What tyres do you use?

[Glen]

Well i booked the car in tomorrow for some well over due rubber. I had visions of semi's but the price put a stop to that. $400 a pop was a bit much for me this time of year.

 

So I'm wondering what the all the non semi guys are using and what your opinion is of the brand/model.

 

I decided on some falken 912's.

http://www.falken.com.au/tyres/passenger-ZE912.html

$800 fitted and wheel alignment. They are supposed to be good bang for buck but also i read they are not that great over the first 500K's.

[Cdr Zero]

I'm using Pirelli P6's, expensive (for me anyway) but they're the best tyres I've ever had. 

[Glen]

What do you like about them, are they quite, good grip in wet dry?, low wearing. I think if we pool together we can nut out the really bad performing tyres. Also if you dont mind it's pretty hard to google and get a simple price so put up your price as well if possible please.

 

The tyres i picked are supposed to be softwall, keeping a larger percentage of the tyre on the road when cornering hard.

[sco_aus]

Price wise for semis, you can't go past the Falken RT615s or the Federal 595 series.  They have a lot of grip but very good tire wear as they are designed for road use more than track.  A friend had the Falkens on his drift car for 2 years on the road (which may or may not have been used to drift on street often...) and they were gripping right till the end.  the same person is now sponsored by Federal and uses the 595RSR (more top end track tire), great tires, great tread life with great grip. For you I would say the 595 Evos or the 595 RS.  Thats the bang for buck tires, but for track grip, any of the proper semis will do you well.

[Glen]

Thanks scott, Federal only go to 205's in 15's im using 235 atm. 235's looks the goods from the rear.

[Mr240z]

Glen I recently fitted Maxxis MA-Z1 tyres and are very happy with them..

 

Dry, Wet, All round great performance tyres, I push it hard in the wet

 

At $200 a corner there good value.

 

[Cdr Zero]

What do you like about them, are they quite, good grip in wet dry?, low wearing. I think if we pool together we can nut out the really bad performing tyres. Also if you dont mind it's pretty hard to google and get a simple price so put up your price as well if possible please.

 

The tyres i picked are supposed to be softwall, keeping a larger percentage of the tyre on the road when cornering hard.

 

My tyre experience is minimal, but I can tell you they grip very well in the dry (managed to keep up with sco_aus on the run to Tidbinbilla - his RB25 isn't tuned properly but still!  ) and in the wet.  I tend to drive very defensively in the wet though.  Tyre wear is... good, I think. (I'm not very sure on what is good or not but they seem to be holding up well after 6 months.)  They cost me 140.50 a tyre, 562.00 all up.  215/60R15 XL 98H according to the receipt.

 

As you can see I'm not very technical when it comes to cars, I'm just a dude.  Doing my best to learn. 

[Zeddophile]

Bridgestone Potenza adrenalines (RE001) on both my cars - 230rwhp Alfetta, and a 230 flywheel horsepower front wheel drive Alfa GTV.  Fantastic grip in the wet, stupid amounts of grip in the dry, quiet, and at about $215 each for 215/40/17, pretty well priced I reckon. 

 

As for wear, I'll tell you in a few years, but personally I'll trade a bit of life for grip, and I think they're reasonably enough priced to wear that.

[sco_aus]

My tyre experience is minimal, but I can tell you they grip very well in the dry (managed to keep up with sco_aus on the run to Tidbinbilla - his RB25 isn't tuned properly but still!  ) and in the wet.  I tend to drive very defensively in the wet though.  Tyre wear is... good, I think. (I'm not very sure on what is good or not but they seem to be holding up well after 6 months.)  They cost me 140.50 a tyre, 562.00 all up.  215/60R15 XL 98H according to the receipt.

 

As you can see I'm not very technical when it comes to cars, I'm just a dude.  Doing my best to learn. 

I was stuck behind Chris and had no brakes, i was no where near maxed out lol

[nat0_240_chevZ]

i buy semi used semi slicks, yoki a508's??? and some other cheaper version of a semi from some brand like your federals??? on my r34 gtt, the rear no namers are very sticky when they get warm, can slide the car with huge angle and still get it back, corniring can not be compared to road tyres as they are in different leagues, dry or wet, 2nd and 3rd used to boost wheelspin in the dry now only 2nd will, only 3rd if you pop the clutch or swerve with the wheel, the yokis on the front are silent in slip and provide excellent turnin, cannot get this car to understerr even tried with oil on the road, the yokis wil just turn the rear end will oversteer after the hicas is maxed out the steering angle in the rear.

I pay about 70$ per used semi (fitted), usually about 65-95 % tread left on them but i have to pick & choose.

for road tyres however, yokis have been my beest by far even their cheapest range is exceptionally good, sometime noisy when slipping but.

 

nato

[Riceburner]

I second Cdr Zero! Pirelli p6000's as a road tyre I found to be quite grippy in dry and wet, with a good tyre life also. I have since gone to semi's for track days, the difference is night and day!! Have dunlops on at the moment but found toyo r888's to be fantastic, their wet grip is unbelieveable.

[Zeddophile]

i buy semi used semi slicks, yoki a508's??? and some other cheaper version of a semi from some brand like your federals??? on my r34 gtt, the rear no namers are very sticky when they get warm, can slide the car with huge angle and still get it back, corniring can not be compared to road tyres as they are in different leagues, dry or wet, 2nd and 3rd used to boost wheelspin in the dry now only 2nd will, only 3rd if you pop the clutch or swerve with the wheel, the yokis on the front are silent in slip and provide excellent turnin, cannot get this car to understerr even tried with oil on the road, the yokis wil just turn the rear end will oversteer after the hicas is maxed out the steering angle in the rear.

I pay about 70$ per used semi (fitted), usually about 65-95 % tread left on them but i have to pick & choose.

for road tyres however, yokis have been my beest by far even their cheapest range is exceptionally good, sometime noisy when slipping but.

 

nato

 

I hate running semi slicks on the road (talking day to day commute here)... They just don't seem to get enough temperature to grip very well (longitudinally, lateral is fine) even in the dry, and if there's any moisture on the road, forget traction altogether.  Also bloody noisy and follow the road camber like crazy when they get worn down a bit...  Vivid memories of trying to accelerate away from 120km/h in third one night with the semis on, and getting nothing but a good view of the trees on the side of the road (in slightly damp conditions that my road tyres wouldn't have had any problem with).

 

Semi slicks ARE nice and predictable in a slide though, if you happen to go out for a play.... (And of course are fantastic on the track when you can get and keep the heat in them)

 

Much prefer my Adrenalines for everyday use.  Can leave a set of lights with more than 5% throttle on a wet day and still be facing forwards if desired (or being observed by white cars with funny coloured lights on top).

[nat0_240_chevZ]

Semis on my car do stick well even when wet, when warm like shiver to a fluffy blanket, when cold they outgrip pirelli's and bridgy g grid 3's etc.

yes they can follow a rut in the road abit but our roads here in SA are outright shiver.....

 

On the SE freeway here, in 5th gear in the wet with any road tyre i have tried, i can accel to keep my 100-110kph up a slight incline, and the car will slam on trac control, turn off the tc and it just about hits limiter once boost becomes +, speedo cracks 240kph plus before hitting the reset button whilst not acc any more than 115kph. With the semis on the back this only happens in the wet in 4th if a slippery bit of road or only in 3rd if the bitumen is alright.

allround the semis kill any street tyre i have ever used, tried.

 

Noisy??? only when they are sliding or having fin, otherwise if not quieter than my road tyres except that they pick up any rocks / dirt and fling them around the inner guard liners cause they are a bit stickyer. althought the semi's yokis i have on the fron don squeel or howl at all, just the cheaper brand on the back.

 

my r34 at any speed (ANY speed) if you rip the steering wheel hard, it WILL NOT understeer, it will oversteer if you have any poew on the right foot but will always track exactly as i command, weather it be 10-20 kph, 60 or 100kph & beyond, (bit hairy trying @ 100+)

 

I wouldnot recommend them if i didnt have these experiences.

 

cheers nat0

[WogsRus]

I Love the MAXXIS MA-Z1 fantastick tire, stick like shit to a blanket and get good milage out of them too

[sco_aus]

What nat0 said ^^ 

[Zeddophile]

Semis on my car do stick well even when wet, when warm like shiver to a fluffy blanket, when cold they outgrip pirelli's and bridgy g grid 3's etc.

yes they can follow a rut in the road abit but our roads here in SA are outright shiver.....

 

On the SE freeway here, in 5th gear in the wet with any road tyre i have tried, i can accel to keep my 100-110kph up a slight incline, and the car will slam on trac control, turn off the tc and it just about hits limiter once boost becomes +, speedo cracks 240kph plus before hitting the reset button whilst not acc any more than 115kph. With the semis on the back this only happens in the wet in 4th if a slippery bit of road or only in 3rd if the bitumen is alright.

allround the semis kill any street tyre i have ever used, tried.

 

Noisy??? only when they are sliding or having fin, otherwise if not quieter than my road tyres except that they pick up any rocks / dirt and fling them around the inner guard liners cause they are a bit stickyer. althought the semi's yokis i have on the fron don squeel or howl at all, just the cheaper brand on the back.

 

my r34 at any speed (ANY speed) if you rip the steering wheel hard, it WILL NOT understeer, it will oversteer if you have any poew on the right foot but will always track exactly as i command, weather it be 10-20 kph, 60 or 100kph & beyond, (bit hairy trying @ 100+)

 

I wouldnot recommend them if i didnt have these experiences.

 

cheers nat0

 

Definitely not my experiences in terms of traction, on my car with Dunlop direzzas (fairly worn, I'll admit), and on customer cars with Bridgestone RE55s (in all states of wear).

 

As far as noise goes, I've actually found mine make LESS noise when sliding than road tyres, but every car I've driven with less than new semis (Toyos, Dunlops and Bridgestone) have howled like 4wd tyres just cruising along....

 

But hey, if they work better for you, thats good news for you.  Just saying that hasn't been the case for me, and may not be the case for everyone.

 

Out of curiousity, do you run them on your zed as well, and what sort of pressures are you using for road use?

[nat0_240_chevZ]

NO JUST ON THE 34,

will be running them on my Z when i get the thing back on the road, as i would like to track it with the VH in it as its alot lighter than the boat anchor chev iron block & heads it had, also means i can use lighter springrates yaaa,

pressures i run are about 28-32 psi, depending on summer or winter, and likely feel of the rear end i expect, IE if i expect to slide it around alot easy ill run them a bit higher, if im after outright grip for grip sprint ill drop them as low as 26, bit mushy but the response from the coilovers makes up for the loss of directiveness i can feel.

I never adjust the dampers either, I have the rebound on Min out of about 14 clicks and it just works well.

 

I agree we are both only going on experience, and that has been mine, Ive never tried the dunlops so couldnt comment, but next time im chucking the yoki A508?? (i think they are) on the rear also as the fron has never been outgripped yet, i did have semis on back only for a lil bit with road bridgestones on the front and found the thing understeering a bit, hence why i got the semis on the front quick smart.

 

cheerio

nato

Merry X-mas to all.

[Scando]

Definitely not my experiences in terms of traction, on my car with Dunlop direzzas (fairly worn, I'll admit), and on customer cars with Bridgestone RE55s (in all states of wear).

 

Direzza's only seem to work in a very narrow temperature range and pressures are critical.  Cold they're hopeless and too hot and they go to mush.  In the sweet spot though they are the best thing you'll find in a semi-slick.  RE55s work across a wider temperature range but in outright lap times they're not as good.  Haven;t tried 888's yet but from what I've seen they work very well cold (all this will also depend on compounds of course, I always run hard compounds to keep costs down)

 

One big thing I've noticed with semi slicks is when I was running the 15x7's they worked better than a good street tyre cold.  Now with the 17x9's they are hopeless until i get some heat into them.  Might explain the different experiences above?

[Zeddophile]

Direzza's only seem to work in a very narrow temperature range and pressures are critical.  Cold they're hopeless and too hot and they go to mush.  In the sweet spot though they are the best thing you'll find in a semi-slick.  RE55s work across a wider temperature range but in outright lap times they're not as good.  Haven;t tried 888's yet but from what I've seen they work very well cold (all this will also depend on compounds of course, I always run hard compounds to keep costs down)

 

One big thing I've noticed with semi slicks is when I was running the 15x7's they worked better than a good street tyre cold.  Now with the 17x9's they are hopeless until i get some heat into them.  Might explain the different experiences above?

 

You're dead right about pressure, a little too high or low in pressure on the track and they get pretty skittish.

 

Not sure about the tyre profile effect though, would make sense in some ways, as you can get more sidewall movement and thus more grip with a taller profile (like a drag tyre).  However, I'm running 225/45/16, and I suspect Nat0 is probably running bigger rims and possbly lower profile than that?

 

I suspect my pressures are the problem on the street, will admit I've never played with them for that use, just stick about 34-35 in them if I'm going to use them on the road - no power steering makes for heavy effort at track pressure.  Never bothered experimenting with it, as I usually only run them on the road if I've only just got the car out from the last event, and there's only a week till the next one!

[stevo_gj]

So I've pretty much always gone with whatever was cheapest at beaurepaires. I'm getting some new wheels over christmas (17x7.5 Rota RBs) and I'd like to put some reasonably good tyres on them. Can anyone recommend a 205x45 tyre thats around the 200 dollar mark per corner?

[garvice]

If your looking for a good street tire steve, I still standby my bridgestone potenza adrenalines. Awesome set of tires, even in the wet (which is what I wanted after having a crap set of falcons)

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/treads/Adrenalin.aspx

I believe I paid ~250 for 235 45 17 and about the same for 195 59 15

[Glen]

So I've pretty much always gone with whatever was cheapest at beaurepaires. I'm getting some new wheels over christmas (17x7.5 Rota RBs) and I'd like to put some reasonably good tyres on them. Can anyone recommend a 205x45 tyre thats around the 200 dollar mark per corner?

 

Have to say im fairly happy with my ZE912's so far. Under $200 per corner. I went off the advice of someone that has been there and done alot of different tyres.

 

http://www.falken.com.au/tyres/passenger-ZE912.html

[Zeddophile]

So I've pretty much always gone with whatever was cheapest at beaurepaires. I'm getting some new wheels over christmas (17x7.5 Rota RBs) and I'd like to put some reasonably good tyres on them. Can anyone recommend a 205x45 tyre thats around the 200 dollar mark per corner?

 

As said earlier, Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalins are my choice for road tyres.  Just looked up what I paid for the last two sets, and in 205/50-16 I paid about $215 per tyre with GST, and for 215/45-17 I paid $225 per tyre (again, including GST).  I would class these as a bit better than 'reasonably good' tyres, by the way, they'd be up near the top.

 

[stevo_gj]

Thanks guys, I'll get quotes for both those styles.

[nat0_240_chevZ]

yep i have 235-40-18's on a volk gtc racing wheel,

 

very light, half the weight of stock mags, big difference in accelleration but more niticeable up hills and breaking traction ie how quick it hit the revlimiter, like a lightened flywheel but bigger & worse,

 

one of the best upgrades i can recommend asits not just accelerating the dead weight/mass its the rotational inertia which is twice the problem, the dead weight of a wheels is not too bad but when you have to spin it up quick or stop it quick, makes the most amount of difference, ie doing ring work and getting wheels up to speed quickly for good response or lack of when i think about it......lol

nat0