high performance street tires? ?

[Kevin Hoff]

I am very happy with my latest tire on the quattro - the Bridgestone G009.
It's nowhere near as high performance as other tires out there, called "all
season high performance" in the line lists, but I think it compares well
with the old school performance tires.  I'm quite happy with them so far
with dry, wet, and slush.  (No real snow this winter.  Boo.)

For budget modern higher performance tires in 15" look at Falken ZE-512
(budget, I've probably put 100k satisfied miles on several sets of these)
and Hankook Ventus sport K104 (a bit more expensive but much higher
performance).  The drawback to these is zero snow traction, although if you
drove the AVSi's in all seasons it must not snow very much in Bellevue.  

The Kumho 712 was an awful tire - noisy, poor in wet, poor in snow.  The 711
is much better but still seems to get clunky before it wears out.  The
RE-71's were truly great tires.  There is nothing with their blend of
performance and civility on the market today.  The RE-715 is probably the
closest match to the RE-71 of tires I've actually driven.  I don't think
it's made in 15" sizes though.  The S-03 is just too much like a race tire
(tramlines, darty, flat spots overnight, etc.  All fixed by swapping tires.)
in my book for daily driving.  If you're looking for something close to a
race tire for less $$ than the S-03 or the Michelins try the new Falken
RT-615, Hankook RS-2, or Kumho MX (slower than the other two but arguably
more streetable)

--Kevin H.

> > Guys, what is the latest wisdom on high performance street tires in 
> > the 15" size? I was browsing around on Tire Rack and was 
> confused by 
> > the dizzying array of brands that don't seem to be the same as the 
> > last time I went out there...
> >
> > Many eons ago I had Bridgestone RE71s on my '88 80. I loved 
> those tires!
> > But I didn't have a set of track wheels then and chunked 
> them pretty 
> > badly. My Alfa friends convinced me to try Yoko AVSis -- but those 
> > didn't last long either. So I went to the old Dunlop SP Sport 5000s 
> > .... but the Dunlops picked up nails in all 4 tires just a 
> few months 
> > after I bought them and I figured that brand had been hexed. I 
> > switched to the very cheap Kumho Ecsta 712. And even though 
> those tires make driving an "adventure"
> > (aka white knuckles, esp. in the rain), I've kept driving 
> them because 
> > they still had a lot of tread.
> >
> > So, the Kumhos have finally worn out. Looking for 
> recommendations on 
> > 205/50 15s.... Anyone out there still on 15" rims?  Please, no 
> > recommendations for the lavender-scented tires that Kumho 
> now offers 
> > ha ha ha.
> >
> > Tess
> > in Bellevue, WA USA