Best tires for aggressive street driving?

[RETed]

Tire ratings are relative to the users experience, unless we're talking about a HUGE sampling (i.e. Tire Rack ratings) which average out in the long run...

It's hard to gauge other member's personal experiences unless you know them well.
(I find it funny that people are talking how good the Nexen and Sumitomo tires are "pretty good" in the other thread; I consider both of them "crap" in my book.)
I only see 2 people in this thread that I would really trust at this point.

It's a really fine line trying to get the BEST "street" performance tire.
You're trying to walk that fine line between "street" tire and "race" tire.
The problem here is that once you cross the boundary to "race" tire, you're playing with a different set of rules.
The problem with "race" tires is getting heat into the tires.
"Race" tires, which cold, are going to be a handful...and that's putting it mildly.
Yes, once you get them up to temps, you get to grow balls of steel.
The problem running them on the street is that you cannot always expect them to be fully up to temp for your situation, unless we're talking about a basically "closed-circuit" course like a canyon run or something.

I haven't messed with the current crop of top performers, but I can only offer you my experience.
I'm old enough to know what a set of Yokohama A008's are...
Anyone old enough to know what they are...knows what I'm talking about.
It was one of the first "cheater" slick tires that was technically "D.O.T. street-legal" (due to the two circumferencial grooves).
Some of the softer compound versions ("R", "RS", "RSII") were two-fisted steering steering on the street until they got hot...then, oh hell did they stick.
I had a set of 1st gen B.F.Goodrich Comp T/A's that I thought were the "sh*t" on the street - this was the first set of serious street tires I bought for my personal car (the A008's were always on other people's vehicles).
I've streeted full-tread Toyo RA-1's on the street.
When cold, they felt like some generic 400 treadwear M+S tires, but once you get some heat in them...did your suspension get a work out.
Bridgestone RE-71's were the king back in the day in terms of street tires.
Very nice stick and worked well even when cold - get some heat in them and traction went up a notch (not as drastic as the above two).
Dunlop countered with the SP8000, which didn't have as much stick as the RE-71, but it gave better tire wear and didn't chunk as bad when pushing the tire to the limit as the RE-71.
I run a set of Bridgestone S03 Pole Positions right now on the FC.
Great stick out of the driveway...wish the sidewalls were a little stiffer (typical of Bridgestone tires - I like Michelin sidewalls myself), but you never feel it's going to leave you hanging in a bad position - lots of feedback.
The S03 PP's breakaway feels familiarly like how the RE-71's did back in the day when you do push the tires past their traction limits.
I've got a set of Yokohama Advan AD07's (replaced by the AD08's) waiting when the S03 PP's wear out.

Now, I realize that pretty much none of that covers the tire models you guys are talking about in this thread.
(I don't think tire technology has increased that much over the past several years, IMO.)
The more important point is that I tried looking for that "ultimate street tire", and I never found it.
"Street" tires are street tires.
"Race" tires are race tires.
Unless you can live with the compromise, it's very hard to find your answer.
Most of us can probably live with the significant drop in tire life from performance tires, but the heat cycling is something that can scare the crap out of me when you least expect it.

If you guys ever do find out the answer to this...please share!
I'm all ears!


-Ted

[t_g_farrell]

Originally Posted by RETed

Tire ratings are relative to the users experience, unless we're talking about a HUGE sampling (i.e. Tire Rack ratings) which average out in the long run...

Bridgestone RE-71's were the king back in the day in terms of street tires.
Very nice stick and worked well even when cold - get some heat in them and traction went up a notch (not as drastic as the above two).

+1 on the advice by RETed here. I had the RE-71s and they were great and
came in 205/60R13. I really miss those tires. I wish I could find a reasonably
priced tire in this size these days. For ~$150.00 per tire I could run Toyos or
Hoosiers but they would be track tires. BAH! The Sumis are cheap for a reason.
I know folks run them and even autox them but really, compared to my old
RE-71s there is no comparison. The RE-71 and the 008 came out before the
rdot rating became standard. They were basically equivalent to rdot tires of
today. I just wish performance 13 inchers didn't go the way of the Dodo.

[Fendamonky]

Cool beans, thanks for the feedback man! Yeah.. I think I'll be ordering a pair of Star Specs when I get home. It's time for new tires and since my 7 isn't a daily driver I'm not so worried about treadlife.

Cheers guys!

[MaczPayne]

Love my AD07's, went from RT615 to NT-05's then to these. I'm trying out the AD08's when these wear out (great life so far!)

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by MaczPayne

Love my AD07's, went from RT615 to NT-05's then to these. I'm trying out the AD08's when these wear out (great life so far!)

How do you rank the NT-05's compared to the AD07's/8's?

FWIW I'm running the Dunlop D1SS's and like them. They do need some heat though and the FC likes more camber on the track than the street... that's for DAMN sure.

[MaczPayne]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

How do you rank the NT-05's compared to the AD07's/8's?

FWIW I'm running the Dunlop D1SS's and like them. They do need some heat though and the FC likes more camber on the track than the street... that's for DAMN sure.

AD07's have way more grip, and they're so much more consistent over a wide range of temperatures. The NT05's were miles above the old RT615, but they don't hold a candle to the 07's/08's, in terms of traction, wear, and heat.

The 255's I got were actually 10+mm wider than I expected, forcing me to run a little camber to keep from rubbing on the fenders. I now know why they're so damn expensive, lol.

I heard the AD08's were even better than the 7's.

[josh18_2k]

Wanna know whats best for a car? check autox nationals results under Street Touring. different tires work best for different weight/power cars, as well as different wheel sizes. (direzzas suck in 14/15" sizes for example, but rule in 18's)
http://www.scca.org/documents/result...ook%20file.pdf

ST/STS - R1R/RS3
STR - RS3
STX - RS3
STU - Direzza/AD08

[yzf-r1]

Dunlops are best bang for the buck imo, I run them on the bike as well as the S2000 and they're going on the FD next - seem to wear well, too

[MaczPayne]

Bridgestone's get some lovin' in ST too heh

[rdgt99]

Has anyone tried the Continental Extreme Contact DW and how it compares w/ Star Specs?

[Force13b]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=118

[Fendamonky]

Badass, thanks man!

[Force13b]

Originally Posted by Fendamonky

Badass, thanks man!

I run the Kumho XS for the price you really can't beat them. Problem is if it rains they are death tires.

[Fendamonky]

Yeah, it rains enough in Virginia that I'm not gunna try risking that! I think I may end up going with the Star Specs since they are about $50 cheaper than the AD08's, but still so damn similar when it comes to performance.

[Force13b]

Originally Posted by Fendamonky

Yeah, it rains enough in Virginia that I'm not gunna try risking that! I think I may end up going with the Star Specs since they are about $50 cheaper than the AD08's, but still so damn similar when it comes to performance.

CA doesn't have that rain issue.