Noticing that most people love these. Sounds like these will perform the best from a cornering stand point. How is the road noise and comfort?

edit: Went out to the garage and measured tread depth. Oh boy...2/32 up front and 4/32 in the back outside (2/32 back inside). No problem in dry conditions I know.

 

The Star Specs have a lot of grip for the price, but they are inferior to the Bridgestones in my experience as an overall tire for the reasons I already mentioned. Also, the RE11s were more confidence inspiring to me as compared to the Star Specs. Trust me, I'd love to like the Star Specs as they are cheap, but they just don't do it for me. I've also driven on Yokohamas and Toyos and I still prefer Bridegstone. The only alternative I would consider to the Bridgestones would be the Hankooks.

 

I'm running Star Specs on my AP2 (both 225/255 and 255 square w/ bored out rear wheels on the front), and they're great tires. On my previous NC MX-5, I also ran Star Specs, then AD08's, and preferred the AD08's, but IMO the perfromance difference wasn't worth the price premium.

I'm going to try RS-3's when the Star Specs wear out, everything I've heard indicates that they're the next best thing to RA1's. Hard to beat the price, too!

RE-11's are really popular w/ the auto-x crowd, but a track junkie friend advised that they get greasy when hot and don't stand up to high temps in TX summer tracking. No personal experience, just relaying the feedback.

 

Some relly good tires are RE01 i have them on ap2v1 and they are great.

 

On the street? No better, but certainly heavier and more expensive! Bigger fronts will also make the car feel a bit heavier and less sprightly.
225/255 might be worth a couple of tenths vs. 215/245 at the track, but no real benefit on the street IMO, and slightly more prone to hydroplaning in standing water.

Still, I'd look at the tires available in all three "correct" size combinations, as some tire models are only availble in one of them:
215/45-17, 245/40-17
215/45-17, 255/40-17
225/45-17, 255/40-17

Use the Tire Rack website, lots of test results and customer reviews on a ton of tires. Wouldn't get hung up on brand name, but do pay close attention to the test results and survey results of the particular tire MODEL you want.

Also, Dunlop Sport Maxx TT are a great Max Perf tire, but for some reason they don't appear when you do a search on AP2 sizes at the Tire RAck site, although they're available in all four sizes. I've tracked my car with these tires in back and Star Specs up front, and after being scrubbed in (they were brand new), they kept up with the fronts in terms of dry grip.

I'm sure S04's are great, but they are pricey as hell. You don't have to spend that much to get great tires.

 

Good words!!!

I have the RS-3 and it's the best tire that I've had. For the price there isn't nothing better. I'm on my second set.

But being objective my car is a weekend/track car. So I don't care much about wet performance. I have used on rain at the track and it was ok. I don't care much about thread life since I've only put 4K miles on the car in a year.

My other track car is a 1st gen rx-7. With the XS. Is a very great tire but not as good as the RS-3. However for daily I would choose the XS. It seems to me that the RS-3 are too much for the road for DD.

 

I have to give it up for the BF Goodrich g-Force Sports I have. Runnin 225/45 up front ($110 a piece) and 255/40 in the rear ($123 a piece) on AP2V1s. They handle extremely well in dry condition - I push my corners all the time. They do well in wet and perform acceptably in snowy conditions as long as they aren't pushed (had to use it once or twice when I was caught in some light snow). They have a good tread life and are reasonably priced. I loved the old g-Force T/A KDWs I used to have and this was a good compromise for DD, especially with good ride comfort and road noise. Reviews don't speak well to them, but I have had no issues with them. I bought the car used with these on and the rears having about 8k miles left on them. The fronts still looked new. I have sinced put 16k miles on my car and replaced the rear tires about 6k miles ago. They are still like new and the fronts look to have minimal wear. I don't have much of an issue with road noise, but then again I have an exhaust, intake and a new sound system .

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=g-Force+Sport

 

I really like the re760's. Just ordered another two rear tires yesterday. Check your local tire shops, was cheaper to buy at discount tire myself then to buy from tire rack

 

The fronts will fit fine with the stock wheels without rolling the fenders, correct?
[/quote]

on stock wheels? Absolutely...with room to spare!


marginal, but remember (generally speaking), the more rubber you put on the road, the more grip you have.

 

???
RS-3 has way more wet grip than XS. MUCH more appropriate for a DD that is driven in the rain.
You can't have too much wet grip, and the XS falls way short here.

A *good* Max Perf category tire (Conti DW, Dunlop Sport Maxx TT, etc.) would be still more appropriate for DD use.