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I DARE you to recommend a good tire to me!

Ok guys, here's the deal.

I have a 1991 Acura NSX and it needs new tires. I want something Z rated so that I can go fast if I want to. I also want a tire that is somewhat durable because I will be using it as a daily driver. So basically......I want an all around durable tire that is capable of going fast. I would prefer a supple ride over a harsh ride.

On the front I need: 215/40ZR/17
On the back I need: 275/35ZR/18

What would you recommend?

John

Without a doubt the Goodyear F1 GSD3. I use those exact sizes. The rears lasted almost 20,000 miles and the fronts are now at 23K miles and still have plenty of tread. Never mind they are sticky as hell and I've never been on a better tire in the rain.

It's a no brainer, go purchase a set immediately.
 
Amazing numbers, Hugh. I just put on a set of the Eagles. So far so good. Is your car lowered at all? I keep hearing of people that get around 10k out of their Eagles. How do you get so much mileage out of them?
 
That would be about the same milage for mine at the rear. Daily driven and car is not lowered.
Without a doubt the Goodyear F1 GSD3. I use those exact sizes. The rears lasted almost 20,000 miles and the fronts are now at 23K miles and still have plenty of tread. Never mind they are sticky as hell and I've never been on a better tire in the rain.

It's a no brainer, go purchase a set immediately.
 
Without a doubt the Goodyear F1 GSD3. I use those exact sizes. The rears lasted almost 20,000 miles and the fronts are now at 23K miles and still have plenty of tread. Never mind they are sticky as hell and I've never been on a better tire in the rain.

It's a no brainer, go purchase a set immediately.

That really is phenomenal treadlife. :eek: I also know Hugh is lowered and runs a Tein setup.

If one can extract 15-20K miles from the GS-D3 it becomes the absolute best choice for the street and occasional track event. It's going to offer dry and wet performance second to only a couple of tires (and even that's debatable) and will cost much less over its lifespan than any of the budget performance tires available for the NSX. Yoko ES100, Kumho MX, G-Force and Advans all won't last more than 10K miles, period--and of that group only the Advans can give you equal or better performance. Yes, the Azenis 615-RT are about the same price and perform better but only in the dry and when hot. They wear much, much more quickly and handle very poorly in the wet. It's essentially a track tire and the real-life performance gain on the street over the GS-D3 is negligible.

I heartily endorsed the GS-D3 before but now it seems it becomes the best choice, hands down.
 
Yes my car is lowered. The Tein RA's finally gave up the ghost at 100K miles so they're on their way to Japan to be rebuilt ($110 per shock). I just installed a new set of Tein Flex and the car is at the previous height.

What affects the rear tire wear is the toe in, not the camber. I have about -2% negative camber on the rear wheels but had a great alignement done at The Alignement Factory in Miami. The owner is extremely knowledgeable. Since I have new shocks I'm going for a another alignement in a few days and I'll post the numbers for you guys.
 
I keep hearing of people that get around 10k out of their Eagles. How do you get so much mileage out of them?

I never launch the car from stoplights in silly street races. I'm sure that helps with the mileage too. Besides, drag racing is ghey. Why else would it be named for guys that wear women's clothing? (My performance at NSXPO doesn't count) :biggrin:
 
Goodyear F1 GSD3 is the best tire I ever purchased. Excellent dry and wet traction with very llittle road noise.
 
F1 GS-D3 are a phenomenal tire and also have a great price. It's filling a niche that no one else is even close to right now.

Dry performance on par with the SO-3 with better wet traction, noise, comfort and treadlife for almost half the price. :eek:

+3

I just put the GoodYear Eagle F1 GS D3's on in the fronts, and I love them. They ride smooth, don't make noise and man do they stick!
 
I just replaced my GSD3 rears which got 10,000 miles (lot of flat straight Florida though) including 2 Sebring track days and 30 seconds of drifting from the number 1 N. American drifter Blake Fuller. What the hell was I thinking??? :rolleyes: :tongue: Fronts have 10,000 and are ~1/2 gone. These tires rock!!
 
Question - I am looking at the Goodyear GS-D3 on the TireRack website right now and don't see the sizes that are standard on my '95 NSX. What sizes would I want for my stock 16/17 rims?
 
Lots of very good tires are available for the NSX, and my summarized recommendations are bolded below. I'll confine the discussion to summer tires, under the assumption that you do not drive your NSX in snow or frigid cold (or you have winter tires for that purpose), so you do not need all-season tires.

Summer tires tend to break down into three broad categories:

a. Specialty tires with exceptional traction and handling on dry pavement. These tires are almost like track tires. Their downsides are that they tend to wear rapidly and are not all that great in rain or on wet pavement. The best of these overall is the Falken Azenis RT-615; other decent choices include the BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD, Bridgestone RE-01R, and Yokohama Advan Neova AD07. (The latter two are not available in North America in NSX sizes.)

b. Top-of-the-line tires with excellent traction and handling on dry pavement, outstanding traction and handling on wet pavement, and very good treadlife ("very good" being a relative term on the NSX ;) ). The only downside is that they tend to be expensive. The best of these include the OEM tires for the NSX (Yokohama A022H and Bridgestone Potenza RE010) and the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. (The Goodyear F1 GS-D3 won the recent comparison test of eleven top-of-the-line tires in Car and Driver.) Other decent choices include the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, and Dunlop SP Sport Maxx.

c. "Budget performance tires" which are designed to offer good performance at a lower price. With the best of these, their performance (both dry and wet) is quite good although not at a level of the tires in the previous category. The best tires in this performance category include the Kumho Ecsta SPT, Yokohama ES100, Avon Tech M500, Dunlop Direzza DZ101, Falken FK-452, Toyo T1-R, Bridgestone Potenza RE750, and BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW2. All offer similar performance. The first five tend to cost less than the last three, and the Kumho SPT tends to be the least expensive of all of these.

So then it's a matter of deciding which tire category is best for you:

a. If you want the absolutely best traction on dry pavement, and you're willing to give up wet traction and treadlife for it, then go with category (a) and the Falken Azenis RT-615.

b. If you want excellent dry traction and wet traction and treadlife, then go with category (b) and either the OEM tires or the Goodyear F1 GS-D3.

c. If you're willing to accept somewhat lower performance in exchange for a lower purchase price for your tires, then go with category (c) and the Kumho SPT.
(Personally, I don't see much point in spending a lot of money on a high-performance car like an NSX, only to then degrade its performance in order to save a few bucks on tires, but hey, different strokes...) (It's also worth noting that if you're going to use your car for an occasional track event, you should probably avoid this category entirely.)

All of the recommended choices other than the OEM tires - IOW, the Falken Azenis RT-615, Goodyear F1 GS-D3, and Kumho Ecsta SPT - are available in 215/40/17 and 265/35/18 for those with 17"/18" wheels. Those with 16"/17" wheels can go with the stock sizes for the OEM tires, with 215/45-16 and 255/40-17 for the RT-615, and with 205/45-16 and 245/40-17 for the F1 GS-D3 and SPT. The F1 GS-D3 is not available in the stock sizes for 15"/16" wheels, but the OEM tires, RT-615, and SPT are.
 
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Those with 16"/17" wheels can go with the stock sizes for the OEM tires, with 215/45-16 and 255/40-17 for the RT-615, and with 205/45-16 and 245/40-17 for the F1 GS-D3 and SPT.
And those with 15/16 wheels can go with stock size for the OEM tires, stock size for the RT-615, and empty rims / imaginary tires for F1 GS-D3 (or any other non-OEM "category b" tire mentioned).

Lack of a (non-OEM) well-liked/high-rated tire in what Ken describes as "category b" for 15/16 wheels is one reason I have developed a one-track mind RE NSX tires (RT-615).
 
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I also take my lumps with treadwear although I have been extremely fortunate to get 3-5K average miles including a track event or two from my Azenis on average. I can virtually run them down to cord here as I never drive the NSX in poor conditions, ever.

Are you serious? Is tire-wear really that bad on an NSX? What Azenis are you running? The old 215s or the new 615s? My last set of Azenis (615) lasted me a full year of daily driving, and my current set is still in surprisingly good condition after 6 months of daily driving and that's with two trips to LA (approx 1000miles each round trip) on my 86 corolla. Plus some canyon runs, parking-lot fun, and take most corners faster than the norm (which my suspension guy actually helps tire-wear haha) I really have a very aggressive setting too, -2.5 camber, very low, all spherical heim-joints suspension parts and stiff spring-rate.

I will only put Azenis on my NSX, but I need to save for some rims first. haha!.

niM
 
Are you serious? Is tire-wear really that bad on an NSX? What Azenis are you running? The old 215s or the new 615s? My last set of Azenis (615) lasted me a full year of daily driving, and my current set is still in surprisingly good condition after 6 months of daily driving and that's with two trips to LA (approx 1000miles each round trip) on my 86 corolla. Plus some canyon runs, parking-lot fun, and take most corners faster than the norm (which my suspension guy actually helps tire-wear haha) I really have a very aggressive setting too, -2.5 camber, very low, all spherical heim-joints suspension parts and stiff spring-rate.

I will only put Azenis on my NSX, but I need to save for some rims first. haha!.

niM

Camber isn't the determining factor in your alignment affecting tire wear. It's toe. I'd guess you're at the very least aggressive setting in the acceptable stock "recommended" range or you may even have a zero toe setting on your Corolla (that's the car you're referring to, correct?)

I'm not sure why anyone would run 615-RTs on a Corolla (or any car) that wasn't race-ready and/or tracked. You are aware that the 615-RT are basically track tires that really don't perform much better than any other high-performance tire like the GS-D3 or RE010 unless they're sufficiently hot--heat levels that can only really be generated on a track. And they're terrible in the wet.

If you haven't read, most NSX owners get a maximum of between 7,500-10,000 miles on the OEM tires. 1991 and 1992 NSXs factory toe numbers caused most tires to wear out close to the lower end of that range. Toe was changed to a less aggressive setting in 1993 after many customer complaints.

The rear Azenis 615-RT have about half the life of the OEM tires when driven on the street--3,500-5,000 miles--and much less when driven on the track. This is mostly due to the compound but also because the tread depth is shallower on the 615-RT than the OEM tires right from the factory.

Alignment, and specifically toe, plays a huge role in tire wear. My front 615-RTs have at least 25% tread left after 6,000 miles during which I drove three track events. It is possible to have Azenis last 10,000 street miles on even an aggressively aligned 1986 RWD SR5 Corolla but I would not expect that on any NSX aligned within the factory recommended range.

Don't forget: be sure to check the inside and outside of the tire for wear. My 615-RTs can be cording on the inside and look like they have 50% tread left on the outside.
 
Yup. In case it doesn't jump out at you in NSXGMS's post, just because a tire gets XX,000 miles on one car, doesn't mean it will get that many on a different car. However many miles you get on a set of Azenis on your Corolla, you will only get a small fraction of that when you use them on the NSX. My rough guess would be only half as many miles on the NSX front, one fourth as many miles on the NSX rear, compared with the treadlife when used on the Corolla. Maybe even less.

To cite an example, I have an Integra Type R, on which my RE010 (yes, OEM tire for that car, too) lasted over 30K miles, but on my NSX, the OEM tires only last 3-5K in the rear, and 10-12K in front.
 
All,

Please organize your combined knowledge on this subject by adding to the Tire Reviews page in the NSXPrime Wiki.

If changes to that page need to be discussed, use the "talk" link at the top of that page (that the proper place for such discussion and I want to avoid hijacking this thread into such).
 
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Those with 16"/17" wheels can go with the stock sizes for the OEM tires, with 215/45-16 and 255/40-17 for the RT-615, and with 205/45-16 and 245/40-17 for the F1 GS-D3 and SPT. The F1 GS-D3 is not available in the stock sizes for 15"/16" wheels, but the OEM tires, RT-615, and SPT are.

Hi NSXtasy,

Just for verification before I purchase, the GS-D3 is not available in a 215 for the front ('97 NSX, stock rims), but a 205 is available, as you stated above. Would you be kind enough to give me a confirmation that the 205 can be used? My local dealer was hesitant to install the 205 because it is narrower and he did not want the liability. I'm guessing the difference is around 3/8"?

FYI... I'm not using the car on the track and it is never driven in the rain. I'm just looking for a quiet tire with good tread life.

Thanks!
 
yes.... you can tell him that there are more than 100 NSXs running around with 205/45/16 on the the front with some very happy customers. That size works out great on the OEM 16 front.
 
OK, thank you for that confirmation! I'm about to order a set from Tire Rack. I noticed the GS-D3 is available in a slightly wider rear tire, the 255/40/17. Because I'm old school (more rubber on the road = more Mustangs wanna race me), can I get away with increasing the size of the rear tire... or will this have an adverse effect on handling?

Again, thanks for your reply. NSX Prime members rock!
 
OK, thank you for that confirmation! I'm about to order a set from Tire Rack. I noticed the GS-D3 is available in a slightly wider rear tire, the 255/40/17. Because I'm old school (more rubber on the road = more Mustangs wanna race me), can I get away with increasing the size of the rear tire... or will this have an adverse effect on handling?

Again, thanks for your reply. NSX Prime members rock!

I would stick with 245/40-17 in the rear if you run a 205/45-16 in the front. The optimum tire width stagger front to rear to maximize performance the of the NSX is 40mm or less.
 
I switched from the OEM RE040 to the F1 GSD3 and my comments may differ from the crowd:

No doubt this is a great tire, but compared to the RE040s they are a little noisier and the back end comes around a bit more before biting.

I don't drive in the rain, so I can't comment about that, but most people say it is the best tire for it.

Dry handling is great, but I think the sidewall is not as stiff as the RE040.

When I drove with the RE040, I felt like I could whip the car around any turn at any speed and I felt glued to the pavement. With the F1GSD3, I am definitely more cautious. It is funner, but not as confidence-inspiring.

All around a great tire considering the treadwear is much better than the RE040s.

The F1GSD3 also makes much more noise around fast turns compared to the RE040s. I am surprised no one else has mentioned this. I never heard a peep from the RE040s no matter how hard I snapped the wheel and pressed the gas. But the F1's love to squeal.
 
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