New Tire Comparisons

[TBULL]

I'm buying new tires this year. I've loved my Kumho's 285/40R17's on the back, but they are skittish in the wet. Now i find that they aren't made anymore! I thought I had my tire picked out BF Goodrich G-Force Sport Comp2. Supposed to have great traction, but good in the wet as well. It doesn't come in the 285 though, only the 275. My car is a FFR MarkII without the 315 mod, so the widest tire I can take is the 285. This is the dilema.

I've heard good thing about some Nitto tires too, but I have no experience with them. The Nitto 555 (not R) come in a 285 & 275. This is a fuller tread depth tir and should be better int the wet than the Kumho's. The other is the Nitto NT05, which has a similiar pattern to the Kumho's, but it is only available in the 275. Tire Rack does carry Nitto's any more so I can't get an apple to apples comparison anymore. I think Gary Owens has had good luck with some Nitto's. Anyone Else? I'm looking for something that has GREAT traction, and corning, but isn't scary on wet roads. Ok let the opinions and discussion commence. By the way the Michelin PS2 are out due to price.

 

[Kent D]

I've been running Cooper Zeon RS3-S tires and really like the dry traction characteristics. Can't speak to how they handle wet but they are highly rated for both conditions. I also like the look of the tread face and the way they corner. Cooper offers the tire in 285, 305, 325 sizes and of course, a lot of narrower sizes. A very good street tire in my opinion.
Kent

 

[TBULL]

Cooper offers the tire in 285, 305, 325 sizes and of course, a lot of narrower sizes. Kent

Kent, thanks for the info. I tried the Cooper tire site and checked on the tires. They do look good, but even the Company site only offers the tires to 275 in the 17" rim selection.

 

[Bob-STL]

I have Nitto 555 tires. 275 front, 315 rear. I was encouraged to get these because of traction in wet conditions. Obviously, I haven't driven on them yet.

Bob

 

[Richgrsc]

Dan, look at Bridgestone Potenza. Tim and I have them, only a few miles on them, but they seem good.

 

[TBULL]

Rich, thanks for the input. I'm currently trying to compare the BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 to the Nitto NT05 and 555. In the TireRack headup comparison, the tire comes in with good ratings, but under those of the g-force-Sport. Car and driver had a shoot out on some different tires on a road course and your Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport ranked right up there. In that particular piece they called out the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec as the overall winner, but unfortunately the widest tire they make is the 255. There are a ton of good tires in the 315 to 335 range. As you might have guessed I'm probably over analyzing this.

 

[mmarshall]

Dan we spoke about some tire tests. Well here is the list I have compiled over time in my favorites. Newest 1st.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/measuring-up/

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1401-the-best-200-treadwear-tires-test/

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/top-tires/

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=172

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=148

http://www.caranddriver.com/compari...res-take-on-the-michelin-ps2-comparison-tests

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/texas-toasted-tires-part-2/

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/splish-splash/

Nitto test:

http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/wheels-tires/0310mm-nitto/

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...on-nitto-nt-555-extreme-hi-quality-tires.html

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c4-general-discussion/2397651-nitto-nt555-tires.html

 

[mmarshall]

New RS3 vs the yet to be released Kumho V720. The new V720 is already out in Asia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n6ayvlzsJA

The RS3 is the hot tire right now, but in a 285 you need an 18" rim.

http://www.hankooktyre.com.au/compm...ildNum=4&Seq=286&PageNo=3&KeyValue=0&KeyWord=

A recent SCCA test placed the RS3 #1 in the dry and #4 in the wet.

Lap times

BFG Rival 1.0G 29.583 Dry 29.7 wet
Bridgestone Re-11 .98G 29.568 Dry 29.2 wet
Dunlop Direzza ZII .90 G 29.723 Dry 29.2 Wet
RS3 1.1G 29.29 dry 29.9 wet

 

[TBULL]

Thanks very much for the links Mike. I had found some, but not all. They all confirmed what I had found about the Kuhmo's. Sticky as hell in the dry and they like heat, but squirrelly and slick in the wet. They had a 200 rating. I never found another good tire that had that good of a grip, but planted well in the wet that was my size. Many of the really great tires stop at 255R17, which is sad. For now I'm looking at the Nitto 555, unless those new Kumho's come out sooner.