Just wanted to know what everyone is running and personal opinions are. I'm currently running the 245 star specs and love them. Great in wet weather to. But need to replace soon. Good track and street options? The new BFGoodrich g-force rival?, re-11's, Dunlop direzza Zll, rs3's, R1R? Discuss!

 

I have had the sumitomo HTRZ3 (215/245) and right now i have the hankook ventus evo k12 or something like that (225/255). I know they are 2 different tires but on the street i don't notice the extra 10mm since it's not even 1/2 an inch wider. But hopefully it looks wider from behind . Both have been really good options for my car since it is my daily driver. I dont see the Hankooks on TireRacks site anymore, but the HTRZ3's are considered Max Summer while the RS3 are the Extreme Summer, which i think is the highest performing rating (extreme).

If you're doing more than that, I probably would say you should get something nicer. I wanted to get the RS3's but they kept being listed as sold out, and they are more of a budget track tire, the autox guys love them.

my 2 cents

 

G-force rival - Great in the dry, lacking in the wet, pricey if you want to jump to 255s
re-11s - not as good as the zii's in the dry, very pricey
Star spec zii - How did Dunlop improve so well on an already great tire? Dunno, but they did. Great in both wet and dry and not as quite temp. sensitive as other extreme performance tires
RS3s - very very sticky in the dry, sucks in the wet, best "bang for the buck", softer sidewall results in you running higher tire pressures
R1R - awesome in wet or dry, wide configuration, good pricing

I'd go with the 255/40 ZIIs

 

I vote ZII personally. They retain wet performance like you seem to like, and aren't too bad in the cost dept. There are other tires that are better in the dry, so if prefer something that'll wear a little better and be a tad more confidence inspiring I might go with the new G-force Rival.

 

I'm tempted to get the ZIIs but I'm also considering the Ventus V12 evo K110s... are the Star Specs worth the extra $250 for a daily driver? I can sacrifice a little bit of high-end performance for longevity.

(I should also mention that I plan on doing a few autox/track days this year... and not on my Conti DWS's this time )

 

RS3s do not work AT ALL at temps below 45F in street use. They also wear absurdly quickly. I would really only recommend them as an autox/track tire. The Z1/Z2 is a great tire, but for street use the RE11 is superior and its longevity easily justifies the asking price.

Personally, I'd recommend acquiring both a set of OEM wheels with RE11s for street use and a set of inexpensive track wheels (TSW makes quality items) with RS3s in 255 square.

 

Yeah, definitely not considering RS-3s... I know they're awful for DD use. I was looking at the other Hankooks, the Ventus evos.

 

I really was not going to stray far from the star specs, I've heard nothing but great things of the new ones. Kinda figured the new g-force rivals would not be that good in wet. Maybe ill keep a pair of my spare tires for the track then ...

 

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2s in 215/245. They definitely aren't as grippy as the Star Specs, but they are a much higher treadwear tire and since the S is my daily driver I expect them to last a good bit longer at a lower price point. They are also fantastic in the rain. Dry grip, while lower than the Star Specs to be sure, is still good enough that I have never broken them free on the street other than intentionally in the rain (and even that was hard). In dry autocross runs, their lateral grip is impressive to me, especially for a street tire. Turn-in is good without too much sidewall flex, though they have a more rounded "shoulder" area than, say, Star Specs or RS-3s. If you daily drive your car and do some occasional track/auto-x events, I would recommend them. I drove in a baaaad rain storm on the way up to Richmond to visit my fiancee recently and I was very glad I picked these over RS-3s, given the reviews you've heard. I thought they had excellent hydroplaning resistance for a tire in the max(?) summer category.

I also have experience with V12 Evo K110s, though on stock AP1 16" wheels. They have surprisingly good dry traction, and are very forgiving/predictable at the limit. Their wet traction is quite decent, but certainly not as good as the Goodyears, which ranked #1 in the wet in TireRack's test of that category. They have a bit more sidewall roll on turn-in, but I am also comparing two different tire/wheel sizes so take that with a grain of salt. A few of these tires are compared directly in TireRack tests. I recommend checking those out if you still need some help making a decision.

 

I did a full day auto-x class for beginners last year on the Ventus V12 - and for a beginner they were completely fine. You are going to need a lot of practice with technique, car control etc. way before you're going to find the limits of your tires. Plus they are a solid choice for having good summer tire grip while being compliant for DD duties.

Also, I saw it mentioned in a few other threads and I forgot about it until now: they are super quiet, minimal road noise compared to any other I've had on my 2 s2000's. I was shocked when I first put them on, especially on back roads with the top/windows down.

I can definitely agree with most of what is here: good traction for being such a low price point, easy to find a predictable limit, esp in the aformentioned autox class. Wet traction was better than other tires i've had like sumitomo, RE-O1r. It's a little bit squishier i guess you could say but hardly - it's still a Max Perf Summer tire.