Current Tire Thread

[e30sd]

Yokohama AVS ES-100
205/50ZR16
Came on the wheels when i bought 'em.



The SSR's i picked up had these on them. I had always heard es-100s suck this and that, but after two auto-x's, a DE, a couple of canyon runs, and 7k street mileage (rotated front to back after events), i would disagree. on the 318is, they seem to be holding up quite fine, and have a pretty stiff sidewall. i don't know if i'll buy them again, but they were decent.

[nando]

First I should qualify what I look for in a set of tires:
#1 is dry grip of course!
#2 is wet grip, equally as important as dry grip for me because of where I live (PNW)
#3 is hydroplane resistance (also very important, especially at freeway speeds!)
#4 is treadwear (not so important, but I don't want to replace them too often)
#5 is noise (I've never had a tire that I thought was too noisy - doesn't bother me at all)

Currently:
Falken Azenis RT215, 195/60-14:
Unparalleled dry grip, very good wet grip and hydroplane resistance isn't all that bad. I have something like 8 autox's and 7,000 street miles on them and there's still plenty of life. I can't wait to try the RT615 in a wider size!

also:
BFG G-Force KDW-2, 205/55-15:
Pretty good dry grip, great wet grip and they are also good at hydroplane resistance. I don't have a lot of miles on these tires (maybe 2,000), but I expect that they will last a while. I won't be doing any hard driving or autox on them though, they are strictly for street use. Ride quality is also pretty good; overall they seem like a great street tire.

Past tires:
Bridgestone Potenza RE750, 205/55-15:
I liked these tires overall, but I don't think I will buy them again. Dry grip was pretty good, wet grip was good and hydroplane resistance was decent but not the best. I did a couple autox's on them but that is definitely not their strong point - I chewed them up pretty good when they were brand new. They probably would have lasted me a long time but I ran over a nail which punctured the sidewall, and two were half worn so I had to replace them all. :(

Yokohama ES100s:
I was never impressed by the dry grip, wet grip wasn't very good and hydroplane resistance was awful, especially as they wore. by 8,000 miles I had to go 5-10mph under the speed limit to avoid spinning off the freeway. They wore out completely by 10k, and were basically undriveable in the rain at that point. My buddy also had a set that completely fell apart after only 5,000 miles (street driving only). I autox'd a few times on them but I could never recommend them for that.

Toyo Proxies FZ4:
These tires came with my car when I bought it and had approximately 20,000 miles on them. The dry grip was pretty decent for an all season, the wet grip was good, but they were excellent at hydroplate resistance - the only tires I've had that even come close are my snow tires and the BFG's, but they are a distant second. They lasted a long time - I put 15,000 miles on them before giving them to a friend who put on another 7,000 miles. They were so so in the snow/ice, but I've definitely had worse (ES100s through a 3 week snow storm anyone?).

Snow tires:
Yokohama something or others, 195/60-14:
Great snow and ice grip (to be expected). Excellent hydroplane resistance, even in deep slush. But HORRIBLE wet grip, doing a 180 from a dead stop is no problem (even with an auto and my heavy ix), and I broke all 4 tires loose more than once during heavy acceleration. Dry grip also sucked, but that's to be expected from a snow tire. I'm definitely going to get something different next time, probably a 205 width and a taller profile.

I'm pretty much a tire junkie. Your tires are the only thing that is contacting the road and affect handling more than anything - which is why I keep trying new tires to find better ones than what I've already had. I'd like to try the RS2s next and of course the RT615s, but first I have to wear out the two sets I already have..

[UNHCLL]

205/55/15 BFG G-Force Sports on the e30 325is
Grippy, good wet traction, softer sidewall, but still have high grip in corners. Not nearly as obnoxious over bumps as my old 205/60/14 ES100's

225/50/16 Hankook RS-2's on the M3 & M5.
Fucking love them. Sticky, quiet, fairly cheap, decent sidewall.

Cant list prices, I dont know what they cost... I pay cost, not retail. Sorry.

[Mystikal]

Reviews in magazines and such are a lot more useful, reading people's personal opinions is so worthless it's not even funny. Some people will honestly write romantically about 500 treadwear all-seasons, based on their expectations and/or previous experiences. Plus, once you read a trend of reviews online (such as RT-215s suck in the wet, ES100s suck in the dry...), you tend to start thinking that much be true, and due to your own lack of experience you will agree with that statement. Of course, both of the examples I just mentioned are completely untrue, both of those tires are considered at that top of their classes when tested in controlled environments by non-discriminating and knowledgeable testers. Too many variables.


Cliff's notes: Don't listen to people when it comes to tires. Trust magazine articles and other controlled-environment tests only.

[nando]

it's an opinion.. you can take from it what you want. I stated what things I look for in a tire so if somebody has similar tastes maybe they'd like to try some of the tires I liked as well. if you like your tires to do other things then ignore everything I wrote..

although I do agree that opinions alone are not a good way to buy tires. I laugh when people tell me "it got a 9/10 at tirerack.com!" How else do you think I got suckered into ES100s? ;)

[RCWells]

Goodyear F1 GS-D3s
215/40-17
Tirerack - special at the time -$380 shipped
Love them. I drive daily, no auto-x, or track, but I do drive hard on the street and these things stick very, very well. Dry traction has been incredible, beyond the limits of the suspension for sure. Wet weather traction has also been excellent. Road noise is a bit more than I would like, but I usually have something going on the Alpine, so it doesn't bother me. It's not loud mind you, just more than what I would like.

The only real question remaining is how will the last. I've only had them for ~3K miles so I can't say yet, but they do seem to be wearing well.

[Mystikal]

it's an opinion.. you can take from it what you want. I stated what things I look for in a tire so if somebody has similar tastes maybe they'd like to try some of the tires I liked as well. if you like your tires to do other things then ignore everything I wrote..

although I do agree that opinions alone are not a good way to buy tires. I laugh when people tell me "it got a 9/10 at tirerack.com!" How else do you think I got suckered into ES100s? ;)

I actually noticed you liked the RT-215 wet traction...shocked me. I knew they were awesome in the wet, and ignorant people like Jordan said I was completely off. Then I found this article that proved to me I'm not an idiot.

[nando]

I actually noticed you liked the RT-215 wet traction...shocked me. I knew they were awesome in the wet, and ignorant people like Jordan said I was completely off. Then I found this article that proved to me I'm not an idiot.

they shocked me as well.. I wasn't expecting much for wet traction, and until last october I had never driven them in the rain. it wasn't until I autox'd in heavy rain that I realized their potential. So far these are my favorite tires by a long shot, if I can find something better I'll be both impressed and happy. :)

also, going from 2 months of shitty snow tires to azenis = whoa...

[kansas-ix]

Continental Conti-Contact or Something
205/55/15

Work well on dry pavement suck in the rain ask Nando

[nando]

lol, I've never had those tires dude!

[Low Level E30]

Thanks for all the input, guys - much appreciated.

Regarding opinions - yeah, everybody has one - but I do think they can be useful. For example - just about anyone you run into will tell you that ES100s are not that great. Seems to me that hearing that level of opinion from that many people would serve to make me go "Hrmm - maybe I should look at something else, first" --- rather than dropping the cash and being disappointed. And sometimes it's hard to find a "controlled" review of the tire you're looking at --- so all you have to go on are opinions.

I, for one, don't think I would ever have looked at Hankook RS-2's, had I not read some of the posts on this thread. Now I'm definitely going to consider them.

Moderators - Think this is worth a sticky, as a reference?

[Erick]

I'm picking up 16" wheels and I'm debating over the Dunlop FM901s or the Hankook RS2s. Similar charactheristics and I've heard good things from both of them.

- Erick

[Low Level E30]

I'm picking up 16" wheels and I'm debating over the Dunlop FM901s or the Hankook RS2s. Similar charactheristics and I've heard good things from both of them.

- Erick

Dunlop FM901's --- I was just about to post, asking about those --- what have you heard? I have seen and heard very little about these, myself, but I am curious about them!

[Erick]

I have seen a kid at the track with those tires back in June. It started pouring in the middle of the event and he was the only one who did not seem to have any traction issues.

He swears on their dry and wet grip, and from what I've seen.... it's good. He was running themi n 205/50/16 (same I'm going for)

Ter-Tech, a local shop that sanctions drift events, uses Dunlop FM901s sometimes on their turbo e34. The driver always said good things about them as well.

I was(am?) also skeptical about them because I havent heard many good tires from Dunlop... but they are slowly growing on me and I'm willing to give it a try.

- Erick

[Low Level E30]

Thanks E!

Behold - the benefit of tire users' opinions.

Cheers!