Pros/cons of most popular tires
 

So this is what I have gathered from reading up on tires here, RE-11s and Advan 08s seems to be 2 of the best/most popular for grip and performance. Hankook Ventus v12 and the Continental DW seem to be very popular street tires. I would like to gather thoughts, pros/cons on all of these and any other highly regarded tires forums members are using. I think this will be a great centralized source of tire info for members.

I think relevant details are
1) grip (dry and wet)
2) noise vs stock
3) tramline/tracking
4) how do they hold up at the track
5) tread life from member experiences
6) other thoughts/comments (ex. sidewall, flex, ride feel, how larger than stock tires fit, etc.)

From what i have gathered reading up on some reviews, The Ventus v12s are great for daily driving, but not so good at the track. They also ride quieter than stock and seem like they might have a pretty long tread life.

A friend of mine mentioned the Ventus R-S3s. Has anyone had nay experience with these?

The Continental DW are also pretty popular with people saying they are great street tires with great dry and cold (for a summer tire) grip. They also are quieter than stock. I haven't read much about how they hold up at the track or how long they last, though.

Advan 08 and RE-11 seem to be considered the grippiest and best tires for the track. I am not sure about noise level and ride comfort or tread life though.

These are just some observations of mine form reading tire reviews her eon the forums. People who have these tires are definitely encouraged to chime in with their thoughts/experiences.

Im currently on the V12's. Road noise far less pronounced than the stock tires. Grip in the wet is better than the stock Bridgestones but dry performance suffers in comparison. I drive pretty hard and the v12s pretty much handle what I can throw at them on the street. On the track they would be terrible Im sure. Tread life seems decent which is why I bought them, I wanted something that would last longer than the stockers. For the price they cant be beat.

Wonder if this could be bumped into the general discussions for a day or 2 just for some better exposure and member input. I didn't want to obviously and intentionally post in the wrong section, though. What do you Mods think?

Currently running michelin PS2s. They are better in every way over the stock tires both on the track and on the street.

Next set of tires will either be PSS's or RE-11s.

Yeah, now that I just paid off my house I have much more Z money. My next tires will prob be RE-11's. While some wheelspin can be fun I wanna know what my car feels like when it really hooks up. If you have the $ to blow I believe this is THE tire.

I had Hankook V12 and currently have RE-11's
-Absolutely NO comparison in dry traction and performance. Re-11 ftw
-Wet traction felt good with both
-Hankooks are quieter and have a longer life
-Hankooks have soft sidewalls and make the steering wheel feel a little more disconnected to the road. Stiff sidewalls on the RE-11's

AD-08s behave well on the street, comfy and quiet and perform like about 90% of a Hoosier on the track.

ContDW in stock size;

1) grip (dry and wet)
Dry is very good, wet is also good, but not as good as BridgestoneS04 polepositions.

2) noise vs stock

Very quiet.


3) tramline/tracking

None at ET33 front 19x9.


4) how do they hold up at the track

Don't know.

5) tread life from member experiences

Very good.

6) other thoughts/comments

Soft sidewall, blooms easily (turns brown after driving in very wet conditions)
treads look good but sidewall appearance is not the prettiest.

Would I buy again? No, just wanted to try these out. I am happy with them but will replace with either the supersports or RE11's next.

I meant to mention the soft sidewalls in my previous post as well.

How is tread life on the re-11s? those seem like THE tires to get. The Hankooks are quieter than the re-11a, but are the re-11s quieter than stock?

Also wondering what you all think about the Road Hazard insurance when ordering your tires from an internet retailer like tirerack.com. I used to just get my tires at Sears when i had my Altima so it was easy to just bring the car there for Road Hazard repair jobs and that's not too often. Is it a hassle to get reimbursed and stuff when you have it through an internet dealer? Just wondering if it's more hassle than it's worth. Patch jobs aren't expensive either. It's really in case some thing really bad happens and the tire is unrepairable. What do you guys think, more hassle than it's worth or a must?

I've never had to use the road hazard ins. from tire rack, BUT I have purchased many many sets of tires (and wheels) from them over the years and they have great customer service. In fact, that's the only place I really buy tires from anymore, they've earned my loyalty.

As far as if the road hazard ins is necessary, imo, for run flats it is worth it since they cannot be repaired. (no reputable shop will touch them but you could do it yourself). For normal tires, patch/plug jobs are so cheap, the road hazard seems not worth it to me.

I run RE-11s 265/35-19 front and 285/35-19s in the rear.

1) grip (dry and wet): No comparison over the stock RE050s. I have yet to try them in the rain but they have at least 30% more traction in every situation. They are extremely progressive and neutral at the limits, I haven't had the chance to take the Z into the canyons yet but I need to adjust to the much higher grip level.

2) noise vs stock: quieter than stock

3) tramline/tracking: tracks like the stock tires, maybe a bit better due to the stiffer sidewalls.

4) how do they hold up at the track: N/A

5) tread life from member experiences: Spohn expects 10-12,000 miles out of them including multiple track days. Pretty darn good in my opinion.

6) other thoughts/comments (ex. sidewall, flex, ride feel, how larger than stock tires fit, etc.): I think the larger tire widths fit the sport package rays very well, no significant sidewall bulge whatsoever. Being lowered and having spacers, it makes the wheel tire setup a bit more flush and in my opinion, perfect.

I currently have Michelin Pilot Super Sports with about 7k miles on them.

(255/25/19, 295/30/19)

1. Wet/Dry Traction:

Dry - EXCELLENT. These will not break under any conditions I've been able to put them under so far. Let's just say on a highway onramp curve at 3 digit speed, you will not move, even when it's bumpy. No track experience yet.

Wet - :ugh: On damp, or light wetness they are fine. However, under Heavy rain condition, I would advise no driving at speed. Even though claimed to have a high hydroplaning resistance, I found this to not be true and in fact, hydroplaned. :rofl2:

2. Cornering

Superb. Never felt any buckle in the sidewalls through aggressive driving, or cornering.

3. Treadlife

So far only have 7k on them, but they seem to be holding up very well, again with no track days yet.

4. Noise

Quieter than stock, (as if there were any that weren't... :icon17: )

5. Final comments

Due to moving from a desert to a place where it can rain heavily whenever it wants, I will be moving from the PSS' to the Michelin 970AS (all seasons) and possibly keeping the PSS's for just track days. Unless I were to find a buyer who wanted them now.

:eek: I hope that's supposed to be a 2

most impressive. (darth vader voice)

doubt it, that's just how Chris rolls, like a Boss.

Thats the size I plan on running some new goodies I ordered and were delivered recently. :rolleyes: ;)

:iagree: :inoutroflpuke:

DAMN 395s.. do you rub??

nope, he just bought the ce28n genesis and a lift kit. He's going for the first off road z

very wide... it is.

im lookin at getting the NITTO 555R 2 extremes for the rear and 555's for the front, what do you guys think?

rub, it will not. Correct offsets he has.

Apparently I rub the keys the wrong way... damn fat fingers... :icon17:

:bowrofl: :inoutroflpuke:


Don't mix-match tires. You'll want 4 of the same brand/model. Otherwise your cornering will be very odd, and mixed traction on mixed surfaces - unsafe. :ugh2:

:tup:

:tup: thank you! ill get all 4 nitto 555r 2 extreme, think ill place that order now. I went with ssr type-f 18x9.5 +22 and 18x10.5 +15 flat black. Better for racing and cheaper, plus they are not rare so no worries if they get dinged :)

I was curious what you had ended up going with since you were letting the Gen's go... The boxes gave me an idea, but wasn't 100% sure.

I demandz pics! :yum:

I'm looking at getting the Michelin 970AS' if you're looking for an All Season tire, might wanna give those a peek.

no, just want a hardcore semi-sticky tire. This car isnt my DD no more and im PROBABLY going to get a trailer for it, expensive tires and nails don't do good in you pockets. My car just got shipped and no camera, as you can see in my album I have A LOT of work ahead of me :tup:

I'm looking forward to seeing them on your car.

Now im looking for coilovers(hks) camber kit and oil cooler. I'll be set after that

I had to have some fun while still at work.. haha I cant wait to pick up my tires for my volks.. maybe by then I'll be able to pick up some RE-11s...

post a review on those HKS coils.. I was thinking of trying them as I had the KW3'S on my G..

There's a slightly used set of KWv3's for sale right now. Unless you want a new set, they're the best I've seen. I use them myself. :tup:

Right now we've got SPC and SPL camber arms, SPC is what I have and they took the 'offroading' I did and no bends. I've heard some people having problems with the SPL's coming loose on track events.. :ugh2:

And for Oil Coolers, the Z1 kit is the best bang for your buck with the option to just upgrade your cooler size later on.

I glad to hear your offroading adventures are going well :eekdance: lol

Ill do some looking when I get back from the gym but I did notice the KW for sale but wanted to compare the spring rates to the HKS and durability.

The Z1 kit I have looked into. I like the options they provide along with the quality.

LoL Yeah, it was fun, but I wouldn't recommend it to the masses. :icon17:

I've heard reviews from people who had the HKS and switched to the KW's that LOVE the KW's, but again each review is based on that persons likes/dislikes... But when I got mine, I really couldn't pass up the deal I got. So that swayed me a bit, but I've been happy with them ever since.

/\ nice. I really like those ssr type f's alot. flat black is goiing to look mean. :tup:

Chris,
I saw you mentioned goingwith some all seasons next. I would highly recommend keeping UHP summers on and simply picking up a set of cheap wheels and putting some true winter tires on for the few months you'll need them. I'm afraid that after being used ot PSS's, you're going to be very frustrated at the "crappiness" of any of the all seasons.

Which is why I'm looking at staying with Michelin, their AS' have almost the same performance characteristics of the PSS' so it's almost like you don't really loose a lot. Plus I can't afford to be hindered by hard rain if I have to be somewhere...

I'm planning on getting a set of wheels for Tracking (18's) and those will have sticky tires, and the All seasons would go on my 19's. I dunno what to do really... :rofl2: I'm just tired of hassle haha.

ahh, well if you are going with a dedicated set of track wheel/tires, then disregard what I said. :tup:

I prolly could use them for dedicated winter wheels too, being as most snowy tires are common in 18's rather than 19's. But we don't get that much Snow here. I just have to worry about heavy rains.

5) tread life from member experiences: Spohn expects 10-12,000 miles out of them including multiple track days. Pretty darn good in my opinion.

Ouch, that would be a new set of tires every year for me then since the Z's my DD. Might even be less than a year....

I think you will like the DW's.

I'll probably track maybe 4-5 times a year though. Re-11s seem to be the best for grip and handling.

I don't need new tires yet. I just wanted to create a consolidated thread for tires.