93Rubie

The 40th needs new shoes for this upcoming season. As I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as off season mods are in full swing, its a good time to get some opinions on what I should be getting.

My choices (in no particular order). FYI 17X9.5 wheels=275/40/17 or 285/40/17. All from my own research.

Please keep in mind here in Western PA we do see cooler temps in April, May, Sept, October. I've showed up at many an auto-x when the temps start the day below freezing. We get lots of rain too. More than Seattle measurement wise. Just less cloudy days.

Kumho XS-Awsome track day tire, very good for dry, hot auto-x. Sucks in the cool/cold/wet.

Continential Extreme Contact DW-THE rain tire right now, pretty good in dry, not bad overall. Is a MAX performance category tire. Gives up time to fastest out there but those are not AVAILABLE in wider 17" sizes.

Nitto NT05-Very good in dry, ok in the wet.

BFG g-force Sport COMP-2-Reintroduced and improved for last year. Getting positive reviews and appears promising. Good wet and dry performance.


That being said some VERY GOOD tires such as the Hankook RS-3, Star Spec 2, BFG Rival, etc...are available in 255/40/17. Is losing 20mm of width going to hurt me more than the better compound will gain me over the above?

Your opinions are welcome, vote in the poll. Please keep tire recommendations under $200 per tire. I'm not spending $300 per tire on Michelin Pilot Super Sports when I could run R-comps for that price.

wtb-z

I would take one of these three, then maybe the Kumho. The Kuhmo is very heat sensitive though and I would expect older build dates since it is about to be replaced. The rest are not worth thinking about.

Rob31

When is the new Kumho due to be out ?

gaspeddleZ07

I ultimately went with the Kumho XS for a couple of reasons:
- not too many options for this tire size. Considered R3s in 255's (narrower 9.5 vs 10.2) but the deciding factor was that it's tread is depth. The radial grooves are deeper and the lateral tread is shallower, which means it's life for the street is limited (http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...res/photo3.jpg). Also thought about moving up to 18's (275/35R18) but then the tires all seem to be more money (Tire Rack shows Kumho XS 18" = $265, 17' = $187) and I'd have to buy some rims too!
- Wanted a non-directional tire. I usually swap my tires around and having a non-directional tread allows me to swap side to side, as well as have a 5th tire I can use as my spare and put in rotation.

Are there better tires out there? You bet! I used to run Hoosier R6's and had a tire trailer with all the gear, but this time I wanted to be able to take it back a notch and just drive to and from the track. Everything's a compromise!

wtb-z

Seems like late 2013



On the Corvette the XS and RS3 seemed to wear about equally fast for me. The RS3 needs more camber to be happy, it is a very soft tire - so you see lots of pictures with the side of the tire scrubbed off.

hklvette

Stay away from the NT-05 for cool weather. Its not unsafe on the street, but really doesn't get "sticky" until its hot. Its very noticeable when the come into their ideal temperature range. Can't complain about the price of them though. Overall better as a track-day street tire.

From what I understand, going to a narrower width to get a better compound is usually a net gain.

talon95

Yea, either the ZII or the Rival is probably going to be the way to go. The ZII is fantastic in cool/cold weather compared to a lot of summer tires. The RS3 is total junk below 60 degrees.

If you want something now, get the ZII's. If you can wait, then the Rival might be a consideration as well.

Dave G.

c4cruiser

I think that most extreme performance tires like the NT-05 and the Kumho XS need some heat for them to work best. My experience with these two tires is that the Kumho's need more time to heat up to work compared to the NT-05. I have the NT-05's on my '87 in 275/40-17 no and for track days, the tires only need one lap (2 miles) to get to where they stick very well. But air temps and track surface temps should play a role in how quickly a tire will heat up.

For most autocross events where the air temps are fairly low (50-60 degrees) and no sun, these tires may not get real hot at all for some time. Both are good street tires, but with my NT-05's, I will drive below the speed limit on freeways when it's raining.

justkickin

Especially the part about the RS3 in the cold. I ran them up here last year, and my points counts look like a bell curve. Less in the spring and fall when cooler, most accrued in the hot summer months. However, when they are hot, they are a ton of fun!

To add though, with the extra grip of the Rival, Z2, RS3's, the slightly narrower width won't be a problem.

talon95

And all of those tires run wide for their size, so the 255 fits quite well on a 9.5" rim.

93Rubie

After doing a bit more looking and reading this. You guys got me wanting some ZII's or Rivals. The RS3's I feel would not work in my auto-x environment with the rain and cool temps at times.

Thanks for all the info. Keep it coming if you want to post or vote. I appreciate the info.

The ZII's have a 10.2 tread width on their 255's so they are cut big. Which is a good thing.

SteveC68

Is there any more information on the replacement for the Kumho XS?