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Which tires to get??

Joined
7 April 2005
Messages
1,156
Location
North Scottsdale, AZ
Hi Everybody,

I'm still looking for new (or the same) tires for my NSX. Currently I'm driving on SO3s (awesome tires). I'm looking into getting the new Michelin Pilot Sport (PS2) tires which are getting great reviews. I've spoken to 2 people who say that the PS2 is a great upgrade from the S03... what do you guys think? I'm also considering the Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD07, but have heard little about it. I don't plan on tracking the car, maybe twice a year, and it is probably going to be my daily driver (90% sure). I'm obviously looking for performance vs. treadwear. Tire noise isn't too big a concern along with wet weather (I live in AZ).

Any advice would be helpful!! Thanks!
 
There's a lot of infos and comments on the Michelins in this section - you may try a search. What you get is e.g the exact same question with answers here . Of course there are more threads with similar topics. BTW: If you still have the 15" (or if you upgraded to 16") OEM front wheels you will have trouble to find Michelin PS 2 in the stock sizes according to this thread.
 
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NSX-Racer said:
There's a lot of infos and comments on the Michelins in this section - you may try a search. What you get is e.g the exact same question with answers here . Of course there are more threads with similar topics. BTW: If you still have the 15" (or if you upgraded to 16") OEM front wheels you will have trouble to find Michelin PS 2 in the stock sizes according to this thread.

Ah yes, the old search... sorry about that guys... should have done the search first. Cool, it looks like the PS2s won't fit up front which is too bad because they're cheaper than the S03 in the back (only by a couple dollars though) - 275/35/18.
 
A lot of new tires are coming on the market in lots of different categories - everything from the top-of-the-line street tires you're asking about here, to "bang for the buck" budget performance tires, to track tires. In the top-of-the-line category, the Bridgestone S-03 and the Pilot Sport PS2 have been the top choices for a while, but recent entries are very competitive, particularly the Goodyear F1 GS-D3, the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx, and the Yokohama Advan Neova AD07. All but the Goodyear are priced similarly; the Goodyear has a price advantage.

It sounds like you're using 17"/18" wheels. If so, the Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Dunlop are all available in the most commonly used sizes of 215/40-17 front and 255/35-18 or 265/35-18 rear. The Michelin and Yokohama are not.

The good news is, the Tire Rack performs side-by-side comparison tests of most of these tires, and evaluates them based on a couple dozen different characteristics. Here are links to the following tests of these "best of the best" tires:

Bridgestone S-03 vs Dunlop SP Sport Maxx
Bridgestone S-03 vs Goodyear F1 GS-D3
Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 (unfortunately, not tested against the other ones mentioned here)

Go through the tests, think about which characteristics are important to you, and decide accordingly.
 
yamahaSHO said:
I've heard great things about the Kumho MX's even with plenty of track use.
They wouldn't be a good choice for redshift. Here's why.

The big advantage of the Kumho MX is price, not performance. They're an "in between" tire, meaning that, in both price and performance, they are higher than the "budget performance" tires (e.g. Yokohama ES100) but not as high as the "top of the line" tires like the Bridgestone S-03. They might be a good choice for someone who wants more performance than the ES100 but doesn't want to spend as much as the S-03 (and similar) cost. They are not a good choice for someone like redshift who is accustomed to the S-03 and wants something that performs as well or better.
 
I'm just going off of what I hear from all the guys at the many track events I go to. I personally use track tires on track and Nitto Extreme's on the street.

I've also personally driven a 3,400 lbs Taurus spiritedly with 530hp and I have no complaints about the tires. I'm thinking those may be my next set in the very near future since I can't stop spinning my tires.

I've never driven a car with S-O3's, so I can't compare the two.
 
If you do decide to go with the Yokohama tires, keep in mind that sometime shortly here in early August we'll be auctioning off gift certificates for a full set of Yokohama tires on eBay, with the proceeds going towards NSXPO 2005. This gift certificate would be good towards the new ADVAN's and definitely cover your sizes too. Keep that in mind if you're wanting the Yoko's and can wait for a month before having to put them on, as the proceeds will certainly be going to a good cause. :smile:

Oh yeah, it was nice meeting you at the lunch/meeting the other day!
 
Why doesn't anyone ever mention BFGoodrich's g-Force when talking about tires? Tirerack has the g-Force as the top tire for Handling Rating, Dry Traction, second in wet traction, second in ride comfort, and last in noise comfort. Those rankings are when I compared the g-Force with the S03 PP, GY Eagle F1, Michelin Pilot, and Yoko ES100.

If I don't sell my car, I'm leaning toward the BFG's when it's time for new tires; that is, unless someone on here has experiences that would lead me in another direction. Any feedback?
 
93BlkOnBlkNSX said:
Why doesn't anyone ever mention BFGoodrich's g-Force when talking about tires?
:confused: Nobody mentioned BF Goodrichs? You may search the tires and wheels section and you'll find dozens of threads about it - e.g. this one . I guess there's no need to review the whole tire world again in a new thread.
 
93BlkOnBlkNSX said:
Why doesn't anyone ever mention BFGoodrich's g-Force when talking about tires?
First of all, you need to be more specific in describing which tire you're referring to. BFGoodrich uses the "g-Force" name on a lot of different models of tires, everything from their top-of-the-line g-Force T/A KD, to their budget performance g-Force T/A KDW and KDW 2, to their all-season g-Force T/A KDWS.

93BlkOnBlkNSX said:
Tirerack has the g-Force as the top tire for Handling Rating, Dry Traction, second in wet traction, second in ride comfort, and last in noise comfort. Those rankings are when I compared the g-Force with the S03 PP, GY Eagle F1, Michelin Pilot, and Yoko ES100.
You are not interpreting the Tire Rack's numerical ratings properly. This tire is not their "top tire" for anything, and it is nowhere near as good as those other tires you mention.

Here's what you are referring to. The g-Force tire that got high numerical ratings is the g-Force T/A KDW 2 budget tire. That tire was only tested along with a Firestone Firehawk budget tire and a Goodyear Eagle budget tire, and has never been tested side by side with any of the tires you mention. I spoke about this with the Tire Rack's technical director, who supervises all of their testing. He said that even though a tire gets high numerical results in one particular test, those results are only comparable to the other tires tested at the same time, and should not be compared with tires tested on other occasions. He was emphatic that this high numbers posted by the T/A KDW 2 do not mean that it is any better than another tire which got lower numbers in another test. See the other topic (link in previous post) for the exact quote.

As far as where the BFGoodrich line of tires sits in the tire world... Their top-of-the-line g-Force T/A KD does not perform as well as the top-of-the-line tires I previously mentioned from competing brands. So those looking for the best tires around generally do not wind up with the T/A KD. The budget T/A KDW 2 offers performance that is comparable to the better tires in the "budget performance" category (for those who want decent performance at a good price), but costs significantly more than those competing tires. Because competing tires like the Yokohama ES100 and recent entries like the Kumho Ecsta SPT and the Dunlop Direzza DZ101 are better values (the same or better performance for significantly less money), those looking for tires in this segment usually buy something else.

The folks at the Tire Rack - not just their technical director, but also most of their salesmen - are very knowledgeable and can help you choose the tire that best meets your needs. Feel free to discuss it with them.
 
Some of us who have actually used the KDW2 have found them most impressive, and easily exceed other tires in the class referred to as 'budget' in an above post.

Personally, I've found them to be substantially sticker than the AVS Sport, which an ES100 certainly cannot keep up with. Right now I have A022 on the front, KDW2 on the rear, and the car has very good balance.

With good reason, lots of Tireracks reviewers have ranked the KDW2 highest in wet traction, cornering stability, dry traction and steering response in TireRacks UHP category. Which, interestingly enough, includes the A022 and RE010.
 
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NSXT said:
With good reason, lots of Tireracks reviewers have ranked the KDW2 highest in wet traction, cornering stability, dry traction and steering response in TireRacks UHP category.
However, the overall top-rated tire (by customer reviews) in Tire Rack's UHP category, the Avon Tech M500, costs ~20-25 percent less than the BFGoodrich KDW2, and the Fuzion ZRi, which comes in just behind the KDW2, costs ~40 percent less than the KDW2. So you can get similar performance for a lot less money.

And, where cost is not a priority, then you can get much better performance for not all that much more money. For example, the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 is in Tire Rack's highest performance category (MP, top of the line summer tires) and achieved the highest customer reviews of all tires in that category - which makes a case for calling it the best street tire available - yet costs only ~10 percent more than the BFGoodrich KDW2.

Again, feel free to discuss your needs and all of the available choices with your tire dealer. The folks at the Tire Rack are particularly knowledgeable (because they have driven pretty much all of these tires side by side on their test track, using the same test car) and can help you choose the tire that best meets your needs.
 
Based upon the ratings, the KDW2 beats the M500 in 4 out of 5 handling categories, and beats the ZRi in 5 out of 5. Its a stretch of the english language to declare such tires to have 'similar performance'.

The GS-D3 is quite a capable tire but their 16" sizes for the front have shorter sidewalls than OEM, increasing the risk of a bending a rim going over a pothole.
 
I just got s03's instead of re040 because tire rack had better ratings
 
NSXT said:
Based upon the ratings, the KDW2 beats the M500 in 4 out of 5 handling categories, and beats the ZRi in 5 out of 5.
Here are the categories in which the M500 beats or equals the KDW2 in the customer ratings:

- Overall rank within category
- Would you buy this tire again?

- Hydroplaning resistance (tie)
- Ride comfort
- Noise comfort
- Treadwear

Of the 39 tires included when you list the summary of all reviews in this category (which do not include the Yokohama A022H, and include the Bridgestone RE010 based on 39 reviews of which 38 are for cars other than the NSX), the KDW2 came in third overall (behind the Avon Tech M500 and the Bridgestone RE750) and the ZRi came in fourth. Which is about as similar as similar can be.

If you're not sure about how these tires compare with each other, or how they will meet with your personal preferences and priorities, discuss them with the experts at the Tire Rack.

NSXT said:
The GS-D3 is quite a capable tire but their 16" sizes for the front have shorter sidewalls than OEM, increasing the risk of a bending a rim going over a pothole.
The best sizes of these tires for front 16" wheels are 205/45-16 (whose outer diameter is 1.5 percent smaller than the stock '94-01 front size) and 205/50-16 (whose outer diameter is 1.9 percent larger). The differences in sidewall height are -0.18 inch and +0.23 inch. To put this in perspective, both sizes have sidewall height that is at least a quarter inch larger than the '02-05 stock front size. And both sizes are available for both the F1 GS-D3 and the KDW2.

If you are referring to the 225/45-16, which is 1.5 percent larger than the stock '94-01 front size, there is a significant chance that that size might rub on the fender well liners, because it is wider than stock as well as greater in outer diameter. The larger sizes are also more likely to be a problem for the TCS for '91-93 NSXs, with their smaller stock front tire size, than for a '95 like yours, Spencer. Owners of the '91-93 need to be more careful when choosing rear tire sizes to go with oversized front tires; what works on a later year NSX may cause TCS problems on an earlier NSX. For example, both the 205/50-16 and the 225/45-16 sizes, used as front tires, are likely to cause TCS problems on a '91-93 with stock rear sizes as the rear tires wear down. But the 205/45-16 size should work just fine.

Mr. Duck said:
I just got s03's instead of re040 because tire rack had better ratings
The S-03 has the benefit of a lot of side-by-side comparison tests against other top-of-the-line summer tires on the Tire Rack website. For a number of years, the S-03 has been considered the best street tire available. Within the past year, there have been several recent introductions by other manufacturers which have bested the S-03 in Tire Rack testing, including the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 and the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx. The Goodyear is particularly attractive because it is also priced significantly less than the S-03. These three tires are still among the very best general-application tires out there and you can't go wrong with any of them.
 
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I hardly consider comfort and wear factors to be performance categories when discussing tires for the NSX. Using this broader definition, Pep Boys sells 80K mile touring tires which have similar performance to the OEMs for about $200 a set installed. Feel free to try them.

And no, 225/45/16 doesn't rub. At least not on my car. TCS is not a problem either, especially when combined with a 255/40/17 rear.
 
NSXT said:
225/45/16 doesn't rub. At least not on my car.
Yes, but your car has aftermarket sway bars, shocks, and springs. These changes firm up the suspension and prevent rubbing. Someone whose suspension is closer to stock may find that this size tire rubs on the fender well liners, because it is both wider and larger in outer diameter than stock.

NSXT said:
TCS is not a problem either
Not on your '95, but (as I already stated) it might be a problem on a '91-93, whose TCS is calibrated for the stock tire sizes for those years, for which the oversized 225/45-16 front size is 3.9 percent larger in outer diameter than stock.
 
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