Tire Suggestions: 225/45/16?

[Fidhle007]

I picked up a set of SSR Comps a few weeks ago and to go with the coilovers and the new lightweight wheels I figured I'd bump up the tire size a little just to be fuh raze. I burned through a set of Falken 456s (I think that's what they were) this past season and loved them and would happily pick up a set of them again but I can't find any anywhere. I usually order from tirerack (my shop is a recommended installer) or discount tire direct but I'm not thrilled with the selection on either site. Any new places to look and recommendations for tires would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Brendan

[surebimmer]

Edgeracing.com has hankook rs2's in 225.45.16 great tire.

[PiercedE30]

BFG KDW's

[Fidhle007]

Thanks guys! I've heard great things about the KDW's but at $143 per tire vs. $93 for either the hankooks or Falken 452s I think I'd have to go that route. I'll burn through them in a matter of months anyway so I can't really justify the extra cost unless they offer significantly longer tread life than the other two.

[Fidhle007]

Oh, and my old tires were Falken 451s, which is why I'm considering the 452s.

[VacMan]

I have the 225/45 Falkens on my cabrio. So far so good from what little I've driven it. I will say I got a pretty scary slide out of them going around a 90* turn in the road the last time I drove it and they gave no warning at all, but I can probably chalk that up to them being brand new.

[Fidhle007]

Funny, I had the same experience with mine in the first day I had them on. I swerved to avoid what turned out to be a plastic trash bag (it was dark, I was tired) and all of a sudden I was sideways. It was a truly epic drift that would have logger shitting his pants if I had any video of it... ;)

After that though, they were great.

[fretburnr]

You gotta scrub off the mold release compound, its super slick. Anytime I get fresh rubber I go to a local empty parking lot and drive in tight circles, usually 8 each direction - you can feel the grip increasing with each circle, and increase throttle a bit. (no, not talking about drifty circles, just turning)

I definitely recommend the hankook rs2 - great grip, fantastic water channelling, and easy to recover when they break away. Another plus is they don't make a whole lot of noise when sliding/spinning, so shenanigans won't attract too much attention.

[Fidhle007]

You gotta scrub off the mold release compound, its super slick. Anytime I get fresh rubber I go to a local empty parking lot and drive in tight circles, usually 8 each direction - you can feel the grip increasing with each circle, and increase throttle a bit. (no, not talking about drifty circles, just turning)

I definitely recommend the hankook rs2 - great grip, fantastic water channelling, and easy to recover when they break away. Another plus is they don't make a whole lot of noise when sliding/spinning, so shenanigans won't attract too much attention.

That makes perfect sense, I've never done that per se but I often warm up my tires on cold mornings. Similar ideology I think.

[fretburnr]

a cold tire is not a grippy tire!

also, you can get the Falken Azenis in 215/45-16 - i know you're looking for 225s, but those falkens are wiiiide (so are the hankooks, but not as much). If I wasn't going to my 15" kosei this year (or if I can find a light 16") I'd try those out.

One caveat, and maybe Mystikal can shed some light on this - it seems that size Azenis has white lettering on the sidewall; I could definitely do without.

[Fidhle007]

Thanks, I'll look into those. I'm most interested in a 225/45/16 because of the width increase over the 205s (to match a BBK I hope to be getting by the spring) and the fact that it seems to be good diameter as well. That said, the Azenis is by far the cheapest option so far and I've heard plenty of good things about them.

[fretburnr]

Good call. I've run 215/45/16 hankooks for the last two seasons (one set per) and they've been awesome as dual-purpose autox and street tires. The size is good by me, just a touch short of OE.

[Fidhle007]

Well, anything will seem short after my 25" snow tires...

Those Azenis sound good, one thing I can't figure out though is the revs per mile: The Azenis in 215/45 are 768 and the Hankooks in 225/45 are 868. It seems to me the shorter tire should have more revs per mile but maybe those are just advertised numbers and not to be trusted?

[fretburnr]

You're right, a shorter tire should have more revs per mile. Edgeracing shows the numbers you see, but i have a feeling they're off. A 215 should be around 854 rev/mi, a 225 should be around 843.

[Fidhle007]

Yeah, 100rpms seemed high in ANY direction...

I can't imagine what my car would feel like with 215s on it, I'll be shedding at LEAST 10lbs a corner and be reducing my tire height by 1.5" from my snows... Zoomzoom...