Official Non OEM Tire Thread
- Thread starter hyperpm
- Start date
funksilver07
Member
- :
- 2007 Sunlight Silver Mazdaspeed 3 GT
225/45/18 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec on stock wheel, all positive. I have no negative's with this size. No rubbing issues and the Dunlops perform great all the way around.
Cooper Zeon ZPT- stock tire size (215/45/18??? Can't remember now)
Pros- supposedly decent treadwear, though I haven't had them long enough to find out.... Excellent cheap price ($113 a tire in my neck of the woods).... Tread is rated for mud and snow....smooth ride and somewhat quiet
Cons- low speed rating (89H?) and probably not the quietest tire on the market, nor the smoothest ride
The dealer had put two of these of the front when I bought mine used, so i went ahead and puchased the back ones from my local tire guy. Had I had a choice for all 4, I might have selected a different tire, but now that I have these ones, I might look more seriously at the Cooper brand from now on.
Hope this helps!
~James
Pros- supposedly decent treadwear, though I haven't had them long enough to find out.... Excellent cheap price ($113 a tire in my neck of the woods).... Tread is rated for mud and snow....smooth ride and somewhat quiet
Cons- low speed rating (89H?) and probably not the quietest tire on the market, nor the smoothest ride
The dealer had put two of these of the front when I bought mine used, so i went ahead and puchased the back ones from my local tire guy. Had I had a choice for all 4, I might have selected a different tire, but now that I have these ones, I might look more seriously at the Cooper brand from now on.
Hope this helps!
~James
kwsmithphoto
Member
- :
- 2009 Mazdaspeed3
I just put the same Star Specs on my 2009 MS3, and after 300 miles they don't have the cornering grip that my beat to crap stock tires had.
I'm giving them another 200 miles - if they don't start hooking up I'm gonna pull them.
Very good power traction though, and very good ride quality, but they're still greasy in turns, but that's slowly improving.
I've got Koni FSD's and that big Tri-point RSB, though. If the cornering grip doesn't come to me in the next week or so, I'm gonna lose a lot of money and get something else. Maybe they just don't work with my suspension setup, I don't know. I've never had to wait this long for a new tire to scrub in but it's getting ridiculous...they do slide well, but the threshold is really low at this point. The car was faster on the stock tires for sure.
I'm giving them another 200 miles - if they don't start hooking up I'm gonna pull them.
Very good power traction though, and very good ride quality, but they're still greasy in turns, but that's slowly improving.
I've got Koni FSD's and that big Tri-point RSB, though. If the cornering grip doesn't come to me in the next week or so, I'm gonna lose a lot of money and get something else. Maybe they just don't work with my suspension setup, I don't know. I've never had to wait this long for a new tire to scrub in but it's getting ridiculous...they do slide well, but the threshold is really low at this point. The car was faster on the stock tires for sure.
SpeedKnight
Member
- :
- 2007 Sunlight Silver MS3
225/40/18 Toyo Proxes4 on second set of wheels for winter use. Not bad either way for an All Season Performance Tire. Meaning they actually grip nicely, not too much diff than OEM, and they handle 1-2 inch of snow well. Much more snow than that and I just hibernate. The one con I have is they are much more harsh on bumps than OEM. Maybe 225/45 would be better.
MikeHTally
Member
- :
- 2008.5 Speed3, 2006 Chrysler 300C, 2003 Ram 1500
225/45x18 Yokohama YK520s here. Good wet/dry grip and good lateral grip. Good treadlife expectation, as well.
225 40 18 goodyear eagle GT on stock wheels. I mainly got these because I'm getting, track/show wheels and wanted to get a nice HP all season tire with a good treadwear rating. These tires stick just as good as kumho MX's, well after a little bit of warming up. I might actually get these on the other wheels I'm getting. They're on the cheap side also
chief_wiggum
Member
- :
- 2008.5 Mazdaspeed3-2010 Mazda5 GT
yep; my 'winter' set is 225/40 (goodyear F1 allseason) (pic next to stock)
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123740513
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- 13 MX-5
BFGoodrich G-Force Sports (stock wheels) 225/45's
Pros - Grips good in dry, quiet when pushed hard, tons of tread, priced decent
Cons - Sucks in the wet, some tire noise, kind of soft sidewalls
Kuhmo SPT (RX-8 wheels) 225/40's
Pros - Grips almost as good as the G-Force Sports, tons of tread, cheaper then the G-Force Sports (in 225/45's), decent in the wet
Cons - Some tire noise, loud when pushed hard, kind of soft sidewalls
Pros - Grips good in dry, quiet when pushed hard, tons of tread, priced decent
Cons - Sucks in the wet, some tire noise, kind of soft sidewalls
Kuhmo SPT (RX-8 wheels) 225/40's
Pros - Grips almost as good as the G-Force Sports, tons of tread, cheaper then the G-Force Sports (in 225/45's), decent in the wet
Cons - Some tire noise, loud when pushed hard, kind of soft sidewalls
Thanks for the input guys! Checked tirerack and there doesn't seem to be that many choices for our stock rim size. I want more treadlife, under $200, and something good in wet since it's a daily to work and dropping kids off in the morning. Anyone try Hankook Ventus?
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- 13 MX-5
If you're getting tires at TireRack, they have a closeout on the Hankook RS-2's. In 225/40/18's, there going for $99. That's dirt cheap. They're just as good as the Falken Azenis RT-615.
Nliiitend1
Member
It's my opinion that they're almost as good as the RT-615 in the dry, but slightly better than the RT-615 in the wet.
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- 13 MX-5
I based that from the reviews and what I've heard. Thanks for your review too. And yes, they would seem to do better in the wet.It's my opinion that they're almost as good as the RT-615 in the dry, but slightly better than the RT-615 in the wet.
MazdaSpeeder
Member
- :
- Protege5 (5-spd)
kneedragger241
Member
My Setup:
Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec 245/40-18 on 18X8 +50 Volk GT-C
Rubbing? Yes. Fender rolling is a must.
Straight line acceleration, launching is great. Cornering is fantastic and wet weather driving is confidence inspiring. They are much quieter than my last set of tires. I will buy these again.
I've got about 4000 miles of combined highway/spirited driving on these (To be honest, all my driving is spirited. Sorry, Officer.) and I've rotated them once so far. The first treadwear "dot" was just starting to fade away on the fronts. I've learned the clutch in this car better, so I'm not destroying the tires on launches anymore.
Huh?!?!
I think the Star Spec is the best street tire I've ever driven on!
Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec 245/40-18 on 18X8 +50 Volk GT-C
Rubbing? Yes. Fender rolling is a must.
Straight line acceleration, launching is great. Cornering is fantastic and wet weather driving is confidence inspiring. They are much quieter than my last set of tires. I will buy these again.
I've got about 4000 miles of combined highway/spirited driving on these (To be honest, all my driving is spirited. Sorry, Officer.) and I've rotated them once so far. The first treadwear "dot" was just starting to fade away on the fronts. I've learned the clutch in this car better, so I'm not destroying the tires on launches anymore.
Huh?!?!
I think the Star Spec is the best street tire I've ever driven on!
