[hanskrj]

Within my budget I can afford a set of one of these:

- Falken FK451
- Falken ziex ZE512
- Kumho Ecsta 712
- Avon ZV3
- Toyo Proxes T1-S

The size is 205/50-16.

Which type should I choose?

 

[Eric van Spelde]

The Toyo's. The others aren't bad, but the T1-S is a well-respected member of the elusive Ultra High Performance segment (along with Goodyear's Eagel F1 GSD-3, Bridgestone's S-03PP, Michelin's Pilot Sport 2, et cetera), where the others arguably are a notch down.

Prepare for a relatively high wear rate, though. No pain, no gain.

 

[wrighar]

Kumho Ecsta 712[/b]

I have a matched set of these on my Carlsson, and in a word, never again. They are rubbish, bordering on dangerous.

The others I have not tried.

Andrew

 

[Mark in Ireland]

I've has 3 sets of Toyos and they are excellent. You will not be disappointed.

 

[TheFox]

Toyos - purely from the reputation of tyre tests etc.

Avon ZZ3's are nasty. Noisy and bad in the wet, despite the very open tread pattern.

 

[EOIN]

see here for some survey results.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/max.jsp

Mind you they don't seem to mention much in the way of snow Traction

Eoin

 

[zippy9-3]

I have had a lot of the choices you are looking at,here is my opinion in order of success.

1.Avon ZZ3 are fanatastic dont confuse them with the ZZ1 which was horrific the new ZZ3 is quality.

2.Falken FK451, not too bad a tyre but tended to wear easier on the outside edges prematurely,but gave good/quality all round grip.

3.Toyo Proxies T1's DONT NOT FIT THEM,i have spoken to many a user who jumped on the bandwagon over the rave reviews they where recieving and all off them including me hated them.
In the dry 5/10,in the wet 5/10 in the damp 1/10 they are not confidence inspiring at all.

These are only my opinions but i ran all the above sets for 15K and the Avons would be my overall choice.

Zippy

 

[Mark in Ireland]

In the dry 5/10,in the wet 5/10 in the damp 1/10 they are not confidence inspiring at all.

 [/b]

I would think that such a poor performance might be related to other things like setup because I cannot fault them and with my last CD Carlsoon pushing 280hp and my current one around 300 at the moment they grip and grip in cold and wet conditions and many a high speed journey over the A66 in -4deg C proved this and I know my suspension isn't at its best either. They might not be on par with the Bridgestone 03's but I don't think they will be far behind.
The track day in May will see how they perform on concrete I suppose.

 

[zippy9-3]

I would think that such a poor performance might be related to other things like setup  [/b]

Nope it wasnt set-up as the car was alligned when new and every six months afterwards (My 01 Impreza)running 295 BHP and they where awfull.

Complete lack of feel in the wet and damp conditions but alright in the dry,they had a great write up on the Subaru forums to start with hence why i fitted them but never again and now i read they are getting bad reviews from the same boards.
If cash isnt an issue go with the Goodyear Eagle F1 GDS 3 as they are good.

 

[Dulux]

I had Toyo Proxies on my old car, and they grip was amazing, brilliant rain pattern, the wear isn't a problem for me because I only do low miliage, I intend to put a set on my 9000 cse 2.3T, if its good enough for a TVR I am sure mine will be fine.

 

[zippy9-3]

I believe TVR dont use them anymore.

 

[CPH]

I'll have to agree with Zippy9-3 about the Avon ZZ3's. I've got a set on my 9-5 and they are very good, especially in the wet.
According to their web-site Avon do a ZV1 tyre, so that might be what the original poster was refering to.

 

[Zip]

I am intrigued by Zippy's responses (nice name by the way...)

I have run Toyo Proxes T1-S on my old moderately tuned early WRX, and they were fabulous. Superb wet weather traction, wonderful progressive breakaway in all conditions, not much noise etc etc. Only concern was the ludicrous wear rate - about 8k miles on the Scoob (with a swap front to back halfway through), and about 6k on a pair of fronts on my standard '97 9000 Aero.

I now run a set of F1 GSD3s, and in all honesty, I can't tell a great deal of difference from the Toyos, although I would argue that the F1s are a little more vague on the straight ahead at motorway speeds than the Toyos - I will be trying some different pressures next week. They are both, however, fabulous tyres.

My priority in a powerful front driver will alwasy be wet weather traction, and the Toyos and F1s are both superb. That's why TVR swapped to Toyos from Bridge SO-2 - for traction, but if they have swapped again, I don't know about it. Imagine the wear rate in a 5ltre Griff!!

Anyway, hello from me, and expect to hear more of my opinions...

Zip
97 9000 Aero 108k miles

 

[Dulux]

This is all kinda worrying,

I am just about to buy a set of 17"s for my 1995 9000 cse 2.3T, I was looking at the toyo's which for 215/45/17 come in at £100, but if they are only going to last 6k then it is making me think of something else but what? I only do about 6k a year but would prefer the tires to last me more than a season......
Any thoughts/any experience?

I already have the abbott suspension setup, but am looking to just sharpen up the handling, she's a little too slack when trying to lay down 200bhp.

cheers Dulux

 

[zippy9-3]

Zip,i hear what your saying with regard the Toyo's you had,i ran 225/45/18's on my MY01 impreza and they were not good.
My question to you is, was your car the classic or newage shape as the 2 cars are different and will react differently to allignment and tyres.

My point was for the money there are better tyres than the Toyos and for a little more there are MUCH better options.

Remember, one mans meat is another mans poison.

 

[aeropilot]

Last weekend I put on a new set of 4 tyres on my 9000 Aero to replace a mis-matched set of 4 that were on there. The front pair of ContiSport Contacts were down to nowt having lasted about 15K, the rears were an old Avon Turbospeed and a Goodyear NCT that were both about a third worn when I got the car and still seemed only a third worn when they come off last week, some 25K miles later.....

I took the plunge to replace all four as I wanted a matched set to swop around, and I went for the Bridgstones SO-3's that were £90 each fitted locally. I was concerned about the possible wear rate, but after the first week I'm not bothered really now, as they've transformed the car completely

The straightline steering wander induced by the Conti's has disappeared and the reduction in tyre noise and dramatic imrovement in the ride quality for me, will conpensate for any increased wear rate.
I'm a happy bunny

 

[markcanderson]

I run and indeed ran, Bridgestone S-03s on my 9-3 and my old tuned 9000 in 205/50zr16 size... nothing like them for dry and wet grip. But wear is very aggressive. i.e. it didn't seem to matter regarding car type or weight - they just worked.

But some tyres vary in their performance radically between cars. I've run Michelin Pilot Sports on the 9-3 (225/45zr17) and maintain that they do not work on lighter cars... on a heavier car like my RS2 (225/45zr17) however, they have worked beautifully.

My advice... stick with advice from people who have run the tyres you seek on your car type.

 

[Zip]

Zippy - I was on 205 Z15s on original wheels on a classic Impreza. Whole heartedly agree that tyres behave very differently on different cars, different tyre sizes, and different weights. In fact, AutoExpress confirmed this when the F1 GSD3s won their test in the 205 55/16 size (same as my Aero), and in an earlier issue came 3rd or 4th in a different (larger) size.

Rockhopper (9-5 board) made me aware that the F1s come in 2 sidewall stiffnesses, and I now wish I had gone for the stiffer one.

 

[ms08]

Can anyone advise how the SO3's wear in comparison to P6000's - my Pirelli's are coming to the end of the road after about 14 months and 18,000 miles - I am really not too keen on them for noise levels but can't say I had problems with grip though I do not push to the limit? I am therefor in the same boat in looking for replacement on 205/50/16's
Thanks
Mike

 

[sgould]

Can't do a direct comparison, but the SO3's I had on my 9-5 lasted about 60% of the life of the Michelin Primacys. That's on the front only. They were a bit quieter than the Michelins in general use.