Tire Recommendation Options

[d088]

I am due for a new set of tires, and am considering the Kumho ECSTA Supra 712's, the Sumitomo HTR Z, and the Falken FK-451. Has anyone tried these?

I'm running a stock '02 Z28 with 16's (Stock size is 245/50-16 and the Sumitomo's only come 255/50-16). This is my daily driver, and I would like to find a tire that is suitable for both daily driving and autocross with more emphasis on daily driving since my autocross skills need more improvement than my tires do. I have just finally burned up the crap tires that came on the car and need to find some reasonable tires that overperform their price tag.

Ben

[Bald54]

I used the Kuhmo 712's on my 00 SS convertible. I bought them basically because they were cheap like me. I thought they offered decent wet and dry performance for the money. They were however fairly noisey. I have driven on the Sumitomo HTR Z's and would probably pick this over the Kuhmo. They are both good tires for the $. Haven't had any experience with the Falkens. Just my .02

[sgarnett]

There's really no such thing as a good daily driver AND autocross tire, and some of the better compromise tires aren't available in 245/50-16 (such as the Kumho MX, Nitto 555R2, etc).

The Nitto drag radial 555R might be available in 245/50-16. Some people have used the 555R successfully at all 4 corners for autocross (ONLY Nitto, BTW, *NOT* BFG DRs). However, it might be a little mushy in 245/50. I suspect most people running these are using a 40 or 35 series tire.

The Firehawk SZ50 EP works reasonably well for autocross and holds up well too. I ran mine for 9 months of autocross and daily driving, another 9 months of daily driving only (switched to race tires), and will be putting them back on this spring. The guy who won ESP here in 2003 was on SZ50 EPs.

BTW, there is NO tire that will work for autocross and still be safe in winter. Even on cold DRY pavement performance tires suck. I run Michelin Arctic Alpins in winter on a set of cheap used Firebird 16x8s.

[sgarnett]

The Yoko A032R might be an option, depending on your priorities.

It's available in 245/45-16, which will probably handle a little better, and a 255/50-16, which is the same diamter as the stock tires (since race tires tend to run slightly short and wide for their size).

For street use I would bet that the H compound would hold up a lot better (meaning both wear and heat cycling).

The Yokos are supposedly great in the rain. The tradeoff is noise - comparable to mud tires on a truck.

[231go]

Not to long ago Tirerack.com had the sz50ep firehawk tires forsale in your size(245/50-16) for 117 a piece, that would be my choice.

[prockbp]

i like the HTR-z's more than the 712's for autocross.. i've used them both.... they're both long last tires though...

i had some SZ-50's once too.. i liked those tires, but they didn't last very long

[d088]

Thanks everyone. You all have definitely given me some good onformation to base my decision. I'll let you all know what I finally choose and how it works out.

Ben