Right now, I have Yokohama AVS Sport's 235/40-18f, 275/35-18r. They are just about at the end. I'll probably replace them with Sumitomo HTR Z II's, same size fronts and 265/35-18 rears. They are supposedly pretty good in the rain and wear very well. Dry performance won't be as good as the Bridgestone S03, but should not be too bad. They are certainly good enough to enjoy spirited street driving. Above all these tires are cheap!

For autocrossing and track days, I have stock rims with an almost new (two autocrosses) set of Kumho V700's. Even in stock size, competition tires should outperform even the widest, lowest profile street rubber on the track.

 

I will stick with wynstar. These smoke good look mean are hard rubber. and are really cheap. So these are country boys favorite tires for a first gen.

 

i would consider myself a spirited driver and i have the kuhmo's adn they are lsting awesome, no noticible wear, go kuhmo

 

if you want to lose to any sports car on the road due to POOR TRACTION..then get those crap kumhos. They suck. Period. cheap tires are cheap tires.

Im fairly happy with the yokohama intermediates...they are a HUGE improvement over the kumhos..almost no slipping back before I did most of my mods...the kumhos are like driving on butter...pure slippyness.


jason
94fd

 

I concur! AND the AVS Intermediates are priced cheaper than the krappy kumhos (Tire Rack)!

Like I posted before, if you like to drift for style's sake, then kumho all the way. If you want to haul *** around a race track...then pick a better tire

 

I've read that these are pretty good and drag and autocross tires. With UTQG of 100 or so, mileage will be pretty low...8000 to 10000 miles at best (YMMV of course)!

 

When I went to 18 inch rims I put on Nitto 555s all around and I lost half of my handling. I had Dunlop D40/M2 tires on my stock 16s and they ruled. They don't make that Dunlop anymore but they were inexpensive and probably compare to the SP8or9Ks. The Nittos help with traction when accelerating but as for handling - they suck. At first I thought it might be the rims but how can rims take away handling especially when you got to a wider, lower profile tire in front and back? I'm going to blame the tire and can't wait until they wear out.

 

I got Bridgestone S02's right now and fully plan on going to the S03's once I need a new set of tires. I love the performance of the S02's, so the S03's HAVE to be even better. I can't compare them to another tire since I don't have any other experiences, but, as the proverb goes... if it isn't broke, don't fix it.

 

Wow, I don't know which Kumho's everyone else is using...but I went from the AVS Intermediates (REALLY bad in the rain) to A520's (good in the rain, heavy and pretty poor in the dry and WAY noisy), back to AVS, then to Kumho's. IMHO, Kumhos are far superior in all areas, especially in noise. I'd always been a Yokohama fan, but they haven't been impressing me much lately unless one takes a peek at their JDM tires. What did TireRack have to say about these tires? I know they're the fourth best selling tire they carry, including regular passenger tires! But to each his own.
Michel

 

Yokohama AVS Sport 245/45 R16 on mine, I love them

 

DON"T even attempt to compare the KUMHO 711 to the 712 they are not even the same CLASS of tire (711's are Touring tires and 712's are Performance tires) AVS Intermediates are cheep now because Yoko has DISCONTINUED them - they have been replaced by the AVSdb and AVS Sport lines - I am leaning to BRIDGESTONE RE730's, my friend runs them on his 10AE and they grip like crazy on the street yet wear well also. AND they are 30-40% less $$ than S-03s

 

I hate posting to these tire threads becasue I always say the same damn thing... I'll keep it short.

A very important part about a performance tire is the sidewall & I haven't heard it mentioned here once. A tire with a weak sidewall will allow the sidewall to flex and roll onto the contact patch - this screws up everything the tire was designed for & makes your well designed sports car feel like a Lincoln Continental (soft & mushy). I have had Nittos and Khumos on my MR2 - both of them have super weak sidewalls (granted, this may have been improved with the latest models) - nothing even close to the BF Goodrich Comp T/A's I had on the same car. I've heard that the RE71's have a pretty weak sidewall as well but are great in the rain.

I personally don't worry too much about rain living in southern California, so rain doesn't factor into my decision - maybe it will for some of you.

Currently, I'm running P-Zeros on my 7 & love them... light years better than the Goodyear GS-D's that were on it when I bought it.
I've heard lots of good reports about the S-02's & S-03's as well as the Dunlop SP-9000 & BF Goodrich G-Force T/A KD (not the KDW).

2¢

edit: oh, and get the same size all the way around.

 

225/50-16...that's the Kumho 711 I had. As bad as the lateral grip was with the 711, that was the tire I happened to have when I did my top speed run to 170+ mph (Nov '99 on my way to Gingerman)...so...perhaps I'm beating up Kumho just a bit too harshly. The fact that I'm posting this note right now says that the Kumho 711s at least lived up to their Z-rating

 

Best damned tire I've had on the FD Rx7 in stock size. I haven't tried S-03s, but...I don't know that the S-03s will exceed the P-Zeros' dry stick. Perhaps the edge for the S-03 will be wet driving performance, and road comfort?