jasonrxeight

Sooo, time for new tires. the stock Bridgestone Potenza RE050A's have worn down almost to the bars and are showing some understeer when cornering hard.

I am a pretty aggressive driver and like to corner hard on public roads combined with some autocrossing and trackdays every once a while. the RE050A's have done around 16k miles, but I want something with even more grip but with a better price.

A friend of mine suggested Yokohama S. drive for its under $200 price and very good grip, and I kinda like it. However, I want to hear what you guys think. I don't drive on rainy days alot cuz I have a second car for DD, but I also want something that would last just a bit longer.

One last thing, stock tires are 225/40R19 on 19x8 wheels, if I go for 245/35R19, how will the become?

jasonrxeight

no one has used the S. drive?

Speed_8

I purchased the re760 bridgestones, and I love the tires awesome in the corners and I think they are also asymetrical.

dezau

iTrader: (3)

hankook v12s, conti dw, nitto invo all cheaper than the yokos and would be better.
245 would be fine, i had 245 40 18 when i still had my stock wheels

Ross_Dawg

iTrader: (2)

245/35/19 will work fine

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

Part of me wants to see how many of Speed 8's posts are telling people to buy those tires.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

^

I'm not sure how much it means to you but Shinkamami has gone through two sets of the Yokohama S drives in that size and she swears by them. She does drive aggressive but does not track her 8.

Oh, and when she had her clutch replaced they told her the reason was her tires were too sticky So that alone should convince you

Speed_8

lol lots, I'm a picky shopper I had the proxes 4 and hated them, or maybe I work for bridgestone

SpencerM1

iTrader: (1)

This is all based off my old 2000 Civic.

I've had two sets of ES100s, what the s-drive replaced, and one set of Yoko S-Drives. They are great tires and well priced but they had a bit of road noise. The first set of ES100s had horrible road nose after 50% wear. Horrible! The second set, v.2 we will say, had something done that lessened this issue. The s-drive version was better but still had some noise as they aged.

The grip with the S. Drive was some of the best that I have experienced. I had Kuhmo Estas (sp?), Pirelli p-zero nero (worst tire ever), and then the Yokohama ES100/s-drives. Wet traction was great on the s-drives to an alarming degree. I got about 25k per set on the Yokohamas on a lowered Civic with Koni Yeller/Comptech parts and proper alignment. I drove that car like I stole it.

The reason I wouldn't look towards Yoko S. Drives to replace these piece of **** Bridgstone RE050s that came on the R3 is the road noise. Tire wear on the S. Drive wasn't the best but it's over 20k which I consider good.

NOTE!! The Yokohama S. Drive tires have a rolled edge to the sidewall that took care of some rubbing issues I had on the Civic. The Kuhmo and Pirelli tires were more square which caused problems due to the lowering of the car.

Hope that helps...

SpencerM1

iTrader: (1)

This is what I have been researching for my next set.

245-35-19

Bridgstone (against my better judgement)
RE-11 $296
LINK
A lot of people really seem to like these tires.


Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 (expensive-ish) $381
LINK
A buddy who drove an 8 said these made a night and day difference between the stock, 2006, tires to the PS2's.

Yoko S. Drive $188!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LINK

50.6% increase from the Yoko to the Michelin... That being $376 w/o tax or shipping. You could almost buy six Yoko S.Drive tires for one set of PS2s... Interesting...


I might just get the S. Drive for price alone. Like I said I have only positive experiences with this line of tires from Yokohama. Plus Yokohama just sounds cool...

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

245/40/19 is the wrong size. Nitto invo have been good to me and they weren't too expensive

SpencerM1

iTrader: (1)

I've never known anyone to say Nitto was a good tire. In person at least...

Tire size corrected....... Links fixed......... Percentage increase fixed............................................. ......................................

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

I'm sorry. Do you not have many friends? JK. They've lasted me 20k on a car with some camber and still have a ton of life. They aren't race tires or anything but grip is decent an they arent loud. Pretty good in rain also. All IMO of course. edit: They also run a little wider than other tires I've seen which is cool by me.

dezau

iTrader: (3)

like i said before, good tire or not it's all subjective, based on what the driver's been driven and all that. i've had the PS2s and it was omg the sweetest thing on earth. then again its expensive as fuh. the nittos nt05 that i have now are much louder and much less comfortable, treads would be much less too. but i don't care cuz the performance is right on par with the michelins and still couple hundred bucks cheaper on 4 corners.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

I find Tirerack and other reliable sources to be much better for unbiased results on tires... Last place I would go for tire suggestions is RX8CLUB. Just sayin...

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

God invented forums for biased information and Tirerack is full of professionals.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

Hence the reason anyone looking for reliable information should for a more reliable source. The only people I would take information from is those who uses their car frequently as a track car.

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

Track information only helps so much on the street though. They are sticky when hot matters zilch on the way to work.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Tires are a funny thing. I have had most brands of performance tire and my current tires are low priced Hercules Raptis WR-1's. They are my second set and I love them. I have had expensive Nitto's, Bridgstone, BFgoodrich, Toyo's, Yokohama's, etc. and while some I loved, some of the expensive ones (Parada's on my Maxima come to mind) were terrible and not worth the premium price.

I hate to speak for other people but I will Grungepup is coming off of Goodyear Eagle GT F1's (wore out in only 8 months or so) and Michillin Pilot Sports (felts greasy and unplanted). He is now giving the Hercules a try.

It's like anything I guess, if you are happy with your purchase then that is all that matters.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

Well of course. If the tires considered by the consumer requires heat that cannot be provided by casual street driving then:
1: most performance figures on said tires are irrelevant

OR

2: if the OP plans on doing what the tires are purposely made for, track information is still relevant

dezau

iTrader: (3)

doesn't sound like track driving's the first priority

jasonrxeight

well, trackdays are expensive.

update, Ive been looking at some Hankook Ventus V12 tires. seen many good reviews on those and they are cheaper.

jasonrxeight

okay, new tires mounted and found problems.
because I fited 245 tires on 8 inch wheels, it feels the handling is not as tight as the 225 it had stock. the V12 seems to have softer side walls so when I change direction I could feel the car wallow.

SpencerM1

iTrader: (1)

How many miles did you end up with on the OE Crapstones?

jasonrxeight

my fronts were close to the wear bar after 17k, the rears had more meat.