I am in need of some new dedicated summer tires for my drive out to Cali at the end of March. I have narrowed my choices down to 2, but am now stuck and don't know which is the best. I spent over $800 on winter tires last year, and refuse to spend that much on my summer set, BUT i do not want to cheat myself or my car out of a good set of rubber.

So i am asking for your opinions, testimonials, and overall tire knowledge to help me choose the best tire for me out of the duo. All three have a better tread wear rating than the stock RE050's so that's a start. And i would say all are nicely priced for what i think they are.... Lets here what you think. Which would you choose and why? Why would you not choose one or more?

Thanks!


2. Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Direzza+Sport+Z1+Star+Spec&vehicleSearch=false&partnum=24WR8Z1SS&fromCompare1=yes&place=2

3. Kumho Ecsta MX
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+MX&vehicleSearch=false&partnum=24YR8EMX&fromCompare1=yes&place=4

I'm still a big fan of my goodyear eagle gt's, even tho they aren't on your list


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+GT

There's the tirerack link

tbot wrote:I'm still a big fan of my goodyear eagle gt's, even tho they aren't on your list


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+GT

There's the tirerack link

I appreciate the link, but i'm looking for a dedicated summer. I have a winter set, so i would like something that would kill me in snow....

Understandable, just by looking at the test results/survey results I would go w/ the Dunlop's as they have a higher rating for the most part. The one's I posted appeared to be better than the Kumho's for the most part, and the bridgstone's look decent. The other thing to consider is the tread wear rating, and the Goodyears have the highest rating, which can't be a bad thing

but i'm not trying to talk you into them or anything

I'd go with Trojan's 20 series, yes, less rubber, but boy do they handle nice on the curves. (I apologize...I had to.)

Either #2 or #3. Both are on my short list for consideration as well.

I would lean towards 1 or 3. I have never had good luck with the wear on any Dunlop's. Went through one set in three months.

I'd say 2 or 3. While my dunlop experience was with the SP8Ks, I'd hope that their quality holds up across their product line. And the Kumhos, while not great treadlife, were better than the Bridgestones that i've had.

And seriously, consider the General Exclaims. Several non-hardcore Auto-X's use them, and they are a great balance between grip and treadlife. and CHEAP!

I have the Exclaims currently. They are OK.

What size tire? I don't have any experience with the tires you posted but maybe I can help out anyway. I loved my BF Goodrich KDW2s, but they are a tad on the expensive side, and they don't have very much life. I have heard great things about Falken FK452s, they are relatively cheap and get great reviews. You might also consider the Continental ContiSportContact 3. I only have one thing I wouldn't recommend...I had Nitto NT555s on my G35 and didn't like them. Well, for street / occasional mountain driving they were fine, but I had them on track and they were useless there. Same goes for any lengthy sessions of spirited driving. Once they got hot they were like butter...sliding around, loss of steering response, and I felt every bump in the steering wheel.

I have the Fuzion ZRi on mine. Pop by the house if you'd like to see how they wear. I got them cheap at Peerless.

+1 on the BFG KDWS (the flame style tread). I had them on my blue 3- they were awesome! A bit of overkill for that car- I suspect they would be great on the speed. The only negative- they were a bit loud... but that's part of the deal with a summer tire. They were also killer in the wet- never an issue with H2O.

Outside of that, I would vote for the Kumho. They make great tires!

Tire size will be 225/40/18.

I scratched the Bridgestone off the list. Read some not so great reviews.

So now i'm down to two. The reason i narrowed to these two and not others, is these two are a great price. So i am leaning toward the Dunlop. Anyone object/think the Kumho is a better choice?

Considering the Dunlops are rated higher than Advan AD07s or Eagle F1 Supercars, that's the route I'm going to go and will be suggesting to anyone. Plus, for the price, you can't beat them. If you're worried about tread life, you shouldn't be looking at that performance level.

Yep. It depends on what you want... sticky or tread life.