Lightest 215/45/17 Summer Tires?
 

Hi Guys, I finally ordered a set of TWS T66Fs from Japan.
17x8 +42, 14lb wheels. Arriving in 2 weeks.

To stick with the goal of lightest wheel/tire combo on stock setup, i want to stick with stock tire size, since all 215/45/17s tires still seem to allow 7-8 wheel widths, improve grip esp. during hard braking, be useable in rain, but still allow some play/slide at full lock + throttle.

So far, looking around shows that the lightest tires would be in the Max Perf. Category, all at 19 lbs,
1. Michelin PS4 180+USD
2. Continental Extreme 150+USD
3. VENTUS V12 EVO2 105+USD
4. EAGLE F1 ASYMMETRIC 3 141+USD

How are these 4 comparable? the Ventus with a low price looks really tempting too.

it depends. What are you using the car for? And you know every manufacturer lists tire weights on their website, so you can check them all.

For DD and spirited driving. I dont track and in rare cases i do, for fun and non-competitive.

I used tirerack as a reference and found those two lightest. Not sure yet what/where i can filter tire shopping by weight :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ran through Tire Rack just to check and yeah, those four are the lightest you can find on there. I'm not sure why you would buy $4k+ wheels only to put the cheapest option tire on them though. I hear that the Hankook's are "good for what they are" under most circumstances. Not a bad tire, but not the best. They may be the most expensive, but the PS4s directly replaced the legendary Pilot Super Sports (tires I had on my own car in a larger size) and are going to be your best bet. If you want lightest and best performing, buy those.

If you spent your whole budget on the wheels (likely) then buy the Ventus, they should serve you well enough.

Thats a great point. Im considering lower priced wheels because i realized i may not benefit from the max grip and performance at limits of the ps4 since its just a city DD. Basically, do you think the price you are paying for expensive tires of the same category, are only seen when driving near the upper limit? If so, the ventus makes a great choice. But if even dd is marginally different with a ps4, i could consider it. What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thats a great point. Im considering lower priced wheels because i realized i may not benefit from the max grip and performance at limits of the ps4 since its just a city DD. Basically, do you think the price you are paying for expensive tires of the same category, are only seen when driving near the upper limit? If so, the ventus makes a great choice. But if even dd is marginally different with a ps4, i could consider it. What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are many factors like wear rates and wet vs dry handling to consider. If the Ventus wear out faster then they end up being more expensive over time, but really any tire from this category will wear faster. I'm not familiar with the Ventus tires, but from what I've seen they're a good budget option and work well enough that you won't miss too much of the max performance.

The PS4s will provide more grip than needed, but it's nice to have. The Ventus shouldn't be too much of a compromise though.

Nevermore: he mentioned PS4 (more street oriented and more different sizing), not PS4S (which as you say are PSS successor). For non tracked car should do though.

Talking about minimising unsprung and rotational mass, other than lightening the wheel and tyre, you may also want to get two-piece brake rotors. You can knock off another 6 lb per (front) wheel.

I ran the Extreme Contact Sport. It rains a lot out here and it performed well, even in the winter. Got about 30K miles out of them. Once they got close to the wear bars the shoulders went away really quick which I found odd. They were reasonably quiet.

I will likely buy them again.

As someone that went from a MPSS to the Hankook EVO V12; I would highly suggest not getting the Hankooks. Compared to the MPSS (which I loved till they got below 50%), Their side walls are too soft. I do not like them. In no way do they out perform the MPSS. (except cost) I will be getting the MPS4S next.

Oh, thanks for the correction. I was wondering but didn't get around to confirming.
I think I'm gonna replace mine with the Firehawk Indy 500 tires from Firestone. They seem pretty well rated for a lot less. The only reason I'm not suggesting them here is because OP wanted lightest and they're about 3lbs heavier than the ones listed here.

I have read a bunch of good reviews on that tire.

I seriously doubt that the lightest summer 215/45/17 is also the best summer 215/45/17 tire. IMO, It makes more sense to ask what's the best tire for street driving (or be specific Like: mixed use Street/track) with a UTQG from 200 - 320. (or something like that).

No, no doubt. But, the original question was just what is the lightest he can get. He's already said he doesn't need the best tire because he might not push the car hard enough to warrant it. My original recommendation was that he get both, or the best lightest, but price seems to be a factor as well so it's a pick two situation.

The Ventus V12 will be plenty imo. I haven't driven the new Conti's (only the prior gen) but I would bet they have better wet grip though so may be worth it.

Maybe this review roundup of PPS like tire class might be of help? Most tires in it should have stiff sidewalls and lightest of them were goodyear eagle f1 supersports.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NcenJ0zmAY[/ame]


Imho it's completely wrong to choose tire prioritizing weight above everything. Tire might be lightest (but not THAT lighter then other alternatives), yet may have worse grip / worse handling feel. And vice versa, i'd probably get heavier tire (that wouldn't be THAT heavier then rest), if it's grip/handling feel is better then that of competitors in class.