Hello everybody, the time has come to order new summer tires and I could use some recommendations. 245/40 rear, 215/45 front (OEM AP2 V2s on my AP1).

Looking for a combination of dry/wet performance, good tread wear, and reasonable price. Spirited road driving & highway only.

Last fall I ran Dunlop Direzza Star Specs and the rears were bald after ~4-5k miles. This is unacceptable and not an example of what I mean by good tread wear..

Considering:

Replacing rears with new Star Specs (only because fronts look brand new)
Hankook Ventus V12
Continental ExtremeContact DW
Sumitomo HTR Z III
Whatever is suggested

Thanks

 

Hankook Ventus V12! Excellent all around tire, reasonably priced!

 

90% certain you have excessive rear toe-in (and IMO the midrange to max end of the stock spec is excessive). Have them set rear toe in the 0.20 - 0.30 degree range (0.10deg - 0.15deg per side). This will give better, more linear handling, less twitchiness over bumps, and will drastically reduce rear tire wear.

the tires you're considering sound good, but you might also consider the Dunlop Sport Maxx TT. I ran that tire in back with STarSpecs up front at Watkins Glen and once scrubbed-in they kept up just fine.

IMO, Extreme Perf tires like the Star Spec sacrifice too much in terms of hydroplaning resistance after half-worn, and don't give much more in terms of outright dry grip vs. the best Maximum Performance tires, esp. for street usage.

 

Probably do. Thanks for the suggestions

 

I agree, have your toe checked. My rear star specs lasted 7,500 miles before they hit the wear bars, and that is with (7) track days.

 

I would either go with the dunlop sport maxx's or the continental extreme contact DW. Ive got the continentals and have about 400 miles on em so far and love em! I just drove through the worst rain I have ever encountered and the s2k kept up just fine. No hydroplaning, wandering or floaty feeling even at freeway speeds, dare I say even confidence inspiring in the rain? In fact I loved em so much that I even took the s2k to work today during the rain just because it felt so much more planted as opposed to my daily driver with all seasons on it. I also tried them out in the twisty mountain roads over here and they stuck much better than the potenza er050s I had. Ive got about 100-200 more miles left till I really abuse them. The extreme end of the spectrum such as the star specs, neovas, and re11s are really only for those who only enjoy dry weather performance, those tires to me give up too much in terms on road noise, wet handling ability and tire life. Its all preference really, but id gladly trade some dry weather performance for some tire life, wet handling, and road noise.

 

I run the Nexen N3000 summer tires and love them, I get on the average of 10-11k miles out of the rear and the fronts are still going after 15k...plus they are very reasonably priced.

 

how about the falkien azenis rt-615 ?

 

That tire is discontinued and replaced with rt-615K, but they don't seem to make it in a 245/40/17.

 

Sounds pretty good.. but maybe I'm crazy because I find most tires to be good in the rain. My S felt great in the rain on S02s and Star specs until they both got bald as a baby's ass.