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Thread: Lets talk tires

  1. #1
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    Lets talk tires

    Well I'm looking into tires as spring is around the corner. I have been thinking of the BF Goodrich Rivals or one of the Bridgestone Potenza's. I want a street able tire but not sure what route to go. What have you had good luck with or looking forward to trying? I will be running 205/50 15 at all 4 corners.

  2. #2
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    I run Kumho Ecsta 205's in the rear, 195's up front with staggered weds bavarias. (7", 6.5" resp.) They are OK, not the most expensive, but I have been happy with mostly running dry asphalt traction and a little rain/snow slush action here and there. I think 205's on 7" rims might have interference issues up front without the right offset.
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  3. #3
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    No e30s, again :(
    my son has potenzas on his e30. they work great on dry but I have found they tend to slip on damp asphalt, surprisingly. I took his car one evening to run to the store and took my normal fun twisty route home and turned the car sideways around a turn that my other son's e30 has to go into really hot to lose traction (cheapy off brand tires on this car). and they are both 325e cars, neither is an I or sport model and both have automatics.
    No e30s again.

  4. #4
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    Ya I do expect them to not be as sticky in wet conditions and I dont plan on driving hard in the rain also (well for the most part). Plus I have a couple other cars I also drive that I can drive on crappy days.

    Only issue is I cant get both of these tire locally so I will have to order them. Witch is a bummer because I will then have to pay to mount and align as most shop will throw that in for free when buying tires from them.
    Last edited by pofo; 03-08-2018 at 01:58 PM.

  5. #5
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    Most shops can order any tires you want.

  6. #6
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    No e30s, again :(
    discount tire sells a lot on ebay. they are normally really cheap and shipping is free. not that it helps with the alignment costs but free shipping is free shipping
    No e30s again.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by tlapham View Post
    Most shops can order any tires you want.
    I wish that was true I have called three shops local to me and they cant get these threw any of there distributors.

    Quote Originally Posted by superj View Post
    discount tire sells a lot on ebay. they are normally really cheap and shipping is free. not that it helps with the alignment costs but free shipping is free shipping
    I dont mind spending the money that's not an issue, it's just the fact that they offer it for free and would like to use it to my advantage and saving money is also a plus. I started this thread to see what other had to say or recommend a tire they like on par with what I'm looking for.
    Last edited by pofo; 03-09-2018 at 11:53 AM.

  8. #8
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    im running bf goodrich sport comp 2s in 195/55/15s. they are sticky but also offer good traction in the rain. If you have a lot of negative camber you'll go through them quickly

  9. #9
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    There are a lot of choices in that size and if you are on the budget Dunlop Direzza and Yokohama S Drive are hard to beat. Light, sticky and priced well. Assuming you want high performance summer tire.

    I have had three sets of Bridgestone Potenzas (RE1's, 750's and 950's IIRC) and found them being on a heavy side, but otherwise pretty good.

    Max

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by mxl556 View Post
    There are a lot of choices in that size and if you are on the budget Dunlop Direzza and Yokohama S Drive are hard to beat. Light, sticky and priced well. Assuming you want high performance summer tire.

    Max
    I agree about the Dunlop Direzzas. Great HP Summer tire for the price in my opinion. I have them on both my E21s. Excellent dry weather handling but terrible on a wet surface.

  11. #11
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    Money is not an issue and yes I am looking for a high performance tire for the summer. I just installed rear camber and toe adjusters, so I should be-able to zero out everything.

    But I really wanted some R888R but im not trying to hydroplane when I get caught out in a rain storm if I happen to have the car out that day.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by pofo View Post
    Money is not an issue and yes I am looking for a high performance tire for the summer. I just installed rear camber and toe adjusters, so I should be-able to zero out everything.

    But I really wanted some R888R but im not trying to hydroplane when I get caught out in a rain storm if I happen to have the car out that day.
    Federal 595 RS-R are super capable and very affordable. Offer more water evacuation than the R888R as well should you get caught in the rain. I find they last longer than their 140 treadwear rating would suggest.

    Last edited by Heretic E21; 03-13-2018 at 06:18 PM.

  13. #13
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    I've heard good things on these tires from friends. Might have to look into them some more

  14. #14
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    82 E21
    Federal also offers one of the classic "plus zero" sizes for the E21 and 2002 = 205/60/13. Available in both the 595 and SS657.


    MJ

  15. #15
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    1983 e21, 2018 440i
    I'll be rolling kuhmos ecsta v720.
    205/50/15 front
    225/45/15 rear







    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  16. #16
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    I have been using those RSRR Federals in 15" sizes for my E36 track car and they are worth what they cost, for sure. I really liked them. Once the tread wears down by half, they scare me on the street in heavy rain. I have found the same thing with Nitto NT01 and other tires that don't have the typical 2 or 3 deep circular grooves all the way around as part of the tread pattern. The exception was the Advan Neova 08s, but i think that's because the rubber on those is just hard enough that I never managed to wear the tread down halfway!

    I tried the Potenza RE-71R. Very, very grippy and very, very responsive. It has two circle grooves and it seemed to do pretty well in heavy rain even after I had worn off a lot of the flame tread pattern.

    My problem with all of those is it gets below freezing here in the winter and they say not to store or use them at or near freezing. So I need one set of tires for tracking the E21 in the summer, and then another for street duty and the winter. BFG G-Force sport comp 2 sl is what I'm using for that now (195/205/15). And on the rears, I'm using Kuhmo Ecsta PS31s the moment 9205/50/15).

    And oh yeah, every time I try some kind of Kuhmo Ecsta, I'm really impressed with the value.
    Last edited by JBasham; 03-24-2018 at 12:03 PM.
    If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.

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