Need Summer Tire suggestions...Please

there are four 17 in. RE-70s in the tire pile at EG. I took them off my rotas. they hold air, they stick to the pavement. They are noisy and twitchy. RE-70s are made by the Devil himself. I hate them! Free for you, dont mess up my pile!

there are four 17 in. RE-70s in the tire pile at EG. I took them off my rotas. they hold air, they stick to the pavement. They are noisy and twitchy. RE-70s are made by the Devil himself. I hate them! Free for you, dont mess up my pile!

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haha thanks for the heads up but I think they would fit a little funny on the 18's lol.

If you`re looking for a good all around summer performance tire I have no complaints with my oem 18" Potenza RA050A tires. I believe the newer version is RA050A Pole Position.

Ill take the re070's please. I really really need some to get me by for a few months.

Autoxers actually like the 245/45R17

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Do we? Last year the top dogs all ran star specs in the 235/40R17 Star Specs. That's also what I ran and thought very highly of the tire. The gearing advantage vs the width were better for most drivers and it proved to be the faster tire size.

Anyway with that said you've got a bunch of tiers of tires here that have been mentioned...so let's sum it up.

A+ Grip levels, some tradeoffs in streetability, but your nuts right?

* Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec

* Bridgestone RE-01R or RE-11 (new version of the 01R)

* Yokohama Advan Neova

* Toyo 1R1

* Kumho Ecsta XS

B+ Grip levels, old top dogs.

* Falken Azenis RT-615

C+ These are more normal, still great grip levels, but usually more liveable too.

*Kumho MX

*Bridgestone RE070

*Hankook Ventus RS2 or RS3 (although these are closer to a C rather than a C+)

These are the grippiest summer tires out there. Anything else mentioned in this thread has less static grip than anything I've put up above. There's also another category of tires though, that i've had good experiances with. And feel are good values too, but they're not nearly at the level of the tires above. Those are:

*Kumho Ecsta SPT

*Fuzion ZRi

*Avon M500

The above post is made on experiances i've had at auto-x events combined with the results of others. In many instances the tires have all been capable of winning an street tire class at a national level competition which proves they are head and shoulders above the rest. Basically decide how crazy you want to be and go for it!

Here are the lap times for the Star Spec, RE-01R, AD07, and RS2:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=107

Here are the lap times for the BFG Super Sport A/S with 400 tread wear:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=106

Note that the BFGs are faster in the wet than the RE-01Rs and only .07 seconds behind the RE-01Rs in the dry and the BFGs beat the RS2s on both counts. Since the BFGs last twice as long that's like getting 2 sets for the price of one with progressively better performance as the tread depth gets lower.

Here are the lap times for the Star Spec, RE-01R, AD07, and RS2:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=107

Here are the lap times for the BFG Super Sport A/S with 400 tread wear:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=106

Note that the BFGs are faster in the wet than the RE-01Rs and only .07 seconds behind the RE-01Rs in the dry and the BFGs beat the RS2s on both counts. Since the BFGs last twice as long that's like getting 2 sets for the price of one with progressively better performance as the tread depth gets lower.

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wow.. the BFG's are pretty cheap too.. 115 on tirerack.... thinking about these now

BFG's are what ken block used in the gymkahana vid too. Man I was thinking about getting some 275's for my car and then I saw some in person. Man those things are huge hahaha. What do you guys think the maximum tire size we can fit without have to modify thing to much. I dont mind rolling fenders.

BFG's are what ken block used in the gymkahana vid too. Man I was thinking about getting some 275's for my car and then I saw some in person. Man those things are huge hahaha. What do you guys think the maximum tire size we can fit without have to modify thing to much. I dont mind rolling fenders.

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I'm going to go with a 235. still look bigger than stock but wont rub for the most part.

The 255 as mentioned above seems like it might cause some issues without major modifications.

This site helps put a visual to the differences in tire sizes and what the actual numbers mean and what the size diff does to your speed.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I couldn't believe how big 275's acctually are. They are like 2 tires put together. So 245 might be where its at.

BFG's are what ken block used in the gymkahana vid too. Man I was thinking about getting some 275's for my car and then I saw some in person. Man those things are huge hahaha. What do you guys think the maximum tire size we can fit without have to modify thing to much. I dont mind rolling fenders.

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The best WRX tuners in the area are here:

http://www.dentsport.com/

Here are the lap times for the Star Spec, RE-01R, AD07, and RS2:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=107

Here are the lap times for the BFG Super Sport A/S with 400 tread wear:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=106

Note that the BFGs are faster in the wet than the RE-01Rs and only .07 seconds behind the RE-01Rs in the dry and the BFGs beat the RS2s on both counts. Since the BFGs last twice as long that's like getting 2 sets for the price of one with progressively better performance as the tread depth gets lower.

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In reality though, a 400 treadwear allseason is not going to touch the tires I mentioned.

Show up at an auto-x with those BFGs and get fisted...then you'll understand.

I couldn't believe how big 275's acctually are. They are like 2 tires put together. So 245 might be where its at.

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Is Dan's black M0NST3R car still around? Last time I saw it a couple years ago he had 255s on stock 8" rims and it looked verrrry beefy.

BFG's are what ken block used in the gymkahana vid too. Man I was thinking about getting some 275's for my car and then I saw some in person. Man those things are huge hahaha. What do you guys think the maximum tire size we can fit without have to modify thing to much. I dont mind rolling fenders.

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Depends on your wheel offset and how lowered you are. 275s will fit most '04+ WRXs/STis if you do it right. 235s or 245s are probably the sweet spot for street rubber, with your amount of power and other mods.

RS2 $122 ea

Direzzas $145 ea

Kumho XS $148 ea

ZRi $99 ea

Azenis $129 ea

Those are the most bargain basement of the ones I mentioned. Worth noting I have 4/32 left on my Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs after a full season of auto-x and 10,000 street miles. Most impressive! Just to give an idea when i used race tires the previous season I went through two sets in one season. These cars are heavy, powerful, and love to eat tires in events like that. I'd wager in normal street driving you could get a good 25,000-30,000 out of a set of them.

The best WRX tuners in the area are here:
http://www.dentsport.com/

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Notice my signature

I think im going to do 245 direzza star specs

-----Added 4/27/2009 at 01:34:45-----

Is Dan's black M0NST3R car still around? Last time I saw it a couple years ago he had 255s on stock 8" rims and it looked verrrry beefy.

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Yea I saw him not to long ago. He was upgrading his exhaust to a 4" because the 3" was slowing him down. That thing is nasty.

Sorry to thread jack ryan. So how low do you guys think I should be going. I know subbies dont handle well slammed but I am really tempted. Its never going off road and it does look nasty.

one of the built-in limits of the impreza's strut-type suspension is that it changes camber thru its range of motion.

this makes going to super fat tires a real problem--as the miles pile up that camber change means you chew up either the inner or outer tread edges depending on how you set static camber

235-245 gives you a decent tradeoff between added grip and acceptable tread life. you could run 275s given the right wheel offset and bit of lip tweakage, but unless you take out most of the suby's wheel travel you'll eat up them pricey meats faster than your checkbook will like. and if you limit the suby's wheel travel, it'll ride and drive like a slammed honder -- wtf would anyone want that?

the fatties do look badass tho. but for street use they're kinda dumb, really.

a decent HiPo all season is the Nitto Neo Gen. we had them on the old GLi

235's are a decent tire size for a subie. but if you commute a long distance don't go wider.

Notice my signature

I think im going to do 245 direzza star specs.

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They make a 245/40 now Kick ass!

They make a 245/40 now

Kick ass!

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was just about to post up that this is the size i think i am settling on haha.. way ahead of me!