legacycentral bbs

So I'm wondering who's running what on their vehicles. I'm in the market for some new tires for the Legacy and wanted some opinions. It's mostly a daily driver but might see the track on occasion. I'm running Toyo Proxes in the front and the Bridgestone potenzas or whatever came stock on the 02 Wrx rims in 205/55/16. The budget does not allow for another set of Toyo's so I'm looking into decent performance tires on a budget. So far, tirerack.com has been my only reference.

The brands in my price range are all ones I've never personally used and would like to hear your experiences and opinions. Kumho, Sumitomo, Continental and General are all brands I am unfamiliar with, but have high performance all season or grand touring all seasons under 100 a tire. Help me decide if shelling out the extra couple bucks for eagle F1s or Pilot Sports, etc... The plan for now was to find some decent all seasons until I could shell out the 800 for the set of Toyo's or something similar.

So what do you guys think?

If you track your car with any frequency at all, my recomendation is to go cheap on DD all-seasons (the grippier ones suck balls in snows anyways, I had the Toyo Proxes on in snow once and they were far worse than every set of 'regular' all season tires I've ever driven on). Then save up for a set of summer tires (or high-performance all seasons, whatever floats your boat) on a spare set of wheels. This way you won't wear down your 'good' rubber everyday when you aren't using it and flushing money down the drain. You also don't have to compromise winter performance for heat capacity, and your daily driven tires won't develop crazy uneven wear patterns from the track days (which may cause you to feel the need to replace them prior to being fully worn down, again flushing money down the toilet).

Falken ohtuso FP7000 - around $200 for all four. Great grip but tread wear doesn't last long. Good for one season or two.

Any other falken tire will offer good performance as well.

Sumitomo, continental, and general in my opinion make some pretty nice affordable tires.

Continental conti-contact - I thought these where really kick ass for the price. Great performance and decent longevity.

Sumitomo - Big company, has been around a very long time. They make good products including tires.

General - I've mostly just used their winter tires but I LOVE them. I've heard OK reviews on their summer tires.

Bridgestone Potenza RE760's get my vote. Not the cheapest, but fantastic grip and 3-4 years of non-track driving. The Potenza's that used to come stock on WRXs, RE92's, are so terrible that I almost didn't give Bridgestone another try. Luckily I did.

Yeah the RE92's were on mine all around until I got the Proxes. I'll look into the RE760's. Sumitomo is the cheapest on tire rack and I have heard others say they are decent. The FP7000 would be that cheap even on the Wrx 16 inch wheel? That's even cheaper than the Sumitomo. I forgot all about Falken.

speezly wrote:Yeah the RE92's were on mine all around until I got the Proxes. I'll look into the RE760's. Sumitomo is the cheapest on tire rack and I have heard others say they are decent. The FP7000 would be that cheap even on the Wrx 16 inch wheel? That's even cheaper than the Sumitomo. I forgot all about Falken.

I picked up a set on eBay $200 shipped 205/55/16

Here is set for $231.**
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-NEW-Falken-Oh ... 23&vxp=mtr

That is a really good deal. The pilot sport a/s3's will run almost 400 from what I've seen. I may just go with the Falkens

So I bought the Ohtsu/Falken fp7000's. 270 shipped off eBay. Thanks for the suggestion, dankberries. The best part: I paid for them by cashing in the spare change I accumulated over the last year!

Conti extreme contact dws. Second set. Good in all weather and handle pretty well.

i'm getting some neo gen's installed tomorrow 205 50 15's

I run the 205/50-16 sumitomos all season and while they are new enough I have no idea what the real life wear will be, they are grippy and have a 500 treadwear rating...should hold up well for spirited street driving like I do. lots of back roads maybe an occasional autocross if I feel froggy. Its a quality tire that handles well forgiving near the limit, and doesnt make gawdawful noises when pressed hard. he he