Best tires? for 87 911

lava · 02-01-2010, 02:07 PM

I have Toyo Proxes TA1'sand I like them however they are aging and I need new for track and street. Torn between Toyo R888's, RA1's and Goodyear F1 GS D3's. I do drive in wet (not snow). Has anyone experience with any of these 3 tires. Keeping in mind the Toyo's are 50% off if you are a member of team toyo (which I am).

spsfiend · 02-01-2010, 03:25 PM

I cant speak to the tires you reference but I can give you my input on the two sets of tires I have experience with in my 911.

I run 235/40/18 in the Front and 275/35/18 in the Rear.

First set I had were SUMITOMO HTRZ. My non expert thoughts are that they are very economical tires (price wise), they were responsive and had good grip. The sidewalls were nice and stiff which gave me a very connected driving experience. The main complaint I have with them is that they really tracked hard to any imperfections in the road or uneven areas in the road. I forget what the technical term for this is but it was bad enough that if you were not accustomed to counteracting the tracking, it would put you into the other lane very fast. I also run a slight negative camber so that may exacerbate this problem.

They recently wore out and I replaced them with Bridgestone Potenza RE 760s. Same size.

This tire got great reviews and I ended up picking them after much researching that I did. To my dismay, they are not a responsive as the HTRZ's. In fact, the first 1000 miles they scared the !@&^% out of me because I felt like my car was floating around and that they were really slick.

Now that I have some mileage into them, they are a little better but I really miss the direct connetion my steering felt to the wheels when I was running the HTRZs. The 760s are a little softer on the sidewalls, so changing lanes and hitting the reflectors is a little less harsh (Something I still try and avoid) but I dont feel it was worth giving up the performance. They do have better wet performance reviews, but with 275s in the rear i drive really slow in the rain.

Also, just to give you a little more demographics on my car... It is my daily driver and my suspension is set up more for the track.

As far as noise from both tires, i wont comment as the sweet sound of my 3.2 and exuast is mostly all I can hear

As for wear/mileage, i got about 13K on the sumitomos. Keep in mind that I run a staggered stance so I cant rotate.

The tire I really wanted to try was the Dunlop Direzza Star Spec but the 200 tread wear rating and availability made me decide against it. Note that there also is another direzza so make sure you review the correct one.

Hope this helps.

Tincanguy · Tincanguy's Garage

I have the Goodyear F1 GS D3s on my 88 Targa. I live in the Pacific NW where there is lots of rain but very little snow. I don't go out in the snow but in the rain, these tires are great, as they are in dry weather. Can't say much for their ability on the track but for my kind of driving, they are fine and the tread life is great.

preston_brown · preston_brown's Garage

I put on Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1s at the beginning of the summer. LOVING them, although my previous tires were ContiExtremeContacts so the comparison is rather lame...

$105/$116 front/rear from Tire Rack.

Greek55 · 02-02-2010, 07:25 AM

Dunlop Direzza Sports Z1 here too.
Great tires and reasonable price. I had Bridgestone S03's before which were good tires too, but not as good.

34Carrera · 34Carrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greek55

Dunlop Direzza Sports Z1 here too.
Great tires and reasonable price. I had Bridgestone S03's before which were good tires too, but not as good.

How does the tread wear of the Dunlop Z1 compare with the Bridgestone S03?

Bearded Viking · 02-02-2010, 07:46 AM

lava, what size tires?

dzls rok · dzls rok's Garage

if you can get toyos for half price, i would go with the toyos. how can you go wrong with r compound tires for a little over $100.00. for those prices, you can have two sets of wheels. one for track and one for daily driving. but if you're set on one set, go with the ra1's. they might do better in wet conditions.

WolfeMacleod · 02-02-2010, 12:38 PM

[QUOTE=lava;5159800]I have Toyo Proxes TA1'sand I like them however they are aging and I need new for track and street. Torn between Toyo R888's, RA1's and Goodyear F1 GS D3's. QUOTE]

I have to go completely against what Tincanguy said about the F1 GSD3 tire. I also have them, and they are, aside from being good in the rain.... TERRIBLE. Very soft side-wall. The whole rear of the car feels like walking around with poo in your pants. Very squishy. Dry traction is not the greatest, and the car feels incredibly unstable 'round corners.
An Autocross instructor drove my car once and commented that he was surprised I could keep it in a traight line because it's so squishy. Cornering was very difficult for him. They get greasy quickly when heated.

Here'es a good pic of what loosing traction around a mild corner at reasonable speeds does...

lava · 02-02-2010, 01:35 PM

I have a 87 Carrera with SW chip, Cold Air Intake, turbo tie rods, bump steer kit, lowered, cat bypass and freer breathing exhaust. 205/55 ZR 16 91W in front and 225/50 ZR 16 92W in the rear. I was at Mosport last year and heard a lot of scrubbing (squealing) in the final turn. I was on it however there is a slight incline going into a 90 degree turn. I am investing in Bilsteins and a strut brace for this season also.