Tire Question--Need advice, new NSX owner

[Foxlovescars]

1991 NSX. I have a set of the factory original 15" front and 16" rear rims that I would like to put tires on. Does anyone still use these wheels anymore and what brand of tires have you recently purchased for them? I live in Virginia so we do have temperatures below freezing for 3-4 months out of the year.

Thanks in advance,

Frank

 

[FF Drifter]

I use those wheels on my Legend. I currently have Continental ExtremeContact DWS on the 16" wheels but a now discontinued Kumho Ecsta something on the 15" wheels. This is my first year with the Continentals so I don't know how they will be in the winter but so far they are okay.

Other tires I've tried (all within the past five years or so):

Kumho Ecsta AST on 16s/Kumho Ecsta SPT on 15s - these were pretty good and what I had on just last year. Not great in the snow but they did well in the rain. Didn't last very long though.

Falken Ziex ZE-512 - this is basically my 'go-to' tire when I can't find anything else. This used to come in matching sizes for the 15s/16s but I am not so sure now (finding a matching set for F/R is pretty tough at this size combination nowadays I think). Dry grip with these was very good but in the wet ~ not so much. They are noisy as well.

Falken FK452 on 16s , older Falken ZE-512 on 15s - this was an okay combination. About the same as having ZE-512 all around.

These are the ones I remember off the top of my head. I'll have to go back through some old receipts to see what else I've tried (pretty sure I've also tried BF Goodrich, Yokohama, and some others).

 

[nsxtasy]

1991 NSX. I have a set of the factory original 15" front and 16" rear rims that I would like to put tires on. Does anyone still use these wheels anymore and what brand of tires have you recently purchased for them? I live in Virginia so we do have temperatures below freezing for 3-4 months out of the year.

The first thing you should ask yourself is whether to buy one set of tires for year-round use, or two sets, one for the winter and the other for the rest of the year. If you use the same set year-round including occasional snow and frigid temperatures, you will need to get all-season tires, which will be a big compromise nine months of the year, degrading your car's performance from what it's capable of with summer tires. The alternative is to get a spare set of wheels - you can get a set of the 15"/16" wheels for around $100 (such as these) - and then you can get some all-seasons (or winter tires) for winter, and reasonably sticky summer tires for the rest of the year. (Another alternative is, if you have another car you can use on frigid or snowy winter days, then you can probably get by with only summer tires on the NSX.)

For all-seasons, get the Kumho Ecsta ASX or the BFGoodrich g-Force Super Sport A/S.

For summer tires, if you want the absolute best grip and you don't mind if they don't last a super long time, get one of the "extreme performance" summer tires: Bridgestone Potenza RE-11, Toyo Proxes R1R, Yokohama Advan Neova AD08, or Falken Azenis RT-615K. If you want longer treadlife and you're willing to take a big step down in performance, get the Yokohama S.drive.

Kumho Ecsta AST on 16s/Kumho Ecsta SPT on 15s

Wow, what a prescription for disaster! Crappy all-seasons on the rear, sticky summer tires on the front. Big-time understeer in winter, big-time oversteer the rest of the time. Whee!!!

Falken FK452 on 16s , older Falken ZE-512 on 15s

And this one is another prescription for disaster, but the reverse, with crappy all-seasons in front, and summer tires on the rear. Big-time oversteer in winter, big-time understeer the rest of the time. Whee!!!

These are classic examples of why it's a really BAD IDEA to use tires of a different make/model at different ends of the car, instead of four matching tires of the same make/model. Using four matching tires results in handling that is balanced and consistent.

For those who are not familiar with those terms, oversteer describes handling in which, when you enter a turn, the car's rear end has a tendency to swing around and make the car spin (turn more than you intended). Understeer describes handling in which, when you enter a turn, the car has a tendency to "plow" straight ahead (turn less than you intended).

 

[Foxlovescars]

Thanks, FF. I was looking at some of the exact brands/model of tires you covered in your post. NSXTACY: I have UHP summer 16"/17" Yokohoma ES-100's on the upgraded wheels on my car now; the 15"/16" rims I was referring to are wheels I bought for winter use (for near and below freezing temperatures, hopefully never in snow). Matching tread 15"/16" all-season tires are nearly impossible to find because almost no tire manufacturer makes the 205-50-15's anymore. However, here are the two currently-available staggered tire, matching tread sets I have narrowed my selection down to:

BF Goodrich g-force Super Sport A/S (Ultra High Performance--All-Season Z-rated)
Kumho Ecsta ASX (Ultra High Performance--All-Season W-rated)

The Kumho's are rated slightly higher overall than the BF Goodrich tires in the Tire Rack's online surveys from customers. Pricing is a non-issue. I would like to get the members' feedback in sharing their experiences if they have used either one of these model tires on their NSX before.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[nsxtasy]

Matching tread 15"/16" all-season tires are nearly impossible to find because almost no tire manufacturer makes the 205-50-15's anymore. However, here are the two currently-available staggered tire, matching tread sets I have narrowed my selection down to:

BF Goodrich g-force Super Sport A/S (Ultra High Performance--All-Season Z-rated)
Kumho Ecsta ASX (Ultra High Performance--All-Season W-rated)

Yes, that's why I mentioned those two.

The ASX in the 205/50-15 size is currently noted as on closeout on the Tire Rack website, with fewer than 2 tires available. I don't know if you're even going to be able to get them. If not, the choice may already be made for you.

 

[CarDoc]

I have the same problem with my '91. How about 205/45/15s on the front and it looks liek there are a number olf sizes that will work on the reawr. Am I wrong?

 

[nsxtasy]

How about 205/45/15s on the front

No! That's tiny - 3.5 percent smaller in diameter than the stock size. Don't do it!

(And I'm not sure why you mention that size. The total number of different makes/models of tires in 205/45-15 that the Tire Rack sells is exactly zero.)

There are enough tires out there available in the stock 15"/16" sizes, as noted above, that you shouldn't need to get non-stock sizes that may cause problems. The only exception is winter tires, for which you probably want to go slightly narrower anyway (e.g. 195/55-15, possibly with 225/55-16).

 

[Foxlovescars]

I decided on Yokohama S Drives. I was able to get the correct 205-50-15/225-50-16 sizes for my original factory rims with V's in the front and Z's in the back (with the same tread pattern). They were actually the same speed designations on the Yokohama 100's that are on my other 16/17" rims now. Never had any driving or handling problems mixing those and they were also the same tread pattern. Thanks for your input, guys. On to the next question over in the NSX Owner's forum.

Frank

 

[FF Drifter]

Thanks for updating Frank. I will have to consider those tires as well when I replace the tires on the Legend.

 

[nsxtasy]

The S.drive is a very good tire in the "ultra high performance summer tire" category, a good choice for "budget sporty" cars, for those who seek value as well as decent (while not superlative) performance.

In many wheel sizes, I generally don't recommend it for the NSX, because the higher tire performance categories - "maximum performance" (for better performance with similar treadlife) and "extreme performance" (for the highest performance in a street tire) - are more complementary to the NSX's high capabilities. It doesn't make much sense to spend the money to buy a supercar like an NSX, only to degrade its performance by buying inexpensive, lower-performance tires. But there may be very specific reasons to do so, such as if there is limited availability of tires for your wheel sizes. As noted above, for 15"/16" wheels, you can get much better performance than the S.drive by getting one of the "extreme performance" tires, but those won't last as long, and there aren't any longer-lasting "maximum performance" tires made in 15"/16" tires. So you're stuck with a choice between faster-wearing tires, and poorer-performing tires. Me, for an NSX, I'd choose the grippier faster-wearing tires every time, but not everyone wants to go that route. Which is why tire companies make different tires, that do different things well.