tires and wheels Tire Choice Opinion

[burndog]

I am needing to replace my Yokohama S Drives (195x50x15) and I am considering the SDrives again and or the Dunlop Direzza II's or the Toyo Proxxes R1R's.  I am looking for high traction and steering response and to be used primarily on aggressive street driving on back roads and some occasional autocross events, plus possible performance driving school  / time attack track days.  Price aside, have any of you had experience with any of these tires and have any of you had experience comparing these tires on your cars?

 

Your opinions and thoughts are appreciated, as always.

 

BURNDOG

[roadhog0]

I personally like the S.Drives. I havent driven with the proxes but I've seen them and if I remember correctly they are much stickier. Reason I drive with the Yoko's is they do good in all weather (snow is meh...). But they're good in the rain, which we have lots of in WA... 

 

My $.02

[ray_]

I like my R1Rs. They may not last all that long though. Previously I had T1Rs which were very nice but I think flat-spotted from way too much sitting and became impossible to balance. Or there was an internal fault which produced that. I can't compare them to Yokos or others, no direct experience. You might wade through Tirerack reviews.

 

Cheers,

[M3M3M3]

R1R's and direzza's are in a much higher league than the s.drives.  s.drives are a great street tire and probably the best bang for the buck you can get for sporty street driving.  the other two are auto-x tires that sacrifice treadwear and some wet traction for dry traction.  they make great street tires too, but do not expect them to last long.  you will be happy with either one of them for beginner track or auto-x use.

 

+1 on the tire rack descriptions, tests and reviews.  and if you buy through tirerack, the faq gets a kickback.

[ray_]

I searched but...

 

Is there a place on the tirerack site to list the faq board or...?

 

 

+1 on the tire rack descriptions, tests and reviews.  and if you buy through tirerack, the faq gets a kickback.

[M3M3M3]

good question.  the old way was to click through to tirerack from this site.

 

i searched on "tirerack" and found this....

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/123507-tirerack-how-to-make-sure-the-faq-gets-6/?hl=use+and+tirerack#entry109315

 

not sure how to do that on the new site.

 

Steve??

Edited January 8, 2014 by mlytle

[Ravensix]

I bought two of my tires from TR. Before I buy the second two, we should fix this so I can support the FAQ

[steve k.]

Unfortunately due to a change in laws last year, Tirerack no longer has direct affiliates in California. That is why we lost the banner, but we do have a solution now.  Going through http://bit.ly/JGzU1j will get us the commission. 

 

thanks,

steve k.

[Ravensix]

If it's a restrictive law, figured it came out of Cali.

[cda951]

mlytle is correct, the S drives and the other two options are in completely different leagues. The latter two are "summer" tires, and won't last incredibly long or do well in cold weather.

 

The S drive is a good all around tire, and is not a bad choice. I think it would be a great match for the 2002 chassis. On a higher-powered car, they don't have enough grip for my tastes, but should be a great choice for an all around, sporty tire for a DD.

 

I just bought my tii a couple months ago, and when I bought it, it had 7 year old Yoko AVSES100s installed (the predecessor to the S drive). Since the tires were old and hard, I switched to Bridgestone RE11As in the same 205/50R-15 size. The Bridgestones are in the same league as the Dunlop ZIIs and Toyo R1Rs, and the grip is phenomenal. According to Grassroots Motorsports and Tire Rack tests, the RE11A is slightly better in the wet than the ZIIs and likely significantly better than the T1Rs

 

My daily driver for the previous 7 years has been a Porsche 944 Turbo that I have also extensively tracked in time trial events. I had 7-8 sets of the Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs, which was the predecessor to the ZII, and now I have a set of ZIIs. The Dunlops are fantastic dual-purpose tires, with amazing grip and quick warmup on track, and great for autocross. The sidewalls are stiff so steering response is great. The ZIIs are just that much crisper than the ZIs and still good in the wet, but they are NOISY after their first track event, which may or may not bother you.

 

My only T1R experience was autocrossing a customer's Lotus Elise on them, and I wanted more grip. The Dunlops are a far better tire for that in my opinion.

 

Now that I have the Bridgestone RE11As on my flared 2002tii w/ 15x7s, I almost feel like it has TOO much grip for the street. Due to its relatively low power output (and lots of negative rear camber from being lowered w/out subframe mods), it is almost impossible to get the rear to break loose, which is part of the fun of these cars (I also have a LSD)! The cornering grip is phenomenal, and the braking grip is incredible, which is nice in a non-ABS car. Overall they make the car a blast to drive. The Bridgestones are also supposed to be quieter than the ZIIs and slightly better in the wet, which is why I chose them for the 2002tii. I don't plan on tracking it much, but I'll do some auto-X and report back.

 

 

[Napes]

I also run Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs.  My current set has 16K miles - 3½ years - and they still have a lot of tread left.  Admittely, I spend about 9 -10 months of the year driving on dry pavement here is Southern Arizona, but when it does rain in the summer moinsoon season it rains like a bitch.  I spent my first 38 years in Western Oregon so I'm no stranger to rain, but I'd never seen it rain like it does donw here until I moved down here.

 

The tires seem to do  very well in the wet weather, though.  I no longer AutoX but I do drive somewhat hard & fast on occassion and I'm very impressed with the Dunlops.  Excellent handling.  For Christmas my son asked us to give him a set of the new Dunlop Direzzas for his E30 M3  he's nearing completion of a ground up restoration on, including a conversion to 2003 M3 engine and drive line.

 

From what he'd read on line he felt these would be best for his project.

 

Bob Napier

[ray_]

Interesting differences between 2009 and 2012 C&D reviews...

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/dunlop-direzza-sport-z1-star-spec-page-3

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/dunlop-direzza-sport-z1-star-spec-page-11

 

Cheers,

[burndog]

I have read a few references of the autocross class tires flat-spotting from the car sitting in the garage for too long.  Is this the case for both the Direazza's and R1R's?  If my car is sitting for a week or two at a time should I avoid these or would I have to keep the car up on jacks?

[M3M3M3]

 

I have read a few references of the autocross class tires flat-spotting from the car sitting in the garage for too long.  Is this the case for both the Direazza's and R1R's?  If my car is sitting for a week or two at a time should I avoid these or would I have to keep the car up on jacks?

 

you will be fine. the flatspotting is only for really long storage periods. even then, the "flatspot" goes away with a little driving. i have left my race cars sitting on Hoosier race tires for entire winters and still used the tires for practice days in the spring. a little vibration for first lap, then gone.