Budget Performance Tires

[gryffinwings]

Here's the question, "if I were to get new tires", I'd like some opinions and suggestions.

1. At least a V-Speed Rated
2. Size will be 225/45-17 or 225/50-17
3. Good for technical Courses.
4. Decent tread wear

Those are my guidelines, and I'm looking at tires now because I want to know what to get when my Falken 912s are finished, I want something that is a least as capable as my 912s are.

Current:
Falken Ziex ZE-912 225/55-17 W-Speed

What suggestions are there. I've heard that Federal, Nexen, and maybe a few others are crap, but I've also seen good reviews, so I don't know.

[KAG]

Have you looked into the Sumitomo HTR Z III (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Sumitomo&tireModel=HTR+Z+III&partnum=245YR7HTRZ3XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=55)?

Haven't tried them on the Legacy but I have driven on them in my friends WRX. Obviously not the stickiest tire out there but they do grip well in both dry and wet. They're also pretty quiet as far as summer tires go.

At $92 each, it's pretty hard to go wrong.

[gryffinwings]

Have you looked into the Sumitomo HTR Z III (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Sumitomo&tireModel=HTR+Z+III&partnum=245YR7HTRZ3XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=55)?

Haven't tried them on the Legacy but I have driven on them in my friends WRX. Obviously not the stickiest tire out there but they do grip well in both dry and wet. They're also pretty quiet as far as summer tires go.

At $92 each, it's pretty hard to go wrong.

Not bad, seems like the tread wear is ok too. Only one bad rating on tirerack. Let's see what everyone else has to say.

[DLC]

Falken 451 and 452 have a good rep. I had some on my 18" P1s and I really quite liked them.

[rougeben83]

do you want an all season or a summer tire? You falkens are all seasons, you can easily get better performance for the same amount of $$ from a bunch of summer tires out there...

[Airgne]

dunlop direzz dz101 better than and falken you will ever own.

[Huffer]

How about a set of Fuzion ZRi tires? They're budget summer tires.

[gryffinwings]

do you want an all season or a summer tire? You falkens are all seasons, you can easily get better performance for the same amount of $$ from a bunch of summer tires out there...

Summer Tire, I don't really need all seasons per se, it's just the size I needed at the time, but that is about to pass, and yes I'm look at around the same price, of course I paid 360 mounted and balanced when I got them with the wheels. I'm just trying to get as close to that as I can while getting good tires.

[rudgers73]

+1 for Sumitomo HTR ZIII's. I just bought some for this year and I have never had a better tire. Check out their review on http://www.Tirerack.com it's what sold me.

They are quiet, sticky, and they have knocked a couple of seconds off of my auto-x times (65-ish second courses on average)

PS I had Fuzion ZRi's as my last tires. They were great, but a not-so-close second to the Sumi's.

I also had Nitto Neo gen's and I hated them

Hope this helps.

[rougeben83]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... =Ecsta+SPT (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+SPT)
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... es&place=1 (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+S1+evo&partnum=245YR7K107XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=1)

Favorites among autoxers:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... entus+R-S2 (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+R-S2)
http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm

Note you tend to sacrifice tread life for grip, so the last two you'd be lucky to get 25000 miles out of them.

[)2edline]

I like my Nitto Neo Gens =[

[gryffinwings]

I like my Nitto Neo Gens =[

Sorry but I think that's the one Nitto tire I would not get, I've seen some weird shit with that tire.

[rudgers73]

I like my Nitto Neo Gens =[

They were fine for just driving, but I wasn't happy at all with them at autocross. They felt like they were greasy/gummy. The sidewalls also didn't have the support I needed. I felt a lot of under-steer even If I maxed the fronts and kept the backs like 10 psi lower. I just couldn't get the car to come around like I needed to carry speed through the corners.

Do you race at all?

[gryffinwings]

I like my Nitto Neo Gens =[

They were fine for just driving, but I wasn't happy at all with them at autocross. They felt like they were greasy/gummy. The sidewalls also didn't have the support I needed. I felt a lot of under-steer even If I maxed the fronts and kept the backs like 10 psi lower. I just couldn't get the car to come around like I needed to carry speed through the corners.

Do you race at all?

If your referring to me, I haven't yet, my driving experience is aggressive driving in the mountains and similar.

[)2edline]

I sir, do not haha. I've done some spirited driving however, and they've held to my liking. I'm sure when it comes to autocross, other tires rank far higher.

lol, I came from getting used to bald Fuzion HRi's that came with the car, straight to CHEAPO snow tires, while I was preparing a summer set combo of wheel's and tires.

I never really drove on performance tires til I put on the Nitto's. Coming from crap to this, it was like two different worlds =D

[dodik]

try
tires-easy.com
i never ordered tires from them but a lot of times they have better price than tire rack

[rudgers73]

lol, I came from getting used to bald Fuzion HRi's that came with the car...

funny, my summer wheels came with bald Fuzions ZRi's. Bald Fuzions must be the way to enter. :smt023

ironical

[rudgers73]

try
tires-easy.com
i never ordered tires from them but a lot of times they have better price than tire rack


wow, I've never seen so many off-brand tires!

Goodride, Westlake, Rotalla, Aurora, Riken, Nokian <-- never heard of any of these before.

But, they used to say the same about Sumitomo, so I can't make too much fun. Anybody ever drive on any of the above tires?

[gryffinwings]

try
tires-easy.com
i never ordered tires from them but a lot of times they have better price than tire rack


wow, I've never seen so many off-brand tires!

Goodride, Westlake, Rotalla, Aurora, Riken, Nokian <-- never heard of any of these before.

But, they used to say the same about Sumitomo, so I can't make too much fun. Anybody ever drive on any of the above tires?

Actually you can take Nokian of that list, they are well known for tires that work very well in the cold, ask anyone at the subaruoutback.org forums.

[gryffinwings]

try
tires-easy.com
i never ordered tires from them but a lot of times they have better price than tire rack

Holy crap, they have some seriously cheap tires, I've heard of:

Cooper (supposed to be good)

But others I've never heard of, but wow, good place to get throw away tires to do dumb things with like burn outs and drifting I guys, I'll be looking into the other brands to see what I can come up with on these:

Triangle
Rotalla
Westlake
Sunny
Goodride
Wanli
Cooper

[gryffinwings]

Here's an apparent reason why those tires are so cheap an article that I found, so maybe they aren't as bad as we think:

http://www.manufacturing.net/News-US-Manufacturers-Upset-Over-Chinese-Tires.aspx

[peugoby]

I've loved all three sets of Pirelli's I've had. I first had the P6000's which were great, then a set of Pzero Nero's and now another set of Pzero Nero's. They're the best tires I've ever owned and definitely a good price on tirerack.com

[frogger]

I just purchased a set of 225/45/17 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo... $90/ea from Town Fair with a $50 manufacturer mail-in rebate. They got pretty good reviews from Cart and Driver so I thought I'd give them a try:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/com ... vo_page_10 (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/09q2/tire_test_nine_affordable_summer_tires_take_on_the_michelin_ps2-comparison_tests/hankook_ventus_v12_evo_page_10)

[Grafton]

lol @ the bald fuzions HRi's i am working my way to a bald set lol

[ouch1011]

best performance tires i've ever owned are bf goodrich g-force t/a kdw. but, they aren't really 'budget' tires.

i ran the falken fk452s as well. they were ok, but about the same price as the kdw and not nearly as good.

i've heard the bf goodrich g-force sports are good too but never tried them. i might try them for my next set. also, my brother is running a set of bridgestone potenza re760s right now that weren't that expensive and he really likes them.

[95USsubaru]

deff +1 more for sumitomo. they are the best bang for ur buck in any weather and have amazing grip even on ice and snow. my car is just a FWD legacy but with those shoes on it, that thing ate snow like it was nadda. bought the tires about a year and a half ago, best thing i added to my car yet.

[Shale]

Suck it up and go for Bridgestone Potenza RE001s :grin: They are sticky as hell...and wear well if you done have a trillion degrees camber like me.

[gryffinwings]

Suck it up and go for Bridgestone Potenza RE001s :grin: They are sticky as hell...and wear well if you done have a trillion degrees camber like me.

I think you mean either the RE-01R tires which you can't get anymore or the RE-11 which are friggin expensive. I've made up my mind anyways, the Sumitomo HTR-Z III tire is the tire to get, definitely the best bang for the buck tire.

[Shale]

Suck it up and go for Bridgestone Potenza RE001s :grin: They are sticky as hell...and wear well if you done have a trillion degrees camber like me.

I think you mean either the RE-01R tires which you can't get anymore or the RE-11 which are friggin expensive. I've made up my mind anyways, the Sumitomo HTR-Z III tire is the tire to get, definitely the best bang for the buck tire.


Nooo, I mean the RE001 specifically. http://www.bridgestone-potenza.com/adrenalin/ Not sure if it's available in the US by the looks of it though, much like the MY01 that's blown my socks off for an entry-level tyre. The RE001 Adrenalin is the stickiest tyre I've ever had, but because they don't last forever the price has dropped. They're no good long-term on my Impreza because my camber chews them up like candy...and I can't flip 'em, being asymmetrical.

Oh well, you've made your choice now anyway... of course, you'd better be reviewing them once they're worn in :smt023

[gryffinwings]

Suck it up and go for Bridgestone Potenza RE001s :grin: They are sticky as hell...and wear well if you done have a trillion degrees camber like me.

I think you mean either the RE-01R tires which you can't get anymore or the RE-11 which are friggin expensive. I've made up my mind anyways, the Sumitomo HTR-Z III tire is the tire to get, definitely the best bang for the buck tire.


Nooo, I mean the RE001 specifically. http://www.bridgestone-potenza.com/adrenalin/ Not sure if it's available in the US by the looks of it though, much like the MY01 that's blown my socks off for an entry-level tyre. The RE001 Adrenalin is the stickiest tyre I've ever had, but because they don't last forever the price has dropped. They're no good long-term on my Impreza because my camber chews them up like candy...and I can't flip 'em, being asymmetrical.

Oh well, you've made your choice now anyway... of course, you'd better be reviewing them once they're worn in :smt023

Oh those, actually I think we have them, but they go by a different name, the Potenza RE760 Sport, here's a link:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE760+Sport

They are 126 each, not bad it seems. Anyways I will definitely post about them when I get the chance, I still haven't come close to finishing my Falken 912s (the "w" speed rated versions)