Tire Reviews

[BillTheCat]

OK, SSM. Probably the most common question asked in these forums is "What brand of tires do you recommend?" In an effort to centralize this information, we'd like to establish a database of tire reviews. We'd like to encourage anyone & everyone to review their current or past tires here just to get the information posted.

This thread is for reviews ONLY. Please do NOT begin discussion of tires in this thread. If you see a review & have a question, start a new thread, or PM the author of the review. Any post in this thread which is not a tire review will be deleted.

In order to provide as much detail as possible, please use the following format for your reviews. If a particular field does not apply to you, feel free to omit it or respond with an "N/A." In order to save you time & effort, feel free to "Quote" this post & then remove the "quote" brackets & instructions before you edit what's left into your new review.




Manufacturer: (Michelin, Toyo, Goodyear, etc.)
Model: (Ecsta MX, Azeni Sport, S-Drive, etc.)
Size: (215/40/17, 205/45/16, etc.)
Type of tire: (All season radial, Performance, Run Flat, Snow tire(?!), etc)
Mileage warranty: (30k miles, etc., if any warranty offered. Many performance tires offer none)
Purchased from: (Tire Rack, Costco, etc. Please specify if purchased locally or online)
Cost per tire: ($89.50, $120.00, etc.)
Installer: (Tire Kingdom, local garage, etc., could be same as purchase place above)
Cost per tire: ($10, $15, etc.)
Extras included w/ purchase: (Road Hazard protection, free rotation/balance for life, free valve stems, etc.)
Date purchased: (As accurately as you can recall)
Miles motored: (3,500 miles as of 7/7/08, etc. Please include date & miles)
Type of miles: (60% Highway, 40% city, etc.)
Motoring style: (Spirited, conservative, Speed Racer, etc.)
Track/Autocross use? (Yes/No, how often, etc.)
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? (Simple Yes/No)



Dry traction: (Use letter grades, A, B, C, D, F, and feel free to explain.)
Wet traction: (Use letter grades, A, B, C, D, F, and feel free to explain.)
Road noise: (Use letter grades, A, B, C, D, F, and feel free to explain.)
Ride comfort: (Use letter grades, A, B, C, D, F, and feel free to explain.)
Overall Performance: (Use letter grades, A, B, C, D, F, and feel free to explain.)
Would you buy the same tires again next time? (Simple Yes/No)

[BillTheCat]

I'll start...




Manufacturer: Yokohama
Model: S-Drive
Size: 215/40/17
Type of tire: Performance radial, NON run flat
Mileage warranty: None
Purchased from: Tire Kingdom, Valrico, FL. They ordered from Tire Rack due to Tire Rack's lower price.
Cost per tire: $112
Installer: Tire Kingdom, Valrico, FL
Cost per tire: $15, if I recall... been a while now
Extras included w/ purchase: Road Hazard protection, free rotation/balance for life, free valve stems (which I declined)
Date purchased: September, 2007
Miles motored: Approximately 20k miles as of August 20, 2008
Type of miles: 70% Highway, 30% city
Motoring style: Occasionally spirited
Track/Autocross use? No, but they have made a trip to The Tail of the Dragon for a long weekend of constant abuse
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? No, but it was adjusted after about 10k miles on the tires



Dry traction: B+. Every bit as sticky as Paradas, Ecsta MX, Azenis.
Wet traction: B. I don't often push my tires in the wet, so I won't go so far as to give an A, but they have not disappointed me yet.
Road noise: A. Very little road noise, which was a pleasant change.
Ride comfort: A. They ride like a touring tire- forgiving on rough roads.
Overall Performance: B+. Quiet, great ride, and very good traction.
Would you buy the same tires again next time? Yes, definitely



Hard to estimate with any accuracy, but after 17k miles, I have good tread left. I'm guessing this will be the first set of tires that will last me significantly more than 20k miles on either of my 2 MINIs, with a total of 120k miles motored & 7-9 sets of tires. (Past tires include Kumho Ecsta MX, Yokohama Parada Spec II, Falken Azeni Sport)

Update 8/20/08: Rotated my tires in preparation for my road trip on Friday. I now have 20k miles on them, but I am bout to hit the wear bars on one pair, and have some minor cupping on the other. Both are worn more on the inside edges than outside, as per usual. So it looks like I will be getting new tires for Labor Day when I return. Total miles on this set should be about 23k. I'll be getting another 4 of the same.

Update 9/02/08: 23k on the tires now, could probably last another few thousand, but I don't like to run them down to the steel belts. New set of 4 S-Drives on order at Tire Kingdom in Brandon, should be on the car Friday morning.

[MaxMCS]

[2phun]

[DWebber18]

[MUNGO]

Manufacturer: BFGoodrich
Model: g-Force T/A KDW 2
Size: 215/35ZR-18
Type of tire: Ultra High Performance Summer
Mileage warranty: None
Purchased from: Tire Rack
Cost per tire: $159.00
Installer: Down Town MINI (Had them shipped directly to the dealer when we ordered our MINI)
Cost per tire: Don't Remember
Extras included w/ purchase: Road Hazard protection
Date purchased: November 2007
Miles motored: 17,000 miles as of 11/17/07
Type of miles: (30% Highway, 60% city, etc.)
Motoring style: Speed Racer w/ Spirit!
Track/Autocross use? Never been on a track.
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? No



Dry traction: A (They stick to the road like a fat guy to a Jelly Donut)
Wet traction: A (Unbelievable in the rain!)
Road noise: C (They sound like a truck tire. It doesn't bother me, I just turn up the tunes!)
Ride comfort: A (Very Soft Ride)
Overall Performance: A (Fan-frick-n-tastic)
Would you buy the same tires again next time? Yes


These tires not only look great, they perform great! They have a stiff sidewall which gives you confidence during hard cornering. The first time driving in the rain surprised me. I have never felt so much grip in wet conditions. All those grooves evacuate the water in a hurry.
We have 17,000 miles on them so far. I have been rotating them every 5,000 miles. They look like they have another 17,000 miles left on them.


I also had these tires on my last MINI. Same size as above. I only put about 5,000 miles on them before the lease went back. They had a lot of track time on them. Approximately 10 auto x events and 3 track days. They were pretty good for street tires. There are a few better street tires for auto x. They held up pretty good for the abuse they took. They had a lot of road rash on the corners and sidewalls.
I would not buy them for use as a street tire in auto x. Falken and Dunlop make a sticker street tire.

[bosfordjd]

Details, details, details:

Manufacturer: Dunlop
Model: Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Size: 215/40/17
Type of tire: Extreme Performance Summer Tire
Mileage warranty: none
Purchased from: Tire Rack
Cost per tire: $122.00
Installer: Discount Tire
Cost per tire: $28
Extras included w/ purchase: Rotation and Balancing
Date purchased: 5/10/09
Miles motored: 300 miles as of 5/16/09
Type of miles: 50% Highway, 50% city
Motoring style: Maniacal
Track/Autocross use? not yet
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? No.

Driver's Impressions:

Dry traction: A+
Wet traction: A
Road noise: A
Ride comfort: A
Overall Performance: A
Would you buy the same tires again next time? Yes

Additional comments:
I've only got 300 miles on em, but so far I love everything about them. The turn in is quick and sharp. Even with a pulley, intake and exhaust you have to really work to break them loose on take off, especially after they really warm up, which means you can get on the gas a lot quicker off the line and not worry about wasting valuable time spinnin the wheels. Corners I used to take at 50-60mph on my Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212s are now 65-75mph, the confidence, control and predictability is just SO much better. On long sweepers at 100mph+ you definitely feel more planted and better connected with the road. The first thing I noticed...when I hit the brakes coming out of the installer, I knew it right there, the grip was incredible. I drove on em in the rain for the first time today, best ride I've ever had. Even during a torrential down pour they kept me feeling confident and offered very little hyrdo-planing, and only then it was at speeds I probably shouldn't have been driving considering the conditions. The road noise and ride are also excellent, better than the tires they replaced. I'll see how the noise lvls are though after they get some more wear on em.

This Tire
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... +Star+Spec

What it replaced
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... entus+R-S2

Update 3/12/2011
I've gone throught 2 sets of these tires, still love them. Only thing that's changed is road noise, it does increase pretty significantly after about 10k, 38-42 mph they really howl, but at highways speed the noise increase isn't that noticeable. Wet handling is not noticeable diminished as they wear. I got about 18k out of the first set, but I didn't rotate as often as I should have so only 2 were actually close to needing replacing. I have bent 3 rims(thanks NY for 2) since I got them though, I'll probably go back to 215/45 next time.

[LgEnf]

Details, details, details:

Manufacturer: Hankook
Model: Ventus v12 Evo
Size: 205/45/17
Type of tire: Performance
Mileage warranty: Yeah Right!
Purchased from: Tires Plus - Boca Raton
Cost per tire: $103 mounted, balanced, tax (OTD - Out The Door price, $412 total with the $50 rebate from hankook)
Installer: Tires Plus
Cost per tire: was included in price
Extras included w/ purchase: Nope
Date purchased: 9-4-09
Miles motored: approx 2000
Type of miles: 80% sububs 20% highway
Motoring style: push it to the limit
Track/Autocross use? not with street tires
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? No

Driver's Impressions:

Dry traction: (B) I don't think any street tire can get an A
Wet traction: (B) I adequate for sure - DSC will still kick in if you are full on the gas but good on a wet road, not worried about traction
Road noise: (A+) I am comparing this to my runflats that came stock on the car and my two previous sets of tires BFG KDW's (which are VERY LOUD)
Ride comfort: (A+) Even with a full race suspension or at least very close to a full race suspension
Overall Performance: (A) - I would go so far as to say there is NO BETTER TIRE out there for the money - not that these are the best things ever made, but for the money nothing can touch them
Would you buy the same tires again next time? (Yes) - as long as they don't wear out in 5000 miles, but in 2000 it doesn't seem like that would happen

Additional comments:

As stated above I only have 2000 miles on them but in that time I have been very impressed. Since I track the MINI I push the performace side over all season or 40K mile warranty tires. My track tires are dedicated track tires R comps and so my expectations for a tire on this car are very high. The ride quality improved immediately - the comfort level is incredible. I had my stock runflats and then replaced those with two sets of BFG KDW's that were incredible performance and traction tires (wet or dry), compared with that, these are slightly less performance, but they are a good bit cheaper and for their money, they are an incredible set of tires. I would have no problem recommending these to anyone, and would be very surprised if they were not as happy with them as I was


*********UPDATE***************

well I put them on two years ago, and they are showing belts today so they are being replaced
only got 10k miles out of them - rotated them at 5k, but the camber settings on my mini wore out the inside edge so they are toast at 10k - with nomal wear and tear and normal camber settings - they maybe had another 3k in them

[al darko]

Details, details, details:

Manufacturer: Falken
Model: ZIEX ze-502
Size: (205/40/17)Type of tire: All Season
Mileage warranty: None
Purchased from: purchases locally
Cost per tire: 65.00
Installer: Local
Cost per tire: ????
Extras included w/ purchase: Nothing
Date purchased: 7/2009
Miles motored: 14000 miles
Type of miles: (60% Highway, 40% city
Motoring style: (Spirited)
Track/Autocross use? never
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? Yes
Driver's Impressions:

Dry traction: B
Wet traction: B- - Some sliding in sharp curves (xway offramps, but okay overall)
Road noise: after about 3000 miles loud as hell, at 75-85 mph turn radio up (LOL)
Ride comfort: C...low profile, very hard
Overall Performance: C+
Would you buy the same tires again next time? No

Bought these tires in a pinch, needed four at decent price so I tried them out....Okay tire for the money but loud as hell after about 3000 miles.....Very good dry traction, okay wet traction, decent look overall...Tires lasted me about 14OOO miles, spirited driving (twisties and offramps mostly) never rotated..... Value priced okay tire if you are in a pinch moneywise, but will not last you long can't seem to get more than 9-14000 miles out of Falkens (last set was Zeix 512)
replacing this week...

[sBox]

Manufacturer: Kumho
Model: Ecsta XS
Size: (215/45/17)
Type of tire: UHP
Mileage warranty: None
Purchased from: Tire Rack
Cost per tire: 112.00
Installer: Local
Extras included w/ purchase: Some sort of Kumho warranty
Date purchased: August 21, 2010
Miles motored: 12000 miles
Type of miles: 80% Highway, 20% city
Motoring style: Miami driver
Track/Autocross use? 1 track day
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? no
Driver's Impressions:

Dry traction: A initially, B mid, A at EOL
Wet traction: B/C - These are not rain tires
Road noise: After 12K, they are loud
Ride comfort: Ow.
Overall Performance: A for a road tire
Would you buy the same tires again next time? No

These tires barked pretty easily at Sebring, but held well. I cannot attest to the ride after 12K due to the suspension setup. Rain tires these are not. Wear has been ok, but we'll see after the next HMS day.

HMS update: At 15K, they were great at HMS. I've worn them down to the wear line and the traction is great. No barking, no roll, they just stuck and performed as good as my old R-comps (225s vs these 215s). I may put them aside, saving them for the next track day rather than use them up.

[Snooter]

Details, details, details:

Manufacturer: Bridestone
Model: POTENZA G 019 GRID
Size: 205/45R17
Type of tire: All season (I think)
Mileage warranty: Don't remember
Purchased from: Tire Rack
Cost per tire: $98.00
Installer: Veterans Ford (not real please with the service)
Cost per tire: Don't remember
Extras included w/ purchase:
Date purchased: January 8, 2010
Miles motored: 40,600
Type of miles: 50/50 highway / city
Motoring style: Moderate
Track/Autocross use? No
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? Yes

Driver's Impressions:

Dry traction: B
Wet traction: B
Road noise: A-F (started out at "A" then after 25k slowly downgraded to "F"
Ride comfort: A-F
Overall Performance: B
Would you buy the same tires again next time? Maybe

Additional comments: Never had a tire last over 25,00 miles. Got over 40,000 out of these

[AAONMS]

Details, details, details:

Manufacturer: Continental
Model: Extreme Contact DW
Size: 215/45 ZR 17
Type of tire: Max Performance/Summer
Mileage warranty: 30,000 through Discount Tire
Purchased from: Locally at Discount Tire
Cost per tire: Hard to say as I got these on a warranty claim for the OEM Runflats; Tire Rack lists them $125 each.
Installer: Locally at Discount Tire
Cost per tire: was comped
Extras included w/ purchase: (Road Hazard protection ($19.95 per tire), free rotation/balance for life ($4. per tire)
Date purchased: 03/07/2011
Miles motored: 13,602 as of 10/14/2011
Type of miles: (62% Highway, 38% city (per Fuelly), one trip to Tail of the Dragon.)
Motoring style: Spirited some of the time, conservative others
Track/Autocross use?: No autocrosses yet
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? (Simple Yes/No) No. Now, as Paul Harvey said: Here is the rest of the Story: Car had 1168 miles on when I got the tires; had alignment checked at Dealer 04/20/11, 4128 miles on the car, 2960 on the tires.

Driver's Impressions:
Dry traction: A
Wet traction: A
Road noise: A
Ride comfort: A
Overall Performance: A
Would you buy the same tires again next time? (Simple Yes/No) Maybe – may go with something a bit less aggressive/longer lasting. If not, these tires are on the list to consider.

Additional comments:
30,000 Mile Warranty through Discount Tire. At 13, 602 miles, does not look as though I’ll get 30K, but it might be closer than I think. I’m guessing that the tires will make 25-30 miles.

[sBox]

Manufacturer: Continental
Model: Extreme Contact DW
Size: 215/45 ZR 17
Type of tire: Max Performance/Summer
Mileage warranty:
Purchased from: Tires Plus
Cost per tire:
Installer: Tires Plus
Cost per tire:
Extras included w/ purchase:
Date purchased: 2011
Miles motored: ~4000
Type of miles: 80% HWY 20% CITY 0% Track :(
Motoring style: Spirited is an understatement
Track/Autocross use?: Not yet
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? (Simple Yes/No): No. I'm running camber plates...
Driver's Impressions:
Dry traction: A
Wet traction: A
Road noise: A++
Ride comfort: A+
Overall Performance: A
Would you buy the same tires again next time? (Simple Yes/No): Absolutely.
Additional comments: The minimal road noise is amazing. They are the quietest tire I've had yet on the car and the performance is getting better with the wear-in.

[TReed]

Shadow and I just jumped on the Continental Extreme Contact DW bandwagon. Shadow had 111,111 miles on when installed so it will be easy to track how many miles I get out of these!

Manufacturer: Continental
Model: Extreme Contact DW
Size: 215/45 ZR 17
Type of tire: Max Performance/Summer
Mileage warranty:
Purchased from: Kauffman Tire in Tampa
Cost per tire: Total out the door including installation and tax was $567
Installer: Kauffman Tire
Cost per tire:
Extras included w/ purchase: Lifetime Rotation & Balancing
Date purchased: 4/7/12
Miles motored: 100
Type of miles: 0% HWY 100% CITY 0% Track
Motoring style: Spirited is an understatement
Track/Autocross use?: Not yet
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? (Simple Yes/No): No.
Driver's Impressions:
Dry traction: A
Wet traction: A
Road noise: A++
Ride comfort: A+
Overall Performance: A
Would you buy the same tires again next time? (Simple Yes/No): We'll come back to that....
Additional comments: Very quiet, especially compared to the BFG KDWs!

[eaglebeagle]

Manufacturer: Hankook
Model: Optimo
Size: 175/65/R15
Type of tire: All season, nothing special
Mileage warranty: 50k
Purchased from: Direct from supplier in south florida through my dad's shop.
Cost per tire: $59 each
Installer: My dad's shop
Cost per tire: 0
Extras included w/ purchase: none
Date purchased: december 2011
Miles motored: about 5,000 good mix of city/lots of highway
Motoring style: slightly spirited
Track/Autocross use? NO
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? NO
Driver's Impressions:

Dry traction: B- hardly get any spinning unless im turning hard (justa cooper may play a part )
Wet traction: C- not too bad except really have to watch my starts from lights, easy to spin them if i'm not careful, no handling issues really.
Road noise: C- a little noise, but not overly annoying.
Ride comfort: B- pretty impressive really
Overall Performance: B minus
Would you buy the same tires again next time? If i needed cheap A to B tires, sure! Hopefully i can afford higher performance ones when these are done.

Additional comments: Pretty much bought these out of the price, and my dad saying he's never seen any issues with them. Other than getting a nail in one, 3 days after buying them I've had no issues really. Not as grippy as the continentals the car came with but they're manageable if i don't drive stupid.

EDIT: corrected date because it looked like i bought them in the future... with only a bit over a year on them to date with good rotation schedule, they're getting a lot more sketchy in wet weather. Gotta drive more sensible or i can feel them starting to lose it, haven't yet! they look like they're (chunking?) a little as well. also had a screw in the shoulder of one.. It seems to have a TINY leak. So i'll just be careful with it and get whatever i can out of it. Ya get what you pay for!

[Becky & Luis]

I know Bill already rated these, but it was awhile ago, so I'll give you my impression too for the good of the cause...

Manufacturer: Yokohama
Model: S-Drive
Size: 205/45/17
Type of tire: Performance radial, NON run flat
Mileage warranty: None
Purchased from: Discount Tire, Sanford
Cost per tire: $109
Extras included w/ purchase: Purchased TPMS and Road Hazard. Out the door cost was somewhere around $650.
Date purchased: Jan. 2012
Miles motored: 22,000
Type of miles: 75% city 25%highway
Motoring style: Always spirited...why I feel the need to race to the next stop light is beyond me...
Track/Autocross use? No.
Was alignment checked/adjusted during installation? No, but Orlando MINI did alignment after springs install at approximately 10,000 tire miles.

Driver's Impressions:

Dry traction: A. Same as the stock run flats...I don't know anything else to compare it to.
Wet traction: B. Ditto Bill.
Road noise: D. They were fine the first 5,000 miles, but became louder than the run flats. Sometimes I would chuckle and think, wow that sounds cool. Other times, I would think, what the heck?
Ride comfort: A. Gets an A compared to the run flats. I was beside myself with joy just driving out of the parking lot.
Overall Performance: A. Except for the noise, these were good tires and fairly priced.
Would you buy the same tires again next time? Since it seems that we will be buying tires every year, I am going to try the Continentals this time. Tire install scheduled for 3/29/13. We will see in a year if I go back.

Additional comments:
Aesthetically the tires look very sharp. After 22,000 miles there is still thread, but wouldn't chance the Dragon with them. Getting tire spin and squeal- fun for on/off ramps, but not so much when there is a cliff on the other side. Safety first, people.