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Old 08-28-2006, 03:28 PM   #19
Perfectlap
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 8,709
Quote:
Originally Posted by insite
just get good tires and you're fine. the N rated tires will run nicely at factory tire pressures, alignment, etc. with non-N rated tires, you may need to play w/ tire pressures a bit, but no problems.

i'm a big fan of the BFG KDW2's. they give a weird rumble at the limit, but they stick like glue (nearly 1.2G on my M030 RoW) and the sidewalls are very stiff. they're good in the rain and fairly quiet in normal driving conditions. in terms of bang for the buck, i've liked them best. i've tried:

yoko AVS100
- nice, but had a tendency to follow road ruts. noisy on some surfaces, a bit more flex in the sidewall than i like

pirelli p-zero assimmetrico
- a bit soft on sidewalls, but not bad. very sticky, very $$$.

bridgestone potenza re750
- GREAT tire, not as sticky as some, but lasted a long time. excellent road feel.

bridgestone potenza re950
- GREAT all-season tire (but an all-season tire); lasted longest of group. ALMOST as sticky as the re750.

bridgestone potenza s-03 pole position
- my favorite all-around tire; excellent road feel, VERY sticky, but very $$$

sumitomo HTR-Z
- HORRIBLE. removed and threw away after 48 hours. very soft, squishy sidewall that would flex on turn-in and then snap-back and oscillate. trammelled a lot, noisy, and scary. these tires absolutely suck; i wouldn't wish them on my enemies. they put the boxster's handling on par with a geo metro. (people have had luck w/ the HTR-Z II, but my experience w/ the HTR-Z I steers me FAR away)

BF Goodrich KDW 2
- best all-around tire for the $$$. extremely sticky, bolted-to-the-road feel, great in the wet. the only thing people might find strange is the large tread blocks 'rumble' when you corner hard. you get used to it; you get so much in return. will not last as nearly as long as the 300 treadwear rating indicates, but for the $$$ difference, it's worth it. this is the only tire i've bought multiple times for the car.
Re950 sounds like a good choice for this neck of the woods. I'm budgeting for snow tires in 18" too Got caught in a "rain turned to snow turned to blizzard" in a single drive home once. Never again.
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