Tire Technology 101, Anyone?
 

I have been tires recently, because my Protege5 will need new ones in the spring. I am leaning towards the Falken Azenis because it is a viable autocross tire at a screaming good price, but there are a ton of good alternatives out there. Like Bridgestones, Dunlop SP9000, Toyo Proxes, etc.

I am pretty well versed on speed ratings now, how to make sense of what is on the sidewall, temperature ratings, load ratings, compound vs. wear, and the difference between summer, all season, etc. These are the basics. What I (and I imagine many other souls) do not have is knowledge of how the various brands stack up. For instance, I do not know how good Kumhos are these days, whether or not Hankooks are decent (just because of people autocross them), whether to shop Michelins and Continentals in addition to my Azenis, etc. And, for some of us, different things matter. For instance, I would be willing to accept a little more tire noise if it means that I have a nice, high grip tread pattern. Ditto giving up a little wet performance for even greater grip when the pavement is dry.

Anyone know of a great comparison online, to help us sort out which tire is right for each of us?

www.tirerack.com has a pretty good comparison chart thing.

Here's my own personal experience:

Kumho 712: A definate step up fron the stock P5 Dunlops, but not really a great tire. They seem to do everything competently, but nothing that impressed me too much. They lasted a good 20,000 miles of my hard driving, and they never got loud at all. Also, they really let you know when they're about to let go. SQUEEEALLL!

Falken Azenis: The grip is unreal, among the best I've ever tried in a dry weather tire, and they aren't too shabby in the rain, either. They did get a little greasy at the track, though, and they were bald after about 8k miles of "spirited" driving. For all-out grip, these are the tire.

Toyo T1-S: I replaced the Azenis with these tires(on the Miata). They have great grip and they also make it very clear when they're about to slip. The sidewall isn't as stiff as the Azenis, so you have to plan ahead a little bit, but the grip is damn near where the Falkens are and for 54 bucks a tire(onlinetires.com), they can't be beat. These are the tire of choice for the Miata.net crew. NO greasing up and they will last much longer than the Azenis.

Yoko Parada SpecII: Again, great grip. Not quite as sticky as the Falkens, but they lasted twice as long and they really came into their own at the track. They got pretty loud toward the end, so I was rotating them about once every two weeks. I finally just bought new tires because the road noise was bugging so much. They still had about 5% tread left when I put the new tires on.

BF Goodrich KDW: My new tires on the P5. So far they grip like a 13 year old with a Hustler! In the rain I find myself with a lot more confidence than the Yoko's. I honestly think that the Yoko's may have had a little better dry grip, but the road noise and price of the Paradas made me pick these tires...plus winter's here and the Paradas were a little sketchy in the rain. I love the tread pattern on these tires and they have nice, deep treads, so I think they'll last as long as the Yokos without a problem.

Wow, great start to this thread. Thanks for the advice, Natey.

Damn Natey...there you go again...making great posts and helping out...will you stop it already?!?!

w00t! I done good. :D

C'mon, this is a good idea for a thread! Let's hear your aftermarket tire opinions!

My only experience with aftermarket tires are Drag radials. I will be taking your advice though Natey and buying some nice tires for my Postert rims. I'm leaning towards the KDW's or the Azenis' since I don't autocross any.

In addition to the tires eggynatey listed (in which I agree with his opinions BTW) I can add the following:
Dunlop FM-901: Decent, but loud right out of the box, God only knows how loud they get later on.
Yoko AVS ES-100: Not quite as grippy as the Parada Spec II, yet they wore out faster. They are much quieter than the Parada when new, but like all higher performance tires, they get pretty noisy as they wear down.
Yoko Avid H4S: Remarkably decent considering the longer wear/more "all season" design. Very quiet when new, nice riding, and they feel really grippy up until about 9 to 10/10ths, where they of course aren't gonna win any autocrosses.
Bridgestone RE-910: A truely dreadful tire, no grip, squeal like mad, wear out fairly fast considering the treadwear rating. Ugh

Anything made by Michelin seems to be hella-ass expensive, so other than some 1st generation MXV's I had in the mid 80's (which sucked, felt like you had 10 PSI all the time they were so squishy in corners), I can't say anything about how good they are.

...and yet another fantastic response. This thread is turning out great. Thanks, guys.

My Toyo TPT's have been pretty good. I've had them on since the spring and they are certainly better than the stock Dunlops dry and wet. So fair in the snow they are about the same but I haven't had to drive them much in the snow. Tire noise is about the same except for hard cornering where they are a little louder. Overall not a bad tire, for the price (cheaper than the stock Dunlops) it's a better tire.

For those that haven't heard/seen, there will a new Ultra HP/Autocross STS legal Falken Azenis next year, (it won't be called the Azenis anymore, it's some hard to remember number and letter combination, Ugh). There are pics floating around somewhere. It will be available in lots more sizes than the Azenis (but only one 16" though, a 205/40, go figure?) and is supposedly grippier, better in the wet, and a tad lighter (thank you God)

Any luck on them having it in 215 40 R17?

And, can anyone tell me if I can run this tire and wheel size combination in auto-X, or am I stuck with the stock size?

195/60/14
>
> 205/50/15
> 225/50/15
>
> 205/40/16
>
> 205/40/17
> 215/40/17
> 255/40/17
> 275/40/17
> 225/45/17 > 245/45/17

these are the sizes I am told will be available according to one of our SCCA forum members who follows this stuff closer than I do

I have the Yokohama AVS ES 100 in 205/45-16 size. I find it has excellent grip, wet or dry, and in fact is one of the best wet tires I've ever used. So far they've been extremely quiet but perhaps I don't have enough miles on them for noise to become a factor. Incidently, they are summer only tires.