Merry Xmas to all! I hope everyone had a nice and safe holiday!

I was going to purchase some tires today and saw that there is a $40 rebate on Goodyear Eagle GTs on tirerack for anyone else in the market for tires.

I havent used these tires but for the price for a v-rated tire they cant be too bad

Worst ... tire ... ever ...


They're bad when it's dry and even worser when it's wet.

How about Khumo's? I have never used those at all

I've only had one set of those a few years back but they were good tires. Not sure about their current lineup.

kuhmo ecsta xs is a fantastic tire.

I have them on my 914, 205/60/15 and also on my 2006 VW Jetta...I love them!

I think they handle great in the rain and I've taken canyon runs in the teener and they haven't let me down yet!

Sure, there are better (grip wise) tires out there, but for the price these tires do it for me. I'd buy another set!

How about the BFG g-Force Super Sport? These are only 88/tire for 195/60s

I have these on two of my cars and they are great! Ray

Yeah, as much as Id like to save $100, its really only $100. Besides, I have a friend at Michelin and although they cant get me a deal on tires, they still give me #$%^ for buying anything other than Michelins or BFGs

For those that say they are terrible, then they must have changed.
Back in the 80-90s I used them on my 914 and they were awesome!

Back then they were one of the best street tires you could get.
They were used on almost every single police car or sherrif's cruizer in the country, so they must have been really bad (yeah right).
The rubber was very sticky and the tires only lasted ~50k miles.

So if they suck now, then that's news to me.

I use the assurrances on all my cars now and they are the best all weather tire I have ever had.

Stu

I had them on two different 914's.

This was 8 years ago and older versions.
I thought they were great. Never felt like they were losing grip.


No idea what today's Goodyear is like.
I suspect that they have been tested extensively and would make a very good street tire.


KT

Anyone used BFG Advantage T/As?

How do you plan on driving?


KT

I plan to eventually get it on track for some open lapping days but nothing competitive. For the most part it will be a weekend driver around town. The streets here are pretty bad so I would prefer something more comfortable which is why I was thinking of Advantage T/As.

So, low mileage, dry weather only, with some track driving in the future?

Toyo RA-1



KT

Dunlop Direzza or Falken Azenis would be another good choice.


KT

I still vote for the Kumho Ecsta XS as it's a 180 tread wear vs. 100 and will last on the street, but if you want to go that low you should consider the Nitto NT01 too. I run the Kuhmo on the street and then switch to the Hankook Z214 when competing.

Try calling the folks at the Tire Rack as well for their recommendations. They have been at it a long time, and generally can give you some good advice.

I seem to think they also have a 30 day return policy if it's not working for you.

It's my opinion that especially with regards Falken that tire is old technology now. There are faster, better tires out there for the same price as these two.

FYI:

I ran the Goodyer Eagles as rain tires on the track years ago!

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment



KT

I bought a set of Eagle GTs just before this years WCR in Marina, CA.

They were comfortable for the 1K mile drive down from Whidbey Island, WA. The size I got was 195/60VR/15 which is a PERFECT size for my Mahle wheels. Speedo was accurate and they looked perfect on the rims (unlike my previous 205/60HR/15 Bridgestones that I had previously which were a tad too wide for the rim yet are the largest tire you can fit safely on a 5.5 rim).

As for grip, the Bridgestones win, but not by much. The feel of the V rated side walls of the GYs is much more positive and responsive. The H-rated sidewalls of the BSs you could feel the tire flexing under hard cornering and when they let go, they really let go in a hurry. These GYs let go a little sooner, but it's much more predictably which I appreciate in these cars. Some of that could also be attributed to the slightly smaller width of the GYs, but who knows really.

In the wet just driving around, they are really solid feeling (and being in the PNW, I get the chance to drive in the wet pretty often ). I normally don't push it in wet conditions and have never had these on a track in wet, so I don't know about those conditions. . . And I don't really plan to test them that way if you know what I mean.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the performance and driveability of the GY EagleGTs that I have. I have swapped them over to my Squareback shop-car for the winter since I'm driving that daily. They work very well on that car too. They get abused daily in every condition and keep coming back for more, so again, I'm happy with them.

Yes there are better tires out there and you can always spend a ton of money for tires. I do plan to get a second set of rims with much stickier summer tires like Toyo-Rs. Bang for the buck though, in mixed street/daily/spirited driving conditions, I don't think they can be beat for their price. I think I paid around $60 a tire or something ridiculous like that from Discount Tire locally. For that price, I figured, "what the hell, I'll give them a try!"

These are the two most popular race tires for the 24 Hours of LeMons race series.
They limit teams to a treadwear of 190.

I have personally driven in 11 races on the Falkens.
Great in both wet and dry.

Why do you dislike the Falkens?


KT

I think "aircooledtechguy" has given the best and most recent review of the tire.



KT

I'm not limited to a 190+ TW tire, but when I was running against guys in the Falken on my XS tires it wasn't even close on the autocross course. The Dunlop was closer. The Falken is just older technology. It does wear like iron, but gets real hard real fast. A 24 hour race has vastly different tire demands than that of an autocross or lapping day.

I didn't see that the OP is looking for a competitive A/X tire.



KT

Im not looking for a competitive tire at this point. Id rather something comfy but if Id like to go lap with, again just non-competitively, I could do so. I have quite a bit to do to this car before I would ever beat on it too hard.

I called tirerack and they pushed for Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS but if I am going to spend that I would rather buy BFGs. Anyone ever run Sumitomo HTR A/S?

195/60/15??? I went with Potenza RE960AS Pole Position(Ultra High Performance All-Season) for my /6. They keep the speedo accurate and have plenty of grip for the street. The side wall is a little tall but makes it fun to drive as well. I would have gone with the Dunlop Direzza if they had them in the right size. I am happy with the Bridgestones and they are $83.00 each on the Tire Rack right now.

I had some Eagle GTs on back when my 1986 Grand Am was new. They weren't really long-lived but they were VERY sticky. . so sticky, that they picked up EVERYTHING and I had more flat tires on that ONE set of tires than all the rest of my tires combined.

But that was a different time.

I had GY Eagles on my 5.0 back in the early 80's and they were awesome, really good in the rain, but, that was 30 years ago. Now, on my teener for street tire, I am running, ummmm, I believe they are called GY Eagle GTs and they work great.

Click to view attachment

I'd agree about the Azenis. I replaced them with the Khumo XS and am pretty happy. When they were new the Azenis may have had a bit more at the limit, but the Khumo is sticky, quiet, and more predictable. Excellent street tire. I'm curious about the Direzza Star Spec, but right now wouldn't trade the Khumo's.

They are most likely made by One Hunglowe in China now!!!

I have the GY GT's (195/65-15) on my car now.
As everyone is saying it depends on your usage and expectations, but I have been very happy with them.

They have been:
Cheap
Good looking
wear well (12000 miles in 12 months and no noticable wear)
Predictable
Good in the rain
sticky enough for what I do

Most people do not a/x, track drive or drive like maniacs.

These tires are totally acceptable for daily driver duties.


KT

I'd like to see a picture of one of those tires on your 914. And what size are they BTW? I'm shopping for tires for my /6 and I want something a little taller as long as the sidewall doesn't look like crap.