Best all around tire... aka, most bang for buck!

[pro325]

What do you think is the best bang for the buck high perf summer tire out there for a e36 M3?
When I say all around, I mean a tire you could have on your M3 and drive to an auto-x event or track day and then drive back home without changing tires...
Would that tire be a Michelin SS or Star Spec or Federal 595?
Let me now!!!

[DrewSkii]

I have some Federal 595SS mounted right now that I daily and have tracked on twice at SoW on my e36 m3 (best times were 1.33 - both CW and CCW). They are definitely not a good tire to track. But as far as street driving, they do fairly well. I would suggest going more towards RS-R Federals, Still street tires and a lot stickier.
I've had Z2 starspecs and RS3's as well. I feel the Rs3's are the best I've tried.

Does anyone have any input on Nitto Nt05's? looking at getting these next in a 255/40/17 and really interested in what people have to say about them.

[pro325]

Federal 595 RSR at $100/ea for 235/40-17...
Tire Rack has Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric for $98/ea... and you can rotate them side to side.
I think I will, I think I will go Goodyear...

[jasonboes]

What do you think is the best bang for the buck high perf summer tire out there for a e36 M3? When I say all around, I mean a tire you could have on your M3 and drive to an auto-x event or track day and then drive back home without changing tires... Would that tire be a Michelin SS or Star Spec or Federal 595? Let me now!!!


I like what I see with the new Cooper RS3. I sel them and have been thinking about track testing them soon.

[pro325]

Cooper Zeon RS3S in 245/40-17 sold out!!! Demand?
What do others think of it?

[jasonboes]

As of right now I have 4 in stock at $143.00 a tire.

[bladerealm124]

Federal 595 RSR at $100/ea for 235/40-17...
Tire Rack has Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric for $98/ea... and you can rotate them side to side.
I think I will, I think I will go Goodyear...

Do you have links for either of these? $98 each in what size? All I see is a 45 sidewall. Did you just buy the last 235/40r17?
Also any comparisons of traction and tread life between these two tires? I'm considering them for my SC M3 daily driver for the summer

[sullypants1]

I have some Federal 595SS mounted right now that I daily and have tracked on twice at SoW on my e36 m3 (best times were 1.33 - both CW and CCW). They are definitely not a good tire to track. But as far as street driving, they do fairly well. I would suggest going more towards RS-R Federals, Still street tires and a lot stickier.
I've had Z2 starspecs and RS3's as well. I feel the Rs3's are the best I've tried.

Does anyone have any input on Nitto Nt05's? looking at getting these next in a 255/40/17 and really interested in what people have to say about them.

Where did you source the ZII star specs from? I've been trying to navigate jap ebay to no avail.

[DrewSkii]

Where did you source the ZII star specs from? I've been trying to navigate jap ebay to no avail.

I got them through a local shop, i'm not sure where they got them from at the time though. Don't they have them on TireRack now? I had a set of 235's if that makes any difference..

[pro325]

Do you have links for either of these? $98 each in what size? All I see is a 45 sidewall. Did you just buy the last 235/40r17?
Also any comparisons of traction and tread life between these two tires? I'm considering them for my SC M3 daily driver for the summer

Here you go, $118 each -$80 rebate on 4 = $98 each!!! I think this is a great deal, no?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+F1+Asymmetric+2&partnum=44YR7F1A2V2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

[sullypants1]

I got them through a local shop, i'm not sure where they got them from at the time though. Don't they have them on TireRack now? I had a set of 235's if that makes any difference..

Tire Rack thinks they will get them later this year, late summer/ early fall.

[MatthewH]

Would that tire be a Michelin SS or Star Spec or Federal 595?


How often do you want to buy tires?

The 225/45R17 and 215/45R17 Pilot Super Sports are tempting. Consumer reports didn't recommend any the UHP summer tires they tested as Best Buys. Track and street have very different requirements. Track use? Nitto NT01. Or maybe Hankook R-S3, Kumho XS, or BFG Rival. The Yokohama AD08R and RE11A are better choices for real street use. I don't think many would recommend the Federals RS-Rs or the Toyos R1Rs for track use. GT Radial Champiro UHP1?

[bladerealm124]

What do you guys think of some of the new UHP all season tires such as the Michelin Pilot A/S 3, the Hankook S1 Noble2, and Nitto Motivo? And also the Max performance summer Sumitomo Htr Ziii, currently $99 each for a 245/40r17 on tirerack?

[DrewSkii]

How often do you want to buy tires?

The 225/45R17 and 215/45R17 Pilot Super Sports are tempting. Consumer reports didn't recommend any the UHP summer tires they tested as Best Buys. Track and street have very different requirements. Track use? Nitto NT01. Or maybe Hankook R-S3, Kumho XS, or BFG Rival. The Yokohama AD08R and RE11A are better choices for real street use. I don't think many would recommend the Federals RS-Rs or the Toyos R1Rs for track use. GT Radial Champiro UHP1?

What's the best street tire i could use for track (not having ride quality/noise as a factor), that being said, with it being a budget tire.
I've actually heard good things about the RS-R's, but that's coming from heavier AWD cars, so maybe they aren't even decent on something like an e36?..

[MatthewH]

What's the best street tire i could use for track (not having ride quality/noise as a factor), that being said, with it being a budget tire.
I've actually heard good things about the RS-R's, but that's coming from heavier AWD cars, so maybe they aren't even decent on something like an e36?..
All the budget tires have some problem or another. For a lot of them it is wear when used on a track. From what I have heard the RS-R falls into that category. The Nitto/Toyo TW100 tires (RA1/R888/NT01/etc) all last well in track use and are reasonable good to use on the street. I've driven my Kumho V710s on the street, and those are even grippier and last well too. Hankook R-S3, Kumho XS, or BFG Rival all work and wear well on the track and might be slightly better than the TW100 tires for street use. The Dunlop Z1 Star Specs and ZII don't like a lot of heat, but if you stuff a lot of tire on those work pretty well. The best really dual use tires are probably the AD08R, RE11A, and Michelin PSS in order of decreasing dry grip.

Yokohama ADVAN Sport V105s have a $60 rebate right now. Those are fairly good PSS competitor more on the street side of the equation.

[Milney325]

What's the best street tire i could use for track (not having ride quality/noise as a factor), that being said, with it being a budget tire. I've actually heard good things about the RS-R's, but that's coming from heavier AWD cars, so maybe they aren't even decent on something like an e36?..

My Hankook Ventus V12's held up really well to track use last year. They lack the ultimate grip and crisp response of most of the other options mentioned here, but they'll last a fair bit longer as well. I did probably 8 track days and as many autocross events on mine, plus a whole summer of daily driving before they hit the wear bars. They're really cheap as well.

[pro325]

The single most important factor in getting the most out of a set of tires, is the ability to rotate side to side.
This fact puts all of the directional type tires such as the Star Specs at a big disadvantage in my opinion.
That said, I believe the BFG Rival, RE11A, Michelin PSS can be swapped side to side and would be better if one is trying to get the most out of your dollars...

[pDubs]

You can always just have the tires dismounted and flipped over when rotating them side to side (on directional tires). The biggest problem is asymmetrical tires that have an "inside and outside" only and cannot be flipped. My toe was a little off and I wore out the inside a bit on a set of tires with a lot of treadlife left. That sucked haha

[pro325]

Which one would you buy for summer tire if the choices available were below? They are all in the $100 to $125...
Kumho Ecsta LE Sport
Yokohama S.drive
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2
Continental ExtremeContact DW

For $20 more, you could get this, worth it?
Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position

[bladerealm124]

Which one would you buy for summer tire if the choices available were below? They are all in the $100 to $125...
Kumho Ecsta LE Sport
Yokohama S.drive
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2
Continental ExtremeContact DW

For $20 more, you could get this, worth it?
Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position

I just went through a very similar decision and ended up going with the S-04 pole position after looking at the Goodyear F1 A2, BF Goodrich Comp-2, and Sumitomo HTR Z III. I had also had the Yokohama S-drives previously and while they were decent I think there are better tires for the money. After reading through several reviews and comparing data from all of tires racks tests I ranked them as follows (price based on Tire rack 245/40r17)
1. S-04 Pole Position $140 (normally $180)
2. BF Goodrich Comp-2 $109
3. Goodyear F1 Asymmetric 2 $117 (normally $155)
4. Sumitomo HTR Z III $99

I made the decision based on the fact that the S-04 was heavily discounted and on par with the Pilot SS. It ranked second in the Max performance survey, had the highest reviews of all the tires above, tied for second in tire racks test, was non-directional and symmetric. The BF Goodrich was a close second since I could find almost no fault with them besides some noise between 30-40mph and directional design. The F1 Asymmetric seems to be a close third but I found some reviews complaining of sidewall softness and weakness. The Sumitomo are great for the money but for the extra $10 I was going to go with the BFG Comp-2, if the S-04 weren't on sale I would have gone that route.

I'll be picking them up from Tire Rack today and will post my thoughts once I install them. I will be mounting and balancing them myself for the first time using Harbor freight mounter/balancer. Any tips are appreciated!

[MatthewH]

An effective way to save a little money is to be flexible in the tire sizes you are looking at. Slightly narrower tires respond faster and are less likely to hydroplane too. 225/45s are good on 8.5" wide rims. Most of these all have pretty soft sidewalls.