Help me choose tires...

[dan79brooklyn]

My car came with a set of BF Goodrich T/A tires of unknown vintage.
They look to have a small amount of cracking near the edges where the tread and sidewall meet. I have put almost 10,000 miles on the tires and have done 1 A/X and 2 DEs on them. The tread pattern looks like an all season/performance mix and still has plenty of tread. From my limited experience I would say the tires perform adequatly in most situations and might even last for another year or so...

But I'm REALLY tempted to ditch these tires and get some more performance oriented tire. Initially I was eyeing a set of performance all season tires like the Kumho ASX, Pirelli P-Zero MS and the Avon tech MS. But for the very limited amount of winter driving I do I think I might benefit from the performance of a Summer tire.

The tirerack has very good info and prices. I don't want to spend more than $100 per tire and I think I have narrowed it down to two choices:

Kumho Ecsta SPT
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=ECSTA+SPT

BF Goodrich g-force Sport
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+Sport

What do you guys think?

TIA!

[tonythetarga]

With all due respect, you might want to use someone else for tech inspections if they let you do a DE with old tires with cracks in them.
Whatever you decide, make sure they have appropriate speed rating, which is hard to find for under 100 bucks a tire.

This is a good reminder for instructors to check their students tires carefully.

[dean]

I just installed Faulken GBR 451's on my SC. They are nice.

[pgsandiego]

Ive been looking at tire reviews for the past few weeks. For the price and reviews, the g-sports look like the tire Im going to buy. A close second is Kumho MX's. Avons were interesting to me but the reviews seem to indicate more sidewall flex than the g-force sport or MX so that pushed them to third choice.

[Jack Olsen]

The BFGoodrich T/A KD is about the best dry track tire in the street (non R-compound) category.

[bkreigsr]

there is another little used (cheap) quality tire out there

http://www.hankooktireusa.com/

Bill K

[JBO]

I just got BFG G-force sports and so far like them a lot. I like them better than the Dunlop SP8000's I had, and hopefully the BFG's will wear better than the Dunlops. It appears hard to beat the BFG's for the price. It sounds like your research was similar to mine - the Kumho's were my second choice.

[chuckr]

Have you looked at www.edgeracing.com ?
Good prices on Toyo's

[charleskieffner]

if you want BFG's now today..........to fit 7 and 9's GOOD LUCK! called BFG 1800 # and they are back ordered til july!!!!! first they said june now july. my 2nd choice is YOKOS. they are not fazzing out production like 2 national tire dealers stated. just low sales numbers mean low production numbers. fronts are on shelf its the 245/45/16 you will play hell finding. if you DO find some in that size on shelf, please e-me! would rather have BFGS any day.

[wcc]

I've really liked these tires so far. The price is definitely right:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Sumitomo&tireModel=HTR+Z

[dan79brooklyn]

Is it dangerous to drive a SUMMER tire in below freezing temperatures?
While I avoid snow and ice I do drive in cold temps and find the warnings on Summer tires to be slightly alarming.
Should I concede and go for a performance all season tires?
I know it is a trade-off but for my level of driving maybe it's safer?
I do not want to deal with two sets of tires...
For the price the Kumho ASX look good:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=ECSTA+ASX

I like the Pirelli P Zero Nero M-S tire as well but bit more $$

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tireModel=PZero+Nero+M%26S

I'm having such a dilemma choosing the RIGHT tire.

[wcc]

I'm NO tire expert, but I don't see why not. It would just take longer to heat up. Traction would be way worse in the snow and ice but you avoid that anyways. I would call Tirerack and ask them. They are the experts.

Between the two tires you have selected I would choose the Pirelli because it has better overall ratings across the board.

[kqw]

Whatever you purchase, stay away from Pirelli....

[svandamme]

mine came with bfgoodridges
dunno what type , haven't bothered to look

but the car is now drivable after 2.5 years hard work
and today i spanked it in the dry... tires were still working fine

dry , my 911 easely outhandled my 44(running pirelli 6000)
endless grip, if i tried the same thing in my 44, i would have had wheelspin and smoke...


i'm sure the BF's don't work as well all weather, but in the dry.. i love em...

[Craig 930 RS]

DEs? Under a hundred bucks?

Redo your dudget and think of the BFG KDs as Jack suggests, or get Toyo RA/1s.

[danl]

I just bought Kumho ASX.

VERY dependable and predictable in the wet. I've been to two Autocrosses (one wet, one dry). Dry grip is not fantastic but again very predictable, making Autocrosses a blast.

I would buy these tires again.

[dean]

Originally posted by dan79brooklyn
Is it dangerous to drive a SUMMER tire in below freezing temperatures?
While I avoid snow and ice I do drive in cold temps and find the warnings on Summer tires to be slightly alarming.
Should I concede and go for a performance all season tires?
I know it is a trade-off but for my level of driving maybe it's safer?
I do not want to deal with two sets of tires...

It can be dangerous to drive with a summer tire in cold temps. Summer tires are designed for warmer temps and they have WAY less stick in the cold. As long as you know that and respect it you should have no problem.

I was driving my car last winter on a cold but dry day. The temp was 35 degs F or so. My car would spin the tires going straight in 3rd gear when the boost came on. About 60 mph. Scarced the ***** out of me when it happened. That doesn't happen when it is warm out.

[charleskieffner]

tire rack really is a good place to comparison shop. reading road and track is all fine and good but usually they are not testing tires on 20 yr old porsches. after racking my brain on this...........buying brand new FUCHS 7 and 9", taking advice from other cab owners, not coupe not targa owners but cab owners(thanks jeremyD) we decided on BFG's. i wanted an all around tire i would get some mileage out of, rated 10 on wet surface and 10 on dry surface by tire rack. it also had to handle excessive az. heat. was foaming at mouth to get these on..........but alas they are backordered until NOW july by BFG. the fronts are on shelf its the rears which are being a PITA! so since my WARP SPEED TOUR of utah/colorado/new mex/az is coming up we had to go with YOKOHOMAS ES100's. still a decent rain tire and decent dry tire. about $20 bucks cheaper each on rear than BFG's, same price on fronts. these have been ordered by buddies tire shop and arrived less than 6hrs after order placed. heres another angle.......if i get a flat out in BFE my only recourse to find a tire is salt lake city/denver/albuq/phx. i will get a yokohoma easily vs. any other brand because they are stocked. until BFG pulls their head out of their ass and stocks..........i sure dont want to be stuck on side of road or buy another set because of 1 tire. we are keeping my stock 6 and 7 FUCHS and when i burn off these yokos on 7 and 9"s we will see whats available thruout SW for them and then use 6 and 7's for daily putt putts and put the latest greatest on the 7 and 9's for track days. finding 7 and 9's NEW wasnt easy wasnt cheap wasnt fun. finding tires to fit our needs was even more difficult. have had custom tire size problems before and it can leave you waiting for some time. so bottom line..........if you plan on driving somewhere out of town call ahead to tire dealers and see if they stock your brand, NOT SELL THE BRAND-STOCK your exact size. will save alot of headaches.

[dan79brooklyn]

These Hankooks sound pretty good, anybody have any experience with them?:

http://www.hankooktireusa.com/products_view_info.asp?Item_ID=61&CatID=5

By the way. THANKS for all the replies!

[bkreigsr]

that's the problem, no one has any Porschecar experience with them. they look very nice spec-wise and value-wise on paper.
did you notice that they are the spec tire for one of the Mazda series?
Bill K