Are any tires better than stock tires?

[Leonardo]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I guess we are going to go through it all again. Oh well have fun guys.

I love tires and love discussng them. I have had 28 on my car so far. But, thread title made me lol!!!

OP- Yes! Many.

[brandonblt2]

Originally Posted by finch1750

Whats your alignment specs? I had them on my STi and they got camber wear pretty bad

I have to find the paper but so far the tire wear seems to be even

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

I love tires and love discussng them. I have had 28 on my car so far. But, thread title made me lol!!!

OP- Yes! Many.

Ya I meant my first post to be more joke than serious since I knew that loads would indeed love to talk tires. Came off a bit more harsh than I intended in a reread though.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by soilent

I've been thinking about tires lately and I was wondering what the performance difference in grip and steering feel was with just a regular old summer tire vs the purposely slippery Prius tires we have. With the power the car has, I almost feel like a PSS or Ventus V12 is too much tire, and perhaps too much money. So, I'm curious if anyone out there has replaced the stockers with a normal, inexpensive summer tire and seen a big improvement. Let's talk cheap upgrades.

The only problem is, what makes you think the factory "Prius" tires are bad?

Factory tires are designed to give up traction in a predictable manner. "Performance" or "better" tires may give better grip and feel, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

If you feel PSS is too much money, then I'm curious as to what is "just right" for you on tire budget and whether you can even achieve your goal of performance improvement without considering how good the stock tires can be for you as a daily driver...

-alex

[swarb]

Originally Posted by soilent

I've been thinking about tires lately and I was wondering what the performance difference in grip and steering feel was with just a regular old summer tire vs the purposely slippery Prius tires we have. With the power the car has, I almost feel like a PSS or Ventus V12 is too much tire, and perhaps too much money. So, I'm curious if anyone out there has replaced the stockers with a normal, inexpensive summer tire and seen a big improvement. Let's talk cheap upgrades.

The stock tires are summer tires.
Look up the price on the stock tires.
And then come back and post your budget.

[nikitopo]

I wouldn't try cheap tires. It is the most important part in your car.

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by mav1178

The only problem is, what makes you think the factory "Prius" tires are bad?

Factory tires are designed to give up traction in a predictable manner. "Performance" or "better" tires may give better grip and feel, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

If you feel PSS is too much money, then I'm curious as to what is "just right" for you on tire budget and whether you can even achieve your goal of performance improvement without considering how good the stock tires can be for you as a daily driver...

-alex

If you're trying to save a few dollars, consider the Bridgestone S-04. I think they are 97% of the tire for a few bucks less a pop, and sometimes have a nice $70 rebate.

[soilent]

Originally Posted by mav1178

The only problem is, what makes you think the factory "Prius" tires are bad?

Factory tires are designed to give up traction in a predictable manner. "Performance" or "better" tires may give better grip and feel, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

If you feel PSS is too much money, then I'm curious as to what is "just right" for you on tire budget and whether you can even achieve your goal of performance improvement without considering how good the stock tires can be for you as a daily driver...

-alex

Originally Posted by swarb

The stock tires are summer tires.
Look up the price on the stock tires.
And then come back and post your budget.

Under $100 per tire. Preferably closer to $75. Hankook Ventus V12 is about the highest I'd like to go. 225/45/17 is the size I'd prefer.

[swarb]

Originally Posted by soilent

Under $100 per tire. Preferably closer to $75. Hankook Ventus V12 is about the highest I'd like to go. 225/45/17 is the size I'd prefer.

Look at reviews on tire rack.
Decide if you want an all season or a summer tire.
The Sumitomo HTR Z III is on tire rack, 75 for 215/45, 81 for 225/45
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....odel=HTR+Z+III
Testing Value-Priced Max Performance Summer Tires
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=149
Comparing Popular High Performance All-Season Tires
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=221

I'm on a set of low cost achilles atr sport 2 and I'm satisfied with them for daily driving.

If you are happy with the stock tires, I'd tell you to buy a used set of stock wheels with lots of tread and sell your current set and have fresher tires for next to nothing.

[Muaddib]

All seasons: Pilot sport a/s 3 +
Summer: Pilot super sport

[Dadhawk]

When it came time to replace tires I wanted grand touring all-season tires that were a bit stickier than the Primacies, but would not harm the gas mileage.

I ended up getting the Bridgestone Ecopia E422 Plus and have not been disappointed. Mileage has been slightly improved over the OEM tires, they don't squeal excessively in the corners, have a 70K warranty and provide a slightly better ride (subjectively), and definitely are better in weather.

Would I want them for a track day? No probably not, but as a commuter tire they have been excellent.

[LotsaMiles]

I've had six sets of tires on my 2013 FR-S. The car currently has 110,000 miles on it due to my 320 mile round trip commute to Louisville every day - 2/3 of which is on beautiful two lane twisties. I "race" to work every single day and usually drift at least once.

After the originals wore out it was as follows:
1. Bridgestone Potenza RE11A
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE11A
3. Bridgestone Potenza 71R
4. Hankook something or other
5. Michelin Pilot Super Sport.

The RE11A's were amazing tires. The steering was unbelievably quick and they stuck like glue, even in the rain I was surprised. They were also quiet.

I bought the 71R's because the RE11A's were discontinued. I got a lousy 9,200 miles out of them and they sounded like off road tires on a 4x4. I hated those things as daily drivers.

The Hankooks were ok but I missed the steering response. It felt more "Buick-like". I got them to improve longevity, but they only lasted 14k miles.

Costco had a sale on the PSS's for $117 each so I thought I'd give them a try.

Frankly, they are most closely comparable to the RE11A's. They are not quite as tight in road feel, but stick as well as the RE11's and are quiet. Where they shine is in wet traction. Regarding wet roads in a mild rain (not standing water) they seem to stick almost as well as dry pavement. In the first rain I really pushed them to TRY to get them to break loose and it was just jawdropping how hard I could corner before they broke loose. Again, pretty much like dry pavement.

I've only got about 1,000 miles on them. We'll see how they wear. The RE11's got about 19-20k. If these do better, I'll keep replacing with PSS's. If not, I'll go to the RE11's. I don't know why I didn't just shift to those when they disconintued the A's anyway. Somehow I thought they were just a "big car" version of the A's, which is apparently incorrect.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by LotsaMiles

I've had six sets of tires on my 2013 FR-S. The car currently has 110,000 miles on it due to my 320 mile round trip commute to Louisville every day - 2/3 of which is on beautiful two lane twisties. I "race" to work every single day and usually drift at least once.

After the originals wore out it was as follows:
1. Bridgestone Potenza RE11A
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE11A
3. Bridgestone Potenza 71R
4. Hankook something or other
5. Michelin Pilot Super Sport.

The RE11A's were amazing tires. The steering was unbelievably quick and they stuck like glue, even in the rain I was surprised. They were also quiet.

I bought the 71R's because the RE11A's were discontinued. I got a lousy 9,200 miles out of them and they sounded like off road tires on a 4x4. I hated those things as daily drivers.

The Hankooks were ok but I missed the steering response. It felt more "Buick-like". I got them to improve longevity, but they only lasted 14k miles.

Costco had a sale on the PSS's for $117 each so I thought I'd give them a try.

Frankly, they are most closely comparable to the RE11A's. They are not quite as tight in road feel, but stick as well as the RE11's and are quiet. Where they shine is in wet traction. Regarding wet roads in a mild rain (not standing water) they seem to stick almost as well as dry pavement. In the first rain I really pushed them to TRY to get them to break loose and it was just jawdropping how hard I could corner before they broke loose. Again, pretty much like dry pavement.

I've only got about 1,000 miles on them. We'll see how they wear. The RE11's got about 19-20k. If these do better, I'll keep replacing with PSS's. If not, I'll go to the RE11's. I don't know why I didn't just shift to those when they disconintued the A's anyway. Somehow I thought they were just a "big car" version of the A's, which is apparently incorrect.

The PSS are one of the more popular DD tires on here. They will be what I go to next. I am jealous of your commute. I drive about the same distance but in a perfectly straight line. On the plus side I still have my original tires.

[gravitylover]

I replaced with Conti Extreme Contact DWS and love them. They're a bit quieter than the stock tires, get equal mpg, have much better traction in ALL situations especially wet, directional stability at speed is excellent, they don't break away as quickly or easily when cornering hard, the ride is noticeably nicer and they seem to be wearing exceptionally well after about 15k miles. It obviously remains to be seen if I get the same 40k miles I got out of the originals but as of now I would buy them again.