I need tires for a stock set of 4-bolt 15" Fuch wheels. Picked up my 914 yesterday and the current tires are old and mis-matched. I'm an aggressive driver, would like to do some auto-x'ing, would like for the tires to last 6 - 10k miles, prefer tires that have a stiff sidewall. My last set of Kumhos had good traction, but I lost 1/2 my steering feedback due to tirewall flex. Yuck! This car has fat torsion bars and a big swaybar in the front... I just need some good rubber!

205/55/15s are what I'm accustomed to running.

So what's the hot setup for > $100/tire?

Thanks and sorry for adding another tire thread to the other hundreds of tire threads here on the club's forum.

Randy

After her first night in the garage, and she seems to get along just fine with her roommate:

I really like the falken azenis


Just got a set of wheels last night with bridgestone s-02a. They were all really cheap. I'll see how those tires work out.

That's 2 votes for Falken Azenis. Another friend offlist recommended the same tire.

Pros/Cons?

Falkens. No need for pros' cons..LOL

How about every car in the stockish SCCA AutoX classes WON this past year at the SoloII Nationals in Topeka on Falkens?

They last. They stick. They are affordable.

They work really really well for the weight of our cars.

B

Great! Just need to know the tire's model number then - http://www.falkentire.com/ The tire shop I spoke to needed that. ST-115 ? Oh, and are you running 205/55 or 205/50 ?

It is a 205/50/15 (the tire shop will hate you..LOL) they are tough to install.

RT 615


B

http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm


Of course those yokohama tires look really cool! Alot more money though.
yokoham advan a048
Never used them myself but I beleive are stock for the lotus cars.

Thank you Brad!

You are welcome!

Glad to see the diehard 914 guy back into one.


B

I have felt a bit like a fish out of water for the past year or so.

i just went to the falkens, 195/60 on 4 lug fuch, after a stint on potenza 205/50(RE71?). the pots were rather bulgey and hard to settle in corners. tire guys hate them on 5.5" rims. you'll prob windup in a debate with the salesman because they "won't fit". the 195s are a nice fit, nice riding tire, work well in damp conditions, and are priced right.

k

Iffn you ask JP, he'll say get the round ones, black if possible

Another vote for the Falkens from me

Run them 39 front, 41 rear ( cold ) for the a/x. Reset before every run.



KT

Randy, welcome back into the Brotherhood! (I'm wearing my Roadglue t-shirt as I type this.)

The downside to any 205-50s is the increased revs in every gear. I recently put 205-50-15 Bridgestone SO-3s on my 914 and while it does stick like glue and has more of a go-kart feeling the revs suck for freeway driving IMHO.

I think it depends on how you will use the car. I like Falkens (Azenis Sport RT 615), but they do have limited life and can be dangerous in the rain after about 50% of their tread life. Nothing comes close to the Falken on dry pavement. I expereinced quite a few slow leaks with Falkens compared to Bridgestones and Dunlops I have used. Probably due to tires getting sticky in summer after a few hot corners and picking up more debris than other street tires. Its a great street/AX tire.

I like the new Dunlop Direzza DZ101. This tire is cheap and looks to be a decent summer tire for the 914 with little more tread than the Falkens. Tire Rack has them on sale for $48 per tire with a $50 rebate for 4! Check them out and read buyer reviews. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?ma...tnum=05VR5DZ101

I hear the Hankook Ventus Rs2 Z212 is very close to the Falken and sometimes is cheaper.

You could be crazy like me and use Yokohama A032R softs for the street. I know people have used hard compound of the same tire for 914's. I use Kuhmo Victoracers as my dual purpose tires now.

I will also throw in a shout for the Falkens. Great stick and pretty good durability, especially if you plan to use it as a dual purpose tire.

Also a second for not using them in the wet. Pure suicide.

i had the rt-215's for a while. scary in the wet...... imean SCARY LOL.

great AX tires. i got 10k street miles and 3 AX's out of em (33 laps per AX LOL)

Thanks for the advice!

Hi Anthony!

I'm used to the freeway revs with 205, and it's really alright since the majority of my driving is in town or around the Sonoma County back roads. I appreciate the warning though!

Cheers,

I have 2 sets of original azienis right now. Honestly I have never had problems with them in the wet. Granted I have only ran them on fwds. But everyone tells me how dangerous they are but I just never experienced it. Maybe I don't drive fast enough.

One set is gettting pretty worn. Gonna put them back on this weekend. Run them for the next few months and maybe eat my own words HAAHA

do you guys think the wet road issues are due to the road surface/oil/ moisture and not the tires themselves? i notice the traction complaints are are mostly from socal folks. i imagine your roads are like ice rinks after a month or 2 of hot weather and nature adds some precip.

k

So the tire shop got back to me this morning and said that the tires would be $750 mounted and balanced, and that they wouldn't be "off the boat and in his shop until nearly the end of the month."

Does this seem right? Who are you using to get the Falkens, and what are you paying?

Thats too expensive!

Order them online at one of these places

http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm

or

Edge Racing

Should be able to get all 4 for $375 and that includes shipping costs.

I have never paid more than $30 per wheel for mounting and balancing. I have local Wheel Works down to $15 per wheel now and they have a guy that does a good job.

So you should be able to do this for under $500.

That's better! Thank you! Oh, both of the URLs above are the same. Did you mean to send two different links? I have a hunch the other one was probably for TireRack.com, so I'll check there too.

Thanks again,

Randy

Looks like I spoke too soon. Vulcan Tire Sales has them in stock in PA, but shipping is nearly $80. Shipping from UT would be $44, but they're out of stock there and wouldn't be available until the end of July.

Tirerack doesn't seem to carry Falken, so I guess I do need the other link you meant to include. Thanks again.

Absolutely. And Azenis are great 'compromise' street tires. 205/50's just fit my car with stock fenders/fuchs. With stock gearing, 3500 5th = 72mph, so speedo is about 10% off.

The real treat is Toyo Proxes RA-1. 40(!) treadwear rating not might cost you points wise, but damn, they do hold.

No other one was for Edge racing www.edgeracing.com

Those pressures are way too high for the 615s. I have been running between 32 and 33 front and back this season with good results. They have fairly stiff sidewalls and so there is little rollover at 32psi - just beginning to wear the little triangle. At 39 you won't be using all of the tread.

They stick great on wet pavement. I ran them at the autocross at Marina where we got rained out and they did just fine.

I have put over 30,000 miles of hard commuting over hwy 17 (mountain pass) on the several sets of RT615 on a Porsche Boxster, My 914 and a Toyota Echo and an Audi A4. Here's what I found. Falkens are great on dry and wet pavement. When they are new they can handle standing water fine. Its after you have about 4000 miles on them that they begin to hydroplane more. I drove S03's on my Boxster and they were a much better wet weather tire than the Falkens - the SO3's also maintained their ability to resist hydroplaning to about 85% of their wear. I probably did more wet weather driving than I have my entire life this past year due to all the storms and had a chance to compare Falkens to other tires in similar conditions. The Falkens can be a handful when water starts to pool and you have some wear on them.

Cool! I went ahead and ordered from Vulcan. Both companies are on the east coast, so shipping to CA was about the same from both places. It seems as though the tire is out of stock on the west coast.

Anyhow, $382 to my door. Big-O wants $150 to mount and balance, "because they're going to be a PIA." That still seems steep, so I might hunt around a bit for a bettter/cheaper installer.

I have my sportbike for the wet weather!

I'm tired of my 914s rotting in the rain, so I'll try to keep it out of the wet stuff this time round. We have a Camry for the rainy season, and I work from home so I don't need to commute.

If I was really set on driving the car in the rain, I think I'd just get another set of tires and mount them to steelies.

If you were hooking up on Falkens in the wet at Marina it makes me feel even better about my time in my 4 door Sedan the same day. As someone who watched you closely you were locking up fronts when you hit standing water on entry to some corners. The great thing about the Falkens is that their lateral grip in the wet is outstanding - you can pitch the car sideways and they just dig in. Its braking, and high speed hydroplaning that I found to be the problem with these tires when standing water is a variable..

PM Trekkor. I think he has found someone in your area who does mounting and balancing for cheap.

Great, thanks!

$501 mount and balance, out the door at America's Tire Co. in Napa.
They have a set in Stockton and can set you up in a couple of days.

707-255-2995...Ask for Andrew and tell 'em Trekkor sent you


KT

Downsides to the Azenis, compared to "regular street tires"--
They don't last. Heavy cars get <10K on a set. Ours seem to get more, but we're pretty light.
Harsh ride. Especially in sizes with relatively-short sidewalls, the ride gets somewhat harsh.
Noisy. They are noticeably louder than most regular street tires.

Which of the above matters in a 914?

NONE OF THE ABOVE!!

Oh, the Azenis tends to be somewhat on the heavy side. They will also start losing grip when they get warm--as in, after a couple of autoX runs in a row, or on the Big Track.

--DD

BillD,

Trekkors pressures probably work well for his heavier 9146.

I have NO driving experience on the newer 615's, but I found the older version to work VERY well with the higher pressures. They had what I considered a "soft" sidewall (compared to a Hoosier/Kuhmo) and the sidewall stood up when you pumped them up.

Now for me next question:

Are you winning your class every event?


B

I agree that the Falken RT-615's can be unpredictable with cornering in the rain/wet (that is condition in which I wrecked my car).

For dry conditions they are super grippy.