I was set on purchasing a set of RE71R's but it has come to my attention the 255/40/17 will not be available until almost the end of May. I am looking for the tire with the best grip for dry as my car will almost never see rainy days. The options I am looking at now are Advan AD08R, Direzza ZII, and the RS3's. Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

You can’t lose with any of these for the dry conditions you will be driving in. However the Z2 and Advan have less sidewall deflection, they are firmer more precise handlers. If you appreciate solid responsive feel in your tire (which I do personally) then I would exclude the RS3 from the list.

 

You Will need a new set,every 5000 miles...

 

I'm not too concerned about the tread wear. I am looking for something that will be good for the street and the occasional autocross.

 

You have two choices then the way I see it. Pick the least expensive of the two.

 

The Dunlop ZII Star Specs should be most like the RE-71R's of the bunch. I have the ZII * on my car and will be autocrossing with them this summer.

However, for a dry, warm/hot autocross day, the RS-3's and AD08R's would be an excellent choice as well.

 

I was hoping for the RE71R's but I just can not wait until the end of the month. The temps the car will see will be 45 degrees at the lowest and up from there.

 

If you haven't done so, here is a test between the ZII Star Specs, Hankook R-S3, and Yokohama AD08R's.

http://www.tirerack....ay.jsp?ttid=197

Hope it's okay, but I copy and pasted info from tirerack. Source: www.tirerack.com


Cool Conditions — Cloudy, 50-55 Degrees Fahrenheit


Gray skies and cool temperatures made the day feel more like late spring or early fall, rather than the middle of summer.

On this cool day the overall performance and feel of the Direzza ZII Star Spec changed very little from what we found on the warm day, lapping our track within 2/10ths of a second of its performance in warmer conditions. The good grip and feel of the ADVAN Neova AD08 R from the warm day was mostly absent when conditions were cooler, as it struggled somewhat to provide the stable handling and progressive feel found on the warmer day. The biggest surprise was in the performance of the Ventus R-S3 Version 2, as it transitioned from being composed and stable on the warm day to feeling rather skittish and edgy to control when ambient temperatures were lower. The g-Force Rival was essentially unphased by the swing in daytime temperature during our testing, performing basically the same on both days, and like before, it provided relatively low overall grip with somewhat abrupt breakaway characteristics.

It's important to note these are the results of just two data points with ambient temperature separated by some 30 degrees. We didn't have the opportunity to test at various points in between, and it may be erroneous to assume the changes in performance are linear across this temperature spread. Please take these two data points as just that.




Warm Conditions — Mostly Sunny, 88-90 Degrees Fahrenheit


Despite the warm weather, our sprinkler system had no trouble keeping up, with a steady sheen visible across all parts of the track and water spray visible behind the tires as the car made its way around the course. This felt like what you might get during an afternoon rain on a warm day.

In warm conditions, the Hankook Ventus R-S3 Version 2 stood out with strong performance and good overall grip. Also doing well on the warm day was the Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08 R, which repeated its display of controllability and good wet traction found the last time we tested it. The Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec felt adequate, but under these conditions could not match the grip of the Hankook and Yokohama tires.


Hopefully it should help you with your decision between these three tires. The RS-3's are the most budget friendly, ZII * next, and AD-08R's being the most expensive.


And consumer ratings:

http://www.tirerack....lay.jsp?type=EP

 

Thanks for the input.

 

The other issue is driver and car. Some tires work better for some people and their driving style. Sometimes certain tires work better on certain cars. I would really say you can not go wrong with the tire options you are looking at.
If I can help with the tires let me know.