Hi guys. Quick background on my setup: 06 lowered to one finger gap on AP2v2s with 15mm spacers in rear only. No fender mods. Looking to replace the UHP all-seasons that came with the car, 225f and 245r. Car is not tracked but driven very spiritedly on the street. Car does see temps below 50 in the Oct and Nov northeast months.

Initially considered the extreme tires everyone is familiar with, Direzza Z1 and RS3, but I don't like the skyrocketing prices on the Dunlop. Also, I'm not sure if it's worth putting up with the downsides of a tire in this class, higher tire noise and harsher ride, on a car that isn't tracked. I have a hardtop now so I hear some noises, including tires, that are normally muffled by top down wind. Ride comfort is becoming more important to me than it used to as well.

Because of all this, I've been looking at max performance tires instead. I want to stick with the current sizes I have now. While I'd like to, I can't do 255s in the rear because I'm pushing it as it is with a 245 and 15mm spacer on untouched fenders. Based on ratings/reviews and the cash I'm comfortable spending before shipping/mounting, I'm looking at three possibilities (don't slam me too hard for the last one):

- Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110 ($504)
- Kumho Ecsta LE Sport ($414)
- Sumitomo HTR ZIII ($424)

The Kumho is the cheapest and highest rated of the three on TR, just edging the Hankook in everything but ride comfort and treadwear. However, this is based on the least amount of reported miles with about 150k for the Kumho compared to the Hankook's 3.7 million so these ratings might be unbalanced. Hankook is the most expensive, but it's also the best looking tire of the three and has a ton of stellar reviews. The Sumitomo is kind of a wildcard I've mostly been using as a candidate for comparison.

Gotta say I'm leaning toward the Hankook because of its proven record and looks, but the price on the Kumho is very enticing. All opinions welcome. Thanks for reading.

 

The Sumitomo ZIII is the best out of those three, not the worst. Ive had both those and the Hankooks and my buddy has the Kumhos. Sumitomos are the best of the three. Better grip, better ride, lower noise.

The ZIII also beat them both on tireracks test. Great tires.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=149

 

I have tried the sumitomos and now have the hankooks. However, the sumitomo setup was a 235 and 255 setup on 9 +45 wheels, while the v12s are on stock wheels. To be honest, I wanted the RS3s since I turned it into a track car, but they had a rebate on the V12s so I went with them. It was a gift card and took forever but got 4 for basically $380. It's hard to get apples to apples comparison since I changed wheels, but these feel a tad bit more "squirrely" now if that adjective makes sense to you. However on turns in the dry they are very predictable. On one wet track session I did spin out, but that was because I was driving a little more aggressive for the conditions than I would on the street. It is also hard to compare road noise, since I gutted the interior for a roll bar.

 

Have you considered the continental extreme contact DW? I love em!

 

hankook RS3s.

 

I personally do not recommend the Evo K12s. I'll leave you Pros and Cons for you to decide

Pros:
Quiet
Comfortable
Good treadwear

Cons:
Sidewall is way too soft, I have to run at 37 psi for it to turn nicely. I run 40 psi at the track
Grip is okay, I expected better.
Grip in the wet is not the good either.

Grip is compared to Yokohama S. Drive

 

^Agreed about steering feel, its not as fun as my stock SO2s or RS3s, although I did have V12s on a 2 hour trip through deserted Arizona 238 during pouring rainstorm and they held up just fine.

 

+1 for the RS3s if you're on a budget.

 

I liked the Sumitomo HTR Z3's but I did not love the 7-10k out of rear tires with their compound.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. Isn't the RS3 a hard and noisy tire? Don't want anything extreme. They're the same price as the Continentals that Carbon Blue mentioned.

Hmm. Also getting more interested in the Sumitomos.