Tire Review Thread

[NVP5White]

TIRE: Kumho ECSTA ASX

SIZE: 195/50-16

CATEGORY: Ultra High Performance All-season

REVIEW: Have just 4,000 miles on these after switching from stock Dunlops that were down to the wear bars.

Immediate first impression was:
+Quieter, smoother ride - less jarring over bumps, expanson joints, ect.
+Better braking
-Less precise turn-in!
-Slightly squirmy and unwilling to take a good 'set' in a turn
-Poor accelleration traction - both in turns and from a stop

After 4000 Miles:
+Much better in the rain and wet
+Much better braking performance
+Still very quite and smoother than Dunlops
+Good 'set' in turns now
?Better acceleration traction, but still not enough
+Predicatble with a high handling limit (for the stock suspension)

RECOMMEND: I would recoomend these tires. The biggest thing I miss from the stock tires is the VERY crisp turn-in. I think this is due to the tall treadbock of the new tire and will improve with time. I would reccomend the 205mm section width to improve acceleration grip; probably recommend the 45-series to ensure crisp turn-in if that's your thing.

 

[MyZmZm]

Tire: Nokian Hakkapellitta Q (now the RS1? I think)

Size: 195/60R15 (on steelies)

Category: Winter/Snow Tire

Review: I'm going into my third winter on these tires, and I love them as much as the day I bought them Are a 'true' winter tire (ie, the FULL tread is winter/snow rated, not just the outer 1/2) unlike Blizzak, etc. Being in Canada, we get a lot of variation in weather throughout the winter: we can go from -35 celsius to +10 celsius in a matter of days, with road conditions to match. Excellent in snow of all kinds - dry, wet, light, deep, slush - very good grip on icy roads, and good on dry pavement as well. Above 10 degrees celsius, they do start to feel a little 'sloppy' as compared to the summer wheels, but you can still corner at 50kph (this is most likely due to the higher sidewall). They don't wear out excessively fast in warmer conditions or on dry pavement like a lot of winter tires do. I likely have another 2-3 winters (after this one) left on the tires.

Recommended: Absolutely YES. I like them so much, I will probably never go to another brand of winter tire. (These are the first winter tires I've ever owned.)

 

[AznXstazy]

Hankook Ventus HRII 405
$65 each 215-40-17

Difference between these and stockers was night & day
very quiet, handles perfectly in wet/dry conditions
excellent tread life
~I like these so much I'll definitely buy them again -can't beat that price
-purchased from discount tire direct.

where did you get these for 65 each? at a local tire shop or on the internet? anyone know where to get good tires for cheaps locally? i dont want to go through the hassle of havin another bad tire n having to send it back to tirerack and tring to get a new tire.... thats why im not doin it this time and not going to order anymore tires from the net. bad experience.

 

[Canecreekfreak]

Since it's been a while, here's a new review:

Tire- Kuhmo Ecsta SPT
Size- 205/40YR17
Category- Ultra High Performance Summer
Review- I posted a review for the tire rack, the P5 from Roslindale. After a little more "spirited" use, I still like the way the handle, but think the sidewall could be stiffer for better cornering. They do handle corners well at high speed, but they could make me feel a little more confident closer to their limits. They're still very good in the wet- braking is very good and predictable. On the highway they're reasonably quiet at first, but I've noticed they have gotten louder with age. They're still pretty quiet, especially for such a low profile. And due to the softer sidewall, they absorb bump nicely, but again, it's still a 40 series tire, so it's no Cadillac.
I think there's probably newer designed tires out there that are better, but for the price, these are very good.
Recommended- Yes.

 

[anarchistchiken]

Whoever said the Paradas have horrible treadwear is out of their minds. I've now had mine on for almost 20,000 miles of fairly aggressive driving and it's just now getting to be replacement time.

Review of Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's in 215/45/17 coming soon!

 

[vindication]

paradas 2's do have bad treadwear. they're rated like 220 or something like that. I've had mine for a few summers and I need a set of new tires. But I'm going to try and see how far I can get on them

 

[anarchistchiken]

Yeah but there was somebody saying he was getting 5K miles out of em.

 

[ronin12]

first set: 225/40/18 Pirelli PZeroNero M+S only a few hundred miles, but happy so far, great grip, decent in the snow

second set: 225/40/17 Toyo Proxes 4 less miles than the Pirelli's, but love the grip it gave the car, increased my cornering speeds

 

[jimkiler]

Tire: Yokohama Avid H4S

Size: 205/45/16

Category: All season High performance

Review: I have only driven 600 miles on these tires but they are holding up in the MN winters so far. I wanted a tire that would last longer than the stock Dunlops and while I don't have a warranty the non 40 & 45 series have a 60K warranty. These tires word good in snow and rain so far. I have not had true dry conditions with all the sand on the roads.

Added: over 5,000 miles late...these tires handle so much better in wet conditions than the old Dunlops and are just as good on dry pavement.

Recommended: Yes so far so good
added: I would buy these again.

 

[Smork]

Tire: Fuzion Zri

Size: 215/45/17

Category: Ultra High Performance Summer Tire

Review: They were horrible when I first got them. I understeered every corner. About 2k miles into them, they started to grip. They are decent. I like my ST-115's better. Not too bad in water, but since they were advertised on Pimp My Ride, i wouldn't trust them. People like them, I'll stick with the big name brand tires with loads of reviews from people whom I can trust.

Recommend : sure. Good price, good grip later on.






Tire: Falken Azenis ST-115

Size: 215/45/17

Category: Ultra High Summer Performance Tire

Review: Great tire. Gripped until the wires were showing. I ran them to the ground. They wore out on me quite fast. (Even though I was REALLY aggressive on them)

Recommend: IF you can find them.. Yes.

 

[nealric]

I would like to note that the M+S rating on the proxes4 is an absolute load of horse crap.

I found them spinning like crazy on even the slightest of incline in only a dusting of snow. I feared for my life driving in a real snowstorm.

That said, they are decent tires and I like them for everything else- Since I run snow tires in the winter the snow performance is no big deal- just dont buy them thinking they will be anything close to a snow tire.

 

[vindication]

Tire: Nokian/RSi/195/55-15/winter
Driving Style: Conservative(after all this is winter and a winter tire with bad tread life)
Used For: Daily
Owned: I've had this tire since early december. about 1500 miles
Review: This is the best damn winter tire ever. Yesterday/today was the first time I was able to use it on snow(winter is weak this year) and it kicked ass. My friend called me cause his car couldn't make it up a hill and my car handled it like a champ. Even the blazer that was in front of me was having a rough time going over these steep ass hills. Also, this handles exceptional in the wet and in the dry unlike the blizzak ws-50(which was disqualified in one test cause of it's ubber poor rating in dry).
Recommendations: Ohh hell yeah. You will find no better winter tire on the market
Other: Only thing that sucks is that it is hard to get this tire. I know STS Tire has them. Also the life of these things supposedly isn't that great. You might get 4 winters out of them, 5 if you drive very little or a lot on the snow.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

bump for more reviews!

 

[nealric]

New tires:
Bridgestone potenza re750 in 17/40/205.

So far I am loving them (only have about 1.5k miles). The seem to grip considerably better than my proxes4 (they are a bit wider). Plus, at only $50 per tire at tirrack- I really cant think of a better deal (sale might be over though)

 

[ONRAILS]

Tire : BFGoodrich KDW 2
Size : 215/45/17

Category : Ultra Performance

Review : On Rails baby!!! Couldn't find a better dry tire out there. Wet is not bad either... 80mph and no hydroplaining. This is an awesome tire if you like "driving" your car. As you could tell by my signon name, I expect the best handling.

Pros: Great handling in dry and wet. Treadwear is outstanding for a tire like this.

Cons: Road noise. As the tire wears, the noise is louder. It is bearable, especially if you like listening to music.

Recommend : Definately

 

[FunkyBuddha]

paradas 2's do have bad treadwear. they're rated like 220 or something like that. I've had mine for a few summers and I need a set of new tires. But I'm going to try and see how far I can get on them

They are rated at 300-330 range. 220 is a low ball number.

 

[vindication]

oops, you're right it is 300. I knew this but for some reason wrote it down wrong. Either way, after a certain point the are not that good in the rain anymore but remain sweet in the dry. I think I was looking at other tires when I wrote that

 

[MyZmZm]

Tire: Falken FK-451, 215/45r17, ultra high performance summer only
Driving Style: aggressive: construction pylons = autox!!
Used For: Daily
Owned: since mid April, approx. 2000km
Review: I LOVE this tire. Great grip, awesome handling, next to no noise on the highway, and nearly impossible to break loose, even on cold wet pavement. Excellent on dry pavement, and very good in the rain. Snow? hahahahaha Not unless you like skating!
Recommendations: Most definitely. I'm interested to see what kind of tread life I get out of these; I'm hoping for 2-3 summers. Will try to post a review in the fall once I've taken them off.
Other: When I was looking for tires this spring, I did a lot of research, comparing many brands/models of tires including yoko spec2's and avs es100's, toyo proxes', various kumho's, fuzion, etc. This was the only tire I found that did not have one bad review, other than treadlife being a little on the short side, which is to be expected of a high performance tire. Also, if I'm not mistaken, I believe that this tire has been replaced by the FK-452. If so, I wonder how it will compare to the 451...

 

[Moonman8]

LOOKING FOR MORE REVIEWS OF KUMHO ECSTA 711 AND GENERAL EXCLAIM UHP (rated #1 in it's class at tirerack)

MY REVIEWS

Tire: Falken Ziex ZE-512

Size: 205/45/16

Pros: Excellent road manners. Smooth, quiet (highway and through corners), good cushion. Cheap (I picked mine up for $65 a tire). Great treadwear (360).

Cons: A little more sidewall flex and a little less grip than my old Yoko Paradas. Not much else to complain about.

Recommend: YES.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tire: Yokohama Parada Spec-2

Size: 205/45/16

Pros: Awesome dry grip. Very little sidewall flex. Looks great (if you care).

Cons: Noisy at all times and it gets louder as tire wears. Vibration also seemed to increase as the tires wore. Low treadwear (300 in this particular size). No cushion due to very stiff sidewalls.

Recommend: If you can sacrifice noise and ride comfort for great handling then yes I would recommend these. If you can't stand highway noise or hate feeling every pebble in the road, then don't get these tires.

 

[shane02pro5]

I was hesitant about the General Exclaim UHP. My last tires were Toyo Proxes 4's and at about 2000 miles the Generals traction is awesome. I have had traction issues since I put in my Hiboost kit on 60k miles ago and these are the best tires I have had wet or dry. I had the Kuhmo Ecsta 712's but the treadwear was lower and they were noisy after some milage. Generals are extremely quiet so far and the only complaint I have read was having a soft sidwall. I have 215/35/18's so sidewall issues are not noticable. Highest reccommendation at least in my tire size.