Need a Tire recommendation - The old question

[fhinner]

I need new tires for both my 2003-S2K and my wifes 2005-S2K (don't ask why ).

I'm trying to get a something for a reasonable price. So here the question does anybody have expirence with the following tires:

2003 (205/55-16 & 225/50-16):

Dunlop SP Sport FM901
BF Goodrich g-Force Sport
Yokohama AVID V45
Yokohama AVS ES100 (can anybody explain what the difference is between the V45 and ES100)
BF Goodrich g-Force T/A

2005 (215/45/17 & 245/40-17)

Dunlop SP Sport FM901
BF Goodrich g-Force Sport
Yokohama AVS ES100

My wife currently has the original Bridgestone on her car and I drive around on BF Goodrich g-Force T/As. As I do not have any expirence with the Dunlops and Yokohamas I'm trying to figure the expirience others made with these brands.

Any comment really appreciated,
Franz

[Halo]

I can tell you the ES-100 are pretty crap. Their marginal wet traction is not made up for by good dry grip like some high performance tires. I think the sidewalls are just too flexible (giving a softer ride) for a tire in this category.

I took a chance on them because they were cheap, but I'd stay away. I'm going back to S02's or S03s for my next tires.

[slimjim8201]

Halo is right. The ES100s are piss-poor. They are medium performance tires at best.

Seriously, the best performance tire on the market is the Goodyear Eagle GSD3. It provides 95% of the dry traction of the most expensive (and soft) tires out there and is KILLER in the wet. Upper-mid range in price, but you get what you pay for. Good tread wear rating too.

The Bridgestones are awesome tires. Both the S02s and the S03s. S02s are considerably softer than S03s and will wear faster. They also provide pretty much the best dry traction on the market without going to a street legal competition tire. Wet grip is sub-par. They have a tendency to hydroplane MUCH easier than S03s. Both tires are exceptional, however.

I would recommend the S02s or the Eagle GSD3s. The latter provides almost the same level of dry grip with more tire life and vastly improved wet performance.

[stereofool]

You might want to check out the Fuzion ZRi's...they are about half the price of the S02's, and their performance is probably around 90% of the S02's while dry, with decidely better wet traction.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ndex=0&place=0

[Sips]

Fuzions are made by Bridgestone and they are modled after the Bridgestone G009. I would say that your tire question can only be answered with more info about driving habits, weather conditions in your area, is the car a daily driver, and what kind of performance are you looking for? It is true that the Fuzions are inexpensive, but they do not come with a milage warranty. If you like that tire, step up to the Brigestone G009 you will like the improved performance and you will get a 50,000 mile tread life warranty to go with it, if I am not mistaken. Now the G009 is a very good general performance/all-season tire, but it may not be what you are looking for.

Now, that said, if you are looking for a good performance tire right now. I would stick with Bridgestone. They are making some of the best performance tires for the money, right now. I would stay as far away from Goodyear as possible, personal opinion, they just make an extremely soft tire, and I'm sure we can all agree that performance tires are already soft enough. I have heard good things about Toyo tires but I have no personal experience. I know that the BFG g-force t/a kdws are really good tires and I have heard good things about the g-force sport. We also know that Michelin make some the best performance tires on the market, but most of us do not want to pay for them.

So, back to Bridgestone. My girlfiend has a 2004 S2K and now has RE750s on the back and loves them compaired to the stock tires, which I think were RE050. Just to clue you in, she does not drive the car in the winter, she does not drive the car in the rain if she can help it, she babies the car, and only occasionaly gets on it. She says that the RE750s ride a little softer and stick to the road better. Now if you want a seriouse performance tire I would look at the new Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R for dry traction, Potenza RE050A Pole Position for dry and wet traction, or Potenza RE960A/S Pole Position for all-season performance.

That's just my two cents. Good Luck.

P.S. I would also stay away from Dunlops and Yokohamas, unless you went with Yokohama Advans. Bridgestones are still less expensive if I am not mistaken.

[fhinner]

Fist of all thank you very much to everybody for your response. As mentioned by most this all depends on driving and conditions. So I'm in Texas what means rain and snow is not a big deal and I wouldn't take the little "princess" out in that weather anyhow.

So I went for my wife, as the everyday driver, with Michelin (yea, the best is just good enough). The guy at the tire place actually told me the Michelins are not quit as good as the BfG g-Force Sports even that they are both made/constructed by Michelin.

I decided to go for the g-Force for my car, the car I baby and that spends a lot of time in the garage, when weather conditions are unpleasant.

So to make it short. The Michelins are an excellent buy if you would like to spend the money. They are excellent in the dry and great in the rain.

If you want a great performance tire the G-Force is more fun, much stickier and has super traction. However, I have been told right away that I cannot expect more then 10 - 15 K mile out of them while the Michelin probably last a good 20 - 25K miles. As the G-Force tires are less expensive and I just love to take the car for a spin I guess it is worth the money.

I have not checked into the Bridgestones recommended, but have to admit they are based on the expirence with the originals probably a pretty good choice. However, I heard from the dealer that the warrenty basically expires for you S02s or S03s as soon as you drive the off the lot (not sure if that is true), they are also pretty expensive and the Michelins come with all the bells and wistles.

So this is just my 2 cents. Hope this will help some of you.
Thanks again,
Franz

[jusm]

some things are not worth messing around with.. like tyres.. very important to stay stock..

here, have a read of this..

http://drive.com.au/Editorial/Articl...articleID=1520