texis30O Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I am about to purchase new wheels and tires. The wheels will be 17". I am looking at 245/45/17 or 245/40/17 tires. I am seriously considering the BFG KDw. But I am having a hard time justifying the price. What are others running or suggest? Opinions wanted. The car will be in the 400whp area when finished on a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I am about to purchase new wheels and tires. The wheels will be 17". I am looking at 245/45/17 or 245/40/17 tires. I am seriously considering the BFG KDw. But I am having a hard time justifying the price. What are others running or suggest? Opinions wanted. The car will be in the 400whp area when finished on a few weeks. What are you plans for the car? Street driving? Road Course/autocross? Drag race? Do you really plan to be driving it in the rain, enough to justify going with the "dry/wet" designation? 400rwhp is getting to be a traction challenge - you'll need all the sticky you can get... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texis30O Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Never in the rain, or wet. I will be tackling the rest of the weak points with a r200, and a z32 5-speed. The car will be street driven 80% of the time, then the other on a track. Let's just say I was known to hit 100+ in my is300. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) Never in the rain, or wet. I will be tackling the rest of the weak points with a r200, and a z32 5-speed. The car will be street driven 80% of the time, then the other on a track. Let's just say I was known to hit 100+ in my is300. What kind of track? Straight or curvy? For street/road race/autocross duty you might want to look at the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec for about the same price. If you are primarily street and 1/4 mile, then take a good hard look at something like the MT ET Street drag radials - straight line traction is really good and the handling isn't anywhere near as bad as you might think. I ran R-spec road race tires for years, and finally admitted to myself that I wasn't really doing much (if any) road course work with my car. I switched to the MT ET Street drag radials and have been MUCH happier. Edited July 12, 2011 by TimZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) What kind of track? Straight or curvy? For street/road race/autocross duty you might want to look at the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec for about the same price. They don't make Star Specs in 275/40/17. I have some Kuhmo SPTs on my RBRs. They were cheap and have a decent treadware rating. I'm going Nitto NT-05s next year [most driving is done on AutoX courses and driving to/from events, but I drive it to work some times]. But didn't get them now because I won't be racing again until next spring. The treadware is 200, which I will have burned off by next spring or summer. I have some Nitto 555 on my GTO, but in 245/45/17. I have been quite happy with them. I would have done Kuhmo XS in 275/40/17 if I was not on a budget right now. I've heard many good things about them, and seen some fast runs at local autocross events on them. I've heard mixed reviews about the KDWs, but I wouldn't buy them myself, I think they are mostly for 'tire bling.' Edited July 12, 2011 by FlatBlack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) Let's just say I was known to hit 100+ in my is300. I'm not trying to lecture about how to drive on the street, just going to point out that if something unexpected were to happen at high speeds, I'd want to have a tire with more grip and predictable breakaway to help me get things back under control - not a higher treadwear number. I second the Direzza recommendation. I'm on my second set (which is the first time I've ever bought the same tire again) and about to buy a third. They have reasonable endurance for the street and do better than most of their peers at not getting greasy as the track warms up. Their steering feel is excellent (compared to the Yokohama ES100 and Kumho MX I've also tried) and they break away predictably. I'm seeing 6-8k miles and 3-4 track days per set. What they don't do well is deal with heavy rain, or sub 50F temps. At this time, they are the best tire I've found for both track and dry street use. Edit: Tire Rack has a $80 rebate for the Direzza thru the end of July. Pretty much pays for shipping. Edited July 12, 2011 by Zmanco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) I have the Direzza Star Spec's on one of my Z's. I like them a lot. Sticky, quiet, predictable, and good steering feel. Oddly enough I have the KDW's on my other Z. I don't like them as much as the Direzza. Edited July 12, 2011 by cygnusx1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texis30O Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 I will be going from a 195/14 to a 245/ 17. So I will grip a bell of a log more. I think I will start out with the blizzaks. Then go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I will be going from a 195/14 to a 245/ 17. So I will grip a bell of a log more. I think I will start out with the blizzaks. Then go from there. Blizzaks? Why? You realize that they are horrible on warm dry pavement, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Me thinks he was smoking something other than rubber... Does it snow in texis this time of year? Edited July 13, 2011 by cygnusx1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Me thinks he was smoking something other than rubber... Does it snow in texis this time of year? I'm thinking perhaps that was just a brain fart, mixing up two weird tire names with double "Z"'s in them? Edited July 13, 2011 by TimZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texis30O Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 DUH.... I ment the Direzza Star Specs..... Sorry I know I should not type and drive at the same time.... I have really got to stop....lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Let's just say I was known to hit 100+ in my is300. Sorry I know I should not type and drive at the same time.... I have really got to stop....lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommott77 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 (edited) Wanted to jump on this thread before starting a new one. Done a good bit of searching around the last couple days and have a similar tire size question I am trying to answer. Purchased a V8 Z on ebay that I should be taking delivery of in a week or so. The car has a supposed 400hp, which is not unrealistic as the car had been dynoed at 316 rwhp previously before the owner I purchased the car from put on some aluminum heads/larger holley carb/edlebrock/ect. The question I have is how much tire am I going to need for the car? At the moment the car appears to have 14" or 15" wheel, perhaps with about 6" wide, and somewhere around 195 or 205 tire. I really doubt that this is going to be enough. How much bigger do I need to go? I really don't like the look of any wheel over 16", but I know that my tire options are somewhat limited at that diameter to about 225. The car would be seeing some daily driving, some auto-x'ing, and some track day events. Any 'real world' advice would be much appreciated. Edited July 19, 2011 by tommott77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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