, General G-MAX AS-03, BFGoodrich G-force Sport Comp-2, and Nitto NT555?

looking for a low cost summer tire with the most grip in the dry, rated for at least 130 mph, and that break loose slowly and with audible feedback (in other words a louder tire, but one that doesn't vibrate or hum). also looking for a thick stiff sidewall. not planning on any stanced/streched nonsense...

had some Kumho Ecsta ASTs (though smaller) in the past that stuck well, but broke loose with no audible warning, they where a bit scary to roll on. on top of that they wore out stupid fast and cost a small fortune considering their poor performance. wound up putting 235/45/17 NS1's on it for the same cost as the 225 Kumho's and was actually much happier. NS1's arent sticky, but they give you plenty of warning before they heave you into a guard rail. now I'm looking for something stickier and speed rated in the same size...

size I'll be looking for is a 235/35/17, 235/40/17 or a 235/45/17. preferably 235/45/17

I know you guys love opinions, so opinion away! I'm also open to other tires in the same spirit as the ones I've come up with, but I'd like to keep costs under $110 a tire...

Check discounttiredirect.com and look at the Falkens. I have nothing but praise for these tires. Prices you see can be lowered another few % - PM me and I will give you an email of an associate of DTD - referral thing.
 
ok, I can't seem to find the higher end azenis I'm used to seeing in comparisons in the class I'm looking at...

here's the search I'm looking at: http://www.discounttiredirect.com/d...=0&fl=&spr=W&spr=V&spr=Y&sortBy=prca&fqs=true

they didn't stop making them did they? or do they not come in 235/45/17?
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/d...=0&fl=&spr=W&spr=V&spr=Y&sortBy=prca&fqs=true

Contact Steve Wysack of Discount Tire Direct
Steve Wysack
Customer Service Specialist Level II
1-800-589-6789 ext 51881
Fax 1-866-730-0567
swysack@discounttire.com

You will get your questions answered accurately and quickly.
 
awesome, will do

as a small update, I've been playing with a tire calculator:

--------------------------------Specification - Sidewall - Diameter - Circum. - Revs/Mile - Difference - mph

OEM 16" wheel tire size ----215/50-16 --- 4.2in ------ 24.5in --- 76.9in ---- 824 -------- 0.0% ------ 65

What came on 16"s -------- 205/60-16 --- 4.8in ------ 25.7in --- 80.7in ----785 --------- 5.0% ----- 68.25

Preferred winter tire --------225/50-16 --- 4.4in ----- 24.9in --- 78.1in ---- 811 --------- 1.6% ----- 66.04

Preferred 235 Size ----------235/45-17 --- 4.2in ----- 25.3in --- 79.6in ---- 796 --------- 3.5% ----- 67.27

closer 235's ------------------235/40-17 --- 3.7in ----- 24.4in --- 76.7in ---- 827 ------- -0.3% ------ 64.98

17"s in storage --------------245/45-17 --- 4.3in ----- 25.7in --- 80.7in ---- 785 -------- 25.1% ----- 81.31

suggested 245's ------------- 245/35-17 --- 3.4in ----- 23.8in --- 74.6in ---- 849 ------ -2.9% ------ 64.81

perfect fit 245's --------------245/40-17 --- 3.9in ----- 24.7in --- 77.6in ---- 816 ------- 1.0% ------- 65.65
 
I have the General G-MAX's on my DD 325XiT (205/45/17). I have put about 10k miles on them so far. Great all around tire, with the AWD they handled snow just fine too. Tread wear seems to be good, road noise is not an issue. I also have the older General Exclaim UHP's on my CSVT. They have held up to a couple track days without a problem, though they bark at their limit. The G-max's are a great bang for the buck performance tire IMO.

We had the Sumitomo HTR's (all season not the Z-Rated) on my wifes car. Tread wear was terrible, they were bad in the snow, but performance was good on dry pavement.

On the CC we have ContiExtremeContact DWS (235/40/18), great tire but they are a good bit more $$ than the General's
 
I have the General G-MAX's on my DD 325XiT (205/45/17). I have put about 10k miles on them so far. Great all around tire, with the AWD they handled snow just fine too. Tread wear seems to be good, road noise is not an issue. I also have the older General Exclaim UHP's on my CSVT. They have held up to a couple track days without a problem, though they bark at their limit. The G-max's are a great bang for the buck performance tire IMO.

We had the Sumitomo HTR's (all season not the Z-Rated) on my wifes car. Tread wear was terrible, they were bad in the snow, but performance was good on dry pavement.

On the CC we have ContiExtremeContact DWS (235/40/18), great tire but they are a good bit more $$ than the General's

do the gmax's bark at the limit like the exclaims? I'd read a lot of things I liked about the exclaims, hence the gmax's on the list. my fiance's cooper has conti DWS on it. they are very sticky fr an all season/snow, but I have yet to hear them at the limit. I like a tire to let me know whats going on audibly. nt screeching in aparking lot annoying, but a nice progressive howl as speed builds toward the limit in a turn.


Here are two good calculators, just an FYI -
the original - http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

And another very good one, much more updated -
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tirecalc.php

yeah, I was playing with the miata one... nice links! thanks!
 
do the gmax's bark at the limit like the exclaims? I'd read a lot of things I liked about the exclaims, hence the gmax's on the list. my fiance's cooper has conti DWS on it. they are very sticky fr an all season/snow, but I have yet to hear them at the limit. I like a tire to let me know whats going on audibly. nt screeching in aparking lot annoying, but a nice progressive howl as speed builds toward the limit in a turn.

I couldn't tell you, I haven't pushed the wagon to its limit. Its the DD, if I am going to push something to the limit its going to be my CSVT. I just need the BMW to be reliable and get me to work and back. It handles on ramps like a champ and see's 80mph daily, but I don't toss it around on the back roads.
 
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