Cost effective tires for daily road driving

[dougjgreen]

I'm looking for a set of cost effective tires for day to day driving on my '95 NSX. I will NOT be taking these tires close to the limits of the NSX's performance. My requirements are in declining order of importance:

Good Treadware, good handling at 2-digit speeds, comfortable ride, low noise.

I have the OEM stock 16/17 wheels, and the car presently has 225/45/16 Dunlop W10s on the front, and 255/40/17 Dunlop SP Sport 9000s on the rear. The W10s have at least 75% of their life left, but the rear SP9000s are nearly finished.

I'd like to keep the 225/45/16 and 255/40/17 sizes, as the ratios are essentially the same as the OEM setup, yet it seems that there are many reasonably priced choices in this size pairing.

Right now, I've narrowed the selection to:

Kumho ECSTA 712 (I have had these on my MR2, and I like them quite a bit there, but the NSX is far more demanding on tires)

Sumitomo HTRZ II (My understanding is that these are similar to the Dunlop SP9000s, but I've seen mixed reviews - however the naysayers were always driving the car very aggressively, which I won't be doing)

Yokohama AVS ES 100 (I've seen nothing but good reviews on these).

Any comments, or other suggestions? I'd like to keep these at less than $125 a tire through a mail order shop like Tire Rack or others. I'd also like to get at least 12K miles on the rears.

Once again, I will not be racing these tires, and I will not be violating traffic ordinances in too egregious a manner.

 

[ncdogdoc]

I am afraid that may be wishful thinking. That cheap or that hard and you will not be all that happy with the tires or the car. Prepare to get flamed a little on this one.

I would really suggest Bridgestone so3's. Not that much more expensive, a much better compound and great in the rain. Probably will get 75% of your mileage goals. They have recently come down in price again, so check Tirerack.

 

[dougjgreen]

I'm actually not the slightest bit concerned about getting flamed. I am not looking for anyone else's approval, as their needs are not the same as mine. I just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with these tires, and if so, which are the best of them. I've owned an NSX in the past, and I found the cheap Yokos that I had at the time perfectly acceptable for my needs, but they have been discontinued. In addition, I found the W10s to be acceptable as well, but they don't make them in the size needed fof the rears, only the fronts.

Frankly, the "if you can't afford the best tires, you shouldn't have gotten the car" posts are boring and irrelevant to me. I DID buy the car, and I also DON'T expect to ever have it above 100 MPH, and if I DO, I won't be using the wheels that I am looking for here.

The FACT is, there are LOTS of perfectly good aftermarket tires that can easily handle an NSX at up to 80% of it's capabilities. Certainly if I wanted the last 20% of performance, I would spend more on the best tires. But in fact, the overwhelming majority of my driving will be at speeds that wouldn't rustle a state trooper. And with that in mind, I want the best, most cost effective tires. If you have any input in that regard, I welcome it. Otherwise, don't bother with the flame.

 

[D'Ecosse]

I can't speak for how they work on an NSX but I have ES-100's on my DD and I am very happy with them - seem like a lot of tire for the money - excellent value IMO. I got mine from TireRack.
For about 25% more $$, you could also go with the AVS-Sport.

 

[hyuan]

The Dunlops you have...

I have the SP9000s and they have been extremely long wearing. I went 24K miles on my rears, and my fronts with the same mileage have 50% tread left!

I think tire wear is also a function of your driving habits too... for me, I commute for long miles (but mostly in a straight line).

 

[ChrisK]

I was in the same situation as you. I'll be moving in the summer and my drives will increase from 4 miles to work to about 40 miles. I wanted a long lasting tire that I could use on the stock rims just for commuting. I decided to try the Kumho Supra 712 tires simply because they were really cheap and that gave me the opportunity to test them out for a minimal cost. I only have about 800 miles on them but so far they are pretty good for what I expect out of them. Since this is just my commuter tires I don't really do any tripple digits (Only somtimes on a straight road) and don't take corners faster than what the normal everyday traffic is doing. For this purpose I think they are okay. I haven't noticed any handling problems since I'm not pushing the car at all. I can't comment on how they perform under spirited steet driving though as I didn't buy these tires for that purpose and thus never really pushed them hard yet. I paid $98 each for the front and $78 each for the rear tires, so I feel they were worth the cheap cost thus far. Just for reference, the tires I had before where the OEM Yokohama and also the OEM Bridestone both on the 16/17 98 rims, so I do know how the car handled and felt with the OEM tires. Also like you, I'll be getting a second set of rims (Probabaly aftermarket) with better tires for those spirited drives.

 

[whiteNSXs]

I drive my 1997 T daily to work and have no desire or need for any high performance driving on the street. I have 17/18 combo using Kuhmo supra 712 and I think they are just awesome in comfort, treadwear and price. They are more than enough for any spirited driving around the Bay Area. They provide surprisingly better ride than my stock 16/17 with Potenza. Go for it. I am also sick and tire of these "why put cheapo tires on your high dollar car?" statements. Different people have different needs. If I go to the track, I have another NSX and 3 more set of wheels/tires to choose from. To each his own.
Steve

 

[CDub]

I have a set of Sumitomo on my family wagon. My recommendation is .... don't get them if you don't like noisey tires. They were fine the first few months, but now they have around 8k miles on it and it is annoying as hell.

If you want the tires to last longer, make sure you get a good alignment done. I had a set of 17/18s SP9000, and the rear lasted less than 6k miles. Reason? Bad alignment done without computers. I went with someone that were highly recommended in Huntington beach. Costly mistake! It has excessive toe-in setting on the rear.

Good luck!

 

[Tantheman]

I can't speak for how they work on an NSX but I have ES-100's on my DD and I am very happy with them - seem like a lot of tire for the money - excellent value IMO. I got mine from TireRack.
For about 25% more $$, you could also go with the AVS-Sport.

I too have the AVS ES-100 and loving them as well. They handle fine. Taking them on Ortega Highway runs, Latiago Canyon Run and they perform just fine. They are very cost effective. I am sure that you have read the thread pertaining to them.

Tan

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

Just a little input in this... (This goes for OEM sized)

Kumho Ecsta 712 - Not Bad for fwy miles.
Yokohama AVS ES-100 - Better
OEM NSX Yoko/Bridgestone - Best

So, IMO, if you are not going to push it... I'd go with the Yokohama AVS ES-100's.

I'll never go back to the Kumho's. I've had them on both my NSX and daily driver Accord. They give out way too early and the sidewalls are way too soft. Just my opinion....

I almost forgot to mention... braking is horrific on the Kumho's!!!

I'm back to OEM Yoko's on my NSX.

 

[mikec]

Re: The Dunlops you have...

I have the SP9000s and they have been extremely long wearing. I went 24K miles on my rears, and my fronts with the same mileage have 50% tread left!

I think tire wear is also a function of your driving habits too... for me, I commute for long miles (but mostly in a straight line).

Hyuan: Are you running stock alignment settings to get that kind of teadwear? If not, what are your settings?

 

[hyuan]

Stock alignment

Hyuan: Are you running stock alignment settings to get that kind of teadwear? If not, what are your settings?

MikeC,

My alignment is stock. I had it aligned by these guys: http://www.customalignment.com who are real pros. They do all of the due diligence that is needed when aligning a car (such as simulating driver and passenger weight, in my case I drove without a passenger 95% of the time), so I am fairly confident the alignment was done right.

Like I mentioned in my other post, I think it has something to do with where I am driving and by my driving habits. My car is my daily driver (50 mi/day). Since I am driving during commute hours, I hold a fairly steady speed along a straight highway and make very few lane changes. When I do, I try to make sure my changes are smooth so as to not endanger and alarm my fellow commuters.

On local roads, I don't really have an opportunity to speed where I live without endangering pedestrians or getting a ticket. As a result, I rarely VTEC on local roads.

The only times when I have an opportunity for 'spirited' driving is on weekends, where the traffic is light, up near some local mountains. However, the amount of mileage I accumulate in contrast pales in comparison to my commuter mileage.

The other interesting thing to note is that my car is lowered via Bilsteins.

 

[Zishan]

Slightly off topic, but regarding tread wear.....

How bad is treadwear going to be with -2 degree camber in the rear??? I hope it will last atleast 10k with some good tires!!
Regards
Z

 

[cojones]

I would really suggest Bridgestone so3's. Not that much more expensive, a much better compound and great in the rain. Probably will get 75% of your mileage goals. They have recently come down in price again, so check Tirerack.

BS S03-PPs SEEM to have good ratings overall.

Another tire you might consider is the new Pirelli P-Zero NERO -- its highly rated on TireRack, in most respects very competitive to the S03-PP.

I've heard good feedback on the NEROs (better than the Rossos) from friends with BMW M3 / Porsche 911 fitments, if that's any indication. Very predictable handling and good wear.

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For overall driveability and reasonable mileage/value, I've been happy so far with TOYO T1-S Proxes, both on my NSX and my daily driver.