Help me pick a tire for my size without much selection

[marlinspike]

Anybody have any thoughts on the following tires:

Hankook Ventus RS-2 in 245/45-16
Fuzion ZRi in 245/45-16
Yokohama ES100 in 245/45-16

the following are all 245/50-16
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3
Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval
Kelly Fierce UHP
Cooper Zeon XS2
Bridgestone RE960AS

Right now I've got 245/50-16 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S on the car. My biggest complaint is the sidewalls are too soft (give too much when turning), but also I could always use more grip.

245/50 and 245/45 are both close to my speedo (/50 is 1.4% too big /45 is 2.4% too small, both are close enough). If any of those 245/45 tires are just as good as the best 245/50 tire, I'd choose the 245/45 to get that little bit more acceleration.

[ZIPNBYE]

245-45-R16 Toyo Proxes T1-R or the 245-45-R16 Hankook Ventus RS-2.

[Jim@tirerack]

The tires you mention are all over the board as far as performance. In the 245/45R16 the Hankook is the best handling. Of the tires you mention the Bridgestone is going to be all season and give the best ride quality and longest tread life. The Goodyear is the best all around handling tire but will not work in the cold.
If I can help let me know.

[marlinspike]

Yeah, the only reason I mentioned the Bridgestone is in case someone tells me that the rest of them aren't really any better, then I might as well get the more comfortable tire that I know (brother has them on his e39 540). I'm willing to give up comfort for better performance, but I'm not willing to give up comfort for no reason.

On the temperature thing - I was thinking now that I'm in a climate where it never gets below 40 (we're already back to averaging in the low 50s), I could get Summer tires and leave them on year round, no?

I like that the Toyo T1R will let me do a 245/45 (like I said, one of my biggest complaints with these Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's is the sidewalls are too soft) versus the Goodyears 245/50. I also like that the Toyo is 5lbs lighter than the Goodyear, but the T1R did really poorly in the Car & Driver test and I wonder if that's not made up for by those differences.

How do the Yokos compare? Those are 3lbs lighter than the Goodyears. I know in the TireRack comparison test the Fuzion did the same as the Yoks in the dry and better in the wet, but those Fuzions were 2lbs lighter than those Yoks, and in my side the Fuzions are 2lbs heavier than the Yoks (also I just noticed the Fuzions are A traction rated, not AA).

I want something that can be used at autocross but can also be used as a daily driver - that's why for instance the Toyo R888 isn't on there - I don't want something where I am down to almost no grip because it's 50 degress and raining and I'm not on a prepped surface. I worried that the Hankook may be this same way. Also, in the C&D test it looks like the Hankook is no better than the Goodyear in the dry and is much worse in the wet, which seems to be corroburated by looking at the TireRack tests.

BTW, I think on the TireRack recommended installers page you guys should include a check off for having a Hunter Roadforce balancer and a check off for having the 2 piece european wheel weights.

[Jim@tirerack]

For how you are driving the car I would lean to the Hankook of the tires we carry. By going to the 245/45R16 you are going to get less lean in the sidewall in cornering.
If I can help let m know.

[mrmojo37]

I use this site to determine different tire sizes in relation to stock sizes.
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[marlinspike]

Local Cooper dealer said not to buy the Coopers, so I guess that crosses that off the list.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Hankook vs the Yokohama...just that a made in Korea tire outperforms the Japanese one is hard for me to understand, lol. Another thing that's keeping me from going with them on your recommendation, Jim, is that in both the TireRack and Car & Driver tests the Hankook sucked at braking - any thoughts on that?

These tires have a month or 2 on them so I have some time to decide.