Kaneda215

With Spring coming along, I'm starting to research/price out new rear tires.

I currently have 215/45ZR17 Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's in the front...

... in the back are 245/40ZR17 GSD2's I believe.

I put new front tires in last May, and they probably have 80-90% tread left. The rear tires definitely need to get replaced this Spring. I've done quite a bit of reading and apparently the Dunlop Star Specs and Bridgestone RE-11's have gotten a lot of praise. I'm not sure what happened to the GSD3's, but I've been unable to find these online. I know you're not supposed to mismatch tires, but I'm essentially left with two options:

Drop $300+ each on the rear GSD3's off of some overpriced website,
-or-
Spend $300 total on the Star Specs.

I'm obviously leaning towards just getting the Star Specs to save 50%, but if this is potentially dangerous then I do not want to do it. Any input would be awesome, thanks.

ZDan

I'd go with the Star Specs. [edit: Actually, no, I don't recommend this!]Long/short, stickier tires in back is OK, stickier tires in front not so much...

Star Specs will give you better wet and dry grip than the Goodyears, *but*, the Goodyears probably have better resistance to hydroplaning in inundated conditions, that would be my only caveat. [edit: this is a good enough reason by itself NOT to run StarSpec rears with GS-D3 fronts]

[edit]Another option that looks to be more compatible with the GS-D3 fronts would be Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric, which Tire Rack has in 245/40-17 for $169/each. I think that's probably a better bet as far as matching performance characteristics of your front tires. Ranked 2nd only to the GS-D3 for hydroplaning resistance, and similar in other categories as well.

Jim@tirerack

I would not say they would be dangerous but it is not a good match. The Dunlop would be superior in the dry and the Goodyear superior in the wet. The problem with that set up is the car will understeer or oversteer in different conditions. The car is prone to oversteer in the wet as it is and this would only make it worse.
The F1 Asym is the closest match performance wise to the GSD3. It is the tier that Goodyear replaced it with.
The Dunlop on all four corners with the better price and rebate now would be a good option as well. Lastly for the money the Sumitomo HTRZ III would be a good option as well. Another tire similar to the GSD3.
If I can help let me know.

Kaneda215

Thanks, so is my best option (considering both safety/cost) just getting the F1 asym in the rear? If they're more sticky than the front, how would this increase oversteer? I'm usually not going fast enough to get any sort of understeer, so I'm just afraid of hitting a turn hard and forcing any oversteer I'm not anticipating.

ZDan

Best option definitely looks like F1 Asymmetric rears. Go to the Tire Rack site (clickie on banner above^^^) and check out test results and survey results vs. GS-D3. Their performance in all categories is probably going to be as close to the GS-D3 as you'll find, both are ranked somewhat above all other Max Performance tires in hydroplaning resistance, and the price is pretty right.

linkie to Tire Rack Max Performance customer survey:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresult...lay.jsp?type=MP

ZDan

In retrospect, StarSpec rears with GS-D3 fronts probably wasn't a good recommendation on my part, as per Jim's comments above. The disparity in hydroplaning resistance is too great, in standing water you could easily find yourself in a situation where the fronts are gripping and the rears are hydroplaning, NOT GOOD!

Jim's recommendations are pretty much always going to be more conservative, if he ever OK's a different front/rear tire setup, you're pretty much guaranteed it's going to be good/safe for all conditions.

Kaneda215

I'm looking at the F1 Assym in Tire Rack... Jim do you have any sort of discounts or is the $169 per tire the best price I'm going to find. Also, before "checking out" it told me that the ride comfort would be worse because they are not the original stock tires? Are these much louder than the GSD2's I already had on the rear?

ZDan

Again: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresult...lay.jsp?type=MP

Road noise and ride comfort are ranked along with dry/wet grip and other factors.

OEM's are Bridgestone RE050, 23rd overall on the list.
GS-D3's are ranked 2nd overall, F1 Asymmetrics 4th.

Not 100% reliable data, but still, the presumably honest assessments from people who have driven on these tires shouldn't be discounted...

Kaneda215

Alright thanks ZDan, Looks like I'll just go ahead and buy the Asyms. Is there any sort of price fluctuation... like should I wait until Spring? Or am I fine buying them now; they look like they're priced pretty well.

ZDan

I seriously doubt they're going to get cheaper. Most often the "normal" Tire Rack price is about as good a deal as you can find anyway, $25 off is probably only temporary.