Quality Replacement Dunlop! ?

[scott42]

Hey everyone, one of my buddies sent this to me knowing of the dunlops on our cars...
looks to be a great deal for the money from Tirerack...I apologize if this has been a topic before, but I'm pretty sure this particular tire has never been discussed...
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/dunlop/du_sp_fm901.jsp

Exerpt from VWVortex.com forum...(take into account, the GTI;s come with Michelins that are REALLY quiet and spongy feeling...

Hey All,
I just ordered a set of four SP Sport FM 901s from Eric last week and had them put on last Friday. Here are my early.......

They are a good looking set of tires. The tread pattern looks very aggressive and they have a stretched look. I concur with the others that the rim protector is the real thing. It may not stop curbag, but it will definitely prevent it.

On the road they are quite quiet. In fact they are about as quiet as stock Michelins. Comfort is very good. I was expecting a harsher ride and instead was mildly surprised with the very comortable ride of the tires.

Straight line grip is very good. The tires stick/grip well and it seems that they have a much softer compund compared to the stock Michelins. I hope they last a decent amount of time. In the turns they are decent, but I have made them squeal. Perhaps not the best cornering but for the price I'm not complaining. I ahve not yet driven them in the rain, so I can't comment on the wet traction. Overall, I am happy with my purchase and recommend these tires to other people.

Here's the link to the thread if anyone wants to check it out...and obviously, let us know if you know anything more about these...


http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?&id=326897

 

[javy212]

Blew out one of my stock Dunlops (damn New York City Man-Eating Potholes! :mad: ) So I was daring and went for the Dunlop FM901 215/45/17 and 17x7 +45 Mille Miglia Action Sport Wheels from TireRack.com. I should have them on by this weekend. I'll let everyone know how they are when I get them.

 

[APEXistud]

From the price of those tires, I'm willing to bet that they aren't comparable to the SP 9000. They'll do fine for the price, but I'd opt for the Kuhmo V700 or Yokohoma A520. But, it's nice to see you guys have found another replacement.

 

[javy212]

I've been doing a lot of research on lots of tires and I've found most people aren't impressed with the dunlop 9000 and the FM901 (which has been available internationally for a while now) supposedly outperforms the 9000 in dry conditions and is quieter.... While the 9000 is a great rain tire, I've been reading that in dry conditions there are definitely better tires out there for significantly less money. Just as an example, I've driven a car with Sumitomo HTRZ II's in 215/45/17 and I would unfortunately have to say that in dry conditions they are better handling tires (better cornering grip, better turn-in...). In wet conditions they are not quite as good, but I drive soo carefully in the rain that it doesn't really make enough of a difference for me. And the sumitomo costs ~$60-$80 less than the 9000 does. So while in general I would agree with your assumption that cheaper tires aren't as good, that is not always the case. That is definitely an assumption that needs to be qualitatively expanded on. Just IMHO.

 

[APEXistud]

Well, ufortunately the only way that tire can actually be test is through real testing, not through customer evaluations. I've read a lot of the reviews on tireracks site of tires and most of the customer reviews can be dismissed due to the fact that they're just customers speaking about their experience of the tires though daily driven applications. Sure the FM901 are probably fine, but like I said, one would be hard pressed to say that they out perform the sp9000. If you drive at the limits a lot that would be the only way I could think of that you can compare the strengths and weaknesses of different tires. I wish someone could do a shoot out between some of the top tires like Bridgestone or Toyo versus some of the cheaper performance tires, like Kuhmo and Falken.

 

[javy212]

The research that I did did not even consist slightly of those crap reviews at tirerack (although good for general characteristics of the tire, they give no indication of how the tires perform under hard driving at the limit). My research consisted of searches on the internet of people hwo actually owned the tire and drove it hard... takes a bit of time to do... and a friend who reads japanese characters And while you're right that the FM901 probably doesn't outperform the sp9000 overall, from what I read from various people that had driven on both tires or other comparable tires to the sp9000, the verdict was that in dry conditions, the FM901 can hang.... and from my personal experience, I've definitely riden on a better tire in terms of dry performance....

As far as that shootout idea, I would love to see something like that! Maybe I'll call up tirerack LOL