any such thing as a 15 inch performance tire

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:24 am

i need new tires. i have stock 15's. these will be serving part time track duty. i need something for a bargin. handle well and fall into the 195/60/15.

anyone got ideas. art mentioned re950's or something. who makes thoes

Yukonart · Post by **Yukonart** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:41 am

Bridgestone RE950s.

You will NOT be disappointed. They're all seasons, but perform exceptionally-well.

Here's Tirerack's customer asessment of them:

HERE

Yukonart · Post by **Yukonart** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:42 am

And how they stack up to many other tires in their class:

HERE

Note just how poorly the RE92s fared in the opinions of customers.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:57 am

sweet. anyone have experience with anything else. falkens yolks ect.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:38 am

I've used Falkens and Yokohama AH550 or something and they were both decent tires. I reviewed them at some point. Basically, the Yokos wore better and gripped better, but the Falkens were better balanced when the grip let go (less understeer). Perhaps the fact that they liked to drift was the reason they wore faster for me than the Yokos. Both types of tires were touring tires and were decent as all-seasons, which I need up here, but they weren't race tires by any measure. A good match for a N/A Legacy, but perhaps not enough for a turbo.

Steve

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 8:24 am

Customer reviews are almost worthless, imo. Notice how the tire that scored the best on dry traction also scored the best on snow traction. People are influenced more by media than results. And it's hard not to compare some fresh brand new tires to your old worn out ones.

professor · Post by **professor** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:42 pm

I have Bridgestone RE-730's on my BMW in 205-55-15 (which would fit your rims rather well, BTW).

They have gobs of rubber contact for a 15" tire, much, much more than the RE-92 205's on my WRX rims. They have worn very evenly, a tough task on a lowered BMW. Very sticky ZR rated rubber, and like any ZR rated tire, I wouldn't even dream of driving them in the snow. Nice beefy sidewalls with a thick rib to protect your wheels from curbs.

The only problem I have experienced is that they pick up nails like no other tires I've ever had...I've had 6 flats in 2 years, and before that, I never had a flat in my life in 20 years of driving.

You would need 6.5" rims to run 205, otherwise 195 on 6"

dscoobydoo · Post by **dscoobydoo** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:37 pm

I have a set of 205/55/15s on the original turbo rims. nitto 455s Not great but not bad.

Wondering why you are sticking with 195s?

Brat4by4 · Post by **Brat4by4** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:39 pm

Kuhmo MX - 205/50R15
or Kuhmo 712's.

Both awesome deals. Summer tires only. My 712's handled a full track day very well. This summer I will see how they handle 2

.

tris91ricer · Post by **tris91ricer** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:29 pm

Falken Ziex. I've had some pretty good experience with those, since no one's mentioned falks yet..
Slapped 'em on my buddy's tail-happy RX-7 TII and they managed to hold up pretty well.. definitely good traction in wet and dry. My Recommendation.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:01 pm

what kind of ziex. theres like 3 different tread and compound combos.

i want to get 17 or 18 inch sub zeros but i want to look at tires for the stock wheels because im woried about weight of after market wheels as the stockers are pretty light. smaller lighter wheels are lower rotational mass and faster driving

i want to stick to 195 because thats what i have now and i already think that the sidewalls are too big.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:50 pm

I mentioned Falkens, but nobody listens to me. Mine were Ziex 512s IIRC.

Steve

Nomake Wan · Post by **Nomake Wan** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:22 am

I've got Falken Ziex ZE-512s on my car too. NA.

Well... they grip really predictably in snow. As in, I can be in a parking lot full of snow with my FWD Legacy, and actually do controlled rear slides without the e-brake. It's really, really predictable.

And I've experienced some understeer with them, too. On an uphill where the weight of my car was severly shifted to the rear (two passengers in the back seat), the car understeered on the second half of an S-turn. However, I applied my non-ABS brakes and... grip. The car stopped before touching anything. I was amazed.

My tires are a bit worn now... they chirp if I get on it from dead stops, especially uphill. But if I could use one word to describe them, it's this: predictable.

Seriously.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:26 am

Exactly what I found. The Yokos I followed them with gripped better overall, but mostly just wanted to understeer. Both were OK in the snow.

Steve

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 8:41 am

Would anyone mind explaining to me. why the tire makes the car more understeery/oversteery? I'm curious

Yukonart · Post by **Yukonart** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:56 am

scottzg wrote:Would anyone mind explaining to me. why the tire makes the car more understeery/oversteery? I'm curious

Part of it has to do with sidewall flexibility.

Example (from my own car):

Since installing my Tein coilovers a year ago, I had not run my snow tires in quite a while. I put them on last October to see how they'd look and feel. The suspension is quite stiff. . . very little body roll. What I didn't count on was how flexible the tires were. . . especially compared to the stock Bridgestone RE070s (of the exact same size) that I was used to driving on. Came to realize all the play (and probably much of the understeer) I was experiencing in turns was probably due to this crucial difference.

It's widely-known among the STi folk that the stock tires have amazing turn-in. Go kick the tires. . . literally . . . on an STi at the Subby dealership, sometime. If you've not got steel-toed shoes on, you're going to wish you were wearing some after you've just stubbed your toes on one of the hardest sidewalls available on a street-legal tire.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:06 am

scottzg wrote:Would anyone mind explaining to me. why the tire makes the car more understeery/oversteery? I'm curious

Low ultimate grip can induce more understeer. A tire can't really induce oversteer by iteself.

Falken Azenis ST215's are available in 205/50/15. They are cheap, and should be really cheap since the ST215 is being cut off, replaced by the 615.

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:26 am

I ran Fulda Carrat Assuro's in the stock 15" size and they were very nice. Exceptional dry traction as well as very good wet traction too.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 7:54 pm

im gonna have to look seriously into thoes falkens or the bridgstones. its near imposible to find a 15 inch tire that has a really stiff sidewall. i remember driving my civic with 17's and sumotomos that were really stiff. handling was the greatest ever. i kinda wanna match that in the subaru

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:14 pm

If it was an older Civic, good luck. Those things can handle really well.

Seriously consider getting the Azenis ST215's. Cheap, UBER sticky, and one of the stiffest tires available.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:19 pm

yeah it was an older 88 hatch with h&r sport springs and stock struts. it still handles pretty good on stock 14 inch tires. with the 17s it was suposed to be able to pull 1g on the skidpad

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:39 pm

Subarus are not skid pad cars so don't expect anything like that, but they are well balanced and can handle whatever is thrown at them. And if the unexpected gets you anyway, they hold up well to it - you should see the pot holes I've hit without issue that damaged SUVs. If those old Hondas were RWD they would have been really unbelievable.

Steve

ej22t · Post by **ej22t** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:49 pm

I have using the BS RE730 for 3 summer, this tire is great and I using it daily with sometime TSD rally and track day. The downside of this tire is very expensive while when I got them, it cost me $200 Cad each but after driving it on 3 summer it still grip well and I think it worth it.

I am thinking to get other set of summer tire this year and according to the tirerack review, the new tire of Fuzion ZRi seems well and the price are great too. Does anyone using it on their Legacy turbo and pleaes gives some review of this tire.

Ben

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any such thing as a 15 inch performance tire

any such thing as a 15 inch performance tire