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opinions on what new tires i should buy

M

millertime86

CEG'er
Joined
May 19, 2006
Messages
383
Location
lancaster, pa
-must be 225-45-17
-z-rated (225-45-zr17)
-under about $115/per tire (can be higher if its a really good deal, or if theres rebates or somethin)

also, ill only be driving it in the summer on nice days, so mainly im just interested in dry grip/handling/performance. and id prefer a quiet tire as well. doesnt matter how it does in the rain/snow/cold/etc. i also dont care about treadwear cause ill prolly be putting on like 1000/2000 miles a year.

i was lookin at some on tirerack.com, but i dont really know anything about tires, the $75 and $115 ones seem the same to me. so if anyone has any opinions on some good tires that meet my criteria, that would be great, thanks in advance!

heres a few i was lookin at: BFGoodrich g-Force Sport, Dunlop Direzza DZ101, Kumho Ecsta MX, Sumitomo HTR Z III, Kumho Ecsta SPT, Hankook Ventus S1 evo, Hankook Ventus R-S2
 
go for the Kumho Escta SPTs. I had them until i traded ICYSVT tires. for the price they are really hard to beat. i loved them when i had them, great performers, really quite, and they last a good while. hopefully Trey will pop in with his opinion of them now that he has them.
 
So far I am loving the SPTs. I have them in a 215/45/17. Went from a bfg kdw2 in 225/45/17 flavor to these. I loved the grip and handling on the kdw's but the noise they were making got to be unreal lol my car has stock exhaust and i couldnt handle the noise, I also was ready to lower my car and didnt want to roll the fenders and there was no way to avoid it with those tires in that size. I think the way they are made they have a wider surface than your typical 225. The spt's are nice and quiet ride good etc.... I cant really comment on performance as of yet because I havent had the car out too much since I got them but I might take it up to the dragon this week sometime to give you an idea.
 
I'm currently driving on the rt-615. There are a few reasons that I didn't reccomend them over the rs2's. First, they just don't have the hydroplane resistance the hankooks do. The hankooks don't get as greasy when they get hot. Lastly, the rt-615's don't track along in a straight line as well. That wavey center rib has a lot to do with it. I do love the falkens reinforced sidwall. It has a super crisp turn in.
 
Goumba said:
I'm currently driving on the rt-615. There are a few reasons that I didn't reccomend them over the rs2's. First, they just don't have the hydroplane resistance the hankooks do. The hankooks don't get as greasy when they get hot. Lastly, the rt-615's don't track along in a straight line as well. That wavey center rib has a lot to do with it. I do love the falkens reinforced sidwall. It has a super crisp turn in.
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Goumba you seem very knowledgable on tires, especially Contour platform. I researched the Hankook Ventus RS-2's on tire rack.com and they came up last place out of 4 tires tested. Top rated Dunlop's are currently the same price as the Hankook but the other two tires are much higher priced. Do you have any experience with these other tires? or can you add any comments to test results based on your first hand with the Hankook's?
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...2&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=1

_
 
The hankooks are definitly the slowest of the bunch. The Dunlop is slightly faster than the recently discontinued re-01r, but they wear out much faster. Not only were the bridgstones fast, they lasted my buddy jeff did an entire one lap, 5 extra autocrosses, and five extra track events. They were on his car for 20k during the process. They were able to do this because of how well they withstand heat. The advan's are slightly better in the rain than the hankooks, and almost as good as the bridgstones when it comes to heat cycling. All theese things make the other tires better than the hankooks for racing. On the street, the hankooks have the softest sidewall, are good in the rain, last decently long, and are pretty cheap. As far as pure speed goes, most people wouldn't notice the difference between most of the street touring tires. They would just know that they are fast tires and a whole lot of fun to drive on.
 
I too made the switch from BFG KDW-2 to Kumho SPT's. The grip on the KDW-2 was better, but the noise was too much to handle any longer. The SPT is a very quiet and smooth tire. It grips very nice in the corners, although they do need to be warmer than the KDW-2 to get the same grip out of them. When they are cold/cool, they tend to slide around.
 
CSVT1214 said:
I too made the switch from BFG KDW-2 to Kumho SPT's. The grip on the KDW-2 was better, but the noise was too much to handle any longer. The SPT is a very quiet and smooth tire. It grips very nice in the corners, although they do need to be warmer than the KDW-2 to get the same grip out of them. When they are cold/cool, they tend to slide around.
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good to know im not the only one.
 
thanks for the input guys, thinking about going with the SPTs... does anyone run 235's? i have a stock svt/suspension, will it rub?

and if its safe, do you guys run 235/45r17 or 235/40r17?
 
millertime86 said:
thanks for the input guys, thinking about going with the SPTs... does anyone run 235's? i have a stock svt/suspension, will it rub?

and if its safe, do you guys run 235/45r17 or 235/40r17?
Click to expand...

What's the width and offset of your wheels? Both are important to consider when trying to run a tire that wide on these cars. On stock suspension you shouldn't have any rubbing, but with certain offsets and width, it might rub in the rear if you have passengers in the back or a full load in the trunk.
 
CSVT1214 said:
What's the width and offset of your wheels? Both are important to consider when trying to run a tire that wide on these cars. On stock suspension you shouldn't have any rubbing, but with certain offsets and width, it might rub in the rear if you have passengers in the back or a full load in the trunk.
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dunno about offset... theyre 17x7 4-108 40S. is 40 the offset?
 
Yeah, the offset is 40, which is aggresive on a Contour. I have a 42 offset on my 18" wheels with 225 tires and they do rub every once in a while if the rear dips low enough over a bump.

To play it safe, I'd personally just go with a 225/45 tire. 40 is not much of a sidewall for a 17" wheel. You'll have open space in the wheel well.

If it was 18", then 225/40.
 
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