OEM 215/40/17 and 255/40/17 sizes using Continental ExtremeContact DW tires?

[AdvansCPAP]

My rear Goodyear F1 GS-D3's are going bald and I'm looking for a new set. I'm running 05 OEM wheels. The Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec seem to be the best option here on Prime. They are similar in price range as the F1s, but seems to be geared for those who like to track their car once in a while and not concerned about treadwear since they are pretty soft. I don't track and would like something that lasts longer.

I found the newer Continental ExtremeContact DW is lighter in weight. They are 4-5 pounds lighter than Dunlops and 3 pounds less than the F1s per tire. Also, the tread wear is higher than the F1s, but not many reviews or feedback on them. Any thoughts or experiences on them? Thanks.

 

[nsxtasy]

I haven't tried the new Continental, but in Tire Rack's side-by-side comparison test, they finished in a virtual dead heat with several other top "max performance" tires, including the Goodyear F1 Asymmetric that is the replacement for the F1 GS-D3. They're also attractively priced. I'd give them a try!

 

[Osiris_x11]

good dealio'!

I haven't tried the new Continental, but in Tire Rack's side-by-side comparison test, they finished in a virtual dead heat with several other top "max performance" tires, including the Goodyear F1 Asymmetric that is the replacement for the F1 GS-D3. They're also attractively priced. I'd give them a try!

Wowzers, you ain't kidding about them being "attractively priced"...

For my application(s):

Continental: ExtremeContact DW

215/40R17 - $116/each
255/40R17 - $156/each

&

215/40R17 - $116/each
265/35R18 - $229.00/each

(www.tirerack.com)


If the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 were replaced by the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric, I assume the Continental ContiSportContact 3 were replaced by the Continental ExtremeContact DW?

 

[RJPKRP]

I just put the DWs on my car last week...although won't be able to test until I officially pull it out of storage in the Spring.

MT on the Continental DW/DWS

I have a 17/17 setup so the tires on my car are 215/40/17 and 245/45/17.

I'll let you know in May how I like them, unless you are needing feedback sooner (these soft tires don't like the COLD weather we have around here in winter).

This was last Thursday, when I had the tires put on...

Sorry I don't have a close-up of them. Just snapped this to prove a buddy that I would actually get the car out in the winter (although it was straight to Tirerack and back to storage....with a complete washing just before it was put away again).

 

[AdvansCPAP]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[RJPKRP]

OH, and talk about reasonably priced.....forgot to mention that....

It was $516 + install for set of four

215/40/15 $116/ea
245/40/17 $142/ea

 

[Honcho]

They are on my list for my next set in the OEM 02+ sizes. I was going to get the Contisport3, but these appear to be even better. Plus, they are several pounds lighter than many other brands.

Osiris- yes, according to TireRack, the DW replaces the Contisport3 in the USA.

 

[goldNSX]

Contis are quite common on fast cars here in Europe being one the more expensive tires on the market. I hate them for having generally softer tire walls. For the prices there's better stuff out there like Goodyear, Bridgestone, Hankook and so on.

 

[Osiris_x11]

it's a go, y0'!

Osiris- yes, according to TireRack, the DW replaces the Contisport3 in the USA.

Thanks for the reply/affirmation. Once I burn through my Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Positions (which I absolutely love), I'm gonna give the Continental ExtremeContact DWs a go. They come in the literal perfect size for the 17/17 setup, as well as being at a terrific price-point for a respected/proven max' performance summer tire!

Also, buying tires when not in-need, there's a good chance of coming across a rebate/cashback. I recall the Continental ContiSportContact 3 had such off-&-on for over a year, likewise in the past for the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 & Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position (I got a $100-rebate cashcard from each over the years). I believe the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric has an $80 promotion currently.

The ability to acquire extreme performance / max' performance summer tires in standard NSX sizes for $500 - $600 (most of the time) is a great hallmark of the car itself.

 

[nsxtasy]

The ability to acquire extreme performance / max' performance summer tires in standard NSX sizes for $500 - $600 (most of the time) is a great hallmark of the car itself.

FWIW, extreme performance summer tires are available in all three sets of standard NSX sizes. However, maximum performance summer tires have become scarce to unavailable in smaller 15" and 16" sizes in recent years. So if you're using stock NSX 15"/16" wheels from the '91-93, or stock NSX 16"/17" wheels from the '94-01, you will probably need to choose between extreme performance tires (and their somewhat shorter treadlife than max performance tires) or ultra high performance tires (and their somewhat poorer performance than max performance tires).

 

[SFNSXguy]

Rnew tires

May I suggest these for all season use:

http://www.falkentire.com/Tires/Passenger-Car/FK452-3

And these if you don't need to worry about wet weather:

http://www.falkentire.com/Tires/Azenis-RT-615-14

Wide range of sizes available. IMHO you want a front tire just under 24-inches tall and a rear tire not over 25.4-inches tall.

I use the 615s here in sunny California and love them.

 

[FXMDBilly]

Re: Rnew tires

May I suggest these for all season use:

http://www.falkentire.com/Tires/Passenger-Car/FK452-3

And these if you don't need to worry about wet weather:

http://www.falkentire.com/Tires/Azenis-RT-615-14

Wide range of sizes available. IMHO you want a front tire just under 24-inches tall and a rear tire not over 25.4-inches tall.

I use the 615s here in sunny California and love them.

For wet or dry, I still think the Starspec is the best value in performance per dollar while lasting longer than the 615. For your next set of tires I would seriously consider the Starspec -which will make more grip, last longer, and be more predictable than the 615. There are a few others on prime who have been on 615s for years and switched to the Starspecs and were extremely happy with the improvement.

Billy

 

[nsxtasy]

May I suggest these for all season use

The "all-season" term is often misused when discussing tires, and this is one of those instances.

All-season tires are designed for a wide range of operating temperatures, so that they can be used in snow and frigid cold (below freezing as well as below zero) during winter, and in moderate to warm temperatures the rest of the year. In exchange for this added flexibility, they sacrifice performance in all conditions, with winter condition grip that's not as good as winter tires, and grip in moderate to warm temperatures that's not as good as summer tires.

By contrast, summer tires are designed to be used only in moderate to warm temperatures, and not in snow or frigid cold. The term "all-season" does NOT refer to any particular capability in rain; in fact, in moderate to warm temperatures, most summer tires grip better in rain than all-season tires.

The Falken FK452 is a summer tire, not an all-season tire. (And it's not a particularly good summer tire, either.)

If you need all-season tires because you need to use the same tires in snow as in warm weather, Falken makes the Ziex ZE-512 and Ziex ZE-912 all-seasons. As all-seasons go, they are very cheap, but not very good. However, most NSX owners don't drive their cars in snow and frigid cold, and most of those that do, have a separate set of winter tires in order to avoid the compromised performance of all-seasons.

And these if you don't need to worry about wet weather

A few years ago, the Falken Azenis RT-615 was just about the stickiest street tire you could buy. No more. Since that time, other manufacturers have introduced tires that are better than the RT-615 in every way - better dry traction, better wet traction, and longer treadlife, and some of them are similar in price. These better tires include the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec mentioned by Billy, as well as the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11, Yokohama Advan Neova AD08, Kumho Ecsta XS, and Toyo Proxes R1R. There is a side-by-side comparison test of the first four of these on the Tire Rack website; in a nutshell, their performance is similar on dry pavement, and the Kumho is a bit worse than the other three on wet pavement. The Dunlops and Kumhos are the least expensive of the group.

Because the RT-615 is no longer competitive, Falken engineers have been busy developing a replacement, which they are about to introduce. It's called the RT-615K; time will tell how it compares with the competition. Falken is also currently offering an $80 rebate on the RT-615 to help clear out inventories in anticipation of it being discontinued.

 

[SFNSXguy]

There are LOTS of great tires out there, but many of the above suggestions are not available in the proper sizes for all the OEM NSX wheels -- and some don't come in the proper diameters for larger aftermarket wheels.

I was suggesting the Falkens as a prime (no pun intended) example of a relatively inexpensive, great performing tire that is available in quite a wide range of sizes -- especially good for the 16/17 OEM NSX wheels.

Remember size alone is not the be all and end all -- for example a 225/45/16 in one brand may not be the exact equivalent in another (diameter, width, recommended rim width, weight, etc.). That's why Tom is surprised when he mounts the same SIZE tire as Dick and Harry (but in a different brand) and his rub the fender liners while their's do not.

Just sayin.

Also, keN's right about my use of the term "all season"... it's just that here in San Francisco there are only two seasons, rain (20%) and shine (80%). So "all season" to me is a tire that is decent in the rain, yet great in the dry. I don't drive the NSX in the rain, so I usually mount no-compromise dry (summer) tires. Finding same in the EXACT PROPER SIZE for my equipment is not the easiest task.

If you want the ABSOLUTE BEST TIRE, you might as well join the tire-of-the-month club... it changes that fast. I usually go through two or three BEST TIRE cycles between my purchases. And then, when I find one I really like, when I go to buy new rears (twice as often as fronts) they tell me that size isn't made anymore! ... and the quest goes on!

 

[LJZ]

nsxtasy, wonder if you could help me out with tire recommendation. I recently acquired a very low mileage /94 NSX (advertised on Prime and purchased last November w/18,700 original miles -- very nice condition) that is bone stock and as such has the factory 16/17 wheels. It has OEM Bridgestones on it right now but these are in need of replacement. The tire choices are quite limited to say the least in the factory sizes. I am a pretty gentle driver and have no intentions of tracking the car. I like the style of the OEM 16/17 wheels and don't want to incur the expense of new wheels. I'd like to have a bit more rear tread life than the OEM Bridgestones afford but it seems that the only tires other than the Bridgestones in the OEM sizes are the Kuhmos and the Dunlop Direzzas, both of which are rated somewhat poorly by Tire Rack as far as wet traction is conerned which is important to me. Any ideas? I have seen some discussion about using a different size on the front than OEM spec but I'm not sure about this and don't want to do anything to detract from the suspension/handling dynamics that the car has with the OEM tire spec. If I have to bite the bullet on OEM Bridgestones I will but I'm just wondering if there is something out there that will give me decent wet traction, preserve the OEM handling characteristics and give me a bit more rear tire life. Thanks for your help.

 

[RJPKRP]

One thing about the Continentals that I found out too....they are fairly light, much lighter than the Potenzas I took off.

this is what came off of my car....

Bridgestone Potenza RE010
215/45ZR16 -> 22lbs ea
245/40ZR17 -> 28lbs ea
Total = 100lbs


This is what went on...

Continental ExtremeContact DW
215/40ZR17 -> 19lbs ea
245/40ZR17 -> 22lbs ea
Total = 82lbs

That is a decrease of 18lbs in tire (unsprung) weight alone! I only netted 14lbs of weight savings as my front wheels were two pounds heavier each (my rear are the same as the OEM chromies I had on).

You also have to think though, it uses less power to move 42.85lbs (OEM Rim + Contis) of mass at the end of a axle than it does to turn 48.85lbs (OEM Rim + Potenza) of mass.

 

[LJZ]

RJPKRP -- tried to reply to your PM and for some reason did not go through -- probably my lack of computer skills! Thanks for the input and this is indeed what I was going to do.

 

[Osiris_x11]

comparo'...

RJPKRP, can you please share your impressions of the Continental ExtremeContact DW, relative to the Bridgestone Potenza RE010!

I have the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position in '02+ OEM sizes, which were the successor to the Bridgestone Potenza S0-3 which themselves were relatively comparable to the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE010 & OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040 (though the RE050A P.P. & S0-3 weren't corner-specific like the OEM RE010 & RE040).

One thing about the Continentals that I found out too....they are fairly light, much lighter than the Potenzas I took off.

This is just a guess- but does tire-construction resulting in a lighter weight result in a squishier/less-rigid sidewall? Just curious. Perhaps those w/ more experience/insight can chime in!

 

[RJPKRP]

Osiris,

I'll have to let you know in the Spring once the car comes out of storage. We get snow until about the first week of April (average just under 80" a year) so it'll be after the first big rain of April (to wash the salt away) before I get it out and really test them. Unfortunately I didn't see/mess with the Conti's before they went on the car as it was TireRack who did the install and everything is back in the warehouse. I didn't have a chance to physically flex the sidewalls and compare that to the Potenzas before they went on the car. We might have a mild March, which will allow me to get out before April, but I can't count on that (although I had the car out until the first week of December because November was so mild).

It looks from the Tirerack test that is is a very good Road tire and Wet Track tire, but there appear to be better tire for tracking the car. This is what I was looking for as my car isn't a track car but a weekend cruiser. I doubt that I will see much of a decrease in handling (if there is any between the RE010 and the ECDWs...afterall the ECDWs were holding til 0.94gs and the NSX was supposed to pull 0.94gs on the skidpad). I don't drive my car on the bleeding edge on the streets. I do have some spirited drives, but none that would have put the RE010s on the brink of breaking free (public roads are not the place for that kind of driving......that's the ex-LEO and ex-stockcar racer in me talking).

At any rate, I'll let you know how I feel about them in the Spring once I get the car out for some real testing.

 

[nsxtasy]

nsxtasy, wonder if you could help me out with tire recommendation.

Sure!

First of all, you don't have to use the exact stock tire sizes on the stock 16"/17" wheels, especially since the front size is an "oddball" size with relatively few choices. Any of these combinations can be mounted on those wheels and will be fine on the NSX, including the proper operation of the TCS:

205/45-16 front and 245/40-17 rear
215/45-16 front and 245/40-17 rear (stock)
215/45-16 front and 255/40-17 rear

Before I continue, I will be deliberately specific with my tire references. So you'll know exactly which Kumho tire I'm talking about, and which of the two Dunlop Direzza tires I'm talking about. I'll also assume that you won't be using these tires in snow or bitter cold, so you can get summer tires rather than all-season tires.

Since you care about tread life and about rain traction, I would suggest avoiding the "extreme performance summer tires", whose treadlife is relatively short and (particularly with the Kumho Ecsta XS) are not the best in rain. And there are NO tires in the category of "maximum performance summer tires" in any of these combinations of sizes. So therefore you will be looking at the "ultra high performance summer tire" category. They won't grip quite as well as your current Bridgestones, but they will last longer and the performance is still reasonably good. (If that's a problem, note that the OEM Bridgestones are still available.)

Here are your 16"/17" choices in ultra high performance summer tires, along with current Tire Rack prices for a set of four tires:

$486 Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport 205/45R16 245/40R17
$376 Dunlop Direzza DZ101 205/45ZR16 245/40ZR17
$474 Dunlop Direzza DZ101 215/45ZR16 245/40ZR17
$474 Dunlop Direzza DZ101 215/45ZR16 255/40ZR17
$382 Fuzion ZRi 205/45R16 245/40R17
$360 General Exclaim UHP 205/45R16 245/40ZR17
$660 Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 205/45ZR16 245/40ZR17
$304 Sumitomo HTR Z II 205/45ZR16 245/40ZR17

The PE2 is the best of this group, but it's obviously considerably more expensive than the others. The RE760 is the second best, and you'll save almost $200 on it. Of the remaining tires, the ZRi is better than the DZ101 or the UHP, and it isn't any more money, so if you don't want to spend for the PE2 or the RE760, then get the ZRi and don't bother looking at the others. I don't recommend the Sumitomo at all.

The Tire Rack has a side-by-side comparison test of the PE2 and the RE760 (click here); the ZRi isn't in that test but overall it's similar to the S.drive which is included there.

HTH - feel free to ask more questions!

 

[LJZ]

nsxtasy, thanks for the valuable info, much appreciated.

LJZ

 

[BITeR]

One thing about the Continentals that I found out too....they are fairly light, much lighter than the Potenzas I took off.

this is what came off of my car....

Bridgestone Potenza RE010
215/45ZR16 -> 22lbs ea
245/40ZR17 -> 28lbs ea
Total = 100lbs


This is what went on...

Continental ExtremeContact DW
215/40ZR17 -> 19lbs ea
245/40ZR17 -> 22lbs ea
Total = 82lbs

That is a decrease of 18lbs in tire (unsprung) weight alone! I only netted 14lbs of weight savings as my front wheels were two pounds heavier each (my rear are the same as the OEM chromies I had on).

You also have to think though, it uses less power to move 42.85lbs (OEM Rim + Contis) of mass at the end of a axle than it does to turn 48.85lbs (OEM Rim + Potenza) of mass.

Any TRC issues with the 17/17 setup? I'm debating myself if I should go 255/40 or 245/40 in the rear. I have 17x7,5/17x8,5 rims as well.

According to faq i'm within 5 % of front rear diameter to cope with TCS issues. This with 245/40 rear and 215/40 front. I'd prefer 245 if possible due to lower weight and closer to stock rolling diameter.

 

[nsxtasy]

Any TRC issues with the 17/17 setup?

It's possible. You may run into TCS problems on a '91-93 NSX with 215/40-17 and 245/40-17 - maybe not when the tires are new, but as the rear tires wear faster than the fronts, that could be enough to trigger the TCS. (The difference when new is about 3.6 percent, which is under the 5% threshold, but increases as the rear tires wear.) I recommend using 255/40-17 rather than 245/40-17, to avoid such problems.

The TCS will probably not experience problems with either rear 17" size on a '94 or later NSX. That's because the TCS is set up for the stock tire sizes, and the front tires on the '91-93 are significantly smaller than on the later years.

 

[Ty B]

I would like to add a big thank you for the open discussion and sharing of knowledge. I've spent a long time reading on various NSX topics and figured a pat on the shoulder for those of you who constantly help out and share info was required. It's appreciated.

It is so tiring to see the endless gotcha's and "go use search" from the wanna be forum guru's. Enthusiasts sharing info and opinions with each other is so refreshing, not to mention informative.

 

[Blue Batmobile]

Wow! I was all set to start my search for new tires for my 17" stockers when I stumbled upon this thread . After reading through it, I've decided to try the conti extreme contacts . I live here in San Diego, so they should fit the bill!

Bat