Hello all, I come to you today for advice, particularly about a tire that is well suited for our bay area roads, here's my situation:


I have a long commute to work every day, I have 15 miles of 3rd gear twisty roads (Polameras canyon road + Niles), and an additional 30 miles on 580, so that's 90 miles a day, and 30 of those are on a very twisty canyon road... Driving has become very expensive if you consider the price of gas, oil, tires, wear and tear, etc... I'm tired of mowing through tires on our crappy *** bay area roads and since most of my driving is on straight freeway (outside of the 30 miles of twistys) I no longer see a point of having sticky tires that last me 10-15k miles maximum, I just cant justify the cost anymore, perhaps its me getting old?

The last tires I had were BFG KDWs and I LOVED those tires, GREAT grip but I mowed through them like there were made of paper... But even still, they lasted longer than my old SO3s, but damn were the SO3s fun and sticky as hell!

I've tried Nexim tires (can't remember the model name), but they were basically on par with Kuhmo 712s, and by that I mean they were the worst tires ever! They last forever, but they had zero grip, loud as hell, and just sucked overall. I def want to go a step or two above those crappy *** tires.

So what says thee about my tire situation?

90 miles a day, 30 of those miles are very twisty bay area roads, the rest are straight freeway miles, and like I said, I can't justify expensive tires that don't last but I still need some grip for those 30 miles of twisties.

All help is appreciated.

 

the pzero neros are great and they can get you into the snow and through winter just fine.

I've heard good things about the AGX's as well. Justin uses those and likes them. Wear is up over 400.

I am at the end of a set of Proxe 4's. I felt it was a good middle of the road tire. Don't tram too bad. Not noisy. Wore nice and even and lasted me longer than any other set of tires has. Great in the rain. O.k. in the snow and o.k. on dry. I'd say a level below the pzeros in everything but maybe rain. I run about 25% of my commute on curvy mountain roads and I still had fun. Not nearly as much as I did with my RE070's but still. They do fine. Very predictable at the breaking point. Not snap release like the 070's.

 

I was in a similiar situation - wanting a good summer tire that wasnt expensive and good for daily driver. After much research I bought the Sumitomo HTR Z III. So far Im very happy. They give good feed back and have crisp turn in response....but to be fair at the same time I also put on JDM pink springs (stock struts) and got a fresh alignment (one degree negative camber and zero toe).

Price wasnt bad either $522 for the tires ($422 shipped from Tirerack and $100 mounted and balanced at Americas tire). Great price for a comfortable daily driver that gives great confidence during spirited driving.


Here are some pics installed on the stock 2004 STi BBS wheel (17x7.5) tire size 225/45/17

 

They also did good on Tirerack tests -

 

legit..now get some rotas!

 

I had a set of Falken 451's that I liked very well as an all around tire. The new 452 is supposed to be better in every way, 300 treadwear rating, still sticky enough to have fun but hard enough to get some miles out of. Also a bit of a bargain compared to some of the other tires out there.

 

Yep, I was deciding between the 452 and the HTRZ III. I ended up choosing the Sumitomo because of the Tirerack tests and I just wanted to see what all the buzz was about (the HTRZ also get good feedback on Mazda and BMW forums). Another little bonus is the fact that the HTRZ are assymetrical so you can rotate them in all directions. The Falkens are directional so you can only rotate them front to back (without taking the tire off the rim). Im sure that is negligable to many though

 

I've actually really like my brigestone potenza re050a pole positions. Awesome grip, ok wet traction(this is in an rx7, so a subaru should be fine) And I have put 20k miles on them so far, and I will be able to get them to last till this winter, so that's going to be 25kish. Don't know if that is too much of a sport tire for you, but they are very nice, oh and the road noise is pretty quiet too.

 

Falken ZE-912 or Toyo Proxes 4.


Also, why aren't you just taking niles all the way to 680 instead? Palomeres Canyon takes a while to get through.

 

re050 are the stock tires that come on those new lexi IS-F...

 

The RE050 is a good tire but expensive.

 

I loved my set of Pirelli PZero Nero M+S, and they're not that expensive. I paid about $100/tire for a 225/50/16. Though, now they're $119 at vulcantire. They didn't wear that great, and I only got about 25k miles on them, but I would have gotten a lot more if they didn't wear so bad. Only knock I have on these was they started to tram a bit late in their lifetime.

If you want more mileage, I'm running the Bridgestone RE960AS, and a lot of people like this tire. I'm on the fence on these. The preliminary rubber was horrid and since it has a 40k mile warranty, it took a while to wear off, however grip has increased since. Though, I'd still rather get the PZero over this.

 

well, its either taking all of Niles canyon road to 680, then to 580 west into Oakland

OR

Take 2 miles of Niles Canyon road to Polameras RD that cuts right into 580, it saves me a good 15-20 mins by bypassing the rest of Niles Canyon, all of 680 and a good portion of 580.


Takes me a little over an hour to get to work if I take 680 -> 580

Takes me 40-45mins by taking Polameras RD to 580.


Not only that, but taking the canyon roads is SO MUCH more fun. Polameras is 10 miles long, I get through it anywhere from 10-13 mines depending on how quick Im moving.

 

yeah asx... sorry.

 

+2, currently have these on the Rex, came with the car when I bought it. Agree with initial recommendation that they are great middle of the road tires for all around with good enough grip and wear. Cost is also fairly reasonable. I'd get a different set for summer if you want more grip.