Tire Choices - 215 55 R15

[GarageBound]

82eye - Any updates / decisions?

[82eye]

82eye - Any updates / decisions?

probably going with the 205.

one of the shops tells me they can source the yoko 215, but it sounds like a logistical nightmare, and has to come out of taiwan. both distribution and geo-politics is interfering. i never knew yokos were made in taiwan, it's a japanese tire company with manufacturing in the US as well, but for some reason the 215 has to come from there if you can get it.

[GarageBound]

Conceding to accept 205/55R15 sizing.

Current choices, Kuhmo Ecsta PS31; Yokohama Advan Fleva V701; Dunlap Direzza DZ102.

Decision factors, treadwear and performance.
Dunlap and Kumho have UTQGs at 460 A A, with the advantage for treadwear, whereas the Yokmo's are has a 300 AA A rating with the advantage for traction. they are within $50 of each other.
Primary driver has less than 2 years driving experience.

Opinions?

[82eye]

Conceding to accept 205/55R15 sizing.

Current choices, Kuhmo Ecsta PS31; Yokohama Advan Fleva V701; Dunlap Direzza DZ102.

Decision factors, treadwear and performance.
Dunlap and Kumho have UTQGs at 460 A A, with the advantage for treadwear, whereas the Yokmo's are has a 300 AA A rating with the advantage for traction. they are within $50 of each other.
Primary driver has less than 2 years driving experience.

Opinions?

the yoko scores best overall. the wet traction is what puts it over the top for me. they are all close any way you care to score them but the yoko just edges the others out. as brands they are all good though. my daily runs on way shittier generic tires.
the yoko is probably the most aggressive tire, and can help get you in the most trouble. the other two are just a bit dialed back.

all the three are pretty close to each other. i'd rate them yoko, kumho,dunlop. with the last two near interchangeable. i'll run the yokos if i can get them.

[nando]

Yoko's were always the most over rated tires, IMO. And it's an all season. I just can't do that on the E30.

I got the Kumho PS31s last summer. They're pretty much perfect for an E30 street car IMO - quiet, inexpensive, decently grippy, nice ride, and they look pretty decent too. I think they're technically discontinued, which is a bummer.

They're not track tires - but I daily drove on Toyo R888's for like 10 years, and, meh. At least I can hear while driving the car now, and the sidewalls aren't so stiff that they hold up the car with no air in them, lol. They slot nicely between no-season tires and race tires. But the choices we have are dwindling so I guess you get what you can get.

[GarageBound]

Yoko's were always the most over rated tires, IMO. And it's an all season. I just can't do that on the E30.

I don't see "All Season" in the descriptions. See link below. But you make good points!

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=91355&width=205/&ratio=55&diameter=15&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17&performance=ALL

Anyone else care to weigh in or provide a link to their top choice for 205/55R15s?

[nando]

ah I just searched for them real quick and they popped up as a different tire.

[GarageBound]

Decision made, wheels/tires on car!
Ronal LS 15" & YOKOHAMA ADVAN FLEVA V701
SIZE: 205/55R15

[82eye]

same set up i'm going with.

[BrokerInfo]

Electric cars are 2% of the *new* car market. And they're not even 1% of the total existing car market. It is simply not a factor or a reason you can't get tires for a 30 year old BMW that uses a wheel size that nobody makes anymore. And I've owned Tesla stock since 2012, lol.

I'm having trouble getting snow tires for the X3, but it's a supply chain thing, not because Tesla sold 300,000 EVs to the 16 million ICE cars in the US.
https://brokerinfo.eu/1market-opinie/

i get it.

it's not something i thought of immediately either. i was surprised to even hear about it. it's just part of a cumulative effect. i'm not attacking anyone.
combustion engines are going to be in service well past my lifetime. at least i hope. i can't afford to even look at a tesla. congrats.

i'm not sure you caught my edit where i mentioned the main problem was supply chain. there's issues getting common sizes right now.
nothing to do with 15s even.

[4tDX]

Although this thread has been open for a while and you already bought your tires, I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents since I'm always looking for information on different tires and it's always hard to find info in once place. I ran all these tires on TRM C1Ms and Euroweaves.

Yokohama ADVAN Fleva V701 are my favorite in 205/55/R15. Depending on how low you are, they may rub a bit in tight turns. They also come in 205/50/R15 and for some reason these are way cheaper, at least in my area.

But my favorite tire has to be the Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec (superseded by ZIII), only in 205/50/R15, but the ADVAN Fleva V701 are a close 2nd. I have not tried the ZIII as they are way more than I was paying for the ZII's.

These two tires both have decent traction in the wet and in a wide temperature range. Although, I still feel the Dunlops have a bit more traction in all conditions but perhaps a slightly more noisy ride. I've also noticed the Yokohama squeal a lot more when you are pushing them whereas the Dunlops never made a peep.

I've tried a bunch of other brands in these two sizes (Kumho, Continental, Bridgestone, Pirelli) and was disappointed in all of them. I don't know this for a fact, but they all felt like they had decent traction for the first quarter of their tread then go to a different compound after that and they all turned into utter garbage. The two tires I mentioned above felt like similar performance all the way down to their cores.

And from my personal experience wear rating was no indication of how long the tire would last. They all lasted roughly the same for me based on how I drove.

[Stan]

My Fleva's are about worn out after 20,000 miles. I have the 225/50/15 Yokohama Advan Fleva V701
Looks like they are still the best choice.