Need new tires for the WRX

[Kabob]

Alright, as some of you have probably read here, I had an incident with the WRX yesterday.

My wife took the car to a friend of our's father's garage and he says we need a new alignment, and most importantly we need new tires (apparently two of the tires are what took the brunt of the damage).

So...we need new tires. Any suggestions? We currently have Kumho Ecstasa's on there and we liked them a good bit. Any other suggestion for a good, cheap(ish) sport tire?

I figure we'll pick 'em up from either Tire Rack or Discout Tire Direct.

 

[CRXican]

all seasons or summer tires?

::edit::

check out the Bridgestone RE760s

 

[fbrdphreak]

These will be terrible in cold weather, but amazing in warm weather (dry or wet). The Bridgestone RE-01R's are on clearance at tire rack (not sure what stock they have left) to make room for the RE-01R replacements.

I had the RE960AS all seasons on my GTO and they were good, no complaints in wet/dry/cold/warm weather.

You might consider the RE040 or RE050's (One is superior to the other, forget which). They are OEM equipment on the Legacy GT Spec. B's and have better dry/wet handling than an all season, but don't give up much in cold weather.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: CRXican
all seasons or summer tires?

Yea we need to know what type of tire you need and your budget. Can't recommend anything without some details.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
These will be terrible in cold weather, but amazing in warm weather (dry or wet). The Bridgestone RE-01R's are on clearance at tire rack (not sure what stock they have left) to make room for the RE-01R replacements.

I just ordered a set of these this afternoon Better hurry if you want them though - when I first tried ordering them, the site showed as NLA, but I kept trying throughout the day, and they finally took my order

The reviews look great, and the (clearance) price is awesome for what they are.

 

[abaez]

I don't need new tires, but are these worth it even though you are still on the stock tires?

 

[chucky2]

Continental ContiExtemeContact...really nice tire. Made my brothers crappy '95 V-6 Tbird actually sort of fun to drive, which means I'm sure you'd notice on your WRX.

Then again, do you even need an All Season in AL? The few times it ices each year, don't they just close the roads?

Chuck

 

[lupohki]

Can't beat this deal for summers currently.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...e&model=Potenza+RE-01R

 

[ayabe]

I have Continental Contisport 3's on my 06 WRX, they're great in the dry and pretty good in the wet. They've held up well and are wearing evenly, only complaint is that they take a little while to warm up. If you're coming from the stock Bridgestones the difference is night and day, and I wouldn't bother spending another $50/tire in order to get RE050's or whatever the equivalent is now, total rip off.

I think I got them for $140/tire at Tire Rack about 6 months ago.

 

[Kabob]

I'm coming from Kumho Ecstasa's (or however it's spelled), they were on the car when we bought it.

 

[Kabob]

Originally posted by: lupohki
Can't beat this deal for summers currently.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...e&model=Potenza+RE-01R

Sold out in my size

 

[Kabob]

OK, I need advice. I'll admit, I'm not very well versed in "Summer" vs. "All Season" tires. I live in Birmingham, AL where we rarely see snow (except for the other day, but that was a weird weather snap that people around here say they haven't seen in years). We don't get huge amounts of rain.

Tread Life and Performance come a little before road noise/comfort for me (although my wife might feel differently).

Should I be looking at All Season tires or Summer?

*edit* oops, apologies for the triple post

 

[ayabe]

Summer will be good in the dry and wet, but terrible in the snow.

All season are so-so at everything.

I would go summer if I was in Alabama.

 

[daw123]

I wouldn't recommend Eagle F1s.

Thats what I bought to replace the standard Potenzas on my 2005 WRX and since the replacement (back in late September / early October 2008) my car tram lines like crazy. Wished I had never bought them, and I hope I don't have to wait too long before they wear down and need to be replaced.

btw you're lucky you didn't buckle the alloy (the standard Subaru wheels are made from a very soft alloy). This is was happened to me when I hit some black ice back in December going around a corner (at about 10-15mph) and kerbed the car. Ended up replacing all the alloys for second hand ones (which was cheaper than buying one new replacement alloy from Subaru). All in all it cost me £300 for having the four tyres swapped to the new alloys, tyres balanced, new valves and laser alignment to the front and rear. Thankfully the wall on the tyre which was on the buckled alloy was not damaged (I got the tyre fitter to check).

 

[Kabob]

I've got aftermarket wheels. There's some decent scratches on the wheels but nothing close to that bad. How much is "too much" buckling?

 

[daw123]

You will know it as soon as you drive the car (as I did). The steering wheel will vibrate and it will get worse the faster you go. Also if the wheel is buckled, the tyre fitter won't be able to balance the wheel.

You're lucky that you are running aftermarket alloys otherwise you would likely have one buckled alloy on your hands (it really doesn't take much to buckle the standard Subaru alloys). Running on the space saver spare is a pita; you're restricted to 50mph.

 

[Kabob]

My wife (who's got the WRX today) said there were some slight vibrations in the wheel, although I think that's mainly from being horribly out of alignment.

 

[daw123]

You are right that it could be that the wheel has been knocked out of alignment. Does it track to one side?

 

[Kabob]

Originally posted by: daw123
You are right that it could be that the wheel has been knocked out of alignment. Does it track to one side?

Pulls to the right VERY badly right now.

 

[RGUN]

Not so much applying to the OP but more for general information, especially on your Subaru, it is VERY important that you change all four times at the same time. If you get an unrepairable puncture in one of your tires that is 50%, in most cases you can not put on a single new tire and be done with it. You will need 4 new.

 

[Demo24]

I put Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs on my 05 WRX. Fantastic tire! Great in the dry and wet. Not sure if you want to go that extreme though as I dunno how long they will last. I've put ~7k or so on mine and they are still ok, so we shall see. I'm hoping for 20k out of them.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: kabob983

Originally posted by: lupohki
Can't beat this deal for summers currently.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...e&model=Potenza+RE-01R

Sold out in my size

Keep trying...Mine (225/45/17) showed as OOS as well at first. I kept hammering the site throughout the day, and the order finally went through for some reason (after 9 - 10 unsuccessful attempts). Got an email this morning saying they shipped out

 

[helpme]

Those RE-01Rs are great (I use them for track duty) for dry traction, but they are not going to last long.

I just put a set of BFGoodrich g-force super sport A/S on my DD (TSX). They work alot better than the OEM tires in dry/wet/light snow. They have been up and down highway 50 to Lake Tahoe in the dry, rain and light snow a bunch of times already. Not bad for the price either (bought through tirerack), and the 400 tread rating.

 

[helpme]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
These will be terrible in cold weather, but amazing in warm weather (dry or wet). The Bridgestone RE-01R's are on clearance at tire rack (not sure what stock they have left) to make room for the RE-01R replacements.

WOW, that is a great deal for 225/45/17s. 104$ each!!!

 

[Kabob]

Originally posted by: RGUN
Not so much applying to the OP but more for general information, especially on your Subaru, it is VERY important that you change all four times at the same time. If you get an unrepairable puncture in one of your tires that is 50%, in most cases you can not put on a single new tire and be done with it. You will need 4 new.

This I was planning on, although for future reference yeah, slightly different sizes will damage the diff.

They are OOS on the website but I contacted one of the reps (a guy who is a mod at the Impreza forums) and he said he could get me some, and the price he quoted was even cheaper than what was on the website. In the end though I'm going to have to pass up the RE-01R's simply because they won't last long enough.

I think it'll be between the Kumho Ecsta SPT's or ASX's, not sure if I want a summer or AS tire though.