What tyres do you use?

[BOMI]

After the last Wakefield Park track day my road tyres were well and truly stuffed.

http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/tyre_buggered.jpg

I looked around for some replacement tyres, I almost bought some Federal 595's that I found on line, but in the end I went with a Bridgestone company, Firestone. Made in Japan and using the same rubber compound as the GIII, I purchased 4 Firestone Firehawk Wide ovals.

http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/firestone_firehawk_wideoval.jpg

235/40R18 at $240 a tyre fitted and balanced. One of the main reasons I didnt get the Federals on line was the after sales service that I would have missed out on such as free rotation and alignment at my local tyre shop.

The Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval is available in the below sizes.


Firestone Wide Oval (185/60R14) 185 60 14 82 H 578 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (195/60R14) 195 60 14 86 H 590 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (195/60R15) 195 60 15 88 V 615 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (205/60R15) 205 60 15 91 V 627 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (215/60R15) 215 60 15 94 V 642 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (215/60R16) 215 60 16 95 V 667 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (195/55R15) 195 55 15 85 V 595 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (205/55R16) 205 55 16 91 W 632 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (225/55R16) 225 55 16 95 W 654 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (195/50R15) 195 50 15 82 V 577 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (205/50R16) 205 50 16 87 W 612 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (225/50R16) 225 50 16 92 W 632 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (205/45R16) 205 45 16 83 V 590 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (215/45R17) 215 45 17 87 W 626 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (225/45R17) 225 45 17 91 W 634 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (235/45R17) 235 45 17 94 V 644 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (235/45R17) 235 45 17 94 W 644 TL
Firestone Wide Oval (235/40R18) 235 40 18 91 W 645 TL

Having had them on for two weeks now I have given the tyres a good push through some local winding roads and they are on par if not better then the Bridgestone GIII's in ride, road noise and performance.

I plan to use them for a few laps at the next Eastern Creek track day, just a few laps :p

As far as the wet, well I haven’t had much of a chance to drive in the wet as there has been bugger all rain out here in Wagga Wagga.

Once we get some rain Ill post up what I think of the Wide Ovals in the wet.

So anyway, what tyres do you drive on?

Troy :)

[NickS]

Falken FK452 ... heaps more grip than the factory Bridgestones, which weren't bad. I have to be giving the car a fair flogging before it will continuously break traction. These tyres (in road situations) have heaps of grip. These are on both the Coupe and the SS.

http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/fk452.jpg

Dunlop SP Super Sport ... I put these on a 2nd set of Coupe 4 rims for track days, I am yet to try them out but they have to be better than the Pirellis I had on it. They were street tyres and the car was squirming all over the place after about 3 laps, they really didn't like the heat.

http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/501/medium/DSC03825.JPG

http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/501/medium/DSC03827.JPG

[scat2k3]

I've had a set of Nankang NS2 ultra sport on my thing for 35,000 kms now. While there are much better performance tyres on the market, I'm pressed to find a better value for money road tyre.

They tend to feel a bit squirmish through high speed cornering and this is the only fault I can find with them.

Overall, they have good grip in the wet and dry and are extremely hard wearing.

For a street tyre, I would buy them again.

I have 245/40/18's all round. Not sure on retail pricing as I got mine at "mates rates" thanks to Chris' contacts at Bob Jane.

http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/NS2-1.jpg

[SSUte01]

Have to agree, once the fate of my previous rear tyres - Falken Ziex:puke: - were sealed at WSID, I had to replace them and opted for Nankang NS2 and they in terms of grip, cant comment on wear as I haven't had them all that long, are far superior in either wet or dry. The best bit only $190 ea. (they actually cost $195 because I wanted them that day, they weren't in stock)

Anyways as mentioned fantastic value for money.:werd:

[highlander_69r]

another vote for the Ns2s here, great bang for buck

[BOMI]

Ok Ive had the Wide Ovals on the SS for a while now and have now done a fare bit of wet weather driving including a few laps at Eastern creek in the wet.

How do they rate against the GIII?

Well they are meant to be made from the same rubber as the GIII's but I find that overall are not "quite" as good.

BUT

I think that this is because I have lowered my car and put a big sway bar on the rear and that is making it step out a little in the rear where it did not before.


Troy :)

[veewhytu]

Ive had a couple of sets of the Nangkang ns2's and thought they were great value for money...this time they didnt have any in stock so i got some Kumho ku31's and im glad i did, loads more grip and they seem to be wearing quite well.

At $230 a corner fitted and balanced for a 245/35/20 ill be sticking with them.

Incidentally these tyres get a fairly good review on tirerack.com outperforming several more expensive brands.

[RedVYIISS]

I've had OEM Bridgestone's, Nankang NSII's and Kumho ECSTA SPT (KU31's) on my car. The Kumho's are the best of this lot, and Tempe Tyres do them as cheap as chips.

Last pair of KU31's cost $160 each fitted and balanced 235/40 18"

An awesome tyre at an unbelievable price. I'll be sticking with them.

[BOMI]

$160 a tyre :eek: that an awesome price Al!!

Got any pics?

I might google this one and put it up.


Race ya LOL



Troy :)

[235rwkw]

ku31's here also at $160 each. 18's

http://www.kumho.com.au/product_detail.php?source=product_high_performance _premium.htm&category=High%20Performance&tyre=KU31

[cosmo vyss]

I've had OEM Bridgestone's, Nankang NSII's and Kumho ECSTA SPT (KU31's) on my car. The Kumho's are the best of this lot, and Tempe Tyres do them as cheap as chips.

Last pair of KU31's cost $160 each fitted and balanced 235/40 18"

An awesome tyre at an unbelievable price. I'll be sticking with them.

I have these tyres as well and the are excellent value for money. They don't grip as good as the bridgestone S03 i had on before. Hey the were only 700.00 bill for four fitted with a wheel alinement.
Horses for courses really, in the end you get what you pay for.

JB

[Azza]

You have been qouting prices for 18' wheels, what have other forum members been paying for tyres to suit the 17' wheels us poorer people ride on?:D
The white SSled needs new rubber on all the corners.

[Hethro87]

You have been qouting prices for 18' wheels, what have other forum members been paying for tyres to suit the 17' wheels us poorer people ride on?:D
The white SSled needs new rubber on all the corners.

Ha Azza!

What about the real battlers that go around on 14' wheels and pay $85 a wheel for new rubber!

My current tyres and the Bob Jane brand - POS-A-TRACTION, they are positivley crap in the wet but are actually really really good in the dry. Look forward to turning them into slicks at Wakefield in the coming months.

Will be after that upgrading to Bridgestone B249's the original facotry rubber.

Hethro

[Febs]

Since Yokohama stopped making the A539 (which I still say is the best road tyre I have ever experienced, bar none*), I moved onto Yokie C.Drive's. Great grip, they wear a little more than A539s (maybe 25,000km), but I got them veerry cheap directly through Yokohama (friend who has a family member who works there).

Used to have them in 16", but now I've got 4 brand new 17" ones sitting in the shed, waiting for the stock Bridgestones that came with Dunc's wife's old wheels to die. :lol: (They just keep going!)

Paid $155ea for the C.Drives in 235/45/17. Best quote I had elsewhere was $295!! (I had to add fitting and balancing to the $155, but I still came out WELL ahead).

Cheers,
- Febs.

* A539s gripped like ANYTHING (wet or dry), looked great, were reasonably cheap, and had an excellent wear rate. How excellent? I had a set on my old VS. 40,000km, including two Wakefield track days, and a big gravel burnout, and they still weren't illegal. I then did about 100 passes down the strip at WSID (on the Calais), and you know what? STILL LEGAL! I eventually had to give them away when I upgraded the brakes and they wouldn't fit anymore, but sheesh...what a tyre!

[10sec_rx7]

I have Wanli's on the front at $200 a tyre for 245/35/19's
and linglongs on the back at $200 a tyre for the same size,

definatly not a good tyre but when you only get 5000km max out of a set of rears there is no way im paying more than that for tyres,

one good thing is both of them have the correct load rating!

[BigKahuna]

Ive had a few set on my SS over the last year.
First up were the Wanli's on my 19's.
I can only describe them as Hollywood tyres. Squeel every corner you go around. They were ok otherwise but only just. I only had them removed after I cracked a rimand when we stripped the tyre off the rim, found the tyres had cracks around the side wall. 3 out of 4 were farked. I replaced the wanlis with tyre 2

Dunlop Sport max.
Wow, what a really good tyre. I dont drive it hard round corners etc here in town (occupation and personalised plates dont permit that) and have nothing but praise for them in both the dry and the wet. Ill definately consider them again.

Whilst I was waiting for the replacement 19 rim, I fitted my stock 18's back on. Two tyre were due for a change and I got a crazy price on some Yokahama AVS ES100. Another very good tyre. Fantastic grip levels for street usein both wet and dry. Again a tyre I would recommend to anybody.

None of the above tyres I have used on the track. I have RE55's for that.

Grant

[striken2o]

sorry to dig this thread up, but im looking for a performance street tyre to put on the car, currently im running adrenalin re001 on the front and cheapys on the back but would like to get them replaced withsomething to match the front performance wise.

the re001s have sky rocketed in price with the weak aussie dollar, so what are you guys rolling on and have decent wear and offer plenty of grip ?

wheels are 17" in size

[JEVO]

Toyo R1R's..........very close to semi slick (r compounds), without the price tag.

http://toyo.com.au/Proxes%20R1R.htm

[GTS Listy]

Falken FK452 ... heaps more grip than the factory Bridgestones, which weren't bad. I have to be giving the car a fair flogging before it will continuously break traction. These tyres (in road situations) have heaps of grip. These are on both the Coupe and the SS.

http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/fk452.jpg

Dunlop SP Super Sport ... I put these on a 2nd set of Coupe 4 rims for track days, I am yet to try them out but they have to be better than the Pirellis I had on it. They were street tyres and the car was squirming all over the place after about 3 laps, they really didn't like the heat.

http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/501/medium/DSC03825.JPG

http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/501/medium/DSC03827.JPG


Edit: Sorry I did not realise the age of the thread. Still matters and have you tried these yet Nick

You will like them. I used them for about 4 or 5 months for my track days. Worked well. There is a bloke that runs them now instead of street tyres and he made up 4 second around the valley so they do work. Understeer is the biggest problems but a bit of camber and you having awd will help there.
Good value for money as they dont wear fast at all and the compounds seems to stay quite consistent.

[Dan_]

sorry to dig this thread up, but im looking for a performance street tyre to put on the car, currently im running adrenalin re001 on the front and cheapys on the back but would like to get them replaced withsomething to match the front performance wise.

the re001s have sky rocketed in price with the weak aussie dollar, so what are you guys rolling on and have decent wear and offer plenty of grip ?

wheels are 17" in size

Re001's kick ass. If your worried about dollars head to bob jane and ask for the neulons that have the same tread pattern as the RE001's. I put them on the missus car as the RE001's needed replacing. They arnt as good but its not far off

[JEVO]

I ran the Toyo R1R's in superlap to meet class regs. They have a treadwear rating of 140 compared to re001's at 220. The 888 semi slicks I use are rated at 100.

The R1R's are not semi slicks but have semi slick sidewall construction. Very good on track, earlier in the year only 1 second off (@ OP) with these tyres. I came 2nd at superlap, they were used on other cars that came 3rd and 5th. They also won this class last year. 235/45/17s go for about $260 each I think.

Hope this helps, not trying to promo Toyo just share my experiences.

[boyley]

Do they make the Neulons in 19's

[Dan_]

Do they make the Neulons in 19's

Not sure sorry