Doood I heard Aquatreads are the shiznit in the rain!

 

Ain't arguing fun...

Nick, yes you are assuming. I HAVE driven cars with Azenis tires... in the rain... and no, I didn't like them. (No it wasn't on an S2000, it was in an AWD 2.5L-T Impreza, and hell that was AWD. Much better--heh, subjectively?--in the rain than RWD cars.)

Tire ratings are SUPPOSED to be objective, but they're not. It depends on the car, the driver, the track, the weather.... the company....

(TireRack's ratings may be very different from Discount Tire Direct's, for example.)

And as for your comment on TireRack, well the fact that the Azenis isn't offered holds some merit.... possibly. But they bashed tires they carried in equal force. They talked me out of quite a few models I wanted, and into a set of Dunlop SP9000s.

Which are fantastic in the rain, but personally? I don't think they're that great in the dry, for what they should be (Max. Performance).
This is contrary to what most people say. To the ratings. Which, if objective, would mean that the 9000 couldn't be poor in the dry. I keep my tire pressure monitored at 35psi all the time, a good set for my car in everyday driving.
Regardless, though, I mean I know it's easy to think that a tech there would try to talk you into something they sold (or out of something they didn't), but that's not necessarily true.

The fact that you like yours? Well.... your opinions on what level of grip is sufficient or not is your opinion. Someone else's will of course be different.
Or maybe you just got a better set of Azenis,' who knows. Anybody's guess.

There are people here running the Azenis on an S2k though, I've read their posts..... No clue who they were, which doesn't help you much, but keep looking, they're here.

-S2-

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Freakaccident
[B]

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Siper2
[B]Ain't arguing fun...

Nick, yes you are assuming.

 

I've been running the Michelin Pilot Sports for almost 16K miles. They handle OK in the dry and seem to be superior to the Potenzas in the wet; they wear like iron.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by GTI 20v
[B]

Well since you have driven on Azenises yourself, you should have said so, it would have added 100% more credibility to your first two posts.

By tire ratings I meant ratings established from track tests, not necessarily from Tire Rack buyer surveys.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by s2kpdx01
[B]

i think i know why no one is running them on the S2000.

 

I haven't driven on the Falken Azenis, nor has my dog -- but looking at the tread pattern, they look like they would be a great dry performer, but there's nowhere for water to go that has gotten into/under the tread.

Looking at them they don't look like they would do well in the wet. There is only one serious sipe and its on the inside of the tire.

The only thing left is for the tread compound to be doing something different at a microscopic level (like that special compound that forms sucker-like cups that help adhesion to ice) -- which is less a factor than the physicality of the tread shape being able to "pump" water to side of the tread before it gets between the contact patches and the asphalt.

They look like a good track tire that you could get caught in the rain and not be up a creek with.

(The best part of this thread is watching a Guest / Enthusiast FWD driver suddenly get all bitchy without provocation at an owner/moderator for his lack of first-hand knowledge)

 

funny sh!t

 

I agree, they look like they would be exceptionally bad in the rain, which is probably why most people think they are bad in the rain. And in torrential downpours, they are probably more susceptible to hydroplaning than other tires. But most rain driving is not done in torrential downpours.

And it's a guest / enthusiast FWD driver getting bitchy at a GUEST / moderator AWD driver. Your witty observation almost worked.

-Nick