Tyre Choices

[nsanity]

I'm up for new rears shortly on my R33 GTS-T

got 18x9.5 rims on the rear, currently with some thin-wearing Hankook Ventus 104's on it.

I'll need new rears in the next 2000km i figure, so i had a chat to the local recommended tyre place here in Canberra he basically gave me 3 options - these are all 255/35/R18's btw)

Hankook Ventus 104's at ~285 ea

Falken 452's at ~320 ea

Toyo T1R's at $370 ea

Price isn't a huge issue, what i want is money well spent. I currently have 235/40/R18's on the front, in the hankook Ventus 104's, but i'd probably be looking at changing them in the next 10000 or so km, and i'd go the brand/make i just put on the rear.

Anyone with any experience with these 3 tyres? last time i compared performancish tyres i was driving a torana with 13in rims, so i'm a bit out of date.

Key points i'm looking at

~Grip

~Wet Grip

~Life

~Noise

Roughly in that order.

[GTR_Legend]

can onlu comment on the Toyo, and they are great!

[salad]

the toyos are good but quite expensive.

bang for buck i would probly go the hankooks

havnt got anything to say about the falkens

[nsanity]

bang for buck

i used the term "money well spent". Which is different.

I'm quite happy to pay extra so long as there noticable benefits to be gained.

Alot of praise for the Toyo's however (i have been doing a bit of thread reading...).

Has anyone got anything bad to say about them?

Does anyone prefer the falkens?

[mickr33]

Been using the Hankook Ventus for about 4-5 months now and they are fantastic

for drifting. THAT'S IT. If you are after a tyre that grips well do not buy these are

they are absolute rubbish. I admit i didnt expect much for the money but when the

guy at the shop praised them i thought hmmm give em a go. Expected better than

than that. Alot better.

[nsanity]

Been using the Hankook Ventus for about 4-5 months now and they are fantastic

for drifting. THAT'S IT. If you are after a tyre that grips well do not buy these are

they are absolute rubbish. I admit i didnt expect much for the money but when the

guy at the shop praised them i thought hmmm give em a go. Expected better than

than that. Alot better.

You get what you pay for.

For the price, in comparison to other offerings, they are amazing - $285 for a 255/35/R18? unbelievable.

I only mentioned them because that is currently what is on the car now, they grip reasonably well, but i've driven far superior tyres grip wise - noise wise too.

[salad]

if price isnt an issue, get the T1Rs then.

definitely very good street tyres

Edited September 19, 2006 by salad

[nsanity]

if price isnt an issue, get the T1Rs then.

definitely very good street tyres

i haven't heard any comments about the falkens, nor is their website uptodate.

Can anyone compare the T1R's with a 595 Federals?

[ricsvtr]

How about trying some Dunlop SP Sport Maxx? Ive just bought a set and theyre pretty good. They won the 06 Wheels Tyre test too.

[nsanity]

They won the 6 Wheels Tyre test too.

What were they up against? what was the criteria? i'll poke around and see if i can find the article online.

Edit - interesting, it seems that they (the T1R's) were rated significantly lower than the dunlop's at the review and test size.

http://planetsoarer.com/06tyre/06finalscores.jpg is the image.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:ovJR9Nq...t=clnk&cd=2 is the google cache.

Edited September 20, 2006 by nsanity

[ricsvtr]

I was also thinking of buying Toyo T1R's originally but apparently they have soft sidewalls. I searched about this and quite a few ppl seem to back this up. There was one website which had a photo of some T1R's with really hacked up sidewalls. Also some ppl on this forum say that u can really feel the Hicas working with these tyres but I think its just the sidewalls flexing. I ended up buying the Dunlops when Kmart had their 15% off everything sale so it worked out pretty close to what the Toyos were going for.

[frankxinyu]

im currently using falken 452 on mine, and they do grip fine, and the noise is much better than the federals i had before.

havent brought them on a track, so dont know.

[R32gts-t]

i've had the hankook k104's on my road car for about a year now, they wear quite well, but as they wear the noise increases, when first had the tyres they felt like they had quite a soft side wall but that feeling soon disapears, they grip fairly well in most conditions.

conclusion:

Although they are a good tyre, i will spen dmore next time.

Edited September 20, 2006 by R32gts-t

[JaseR33]

I've got the Falken's on my car.

I'm very happy with the performance for the price, however haven't used either of the other tyres.

[nsanity]

i made a call to a dunlop "super" tyre centre today, enquiring about the rough price and what they thought of the performance of the Dunlop Sport SP MAXX's.

They told me not to worry about it - didn't even give me a price.

However they then proceded to recommend the following

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 - $937 per tyre @ 255/35/R18

Pirelli NeroZero - ~700 per tyre @ 255/35/R18

I then turned around and told him the following

I used to race a GTR XU-1, i used A032R's, which at the time, was basically a road legal slick - CAMS allowed and recommended them for Group 3J. I was paying ~300 a tyre, and whilst it was only 205/60/R13 - it was certainly no where near almost $1000 a tyre, and i will guarantee you here and now it out-performed this michelin thing in every aspect bar treadlife. Unless you can convince me that the tyre will wear 60,000 km and grip like god - you will never convince me, nor any other sane individual to spend that kind of money on a street tyre. Slicks and Gatorbacks, sure - Street tyres never.

His reply, its a premium tyre.

[ricsvtr]

I found that Kmart Tyre & Auto were the cheapest for the Sport Maxx's here in Perth (even without the 15% off sale). However their fitting was pretty ordinary, they put dirty marks all over my wheels and didnt clean them off and also didnt put any tyre black on. I paid $203 for 225/50/16 and the best price I could find for T1R's in the same size was $190

[Victory]

Quote

{I'm up for new rears shortly on my R33 GTS-T

got 18x9.5 rims on the rear, currently with some thin-wearing Hankook Ventus 104's on it.

I'll need new rears in the next 2000km i figure, so i had a chat to the local recommended tyre place here in Canberra he basically gave me 3 options - these are all 255/35/R18's btw)

Hankook Ventus 104's at ~285 ea

Falken 452's at ~320 ea

Toyo T1R's at $370 ea }

I run the Toyo T1R's on my GTR and I have been very impressed with them. Good grip in the wet and the dry and not too much tyre noice considering that they oare an open tread pattern.

If your rims are 9.5 wide why would you run tyres that small (255/35ZR18) ? I run 265/35ZR18 on 18x8 and you should be able to run 275/30ZR18 on 18x9.5 rims.

[nsanity]

If your rims are 9.5 wide why would you run tyres that small (255/35ZR18) ? I run 265/35ZR18 on 18x8 and you should be able to run 275/30ZR18 on 18x9.5 rims.

fronts are 8.5 rears are 9.5

[siksII]

What were they up against? what was the criteria? i'll poke around and see if i can find the article online.

Edit - interesting, it seems that they (the T1R's) were rated significantly lower than the dunlop's at the review and test size.

http://planetsoarer.com/06tyre/06finalscores.jpg is the image.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:ovJR9Nq...t=clnk&cd=2 is the google cache.

Hi, i have T1-Rs(255/40/17) on the rear of my car, and sport maxxs(235/45/17 8 inch rim) on the front. i have tried various types of tyres and these are the best i have ever personally tried, however i know 100% you they dont compare to say a falken azenis rt-615, toyo r888 or similar tyre which is one level below a proper semi slick (dry grip wise)

comparing the t1-r and the sport maxxs.... i can say a few things..

the sport maxxs are definetly a noisy tyre even when brand new. i have noticed this on my car and a friends car. the t1-rs are VERY quiet, they are well used now and are still very quiet which is unsual.

dry drip was excellent in warm weather with both tyres, however the t1-rs do not grip as well as they did when they were new.

in the wet the toyos are excellent and reasonably predictable, the dunlops are amazing and somehow manage to avoid aquaplaning altogether even through water that is inches deep.

the dunlops feel stiffer than the toyos during cornering, but in a straight line they both soak up bumps well compared to other tyres ive tried. the toyo sidewalls are a bit soft but not too bad, and the hicas is felt a lot when the tyre is new, partially because of how the tyre grips the road, and partially because of the softish sidewalls.

hope that helps!

[enjoi_694]

If you want good tyres for a good price get the Nexen N3000. They are a great value for money, they provide good grip in both dry and wet weather conditions. The life in the tyres are also good. A few of the drift australia drivers are using these tyres and they are very happy with the result of them.