What is the Best Performance Street legal Tires?
 

I am in the market of buying a set of new tires, I currently have 16K miles on my 370z stock 19" Bridgestone Potenza RE050A. I've been doing a lot of researching and I fell in love with the following orginially:

- Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110 (Best Bang for the buck for overall specs) :icon18:
- Nitto NT05 (Better Performance than Hankook with similar pricing but less life)

However, I decided that I want a set of Street Legal tires and I don't want to sacrifice ANY performance (Handling & Grip, etc) for saving a few hundred bucks. :tup:

My Goal: I'm looking to pay no more than the price of a set of stock tires (RE050A) and in return I want to get the same (if not better) performance (Handling & Grip, etc) and not less wear than the Bridgestone. :excited:

Question: So what's the best performance street legal tire that doesn't cost more and has no less life than the stock?

- Michelin Pilot Sport PS2? (They cost a little more than stockers but has a higher UTQG of 220AA)
-Yokohama ADVAN Sport? (I believe that's the one they put on the stock Nismo 370Z. A set cost a little less than the stocker, and you get a UTQG of 180AA)
- Other Recommendations?

Both of these tires have a UTQG higher than the stockers RE050A w/ a UTQG of 140AA. So does that neccessary mean they don't perform (Handling & Grip, etc) as well the RE050A but you get more life out of it?

I am aware that most people who are keen on getting performance wouldn't pay for a really expensive set of Street legal tires, instead it's typical that one would invest in 2 sets of tires: 1 set of dedicated track and 1 set of avg tires for daily commute. I'm sure even the best street performance tires wouldn't come close to a set of not street legal track tires. But right now I'll wait until I can settle for that path.

Any help would be great! :stirthepot:
Feel free to express any thoughts regarding to what you have on your 370z and why you chose it as well. ;)

check out the reviews at tirerack.com

most reviewers say great things about the hankooks over the ps2's

i went with hankook's and for the money they are worth it as far as performance goes...can't comment on treadlife yet, i just put them on last week.

Pilot Super Sport's should be on the list.

Also missed on the list are Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position.

Does this mean that there are 'Illegal' Street tires...?? :ugh2:

Did they jump the fence at the warehouse or something??

I'm sorry for mis wording. I really meant to say non R compound tires or any dedicated for track use only tires.

No worries, I figured that's what you meant. :tup: :rofl2:

technically the kumho xs, ad08 re11 are street tires, but not sure if anyone is thrilled to pay for tires that last 15k miles. they grip better than anything you listed.

love your yorkie btw

Missed Goodyear F-1's.

:iagree: and all seasons shouldn't be on this list if you are looking for best performance

:iagree:

Missing Continental Extreme DW. I just got these and so far so good. Great grip and softer/quite ride.

I didn't mean to put the all season tires on there. I just added everything I know that's available but I'm really only looking for something that performs the same if not better with hopefully the same price or less as the stock. If there's a same price but better grip performance I'd choose it. But i don't want any less life than the stock as it's pretty poor already. Same life, same price, but better performance (grip)?

The Cont Extreme DW are a good price. Better tread wear compared to the stock tires I think.

Thanks for the suggestion. Is it true to say the bridgestone potenza re050a has the best performance out of all the street tires? It has a UTQG of 140AA I'm assuming that it has best grip out of the group while it sacrifices treadwear. Is that true?

No, UTQG is not the same between companies. So a 200 from Hankook might be different than the 200 from Bridgestone. Technically the RE050a is softer than the RE11 (hence the quicker wear), but it does not grip better than the RE11. You listed tires that are used for amature track days and autox, they grip the best at the expense of noise, harshness and treadlife

I had a set of GoodYear Eagle F1 G3-D3's on my Altima, they where by far the best aftermarket tire I have ever installed on a car, will be really considering these when it comes time for a new set on the Z.

Thank you for reply. This is educational for me. I didn't know the UTQG is different for each company. I guess it's really hard to find a baseline between different brands. By the way, I am looking for amature track days but I will also use it for daily driving. I don't have the need to invest in something track worthy anytime soon. In time I do want to save up for a set of dedicated track tires, but right now I'm loving the way the Bridgestone RE050A and I don't want to sacrifice any handling performance. I love the way it handles and I really don't want to trade it for more tread wear.

I'm okay with having a set of tires that wears out at around 15K miles (what I got with my Stock set. I'm just hoping to find something that cost the same but offer better performance.

The ratings on the Bridgestone RE050A isn't that great in most tire websites. They usually only get a 3/5 stars. Which is why I'm starting this thread to see if there's a better option out there that I'm missing. So the RE11 grips better?

How about the Yokohama Advan Sport? That's the one they put on the Nismo 370z so it's gotta be better right? The skipad spec shows that the Nismo only has 0.93G as oppose to the standard 370z at 0.99G. Could it be the tires? Bridgestone Potenza RE050A performs better than the Yokohama Advan Sport? I think they cost about the same.
Or is it the stiffer suspension set up? Hmm...would that be a better fit for what I'm looking for? Or is there a superior alternative?

You cant have everything you are asking for. For example: If you get better grip, you will get less tire life.

My problem was not enough grip due to my twin turbos power. I went with the Advan Neova AD08's and they have been great. They handle well, grip well and are way superior to the stock Bridgestones. I dont really care if they wear out a little quicker because I need the grip.

Regardless of what enyone else says, I think only the RE11's are close to the Advans.....nothing else. The Hankook Ventus tires are OK, but cheap, not the route I want to go.

Also, when someone says "these are the best tires I have ever had"......they might not have tried many others and that being said its similiar to someone only ever owning ONE CAR and saying "its the fastest car I have ever had".

You get what you pay for in tires......you have to pay to play.

I am aware that there is trade off. Which is why I said if it's one thing I care to have is performance (grip) not mileage. I'm just trying to find out if bridgestone re050a has the best grip for that similar price. Or is there another option that cost the same or even less but out performs the stock one while offer around similar mileage? Please keep in mind I'm only look for street tires. Seems like summer tires is what I narrowed my choice down to.

I just order RE-11s so we will see if they are as good as everyone says.

I took off my stock RE050a with 800 miles on the car. They were downright scary to drive compare to the RE11 I have on my car (I traded in my RX8 with Star Specs on them). Of course it helps that they are bigger, but the grip level they offer is unmatched. There are only a few tires that can match the grip of the RE11, RE050a is not one of them. As a bonus, the RE11 rides better and they are quieter. If you want to track in the future and don't care about the 15K treadlife, I would only recommend the RE11, AD08, Kumho XS, Nitto NT05 and Hankook RS3. A-holes at Dunlop don't offer the Star Spec in 19s.

The V12 is overrated as a performance tire. I bought it based on the stupid internet reviews, now they sit in the garage and collect dust.

I don't know how much the stock tires are, but there are plenty of other tires that last longer and cost similar with better or close in performance.

I want a black yorkie dangit

Excellent. :tup:

Technically, MT ET Steeet IIs are street legal tires.

This is all great stuff thanks guys, I appreciate your inputs. I've been so torn for the past week not finding anything useful on the web. As you mentioned the Hankook tires are definitely very attractive but in the end I feel that I rather sacrifice treadlife than any performance for a similar price tire. It's really helpful to hear from owners who have tried different set of tires so thanks again! Keep the review going.:tup:

the RE11s are good... but they do not stick in terms of putting HP to the ground as well as the Toyo R888 which I ran on my 350z and got very impressive wear out of, but running almost no negative camber. The R888 is technically a R-compound... they sucked in the rain but the car was still plenty drivable enough for me, and the mileage I got out of them I was very happy with. I wouldnt hesitate to put them on a twin turbo car for regular street use.

R888 becomes slow once you put a few heat cycles on it. I made the mistake of buying a few sets of it before I realized how bad they were. If you want R comps that you can drive around, I would go for RA1s or NT01s

I can't seem to find the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 as an available option on tire rack or any other tire website when I entered my vehicle information. Does it mean they don't recommend that tire for the stock wheels? I assume it fits on the stock 19" sports pkg wheels right? If so, how do I go about ordering them?

Order 4 285/35/19 and add it to the cart and you will magically have it in 4 days. Of course you will also lose $1200 in the process.

What size tires did you order?

Stock. I thought about going wider with the rears. But deside to just keep the size stock till I TT next year.

There's the problem -- RE-11's are not made in the stock sizes.

What exactly would make the tires not street legal and how would they be able to catch you if you're using racing tires on the street?

They are not street legal if they are non-DOT approved or are specified for off-road use only. Cops may not know you have them on, but your insurance (or the other guy's) company will not be very happy with you if you are in an accident and you are wearing "racing tires".

It's like speeding, only illegal if you get caught.

Embezzlement and murder, too.

Sorry to cut in on your thread, but I am looking for the same info for my particular application. I have learned a lot from this and other threads and did some research into tire sizing, but still have a few questions. I am running the stock 19" sport wheels with no spacers and currently have the stock RE050 tires on. They still have a little life left on them but I have 27k miles on them and want to get something with better grip for the next set. My 370 has been my primary daily commuter and is almost all freeway miles, with just a couple track days/autocross on her. I just bought another commuter car so the 370 will become more of a fun car now. I still don't want to change my wheel setup, but want stickier tires for both autocross and track days (just a couple times a year). I tried to find Nitto NT01's or Toyo RA1 or R888's, but it looks like they don't make them any of them in a size that would work well on my 19" wheels. I have narrowed it down to Nitto NT05 (in 275/35/19 all around), RE11, AD08, or Hankook Ventus V12 (cheap). I don't mind paying more or dealing with noise; grip is the primary concern. Of these choices, which would you suggest? Can I really run up to 285/35/19 all around on my stock Sport 19" wheels without rubbing?

The easiest way they would catch you is after you wrap your car around a tree when it sprinkles:roflpuke2:

Still no Goodyear F-1 on the list.

i just put a set of Goodyear F1 Supercars on my RX7 FD

by far one of the best street tires i've ever driven on

pricey but worth it

other than that, i'll stand behind Hankook EVO V12s all day and night

our customers love them, and we love them!!