Performance tyre choice. Tyre shops opinions

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I'm looking at getting some grippy tyres for my eg6 for pretty much a max of 2 track days a year and 10,000 km road driving on mainly country roads

I sent the following email to 10 tyre shops last night:

Hey there, im wondering if you can help me select a tyre to run on my car. I'm after a performance tyre for my honda civic in 205/50/r15 size preferably, under $900 for a set of four. I want the grippyest tyre possible that will last alright on the road. I do about 10,000km a year, and the tyres will be seeing a max of 2 track days a year at taupo race track. I see you guys stock a large variety of different brands of tyres and was hoping you could make a recomendation. I'm not too worried about road noise, or ride quality/comfort, just performance.

Another option i was thinking of was getting some economy road tyres and a set of full semi slick for the track, to put on another set of wheels. Whats the pricing for your cheaper end of the scale semi slicks in 205/50/r15?

Another factor that might contribute towards the type of tyre i require is that the car is very light, and the races are short sprint races of probebly 10 laps. So the tyre would need to get up to temp fast. The type of road driving i do is long distance open road, some times country road driving.

thanks for your help,

Tony Hennessy



Thinking a bit more about it now, and after talking to a few people that have done a little bit of track work on street tyres...... I have decided it's probebly better to get some semi slicks and just change them for the track.

Any way i have 5 responses so far, here they are:


Hi Tony - thanks for your enquiry. For the best all round street and track tyre I would recommend the Toyo T1-R.
The T1-R has a high level of dry grip and excellent wet weather grip. Total cost including fitting and balancing
for a set of four is $760 incl gst.These are an excellent all round tyre but I would only expect on average around
25,000 Km in total wear. Toyo also do a street legal semi slick tyre called the RA-1. This tyre gets very quick
tempreture build up and is suited to light weight cars. Total cost is $1000 all inclusive. A cheaper brand tyre in
this size you can expect to pay from $475 a set incl gst. Hope this helps.



And the second response from another store is:

Goodmorning,

Here I have a selection of tyres in the 205/50/15 size that you are after. All prices include fitting and balancing.

Road Tyres
Dunlop Direzza DZ101 $205each
Toyo T1R $190each

Semi Slick

Dunlop DZ03G $360each
Hankook Z212 $280each
Toyo R888 $260each
Toyo RA1 $220each

In my opinion the Toyo RA1 is going to be the best bang for buck, they are DOT approved so you can still use it on the road and it will pass WOF's. But with all semi slick tyres they will warm up faster and will be excelent on the track but in turn will not last as long as the road tyres will.

Let me know how you get on or if you need anymore information.

Cheers

Another response


Thanks very much for your inquiry.
Toyo manufacture a neat tyre called a T1R. I’ve got them on my Evo 6 and have been very pleased with them. We’ve also had a lot of customers on the T1R and all comments etc. have been very good. Cost wise on these you’re looking at 185.00 each. This price Inc fitting, balancing, tubeless valves, tyre disposal and GST
The latest generation of V-shaped UHP tyre, PROXES T1R has been designed exclusively for sports sedans and coupes meeting the demands of excellent high-speed stability on both dry and wet road conditions with low noise and ride comfort.
The new PROXES T1R takes advantage of computer simulation technology providing uniform contact pressure distribution for superb braking and improved wear resistance.

If you are looking at a race tyre Toyo, again, make a tyre called a RA1
The Proxes RA1 is a street-legal race tyre designed specifically for club motor sport use.
The tread compound warms to optimum temperature quickly.

The tread pattern and compound also provide exceptional performance on wet tracks and light-weight vehicles.

Also when buying two or more tyres from us we will send you a letter every 6 months inviting you in for free tyre rotations and free wheel balances for the life of the tyres, also a 20% discount voucher for wheel alignments.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.


and another

Tony,

Thanks for the enquiry.

There are a couple of guys here who run that size and they go to Pukekohe and rave aout them. They wouldnt run anything else and they have tried many brands...

So, can do the Toyo T1R for $155.00 each or can do the Toyo R888 for $199.00 each.

and another

Hi Tonys

Tyres we recommend are the Bridgestone REOO1 @ $170.00 each. Dunlop DZ101 @ $220.00 each.

Race tyres start from $330.00 up wards all depends of brand

Haha i lol'd at that one.
Pretty helpfull, at this stage i would probebly look at getting a set of toyo RA1's fitted up to the volk's off my old red eg6. But will shop around for a price. Quite a big difference in price between shops!
I will post up the other responces as they arrive.

Hope this helps some of you, it's helped me already!

[jason_law]

but seems both of them is expensive or because the size is different from my car..
i got quoted for 205/50/15 dz101 for $150 fitted..
but finally i bought 205/50/15 t1r for $160 fitted

i found that t1r give me a lot better grip than my old dz101...but not sure if becasue my old dz101 worn out and the size is 195/55/15

also, i also notice t1r sidewall is softer than dz101...can fell it straight away on motorway....not as bumpy as my old dz101...again...i m not sure because it's 205/50/15 compare to my old one is 195/55/15...but it's not related to tyre pressure as i even put higher pressure in the new set of tyres..

off topic....anyonw know what pressure should i put in the 205/50/15 tyres in an dc2? or just use factory pressure?

[tysonzane]

What about some Bridgestone RE001's? I've heard nothing but great things in talking to a few tyre people recently, best high performance road tyre apparently. Great on the circuit and awesome on the street for tyre wear etc.

I was quoted $560 all fitted and balanced for 195/55/15, i thought that was pretty good value for money and that was just an off the street quote, i haven't shopped around for the best price yet.

[d16a7]

Originally Posted by tysonzane

What about some Bridgestone RE001's? I've heard nothing but great things in talking to a few tyre people recently, best high performance road tyre apparently. Great on the circuit and awesome on the street for tyre wear etc.

awesome on my car..

was driving home through massive puddles last night on the road and no aquaplaning at all..

and really struggles to break traction.. whereas my old direzza's lit up so easy.. and had 3-4mm tread and would aquaplane like no tomorrow..

re001's that ive had on the rear have done nearly 7,000 and barely look like they got any wear.. youd be looking at around 195 each probably for 205 50 15.. fitted.. depending on where you go..

t1r's wear too quick and will get eaten up on the country roads.. (or at least i found that on my set)

RA1's would be the same issue too.. and should only be around 180 each.. my memory is crap i was only quoted prices last week.. haha

hope that helps man

[nva2nd]

Yo Tony send me a txt and Ill say how much I can get the tyres to you for

[BWDOWN]

Goodyear Eagles or RE001's best by a mile

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Thanks for the advice guys, if i get RA1's they will only be used on the track, and i will run some cheap directionals on the road, i don't really push hard on the road but like directionals for in the wet.

Another question i have, to scrub in the semi slicks before the track, is driving on the road ok? For example 100km to taupo for my first outing and then not on the road again? Would that be enough to scrub them in properly?

thanks,

tony

[gotvtec]

If you're only looking at running them a couple of trackdays a year then why not look at second hand? They'll still last ages if you're not using them on the road and then you can get decent directionals too.
Theres been some decent sets for cheap in the parts excahnge recently.

[dc1integra]

Originally Posted by fade to black

Hi Tonys

Tyres we recommend are the Bridgestone REOO1 @ $170.00 each. Dunlop DZ101 @ $220.00 each.

hey mate,

who quoted these??? seems bloody cheap! (i take it was an asian place hence the "tonys")

[Dezigns]

Originally Posted by d16a7

t1r's wear too quick and will get eaten up on the country roads.. (or at least i found that on my set)

stop doing skids au

I found my T1Rs to have awesome wet traction, but not the best dry tyre Ive ever had. Infact, I had more traction in the dry with my 225 Wan Li's than my 265 Toyos

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Originally Posted by dc1integra

hey mate,

who quoted these??? seems bloody cheap! (i take it was an asian place hence the "tonys")

P.m'd

5 responses out of 10 emails, not too bad.

[BTLF3D]

those prices are way off, can get them alot cheaper...

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Cheapest i'v found for the RA1 so far is around 180 per tyre.
Can you get cheaper than that? I'v still got a few mates in the trade to try yet.

Through work we deal with this one tyre shop in matamata and they are so expensive, they don't even give my work trade prices on anything other than truck tyres. I constantly find their prices for average road tyres are 20-40 more per tyre than the other 2 tyre shops in town for the same tyre.
I get alot of other stuff at trade price through my work from BNT, appco etc, but nothing for tyres

[BTLF3D]

im sure i can get toyo ra1 for 175 fitted and balanced, ill have to have a look at my old recipets.
do you have a tonys tyre service up there?? if so, get the best quoted price you have and go to them and they will beat it by $10 each tyre.

[DrRubber]

well Ill start by saying, sorry to the OP I belive I forgot to message you back the other day regarding something tyre related.

But tbh I have to say this thread sux balls.

soon there wont be a tyre industry to talk about because everyone is scumming the price of tyres down so there is no margin in them at all.

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Originally Posted by badcf4

well Ill start by saying, sorry to the OP I belive I forgot to message you back the other day regarding something tyre related.

But tbh I have to say this thread sux balls.

soon there wont be a tyre industry to talk about because everyone is scumming the price of tyres down so there is no margin in them at all.

No worrys greg, i thought about it after i sent the message and guessed you probebly get the same thing every day. So sorry about that!

I can definitly see where your coming from.

It's human nature, no one want's to pay much for anything, and everyone needs tyres.

I was anoyed yesterday, one of my mates gets me tyres for my drifter at his cost price for his work and its the same as the cost someones selling them for on trademe! (Brand new aswell)

[DrRubber]

that is another issue, some shops getting better pricing than others....but sometimes it just dosnt add up at all.

I did intend to answer your message btw,....I just have a terrible memory.....

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All good, no worries

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Oh another question for any of you out there that are in the know. Say i go for the RA1's, what is a good hot pressure for them on the track? I heard nitrogen does not change pressure much when heated, not from ambient to hot tyre anyway. I'v got heaps of nitrogen at work. Say if ideal hot pressure is 28psi or something, i could fill them up in the workshop, drain with pressure gauge down to 28psi. And not really have to worry about the pressure on track day?

[Horny_Devil]

noone would be able to tell u an optimum pressure to run them at as everyones setup is different and so is the way they drive. to get the optimum pressure u need to run use a thermometer and do a lot of fiddling with the pressures + lots of testing.

just run air and start with the tires about 10psi lower than u would run on the street, then when u get back in fron the session, check and see where how the rubber is wearing on the tires, ie right to the outside or not quiet, then adjust as such. as u only plan to track the car a few times a year this would be your best option

[offset]

shit if thats the pricing you got, go for the RE001 at $170 per tyre! They are selling them cheaper than the Direzza's?! WTF?! RE001 is definitely the best tyre you would be able to get for track and street dutys. when warmed up, they are awesome on the track aye. probably as close as you will get to a semi slick type tyre with a street tyre status

could you please pm me which replys were from which shops/companys and give me their email contacts also?

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P.m'd

[dc1integra]

i have had re001s for the last 30,000 odd ks on my R and they handle really well... expensive and fast wearing but the quality is superior!

[d16a7]

Originally Posted by Dezigns

stop doing skids au

lol that was back when i was N/A so skids werent possible.. or were very hard to achieve.. hah

but yes wet traction was very good on them.. dry not so good..

re001's had another good testing tonight in torrential rain.. best tyre ive had in a while.. money well spent..