Star Spec 2's are out on Tirerack!

[Wh33lhop]

DZ101 are horrible track tires unless you are a newbie

If you're counting on frequent rainy track days, I'd go for Z1/Z2. Whether you want to spend the money for another set of wheels is up to you.

[M-technik-3]

DZ101....skip them they are utog 300 so long life tires which are great for some.

[MatRacer]

Debating on tire/wheel combo selection...

Could score Direnza z101 205/50/15 for dirt cheap at Canadian Tire... but like the meat of a 225 section. With a S50 under the hood, thinking I could use the 225. Is 205/50/15 still good with a 24v swap?

Also considering going to 225/45/16 on XXR 531 16x8...

Here are my choices:

15x8 + 205/50 Z1 =$
15x8 + 225/45 RS3 =$$
16x8 + 225/45 Z2 =$$$

What you guys think?!? Will drive all summer and track event...in Quebec...Lets say that hot days are not that frequent...

[graphikg]

I myself am liking the Idea of the ZIIs, but I dont like the fact that they dont come in 225/ 15's. The Rivals to however. I just dont feel like putting 205's on my 15x8 wheel.

[Earendil]

Great review! These are very tempting when I replace my street tires. Are you running 205/50/15?

Yeah, 205/50/15 on TeamDynamic 15x7 wheels.

GRM is supposed to have a tire shootout, would be interesting to see how the newest sticky tires compare.... these and the BFG Rivals.

I'm looking forward to that as well. I doubt the BFG will hold up to the ZII in wet track performance, which is of no fault to them. They aimed for a specific (and larger) market with dry-track only tires, while the Dunlop ZI have historically sacrificed some dry performance for wet. Living in the NW and going to track days where getting an inch of rain can be par for the course, I went with the Dunlops ZII.

Still, rubber compound technology is progressing fast, and has been for the last two decades. I'm up for being pleasantly surprised that the Rivals end up rating damn better than summer extreme tires of years past, even if they don't rate "the best" in the current line up.

[Nsquared97]

GRM is supposed to have a tire shootout, would be interesting to see how the newest sticky tires compare.... these and the BFG Rivals.

Very much looking forward to this article.

[Jean]

GRM is supposed to have a tire shootout, would be interesting to see how the newest sticky tires compare.... these and the BFG Rivals.

[greg1333]

Just checked and they come in 285/30-18..thats a lot of tire....

[GThomas]

Just got mine last weekend, First points Autocross is May 4th so i'll post a review and video then :)

[Nsquared97]

Great review! These are very tempting when I replace my street tires. Are you running 205/50/15?

[Earendil]

I just took my ZII out on Pacific Raceways on a rainy day. First off, the circumstances

• It was my first time on Pacific, I did not push things.
• According to a few weather stations in the immediate area, 1.5 inches of rain fell that day. I can attest that most of that fell during the event.
• Cold Tire Pressure: 32 rear, 35 front.

The rain put a bit of a damper on any tuning I intended to do. The car was balanced enough after the first run that I didn't bother modifying the tire pressure. I thought it would be near impossible to get accurate readings on a wet day when I basically parked in puddles.

Overall the tires and car handled damp conditions very well, and very predictably. At least on par with the ZI. In deep water they wanted to hydroplane around 70mph, which I'd say is a bit earlier than the ZI did.

In turn 3B if I went in a little fast I'd understeer just a tad, and in the long sweeping turn 8 you just play with oversteer the entire time. In both cases I could feel them break away, but they did so very gradually, and it was very easy to keep control. Certainly no snapping. braking going into 3A I swear they provided more grip than the Z1 ever did in the rain. But I've never run a Z1 at pacific.

Every other corner the tires held stronger than I wanted to take my car through them. Not a good metric since you don't know me, but whatever :D

Summary: For an HPDE and a novice driver they were predictable and equated to having more grip than I knew what to do with on a wet surface. They hydroplaned earlier than I'd like, but if you're dealing with standing water at a track day you should be taking it easy anyway (imho). On the freeway you might end up in the slow lane compared to those with solid all season tires. Around town they hold very well.

There you go, that's my amateur review of this tires wet performance.

[Earendil]

I just put my ZII's on a few days ago, so I'm still breaking them in. However, so far I'm very pleased with their cold performance on damp Seattle 55 degree streets, and dry 45 degree streets :up:

[GThomas]

Thanks Guys, i guess i'll go with the 205/50's.

[Earendil]

Using 16x7's for my auto-x setup. Should i wait for the 225/45's to come out or go with the 205/50's. Any opinions?

on a 7" rim I'd go 205. If you run 225 you're going to have the tire rolling around under your wheel a little and steering precision won't be as good.

[R3Z3N]

Using 16x7's for my auto-x setup. Should i wait for the 225/45's to come out or go with the 205/50's. Any opinions?

If you are on 7s, I would stay on 205s. 225s on a 7in rim will be too mushy for performance.