Everyone makes a big deal about lightweight wheels, but what about the tires? Seems to me that the further the weight is from the center of the rotating mass, the more effect it will have on acceleration, no?

Having said that, for my next set of tires I'm dead-set on my old sizing of 245/40 and 275/40 on 17x8.5,10. This always felt very stable, and gave the car a very aggressive stance.

I was poking around the Tire Rack as I often do, and found that the tire weights varied widely among street tires:

Michelin PS2-------------->22#Front, 26#Rear
Kumho XS---------------->24#Front, 28#Rear
Goodyear GS-D3--------->26#Front, 27#Rear
Sumitomo HTRZIII------>25#Front, 29#Rear
BFGoodrich KD----------->26#Front, 29#Rear

If those weights are accurate, I'd think a 2-4 pound difference per corner is pretty significant. I was planning on getting the PS2's anyway, if nothing else this kind of makes the higher price a bit easier to swallow

 

i run p zero rosso's, VERY light for thier size, but i hear the grip on the ps2's is slightly better

 

Toyo T1s were always about the lightest, per size. Not sure if the T1r is the same.

While we're on the subject, you might note that in many cases similar width/diameter 18" tires are actually lighter than 17" versions (less sidewall afterall), so the old arguement that 17" wheels were better purely because the wheels were likely lighter for the same width isn't always true.

 

I have found the side wall flex can be an issue. Unless you are looking for that wrinkled look of a drag slick weight and side wall stiffness may go hand and hand. I like the new Dunlops stars alot have been on the car for several months and the performance is super

 

My take on it is this, there's a WAY, WAY more selection for wheels and other than weight, stiffness and strength there's really no performace impact from wheel, so we can be picky. Tires are the #1 most important part for making a car perform well and of that relatively little will be determined by weight. Yes tire weight will have an impact, but the tread pattern, rubber compound and so on will have more impact on performance and there's not really that much choice in any given size, so it's much more logical to pick based on performance, not weight. Given two otherwise identical performing tires, I'd probably tend to pick the lighter one, but that never happens.

 

In the sizes I'm looking for, the PS2s were the king regardless of weight, it's just icing on the cake in this case......if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. The R1Rs are also available in those sizes, unfortunately the Direzza Starspecs are not or I probably would have went with those.

 

I'd be worried about R1R's melting if you plan to use them at the track. I've seen pics of some looking fairly badly heat damaged from autocrossing. It's pretty much a race tire for the ST autocross classes.

 

Interesting comments from both. I used to run the T1S and didn't like it (hated it actually) b/c the soft sidewall affected steering feel making it feel not as quick and responsive and kinda mushy feeling. Was great for ride comfort on rough roads though.

I like the Dunlops a lot also. Oddly enough they are a bit more comfortable than the Kumho MX tires that they replaced. Steering feel and precision is still very similar to the Kumho so I do suspect the Dunlops have a slightly softer side wall but not by much.

 

T1R is a little heavier than T1S as Toyo increased sidewall stiffness. And, from the size I was researching, T1R weight the same as Pilot Sport 2 (while not being able to come close to the performance of PS2). :-)

For me, I'd go for T1R if it's a street set(while having a race set) and have wide wheels. Otherwise, PS2 if you can afford it.

 

Not a fan of the T1Rs, not sticky enough. Thanks for the info, I do agree with the rest