I have a 93oct tune from Moto-East, and had it for NJ (hence the launch control at the starts). I didn't get a chance to update the thread once I had the tune done, since it was just before NJ, but I got it as part of the group buy. I was familiar with Moto-East from when I had an STR MX5, and they also came highly recommended to me by Simmons. And that was probably one of the best mods I've done to the car so far. The torque dip was less noticeable, the car felt stronger on top, and the increased rev limit has paid dividends on faster courses. Not to mention that Mike @ Moto-East is an *extremely* helpful and timely guy, and was happy to answer my emails even late at night and off-hours sometimes. The price is very good as well, as Moto-East only charges a flat rate for whatever maps you want... so if you want just a 93oct tune like I got, that's fine. If you want E85, E70, etc., that is no extra charge. Really good people to work with.
Aside from that, I've had no engine mods up until a week ago when I threw on the muffler delete and Perrin pulley. The pulley made the car more responsive but for the most part the butt dyno reads the same - which is fine, as the main purpose of those parts has been to reduce weight, not increase power.
I have zero apples-to-apples comparisons so far, but I have driven the Rivals on an STU STI, and I liked them - but I wasn't blown away. Good tire, very similar to the Hankook in that they are a little soft and numb but still stick. I've also looked at a lot of the data that other people have collected. However, practically none of that data involved a comparison between the RS3 and the Rival. It's like people forgot the RS3 existed. :P
The point is that I don't think the Rival is the magic bullet god tire that the hype has made it out to be so far. That being said, I still intend on trying them at some point. I really want to get the car to work on RS3s or Rivals specifically for the sake of contingency.
As for the Z2s - I don't know yet. I haven't driven on them but I've heard a LOT of mixed opinions. From tire testing I had done a couple years ago, the Z1 was consistently slower than the RS3 for me, so the Z2 seems to just be playing catch up. At the very least, they should be good for intermediates (since the RS3 is *fucking terrible* once the course is wet) but again, that is at the cost of contingency.
I have also heard good things about the RE11A, but there is even less data available for those. They aren't really on my radar yet.
Remember, though, just because a tire is new, doesn't automatically make it faster.
