So as much as I have read the tire that seems to be a good choice for me is the toyo T1S. but the tire guys all but talked me out of them for my application telling me they are strictly a track tire. I have stock wheels so I will be running 225/50/16 and I have been recommended to go with the proxes 4 instead of the T1S.
I don’t know which to go for because the tire guys tell me that I will get a lot better performance and wear for the dollar. Although it sounds like the people that know what they are talking about on here tell everyone not to worry so much about wear and this is just the nature of the beast.
I am running the GT35/40 so HP is approaching 350 and up, the car is not tracked although I plan to when I have moretime in the distant future. I live in Oregon so frequent wet roads are a mainstay and a major factor in which tires I will put on. I have read that people find the 4 and the T1S to be a good tire for wet, and I can see the T1S being good as it has such large passages to move water away.

What is the mileage and performance difference between the two? I was told by the tire guys that the T1S is half what the 4 is and the T1S is a 20,000 mile tire. But couldn’t get a definitive response on the performance difference.

Am I on the right track for the correct tire for me? Are the things that I have been told accurate? And should I be considering the S04 instead?

What about getting tires from a online dealer, they are much cheaper(over $100 diference), but I was told that the tire place close to me will not mount and balance them for legal purposes. Is this bs trying to get me to buy directly from them?

 

You are getting some bad advice.

The T1S is not a track only tire, that's the RA1 (and even then, it's the most streetable R-compound). The T1S handles great in the rain, probably better than almost any all-season tire. Not only that but it has great dry grip, rides well, is fairly quiet, and is pretty durable at the track.

You will not regret running the T1S, but go with 245/45s instead of the stock 225/50s.

 

So is it really one of the best choices if not the best for wet driving (not that I intend to use the car a lot when it is wet or as a primary car, its just weather is very unpredictable here sometimes, and roads are commonly damp in the mornings, and I have a different car for practical purposes on top of that for snow ice and bad weather.)

I am also wondering if it is impractical to think that the stock wheels are capable of transferring power to the ground? I intend to get good rubber for these wheels, but I am looking into wider wheels to help with traction.

You are saying to go with the T1S in the 245/45 configuration on stock wheels, this will help with traction and tire roll correct?

What about longevity, how do the tires wear, or are rated for in comparison to each other? I don’t think I am the tire spinning type at all, but I do like to corner hard when on nice open roads when conditions are right. Other than that I am fairly conservative on the wheel. How long do these tires last under those types of circumstances?

 

And I don’t want to make a huge issue about the mileage of the tires, but I would like to learn about them and find out which one has the best qualities. Does the T1S get 20,000 on average, or is this an overstatement, and that is the max allowable mileage? We have fairly rough roads around here, and I imagine that takes its toll on tires and really limits there life span. Though I really am not a hot rodder so very little if any wear will come from tire spin and abuse.

 

FYI, T1S's are 3 Season Tires, not All Weather.

Awesome in the rain, absolutely dangerous in the snow, might as well be on slicks.

 

If you've got a serious need for the "4th" season, i'd recommend picking up either a second set of wheels with for-real-deal winter tires on them, or a beater car. Any tire that is worth even thinking about conditions more serious than average rain is going to be disapointing from a dry performance or track standpoint. There's no free lunch.

 

and find yourself a different tire place cause that guy doesn't know ****. he'll probably charge you more for the tire just b/c he thinks its a 'track tire'

 

My friend and i went on a 15000km (about 9000miles) road trip this summer from Calgary down to the western states. He drove an integra with a brand new set of T1S's and he loved them. when we got back there was just over 1/4 tread left, this wasnt interstate driving either. So you would probably be able to get about 15000 to 20000 miles on a set.

 

You need to decide what your priority is, and how long you want a set of tires on your car. If handling is a priority, and you are hard on your car, you may only get 10-12K out of a set of performance tires. Maybe less. How many miles per year will you drive? If only 4K, then the T1-S may last you 3 years. If you drive 15K per year, then can probably figure on buying another set in a year, or less. How often do you want to buy new tires?

The T1-S is a very good tire, and can be purchased on line for a very low price. If the guy down the street won't mount them for you, go somewhere else. He is an *******, and he is lying about liability. Here's a link for low prices on Toyo's:

http://www.ec-securehost.com/OnlineT...Toyo_T1-S.html

 

TANSTAAFL…my material professor always used to say that, drove me nuts!

 

Yes that’s the kind of real world experience I wanted to hear, I really do appreciate that post! I have not found a mileage number in searching for info on these tires at all yet, just a off the top of his heads from the tire guy, he said "oh like 20,000 or something, you dont want those tires though".
Thanks

I just don’t know much about tires so I just kinda wanted an idea of when they will need to be replaced so I have a better idea if this is really the tire for me. I am not to concerned with the mileage, though if I am using them manly for highway use and quick trips around town are these going to be the best tires for me?
I know they are capable but are they the best compromise between the traction I will need and the fact that I probably will not use the traction they can supply? Making them a foolish choice for me because I will not use them for there intended purpose and a harder tire might be a better choice for me in the long run?

I really don’t care about the price that much, I care more about making a good choice based on what my scenario is. If it is recommended that I need tires that give the kind of performance the T1S or the S03/S04 supply then that is the wrought I will go. Unfortunately like I said I just don’t know very much about tires and haven’t really had to deal with high performance tires to much.

So thank you guys for steering me in the right direction

 

My priorities that seem logical to me are that it rains a lot in Oregon! A LOT! So it seems to me that getting a tire that will perform very well in Oregon will be a wise decision on my part I think.

I seriously am not too concerned about mileage to the point that it would turn me away from a tire that you guys recommend for me, though I think it is a good thing to consider as many factors as possible, and tire wear seems to be a big enough factor that it should be at least on the map the way I think.

Driving miles per year for me will be total different with this car, because the car just completely got changed over to a single and built up engine and extras, and as I mentioned I have a daily driver that will pick up all the dutys for rain when I know it will be there, and obviously when the snow and ice comes. (I cant very well cruise up to Mt Hood ever weekend with a 400HP rear wheel drive car )

Just a shot in the dark I would guess 10k, so tires would not be a big factor in regular maintenance. Though I don’t feel that I am very hard on cars at all, as I am a fairly conservative person. Just the occasional backroad excursion on really nice days will be the majority of any sort of abuse the tires should see.

And that link is the basis on why I was so thrown off, I looked at that price and I could either by 4 tires from schwabies or get 6 from online tire for almost the exact same price!
The quote I got was 668.64 for 4 T1S, and tires.com price is 452, that is a savings of 216.64 for the same exact tires!

So believe me you guys are helping a lot of people from your old posts if they bother to do a little searching, I know I am entirely grateful for your help and support


I assumed this must be the case as I have had tires mounted that were not even a schwabies brand there before

But I am kinda a nonconfrontational person so I just kinda looked at him funny and said riiiight when he told me that.

 

The T1-S is probably the most well rounded street tire so long as you don't get any snow in your area. Dry traction isn't quite equal to something like S-03s or BFGs, but they're way better in the wet.

 

For more real life T1S experience. Every year we goto the Montreal F1 GP. And it rains on the drive, every single time so far....driving my wife's turbo Miata in torrential rains we just cruised along at 80mph with no problems at all.

Even hitting large pockets of water it just sliced right through. These were on 80 percent tread tires.

 

Wow, I was leaning towards the T1S after the feedback in my own tire decision thread, but after reading about the wet handling of this tire, I'm sold. These will be my next set of street tires.

 

Well I am ready to order them I think?

There should be no issues with fitment or rubbing with stock suspension and ride height front and back right?

It looks like if I get the 245/45/16 from tires .com they will be $10 cheaper if I get 2 sets of 2 instead of all 4 at once for some reason just a small shipping cost phenomena, I know I am cheap as hell to figure that out but I noticed that the shipping wasn’t very linear when I was looking at there prices.

Will the tire look odd at all with a wider tire on there? Open to interpretations I know but does anyone have a pic off hand to show me what the tire will look like on a stock width rim?

The only doubt in my mind is maybe the T1S is to good of a tire for me honestly, and that maybe the 4 would be a better compromise, though I cant get that tire in a 245/45/16 I think.

 

I don't know about looks, but I've been told by a long time FD owner that the 245/45 is the optimal tire size for the stock wheels. I hadn't thought about the esthetics of it at all, as long as I get better grip

 

Hey section8 have you ordered those tires yet? You said that 245/45 are the optimal size, have you found any info anywhere that states that there will be no issues with fitment of rubbing of any kind? I know they are only going to be a ½” bigger on either side than stock, but like I said I don’t know much about all the issues to look out for yet.

 

I have used several different 245/45-16 tires on the stock wheels without any trouble. Seriously, tons of people run that size on the stock wheel and I have heard very few reports of trouble. Also, the T1-S is a rather narrow tire for its nominal size (translation: a 245 T1-S is skinnier than most other tires in the same 245 size). It looks quite normal, even with "wide" tire models.

That line about liability is horse ****. I have bought tires online (or used) and had them mounted at Discount Tire an other local shops many times in the past. You shouldn't have to pay more than $50 to get a set of four tires mounted and balanced. Call around and you will get widely varying quotes, but you should be able to find a place that will do it for $50 (or cheaper). Sometimes you can bargain to get a better or at least equivalent deal buying the tires from the tire place (consider total costs for shipping, mounting, balancing -- everything).

Also, the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 seems like the "top" tire right now (not available in 16", though). I've got a set of S-03 tires on my FD and it feels much more sure-footed than any other car I have driven in the rain, including sedans with skinny tires, etc. The S-03 is also an outstanding tire in the wet, but it looks like it was recently eclipsed (slightly) by the PS2. I am not trying to steer you away from the T1-S at all -- it is an excellent tire. But I doubt it is significantly better in the wet than the top models from other manufacturers (PS2, S-03). The T1-S does seem to offer comparable performance at a better price, which makes it an excellent choice, IMO.

-Max

 

I have had 3 different sets of 245/45/16's on my FD, and have never rubbed. I have stock 94 suspension.

 

I live in Seattle and just got done with a set of T1S and absolutly loved them. I had them on a daily driven modded TII and got about 20,000 out of them, I rotate religously though. I really had no gripes about wet weather preformance and dry was great too. Snow? stay the **** home! I got stuck in my drive way lol I have heard that the FZ4 is a better daily driver tire though, little less grip but more tread wear. Any ways I was running 245/35/17 all the way around if it matters.

 

I have them on my TII as wel. Raining season is about to start so I guess I will post back with how they are if someone bumps this thread in the next month or 2.

 

Haven't ordered yet, but I think your question was answered by the posters above me.

 

I have 225/45 in the front and 255/40 in the rear by the way with coilovers and no rubbing, but you have to get the right offset rims. The tires arent very noisy at all and stick pretty damn well. My car is basically a street car.

 

I went ahead and ordered the 245/45/16, 491.68 shipped, not to bad considering schwabies wanted 693.80 just for the tires alone no mounting or balance!

Thank you very much for all your help guys!
I know I probably could have just ordered them and been just fine, but I feel much better about my decision, than not discussing it and just going for it blindly.
Plus I saved a little cash.