Azn tire companies releasing more for our segment
From a tire segment having only a few offerings two years ago, we have a nearly overwhelmed market. I love the competition…. errr… choice availability.
There was the Azenis 615, I’ve gone through two pairs of these, still the best offering from Falken. These have very short life and a very round tire design. The grip is good, I was surprised by how much grip was available in the wet when full thread depth was available. But life is very short and it felt like it started to become a rock as it very quickly approached the wear bars…. not a very good experience…
There’s the aging Kumho MX.
I’ve had a pair of these. And I’ve driven a few other cars with them too. This is a classic, and it outlasts the Azenis with nearly all of the grip it offers, and in my experience better overall handling. Infinitely better manners than the Azenis. Still a good choice at a very reasonable price.
Kumho has recently released the XS in the past year.
I haven’t tried this tire, but I hear nothing but good things, it is visually very similar to the Azenis. I can’t speak for performance but typically, I don’t favor the round tire tread designs. However, with the availability of very wide sizes, and from my visit to Gainesville earlier this week, I observed these tires looking completely different in its wider profiles, looking much more square-shouldered.
The Re01R came out around 5 years ago, and it is now gone, replaced by the re11r. When it first came out, I immediately fell in love with the idea of it. But I had no expectations to ever be able to afford them. That is, until they were pulled from production to open way for the new re11r. Tire rack clearanced them out right after I flat-spotted my starspec/KD setup from my lack of ABS and a stupid sudden ledge locked up my brakes as i was on them to avoid a bus. Fuckin’ construction. Anyway, re01r’s were had for 96-120$ for my staggered setup, dirt cheap. I am disappointed. I expected much better grip and surface contact than my BFG KD on the exact same size, 245/40r17. The RE01R offers more grip than my worn KDs, but it is still mostly overwhelmed by all of my second gear. No other complaints really, other than that it looks really skinny and stupid in comparison. Cornering grip is great. I really shouldn’t be complaining at all, road manners are also exemplary. But it’s my torque, it overwhelms nearly everything that will fit under my narrow quarters.
The KD is older by comparison. But the KD’s very square shulder made for a much wider surface patch. At the time I got boost, they were too worn down. It could not contend with boost in second gear at all, while the RE01R chirps, and makes tire noise while mostly holding, the KD made no effort. When I first had these, they were on the front, they made for great front tires. This is another tire that I originaly had no hopes of affording, till I found a guy selling a bunch of pairs of these in my size on eBay for ~$200 a pair/shipped. This tire broke records for street tire lateral holding strength… like 8+ years ago. This tire was originally made when performance tires didn’t know how to perform in the wet.
Dunlop Direzza Z1 StarSpec….
This is one of my favorite all time tires. I cried tears of blood for destroying a pair of these with at least half of their lives left. These require no heat to grip, there is a tremendous amount of grip all the time, combined with relatively fair wear. Cornering is awesome. I never had a set of rears of these, but I think it would go very well. Though slightly round, this is mostly a square tire.
NT-05, Nitto’s release from earlier this year is on David’s car. I think these are epic. It’s a shame it couldn’t be used by One Lappers this year. For more on this tire, David made a thorough review a few weeks ago a couple of posts down.
The new offerings:
Hankook RS3 and Yokohama AD08
Like all yokos, the AD08 is probably awesome, and will get the such feedback for its flexibility and amazing grip. But I have never owned “extreme performance” yokos, because I can’t afford them.
Just a hair cheaper than the StarSpec, but a bit more expensive than the new Nitto NT-05 is the new RS3. I have had some experience with RS2, based on discussion with the owners of these, and I had some of these on my car briefly as loaners, I didn’t get onto them very hard though. But I’ve been in cars with them and it breaks loose way too easily. The RS3, on the other hand has a much more sporting 140 treadwear rating. While these ratings often mean nothing, they are an indicator at what the company was trying to develop. And 140 is a commitment to grip. The pattern is also much more aggressive, it looks to have more square shoulders, bigger tread blocks, I’m optimistic. I just wish that they would be cheaper than NT05, otherwise it doesn’t really seem worth it, I’m not sure I believe that it will outperform the Nitto. It may last longer, but who really cares about that?
