It's time to buy new tires for the prelude, but Im really stuck on what to buy. I don't really trust the online reviews. Everything thinks the tire they bought were a great choice, so it's hard to distinguish from the people who KNOW what to look for in a tire, compared to consumer joe who thinks his new radials really hug the twisties.
Here's my delemma. I've do AutoX my car 1 event a month (was 2 events a month last year, but they've moved it to a once a month even this year). I'll also be doing a track day in April. Other than that, the car is my daily driver.
I would like a sticky tire, but Im not willing to sacrifice tire life in order for a SUPER sticky tire. IE I looked quickly into the Azenis RT-615 but with a treadwear of 200, I'd eat through those in no time. I'd like something that is fairly sticky(ie I want a summer tire), and will give me good performance at AutoX. I don't have the money or time to compete with the big boys and R-Compounds, but I can still remain relatively competitive in my class with my current mods and a stickier set of tires. Again, Im looking for a compromise between tire wear, and stickyness.
I will drive these through the winter (very mild). So a decent wet traction would be nice, but I know how to drive a car in heavy rain, and are more looking to make sure I've got good dry and damp performance, with a decent tire life (ie dont' want to be replacing these in under 1.5 years)
I've looked @ a few tire selections so far. What are your thoughs.
Oh..Lastly, I'll be putting these on the stock rims. I was thinking of going with OE size (205/50/R16) or a slightly SMALLER tire diameter of 205/45/R16. Thoughts on this would be nice as well.
I'm not really a Honda person anymore, but I do follow the Subaru discussions quite closely. The one very clear message I am getting : The Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R is crazy awesome. Everyone who is auto-xing their daily is buying a set. They aren't cheap, but I think everyone agrees they are the tire to get if you want to win. Even the Tirerack guys show this tire as their top choice for street/auto-x useage.
I've been rocking BFgoodrich G-force sport and I like them a lot. Very sticky and treadwear rating was 340 I believe and they are z-rated. If you're gonna be encountering a good amount of rain I'd even suggest the BFgoodrich KDW, they're a little lower on treadwear but they're killer in water and the tread pattern is pretty nice on the eyes too
toyo t1-r's are good. also check out the falken azenis st115, better treadlife than 615 almost as good traction.
i was about to say the same thing..azenis are great tires for the money
__________________ "Go Low Or Go Home" ...I LOVE MY HONDA[s]...
1997.5 Honda Civic HX Coupe SOLD 1/5/2007
1998 Honda Prelude Base -UNDER CONSTRUCTION...again.
Curious what peoples thoughts are on the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1. From what I've read, they are getting awesome reviews. Their stiff sidewall are very good for AutoX, and from what I can tell, are just slightly more expensive than the Kumo's I was looking at. Others don't seem to complain about the treadlife like they do with similar tires like the RT615s. Apparently decent wetn traction as well. Some even say these outperform the REO1NR's (and they are WAY less the price).
Thoughts? I think I may have come to my decisions between the Kumos SPTs, the Direzzas, or the ST115's that you're mentioning above.
Another vote for the Bridgestone RE-01R's. We are getting about twice the tread life out of the RE-01R's than the RT-615's, and the sidewalks are a little softer which helps with the everyday ride.
Im looking for a 205/50/R16 for stock rims. I may bump up to a 215/50/R16. I had thought about going with a slightly lower profile tire on the stock rims, but with the way my car sits after being lowered, I'll stick with it this way.
I am rocking the Ecsta SPT's on my BBS rims and they perform alot better than my last set of bridgestones that I bought. The Ecstas get a little crazier in the rain though compared to my old bridgestones.
I am not doing anything like autox, but I am thinking spt because I ll only be going to a couple drags this summer... I am still undecided... maybe get the SPT because of price. As for you, by the sounds of it the bridgestone might be the best option.
I am not doing anything like autox, but I am thinking spt because I ll only be going to a couple drags this summer... I am still undecided... maybe get the SPT because of price. As for you, by the sounds of it the bridgestone might be the best option.
I think ill be going with the bridgestone since they have the higher tread rating...
Just FYI, wear ratings (what I think you meant) are a complete joke. There is no federal standard for tread or wear, so what you get is whatever the manufacturer thinks makes sense. They literally just make stuff up. What you usually get is what the manufacturer believes makes sense according to their entire available product line.
I'll never forget Falken designating the original Azenis design as a wear rating of "A" (can't remember specifically), just so they could qualify as a legal tire for SCCA Street Tire classes. Those tires wear out after about 10k miles of normal driving, which was kinda rediculous.
I'll never forget Falken designating the original Azenis design as a wear rating of "A" (can't remember specifically), just so they could qualify as a legal tire for SCCA Street Tire classes. Those tires wear out after about 10k miles of normal driving, which was kinda rediculous.
They had to have a 140 tread wear rating or higher to meet Street Touring Classes. I agree that they didn't last that long on the street, but I don't think the tread life was last far from the normal.
I can't comment on all of the brands, but I can comment on the Bridgestone RE-01R's and the tread life is much greater than either the original Falken (RT-215) and the new Falken (RT-615).
The RE-01R is great. Have them on my Miata. The problem is they don't come in a Prelude friendly 16" size.
To the OP - I would avoid the 205/45 as it may not have enough sidewall for the heavy Prelude plus it will hurt your highway gas milage. And a 215/50 will cause some decrease in acceleration due to being taller. How much? I dunno.
I would suggest checking out the Goodyear GS-D3 in the 205/50/16 or the Falken FK-451 in 225/45/16 or Hankook RS-2 in 225/45/16.
__________________ Paul
1990 Mazda Miata - #181 STS2
1999 Crystal Blue Base - Retired to Daily Driver
What ever you get you will have to let me know what you think of them. My Toyo Proxes 4s wont have too much life left in them by the end of summer. That first auto-x seemed to eat the tires some. But I think that might be because I did a fair bit of spinning the tire off the start. Especially after you recomended launching at 4k rpm.... Ok, maybe it was just me that let the clutch out way to fast. Either way, see you there next Saturday.
I forgot to mention, I just bought Dunlop Direzza Z1s today from The Tire Rack. They're easily on par with the Azenis RT-615 and the REO1R. I don't expect I'll get a ton of treadlife out of these, but they are sure going to be sticky!
Im hoping to have them here by next Friday at the latest so I have time to get them mounted and then take em for a harder drive on Friday night to try to get them scrubbed in for AutoX so im not trying to AutoX on brand new tires with mold release agents still on them :S
i would go with falken azenis although ive heard that the hankook vs2's rival theyre performance and are somewhat cheaper, in the end its all up to you but as far as bang for the buck, ive never had a better tire than the azenis.
The Azenis were not only more expensive, they will also wear faster. According to all the tests done by TTR as well as others, the RT615's are only VERY VERY marginally better than the Direzza Z1's in ultimate dry traction, and were actually WORSE in slightly wet traction. So for that reason I chose the Direzza Z1. My driving isn't to the point where I would sink that kind of buck for slightly more dry grip, and if I was I would just got for an Rcomp tire.
I ran a quick search on here and I didn't find anything about the Yokohama S. Drive tires. Has anyone on here tried these? I think I'm going to start up AutoX, but it won't be too often. The online reviews are great, but again, I'm not sure who actually knows what they're talking about. Sorry for reviving a fairly old post, but hey, at least its not from 6 years ago
