Ecsta XS, RS3, Direza ZII, RE-11A, and... Federal 595RS???
 

I was fiddling around today and saw these:595 RS-R RACING - OnlineTires.com

Treadwear of 140, around $400 a set for 17"s. Has anyone ever used these? I am a firm believe in TANSTAAFL, and I figure you get what you pay for, but I wonder if something this cheap would even give a good level of extreme summer performance for even a single track weekend?

Ok enough fun ;)

Realistically:

I am doing 2 track days at Road Atlanta with MVP Track time at the end of June and I think I am going to get a set of either the Kumho Ecsta XS (low $600's from tire rack) or the RE-11A (high 600's from tire rack). I like these over the Hankook RS3 or Direzza because these two are directional while the Ecsta XS and RE-11A are asymmetric and can be rotated side to side. (And while I probably will never rotate them I had it in my mind if I ever did a track day at somewhere like Daytona where they say the right rear wheel takes the most wear I could rotate halfway through the weekend and maybe make it wear more evenly across the set)

I for some reason thought the RE-11A would be way more expensive than the Kumho. Maybe they are on sale, or maybe I missed out on some special pricing for the Kumho? Are the RE-11A worth $46 more? The g-force rival is right at that same price point too so I guess it warrants some consideration.

Why can't one of these go on major sale and make this easy for me... If they are all about the same I would probably go with the Kumho. If one of the others is better than I probably would spend the extra $50 or so and get a set of those...

I guess my main criteria at this stage is which one is likely to give me the longest life? I am still at the beginning phase and so that is probably the best criteria for me at this time. :)

Steve

PS this sure seems similar to my earlier tire thread...

I bought zII maybe 4 months ago. I am replacing the rear pair. Completely bald. Normal driving. Im starting to think maybe they are scrubbing....

That seems really fast. I did note that a lot of the folks at the autocross that had the ZII had them on dedicated wheels and swapped them out after the event.

They are really great tires! Truly, they are. I think they have surpassed their predecessors the ZIs but idk about this tread wear. It is just odd. The fronts however are wearing nicely. Ill keep a closer eye on this rear pair and get an alignment done.

XS or RS-3. Whichever you prefer. Both are great. I just put a new set of RS-3's on my 996.

You might consider some Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08 R. I was looking into these for my next set. Seem to have very good performance reviews and a cool tread pattern to boot.

I don't know if you read tirerack reviews at all... but here is a comprehensive test of all these tires. minus the hankooks.

Tirerack test 1

Tirerack test 2

Possibly the toe setting for your rear wheels? I have been researching further into this, and that seems to be a big culprit for premature rear tire wear. Second to LFS*






*LFS == Lead Foot Syndrome.

Also I just chatted with TireRack today about these tires, and the Direzza ZII is discontinued. He said they are coming out with a Direzza ZII Start Spec in the fall, but there may be a gap between when the current production sells out and the new ones come in. He also said not to mix the two between front and rear (I was asking about availability since we use 2 backs for every front) but that was probably just CYA.

Friend of mine had a very similar experience with the Direzza's on his MINI. We both got new tires just before a DE at Road America last July. I got the Ecstas, he got the Direzzas. By the time of his next track event A MONTH LATER, the Direzzas were bald.

In contrast, my Kumhos have lasted three track events, and about 3,000-4,000 miles of street driving in the meantime, and are still going strong.

YMMV, of course. ;)

Cheers,
Jason

To close on this thread, jI ust ordered a set of Hankook RS-3 in 225/45-17 and 255/40-17. Thank you to everybody for your recommendations and experiences with these tires.

This weekend I think I may find a large parking lot to do some "car control" with my old Sumitomo HTR Z III...

Actually there seems to be a large contingent of drift folks in this area so I may see if I can sell my take-offs to them ;) Or maybe I will try my hand at some drifting on the old tires. Hopefully I don't end up in the drifting fail videos that are prevalent...

You will like the RS-3s. Remember that directional tires are for shedding water only. On dry track days you can swap sides any time with no ill effects.

I did not know that, very good to know. I hope to do a track weekend at Daytona this fall and if so I would like to swap the rears halfway through as I heard that Daytona is hardest on the right rear tire.

Thanks,

Steve

The right front takes a beating too, so we normally swap both tires (F&R) side to side when running the NASCAR banking at Fontana.