How are those Dunlop ZIIs? I'm interested in them as well.
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Tire life (street use only) of Dunlop ZII or Falken RT-615K?
- Thread starter M-P
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I've got ZII's.
I've had them for 1.5 summers.
I've done 2 track days with them, and about 10,000 km. The rears have about 15% left, and the fronts about 40%.
Loads of grip on track. In heavy rain, I never noticed any traction issues (but driving carefully).
But they're going to be done by the end of this summer. I had to swap the rears from side to side due to excessive camber wear (getting alignment done).
For street use only: I'd go for something with a little longer life and less performance.
For street/track: I'd say they're great!
Tire tech is always improving, and I believe ZII's are an aging formula. Newer tires out perform AND outlast. Can anyone chime in on the latest and greatest from the rubber world?
Lucas
I had AD08 R on my car with 5200 miles (~8350 km) including 9 track days. They still seemed to have pretty good life left in them. They have a similar wear rating to the ZII. But then I destroyed the car, so I won't know how long they would have lasted.
I miss those tires as I drive my new car on seven-year old NT555. These tires have no grip whatsoever in comparison. I look forward to replacing them next summer.
I miss those tires as I drive my new car on seven-year old NT555. These tires have no grip whatsoever in comparison. I look forward to replacing them next summer.
Thanks jw and jaja. I've read good things about both the ad-08 and the ZII but I'm leaning towards the ZII because it comes in a 275/35/18 size. I'd like to see what the OP thinks of them now too.
LOL! The ZII has only been on the market for about a year!
Sorry, I'm thinking of the original star specs, ~5 years old now.
ZII's will probably be with the top dogs for a similar period of time.
I'm in the market too.
Not much choice at this size.
The z2 or the gforce or kdw2. The sumitomo are about half the price.
Not much choice at this size.
The z2 or the gforce or kdw2. The sumitomo are about half the price.
I'm not sure which sizes you're looking at, or which g-Force tire you're referring to (BFG makes a lot of different tires in that line). The ZII will give MUCH better performance than the KDW2 or any Sumitomo tire. Depending on sizes, there may be a better tire but only if you're willing to trade off performance for value (purchase price and/or treadlife).
What about tire noise?
If that's a factor, you may be better off with one of the max performance tires. What sizes are your wheels?
Same as the OP. 215/40/17 and 275/35/18 but i could run the 265/35/18.
This is a street car only. So I am looking for decent performance, but not track levels.
Then you'd probably be very happy with the Kumho Ecsta LE Sport. It's a maximum performance tire, so it will last longer and be quieter than the extreme performance tires like the ZII. It's also a lot less expensive (Tire Rack $100 for the front, and $180 for the 265/35-18, which I would recommend for the rear rather than 275/35).
Another choice in that category is the Pirelli P Zero Nero GT. It's brand new, so I don't know much about it. It's even cheaper in front ($85) but right now they only have 255/35-18 for the rear ($186), not 265/35 or 275/35.
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Reviews of the predecessor seem to frequently complain about noise so it may be worth waiting for reviews of the newer GT variant.
Discount tire has a Kumho Ecsta ASX. Is that any good?
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/fi...pc=33375&ar=35&rf=true&rd=18&rc=FLJINT&cs=265
No, all-season tires = yuck.
And it was the worst of its (3 tires) test back in 2008 on TireRack.
Basically correct, when applied to an NSX.
All-season tires are designed to be a compromise. In moderate to warm temperatures, they don't grip anywhere near as well as summer tires, even mediocre summer tires. In snow and extreme cold, they grip better. They also last a lot longer (more miles) than summer tires. That compromise works well for your everyday family car. Not for a high-performance sports car (unless you're only using them in winter, and swapping to summer tires the rest of the year).
Thanks Ken,
I only need the rears as the fronts are still in great shape. I am still thinking of getting all 4, that way I have the fronts with a matching pattern when it is time to replace them. I realize running different tires is not ideal, but for street driving I can't see it being a huge problem.
If you're doing that, you should use winter tires. All-season tires also suck in the winter, compared to winter tires. The only roles for all-season tires are (1) for combined winter and summer use if you cannot afford two sets of tires and (2) for longer-wearing tires on a nonperformance car.
I think it's okay to mix tires of a different make/model, as long as their performance is similar. For example, I wouldn't hesitate to mix four extreme performance tires from different manufacturers, but I would not mix extreme performance tires with all-season tires. Granted, that's an extreme example, but it illustrates the point. The problem with mixing tires which perform differently is that it can induce oversteer (tendency for the rear to swing out) or understeer (tendency for the car to go straight ahead when trying to turn) when some tires on the car can grip better than others.
I think most NSX owners go through two, sometimes up to three, sets of rear tires for each set of fronts. So when you start with four new tires, you can expect to need another set of rears while your fronts still have plenty of tread. The best way to deal with that is to buy two rears at that point - same make/model as the fronts if they're still available, otherwise something with similar performance (which usually means the same performance category on the Tire Rack website). After you then go through the second set of rears, you'll probably need to replace all four tires, so it's easy to buy four of the same make/model.
What tires do you have in front?
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As general advice for those in the snow belt, I wholeheartedly agree with you. However, it really depends on the climate and what conditions you're driving in. And you need to think of tires as falling across a spectrum of capabilities. More specifically, there are different kinds of winter tires; the two major kinds, in the Tire Rack's terminology, are "studless ice and snow" tires and "performance winter / snow" tires. The studless variety give the best grip on ice and snow, while the performance variety still do okay on ice and snow and give better handling when there's no ice and snow on the ground. Those who must drive their vehicle in the worst winter weather are generally better off with the studless variety; those whose climate is more mild and/or who have another vehicle to use in bad winter weather are often better off with the performance variety. Keep going along that spectrum, and if someone lives in a location where winters are rather mild so it doesn't snow all that often but it's still a possibility - think North Carolina or Oklahoma - they might prefer to keep driving their NSX in winter by swapping on all-seasons, which will handle better than winter tires, but with the knowledge that if the rare severe winter storm hits, the all-seasons might not be able to deal with it.
Goodyear Eagle F1. Doesn't look like they made what I have anymore.
Assuming you mean the Eagle F1 GSD3, that was a maximum performance summer tire. If I were you, I would replace the rears with the Kumho Ecsta LE Sport in 265/35-18, which is another maximum performance summer tire with similar performance, and use that combination. When the fronts eventually wear out, you can get the LE Sport in 215/40-17, and you'll have four matching tires after that.
Netviper, my car came with the eagle F1s when I bought it, they were from Decmber 2007, they got very greasy when I took it to a proper long distance spirited run, I was just waiting for them to wear out and finally did, but just the rear, the fronts look brand new and the rubber is probably stiff as hell on them, but find out how old yours are and if they're older than 5 years you may need to just give it up and buy all new tires. I'll be going to Dunlop ZIIs all around.
Yes, gsd3. Would you buy the fronts now or just the rears? I have no idea how long they will be around.
If it were my car, I would just buy a pair of the Kumho Ecsta LE Sport for the rear right now, and see how it goes with that combo. If you find that you're not that thrilled with the way they handle when mixed with the GSD3 - either because of aging (as NSXonwheels suggests above, although five years isn't that old as tires go), or just because of the mix - you could always buy a pair of fronts if that's the way you feel about it. And if you're happy with that combo, you can put off buying fronts until the ones you have actually wear out.
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