Let's discuss Summer tires

Rudy@tirerack

Rudy@tirerack

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I wanted to start a summer thread and discuss some of the more popular summer tire options. Why would you a want a summer tire versus an all season? I see guys spend thousands of dollars on coilovers, wheels, and other modifications to help improve the handling of their car. Tires are the #1 modification you can make when it comes to the stopping and handling. Summer tires offer better stopping distances and better handling versus an all season because they offer more grip in warm temperatures. Here are some of my favorite tire options:

Extreme Performance Summer tires - These are your best dry handling tires but you give up some treadlife and hydroplanning resistance. You want these type of tires if your looking for the highest level of street performance and/or you want to be able to drive to and attend an Auto X or Track. Here are some of the most popular models.

Dunlop Direzza ZII - This tire is one of the sharpest handling tires out there. It is very popular for AutoX do it's razor sharp handling. They also have good wet performance in moderate to light rain. It's has shorter fall off period before the tire gives away so it might not be the best choice for inexperienced drivers. They make a pretty good option for street but are a little loud on the highway.

BF Goodrich Gforce Rival - This is one of my personal favorites. This tire is easy to drive fast and actually helps correct for minor driver error making you faster. Lots of dry grip. One thing I noticed and really like about this tire is the fact that it wears very well even when driven hard on an Auto X or Track. It's wears very evenly. Wet traction on this tire is just average.

Bridgestone RE-11/A- If you plan on an Extreme tire for a car that's mainly a daily driver this is probably the best option. Dry grip is close to the tires above. It has good wet performance and has the best ride and noise comfort. Making it easy to get along with.

Max Performance Summer- So why would you want a Max performance tire versus an Extreme performance tire? The Max give enough dry performance on the street for 90 percent of the drivers out there but have better wet performance, treadlife, and tire wear.

Michelin Pilot Super Sport - This is the king of Max performance. It offers the most dry traction, close to the top in wet traction, has a good ride and noise comfort and wears well for a tire of this performance. Very well rounded and one of my highest recommendations for performance street car.

Bridgestone S04 Pole Position - Very, very close in performance to the Super Sport. has a little better noise comfort in my opinion and is normally less money versus the Michelin. Its a value champ.

Continental Extreme DW- The best in the wet. Still strong dry traction but a little softer sidewalls so not quite as crisp. It does ride very nice and another value champ.

BF Goodrich Gforce Sport Comp2- Tire Rack considers this an Ultra high performance tire. I really like this tire based on price. Excellent handling crispness and grip as well as value.

I know I have left some tires out but these are a few of my personal favorites. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them.
 
After almost 20,000 miles on the Sport Comp2's on my car, the end of this season, I will be back on the market for summer rubber. I've enjoyed the tires immensely and I agree, excellent crispness and grip particularly when new. They start to get to the end of their life, the wet performance is noticeably compromised.

There is no comparison between the all season Conti DWS and dedicated summer BFG SC2 I have for my car, it's night and day when throwing the car into the turn.
 
Please keep in mind ALL tires will loose wet traction towards the end of their life. You need tread depth to channel the water away from the tire. This is why we recommend replacing tires at about 4/32nd's versus waiting until the wear bar at 2/32nd's.
 
I was going to get Sport Comp 2s, but I heard better reviews on the Cooper RS3-S. So I bought the Cooper Tires.
 
I have the Conti DW's and yes while the sidewall is soft at 35psi you bump up to 40-42 psi it stiffens up nicely and the car wakes up. I will be buying another set soon.
 
I would also add hankook rs3, azenis rt-615k. And kuhmo Xs to the first catagory. The rs3 was the tire to have running 255 all around on str s2000's.
 
I like the RS-3. They have recently changed the compound of the tire to a V2 "Compound". This new compound is suppose to heat up faster and have better wet traction. I just didn't have enough info at this time. The 615K and XS are both a little aged and are not up there with the other extreme tires I mentioned.
 
07TLX said:
I have the Conti DW's and yes while the sidewall is soft at 35psi you bump up to 40-42 psi it stiffens up nicely and the car wakes up. I will be buying another set soon.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! You can add tire pressure to any tire to increase stiffness but you will give up some ride comfort and it can wear the center of the tire out faster.
 
Rudy@tirerack said:
Absolutely! You can add tire pressure to any tire to increase stiffness but you will give up some ride comfort and it can wear the center of the tire out faster.
Click to expand...

I normally run 36-38 psi and get a solid 2 seasons (6-8 months each season) with a good wear pattern, 40-45 psi is for having fun...lol
 
I'm about due for a new set of tires and was thinking of going with the Michelin Pilot Super Sport but was wondering how much of a hit would I take in tire life?

The current tires are BF Goodrich g-Force KDWS (ultra high performance all season according to Tire Rack) and at 15,000 miles they are at the wear bar, should I expect even less mileage than this with the Pilot Super Sports?
 
Just got a set of the RE11-A Bridgestones. I only have 500 miles on them but they are great. Very comfortable tire for everyday driving so far. I have tried to do a couple spirited drives on them and so far they have been great. The price was not bad either. Very close to what I had paid for a lesser tire a couple years ago.

I upgraded from a set of Dunlop DZ101 tires, which were listed as an Ultra High Performance Summer, and these, while in a different category, are far superior. The Dunlops tended to pull and wander a lot. Especially in the mornings if they were cold. I have had so such issues with the Bridgestones and I even left the car parked for several days. The Dunlops felt like they would get a flat spot almost overnight.

Same tire size, car, and wheels.
 
I see you left out the next class 'down', Ultra High Performance. Is there a specific reason for that? Are the max performance tires just the better option for the money usually or something?
 
The BFG Super Sport Comp 2 I listed is at the top of the Ultra High Performance category. I just listed some of my favorite Summer performance tires. There are other good options. If you have a question or a certain model please let me know.
 
RE-11A's from Bridgestone are frickin awesome. Just got back from a 5 day Tail of the Dragon trip. They were flawless. Many many hard miles, hard braking, and harsh road conditions. I had trouble finding the limit with these tires and feeling safe. The speeds these things can handle is scary.
 
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