TRISPEEDFD3S

iTrader: (26)

I'll be picking up a set in two weeks Rich. The sizes will be:

255/35-18 and 295/30-18

kwerks

iTrader: (2)

I have these in 295 and they are awesome!
Have not had any problem and even use them in light snow. So far I have logged 3200 happy miles on them. The side wall is MUCH stiffer than any other brand and this gives you great steering response but a slightly stiffer feeling ride over bumps. I've done 160 in the rain with them and no problems there...solid tire!

BigIslandSevens

iTrader: (4)

I ran a set of those last year. 275 rears and 255 fronts. I loved them. I daily drove the FD and tracked it at Road Atlanta about 4 times that year. They held up great and really onl fell off badly on a really hot day and I was abusing the left front I am getting another set this year. can't hardly beat them for a daily/track mix car for the price.

Dave

JDK

iTrader: (8)

I use the Sumitomo HTR Z III for the street in 285 30 18 and find them a excellent tire, had to use them once in a very rainy time attack event and was pleasantly surprised at how well the worked compaired to the Toyo RA1's. I then did a dry lapping day with them and found the tires to be very good in the dry as well.....I think your father will love them.

Andrew.

iTrader: (4)

Nothing incredibly special, but it's a pretty decent tire for scooting around town and for entry-level track day guys.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated

Narukas

iTrader: (2)

Thread looks similar to Falken ZIEX ZE-912

Zerocool

iTrader: (2)

2001 Porsche 911 Carrera Turbo

I give 'em an A- in the 1st time I've driven these tires on track at a school (dry track) in 225/40-18 + 295/30-18 and this car. I've ridden as an instructor with 150 students, and in another 20+ instructor cars, and driven NSX/635turbo/vette/studentcars etc etc on track for 20 years. Yes, I understand there are better tires out there, and of course there are better drivers..... but these tires seem to be a great compromise of quiet and comfortable on the street, and an absolute joy on track. Yes, a little slippery on track this first time which is no surprise since they were new and the tread was deep, and the rubber appears to be hard relative to other tires I've run since the melted rubber that builds up on the inside corner of the tread blocks on many tires does not appear on these tires...surprised me (mebbe this will happen on a hot track day? This was a cold track day). But they stick fine (slippery to me may be fine for others...), they are very responsive and predictable at and beyond the limits of adhesion within reasonable slip angles (I did no large slip angle drifting with them), and they gave me a nice quite comfortable ride home on concrete jointed freeways. No, they don't stick as well as track tires, but who cares. They stick very well when it's wet, they work just fine on the street and I'm pushy on the street, and at this price, I can wear them out in 5-8k miles with no regrets. It'll be interesting to see how long they last.... Unkie sez "try 'em".
From tirerack reviews of Sumitomo HTRZ III

Balista8312a

being a tire salesman myself, and being in a store owned by Sumitomo corp. i sell a lot of these tires. i have had the oppurtunity to use a set of HTR 200's on my '83 rx-7 myself, tho they are very fair priced and somewhat decent in the summer, unless your going real hot in to a corner (understeers in wet) they're a mediocre tire. i find that a lot of Sumitomo tires, regardless the model and what they go on, get a feathered edges very easily, regardless how religious you are with your align. tech. you also may notice that they have a high heat resistence, which isn't a bad thing, but may contribute to understeer in aggressive situations.
not something i would rec for an aggressive 7 driver, unless you don't mind choppy edges

i will say, that i started running Toyo RA-1 on the first gen no soon after, and the response from Sumitomo to Toyo was night and day difference for me, just point and shoot with the toyo's, wet trac or dry. i can't stand by the Sumi's in that manner tho and i plan on putting more RA-1 on it or possibly the T1-R

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

^^T1R suck horrendously, and are worlds away from the RA1s. You'll be very disappointed.

Roen

iTrader: (2)

If you have a high HP street car, you should only be running extreme performance summer tires, from both a safety and fun POV.

Here's my personal list for street tires in terms of grip. Tires are better than the tire below them and worse than the tire above them. The next level up would be R-Compounds.

Dry Tire:
Yokohama Advan Neova AD08
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11
Hankook Ventus RS3
Kumho Ecsta XS
Toyo Proxes R1R
Nitto NT05
Falken Azenis RT-615

In the Wet:
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11
Yokohama Advan Neova AD08
Hankook Ventus RS3
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Toyo Proxes R1R
Nitto NT05
Falken Azenis RT-615
Kumho Ecsta XS

For me, the top tire to get on a STREET car is the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11, if you want civility. Quite ride, not that harsh, very good grip ratings. IF your car is already loud as hell, you probably don't care about tread noise. In that case, I would go with the Yokohama Advan Neova AD08. The Dunlop's are the ideal choice for those who don't want to spend too much, but want as much grip in both wet or dry as possible.

To summarize:
Best Street Tire: Bridgestone Poteniza RE-11
Best Dry Tire: Yokohama Advan Neova AD08
Best Budget Tire: Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec

Whoever's getting a Toyo T1R is 4 years out of date. The R1R is the new top of the line street tire from Toyo.

OneRotor

iTrader: (3)

Rich-
I just came across InsideLine's Long Term test of a used 2002 BMW M3, where they test both the Advan Neova and HTR Z III's.

Test wrap up: http://www.insideline.com/bmw/m3/200...02-bmw-m3.html

Tire review: http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtest...n-mustang.html

-Jim

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Thanks for posting gym.... of note, those are the discontinued AD07s. Definitely good reading though

OneRotor

iTrader: (3)

YW. I saw the HTR Z III in the article and it reminded me of this thread.

Rxmfn7

iTrader: (4)

I was going to make a new post , but came across this thread and just wanted to ask if anyone had more input on these tires? Im switching things up a bit on my car and am looking to purchase new tires in 265/285. I was going to go with RS-3s, but these are literally half the price. I know they wont be as sticky of a tire, but if they are even "pretty good" its hard to pass up the bargain.

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

I think the new crop of extreme summer tires are coming out soon. So it's a good chance to get the newest models or old ones on closeout.

I had limited experience with HTRIII's, but I would definitely classify them as "pretty good" compared to my RS-2's.

Monkman33

iTrader: (28)

I used to autocross on the HTRZII's a long time ago and I really liked them then. If they have stiffened up the sidewall a bit, then they should make for a pretty decent street tire.

Exidous

It all depends on your power and what you want out of them. If you are under ~400whp they should be okay. I use them as my daily driver tires and they do fine. I am at about 440whp/390rwtq. I wouldn't use them for autocross or any serious racing but they have lasted me through 12k miles and aren't even half gone.

285/30-18 all round. On a 30 ratio I think they are more than stiff enough. I prefer my 255/40-17 for ride comfort.

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

looking to purchase new tires in 265/285. I was going to go with RS-3s, but these are literally half the price. I know they wont be as sticky of a tire, but if they are even "pretty good" its hard to pass up the bargain.

If you are looking at great performance for the price you may want to try the 140 tread wear Federal 595RS-R. The 265/35-18 is $140, though they make a 285/30-18 the supplier I get the 265 from says there is an exclusive distributor for that size and they are not it.

I used the 265/35-18 595RS-R for auto-x last year and the same set this year as well and did road trips as well as lots of "street" driving as well and a hillclimb.

I won street tire award every event and was in top 5 in PAX as well as overall points against cars on Hoosiers, V710, C71 Z214. I lost my ASP class by 1 point to an Evo X on Hoosiers (could have won by not racing the class the last event as I was leading in points and it would have deprived him of the points from beating me).

This year I even put the 595RS-R (now on the wear bars) on my stock '04 RX-8 4-speed automatic and ran last event in DSP (wheels to wide for STU class). I placed 9th out of 34 drivers and paxed 748 points beating a DSP '12 civic si on new V710 by just over a second.

What the 595RS-R is not is refined...

They are loud, they have a jointed tread cap which separates (looks like a slash across the tread, but does not affect the tire), and they will take a lot of weight to balance initially and as they wear will need less weight to balance.

One thing not mentioned in this thread so far is how each of the extreme performance tires work in the heat and the cold.

The 595RS-R work fairly well in the cold, work better when warm and are reputed to get greasy and take a long time to cool down if pushed too hard when hot. I have not been able to get them greasy, but 265 is pretty big on a 270rwhp FD or 150rwhp RX-8 in cool Northern California climate.

I used the RS-3 as well and they are horrible in the cold (worse than any DOT-R I have used besides year old heat cycled out V710) and have a soft sidewall that needs more air pressure and negative camber. They are light, more refined and reputed to work very well on the track or in hot climates.

Rxmfn7

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the detailed post! In your opinions then, would the rs3 be not all that great of a street tire being that it needs warmed up so much? I'm thinking of giving the next generation star spec, the z2 a try. I loved the original z1, to date it's been my favorite tire. From what I read everything about the z2 is better without compromising street performance. I'd probably run them in 255/275

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

A local club member put the Z2 Star Specs on his S2000- they are all that.

On the R-S3, I will say that at least when they have their full tread design they do warm rather quickly even with normal street driving. When they are worn down they don't warm on the street as readily, you have to push them a little.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

I'd say no. Go for the new Dunlop ZIIs..... everything I hear is that they're even faster than the Star Specs, an outstanding tire in it's own right.

Rxmfn7

iTrader: (4)

Thanks, yea I think Im going to give the Z2s a shot. Im still curious about the sumis, especially because theyre so cheap.. but hate to chance something that makes such a difference such as tires.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

They're cheap for a reason. Ok tires for a mild FD IMO, and not horrible. But why go '***** Out' on your build, then compromise on the only part of your FD that makes contact with the pavement ?

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

I had these on my coupe, dont know if they were too old or what but they were useless as far as traction is concerned. THey were like plastic tires