gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

I know many of you have been fortunate enough to have been able to try many various types of tires (diff. brands, diff widths/aspects/diameters, winter/summer, speed and durability ratings....)

For those of you who drive you WRX daily, but also try to participate in any sort of amatuer racing (drag, autox, as well as track days); or have even graduated to become competitive, what are the tire features that you seek the most, or do you try and buy the best all-around tires?


I have been fortunate to have been stationed on Oahu for the last 3 years, which coincidentally is just a little bit longer than I've been a WRX owner, and even a bit longer than I can call myself an 'enthusiast'.

I've also been fortunate to have gotten pretty good advice from my friends on buying the BF Goodrich KDW's. Since then, I wanted to upgrade to 17" rims, so I have been on some pretty nice, but used AVS that came with them. Fine for trackdays and for a novice like myself, but I have been thinking about what I should get next...especially since my next duty station is going to be southern Indiana (marked by being hilly, with a lot of back roads, as well as the seasonal snowy or icy conditions.)

Should I buy the best race rubber I can find (either the dot certified so that I can leave them on all of the time, or to shod an additional set of rims), or should I just get some nice winter tires and wait until spring to buy some high-performance or race rubber?

I'm not looking for anyone to answer my question, per se; just soliciting advice, knowledge, or just general things to consider.

jdepould

iTrader: (2)

Part of the problem with DOT race tires is a. treadlife and b. wet traction. I'm going to use the Falken Azenis for example: great dry traction, decent on wet roads but terrible through standing water. Personally, I would get max summer tires (ie: S-03's) on their own wheels, then winter tires (I like michenlin alpin's) on your stockers. Just my $.02

MonkeyAB

iTrader: (1)

I have to agree with jdepould. I'm moving from Florida to Illinois. I have S-03's now which are fine year round here, but I plan on having two sets of wheels as soon as I can afford to. If I had the money and the space I'd have 3 sets. S-03's for summer, some nice all seasons for winter and a set of Azenis or Kumhos for Autocross and track events. There isn't a tire that you can use in the winter in Indiana that will perform well enough on the track.

I like the S-03's because they are good all around. Fairly sticky on the track, wear is good enough for me and they are a dream in the wet, compared to the RE-92's.

gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

I think y'all are right, and thanks for the responses. Honestly, I'm THAT dummy who knows how important tires are, but for whatever reason, I end up putting the money into my engine. Like I said, I had pretty nice tires before, but for once I want to try something extremely good.

I'm going to have to pull up that old Stoptech thread again from Nasioc that lists which rims work with the BBK; buy a 2nd set (of probably used Rotas) to go with the Rota's I currently have, and shod them with some race-weekend-only tires.

Have y'all heard anything bad or good about these? Bridgestone Potenza RE050A @$169 a pop. (I wonder how many WRX owners are tentative about these tires due to the Potenza name.)


Or these? Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 $166


I'm probably under the wrong assumption, but I have heard good stuff about the Eagle F1's (don't know anything about GS D3, though). In comparison among most (maybe all) of the 225/45/17 WR-ZR max performance tires over on Tirerack, the F1s seemed to be best overall with a best in many categories as well. Here's where I'm getting my info Tirerack comparison page. The F1 looks awfully tempting according to this.

Also, I'm not discounting the Kumho Ecsta's, or S03's because many of my friends back in Hawaii have and they swear by them. Aren't the Azenis pretty popular for the autox weekends, too?

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

Both of those are great street tires. The RE050s are the "OE" version of the S03. Really good tire, with great ride and noise characteristics. Think of S03s as "reflashed" RE050s... more performance improvement with less concern about noise/ride/wear. I love S03s, I'll be using those on the street until a better all around tire comes along.

The GSD3s are also great tires for the street. I won't buy them again though, because the tread pattern folds like a bad poker hand under the heat of a track day or autocross. I think that as street tires, the S03s are better, but the bang-for-the-buck of each is about the same as the Goodyears are a little cheaper. They are both awesome in the rain as well.

My garage, with 3 sets of tires as I live in a snowy climate, will have Azenis Sports for track/autocross, S03s for street, and some snow tires for winter.

gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

Awesome responses.

So far, after reading my inclination towards looking more seriously at, is S03.

I think I'm also going to take some time and read Tirerack's user reviews for all of those different tires.

Thanks for the Goodyear review, Ban.

jdepould

iTrader: (2)

azenis are very good track tires. Just a tip if you do go autox-ing, take a spray bottle with water in it, and spray your tires after your first run, then rub the tires with your bare hands (helps reduce slimey feeling after a few hot laps), I'm not sure how important it is with the azenis' but if you have street tires you'll notice it

MO REX

iTrader: (2)

I am also running so3's on my 17's and useing the stockers in the winter months. Like everyone else said these tires are awesome in the rain and on dry pavement. Here is a customer survey of max performance summer tires http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=MP and here are some test results performed by tire rack http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...tone&x=12&y=12. According to the test results you may want to look into the Pilot Sport ps2's since they are cheaper and seem to outperform the so3's in all of the performance tests.

meilers

You really can't go wrong with the SO-3s or the Goodyear F1s; if you're looking at these two, you should probably cross the Ecstas off the list (just not in this league) and only consider the Azenis if you plan to get a second set of wheels and those tires only for the track. I've not tried them on a WRX, but on my friend's 280hp Civic, they were mighty squirrely driving around town.

I've had a set of the Eagle F1 GS-D3s for about 6,000 miles now and I am extremely happy with them; I've had them up to 125 mph and they seem to get smoother the faster you go. They corner extremely well and seem to have a nice initial turn-in which allows me to brake a LOT less and gas earlier out of the corner. Unlike BAN, I haven't had a traction problem on hot days (they are ALL hot days here!) or after 3+ hours of 85 mph+ highway twisty driving (the Beeline Highway here in AZ) -- but I'm probably not pushing them as hard as he does

You really can't go wrong with either, trust your instincts. However, be warned -- both are definitely 100% asphalt tires, don't go 55 mph into a turn on someone's gravel driveway like I did. I managed to pull it out, but missed the neighbor's mailbox by a hair!

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

Oh, I've never had a problem with my F1 GSD3s on the street/highway; just on racetracks. Of course, I am REALLY hard on my tires when I'm out there, because that's the only way for a 170hp RS to run laptimes with modded WRXs. The problem is that the tread lines are almost exactly perpendicular to my high slip angles, and they literally roll over and scrub off once the tire gets real warm. I really prefer the S03s out there, but on the street both tires are very good and worth owning.

gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

Again, thanks everyone for the input. Mosdef read and taken into consideration.

Meilers, yeah, kinda what BAN says...I'm curious if you've raced the F1's. Especially racing in AZ. That would certainly be a great benchmark.

Seraph

I'd like to toss the Michelin Pilot PS2's into the mix.

I just changed over to these in the stock sizing, and from what i can tell after getting comfortable with their air pressure characteristics, their dry grip is similiar to s-03's on the streets and some of the bay area's twisties, yet on the freeway they are a bit quieter than the s-03's. The turn-in is pretty crisp, and their holding power is pretty impressive.

I have not had the opportunity to test them in the wet as of yet.

gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

Noted.

Post up after it's rained.

ish

iTrader: (7)

i am another huge fan of the s-03s

i currently have a set of azenis on my wheels and can't wait to burn through them to replace them with another set of s-03s. i would only suggest the azenis as an auto-x tire. i would prefer the s-03 over the azenis on the track. imo the azenis get too hot after a while. the azenis might initially have more dry grip but from what i have noticed i feel like the s-03s are a lot more consistent in the way they handle/respond. i just don't feel like the azenis have the same control as the s-03s do

of course all this is my own opinion after driving on both of them. others might disagree with me.

MO REX

iTrader: (2)

I am thinking of going to the Pilot PS2's when my SO3's wear out and I was wondering if you noticed if the sidewalls on the Michelins were thinner than the SO3's. I think I read somewhere that they were thinner than the Bridgestone.