Summer Tires (Need Recommendations)

[MagnusS4]

I don't have much experience with summer tires so I need some help!

I'm currently running Bridgestone RE-01R's. Love the tires, grip is great when cold and amazing when warmed up. Cornering is great, tread life is average I'd say (3 Summers on them, a couple spirited drives). Even had a nail in them at one point but held up surprisingly well with no changes, no bubbling. The only complaint I have with them is that in the rain performance is slightly lower, but I guess that's kind of a given.

I'd get them again only problem is that to my knowledge they have been discontinued and replaced with a new version. So what tires are comparable? What are your experiences with them? Anyone know of any other R compound street tires?

[r1rider]

I am currently running the RE-01R replacement tires which is the RE-11 on my evo. The tires are great so far, about 5k put on them. I don't know how they compare with the RE-01R but I am buying another set for my Audi when it arrives in a couple weeks. Another tire I've had good experience with are the Yokohama S-Drives. I wouldn't hesitate to buy these tires again.

[MAlby7]

If you want another R compound tire check out the Falken Azenis RT-615. This is as close to a track tire as you can get for the street, but I've heard that the tread life is low and the rain traction is average:



I've also heard good things about the following tires:

BFG KDW2:


Falken FK452:


Michellin PS2:


Toyo T1R:


Nitto Invo:


Stay away from Dunlop SP9000, and the Kumho Ecsta SPT's I had were louder than most high performance summer tires.

[bunnn]

My car came with PS2's and they are amazing but very pricey. A lot of guys said that Vreds Sessanta is 90% performance of the PS2 and half the price. Personally, I'm going RE11 on my summers, maybe AD08's ..I'm not sure yet...

I've heard great things about Nitto's too, for it's price anyways...oh and if you're considering semi slicks..I believe nitto nt05 are pretty good for their price... of course you can be crazy and run on R888 or hoosier's all year round haha

[cassdesigns]

Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec FTW

or even

Advan Neova AD-08

[Siggiepop]

For R compounds. Toyo RA1 hands down.
For budget R compounds 615 is fine. Rain traction is fine for street (track not so much) and treadlife is typical of R compounds

[MagnusS4]

Stay away from Dunlop SP9000, and the Kumho Ecsta SPT's I had were louder than most high performance summer tires.

I've tried the Kumho Ecsta's and wasn't all that pleased. Switching the the Kumho's to Bridgestone's made the Kumho's feel like i was driving on ice all the time.

[MagnusS4]

My car came with PS2's and they are amazing but very pricey. A lot of guys said that Vreds Sessanta is 90% performance of the PS2 and half the price. Personally, I'm going RE11 on my summers, maybe AD08's ..I'm not sure yet...

I've heard great things about Nitto's too, for it's price anyways...oh and if you're considering semi slicks..I believe nitto nt05 are pretty good for their price... of course you can be crazy and run on R888 or hoosier's all year round haha

Nitto seems to be gaining popularity, has anyone had first hand experience with them?

For R compounds. Toyo RA1 hands down.
For budget R compounds 615 is fine. Rain traction is fine for street (track not so much) and treadlife is typical of R compounds

I've seen Toyo's popularity drastically increase in the past couple of years. But, I've heard both great things and horror stories about them. Can anyone confirm or deny this for me?!?

[ADCS]

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

[hoganalley]

I found the 452's to be a little loud. The Khumo's I had before were trash.....Audi's eat those things up faster than you can count to 10. I've gone away from the R's and am running Falken 912's right now. They do everything I need them to do and the rain grip is good. Relatively cheap too....talk to Allen at Simply Tire.

[Siggiepop]

I've seen Toyo's popularity drastically increase in the past couple of years. But, I've heard both great things and horror stories about them. Can anyone confirm or deny this for me?!?

S4 is purely for summer car? so for a fair priced R compound go with Falken 615 good for street and track.

Over in the subaru forms a lot of people will back up the RA1 but it is a competition tire you WILL need to warm them for it to be any good
For street they are overkill.
I personally would recommend them if you're willing to spend the $ and do some tracking.

They discontinued the RA1 and introduced the R888. I personally havent used the R888 but a lot RA1 users much prefered RA1 which is why they came back.

[SleeperAvant]

I had the BFG KDW2s. Although they were great in both dry and wet traction, they howled very loudly on the street, and esp. the highways.

am running Falken 912's right now. They do everything I need them to do and the rain grip is good.

They hydroplaned a bit too much in heavy rain for my liking.

[mianol]

A050 or A048 if u can still find a set =P

[MagnusS4]

Browsing through the prices of tires generally the Michelin PS2's are outrageously overpriced. I've heard nothing but good things from these tires but I can't justify spending almost $375-$400 for a non R compound tire. If I were to go that route (which I won't be) I'd just spend the extra $100-$150 difference for all 4 tires and get the Michelin PS Cup's. Call me crazy!

[Tanner]

Same here, I'm also trying to figure out what tires to get. I think I'm going to stick with the Goodyear F1 GSD3s. Sure they're a "bit old" compared to what's out there, especially that Michelin has the PS3s coming now. But price-wise, it's a big gap and I'm not going to really use all that grip/performance on a daily basis and I pretty happy with the previous Goodyears. $1110 from Simply Tire is pretty good.