Tire opinions...2 to choose from

Matt MA MA@legacypartners.com
Wed, 29 Oct 2003 16:15:18 -0600


I had a set of Yokohama Parada that lasted about 40,000 miles. The
treadwear rating is 300. Based on that, you would think that the
Yokohama ES100 (280 treadwear) would last almost as long.

I've had the ES100 for about 12,000 miles so far, and it looks like
they should last about 30,000 miles. Mind you, these are extremely
unscientific guestimates.

So far I have had no problems with flat spotting or with balancing
problems.

Wet & dry Performance on the street is very good. It's OK on the track
(road course), but I also expect a lot more out of the tires when I'm on
the track. I think I'm out growing street tires on the track.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Falken FK451 tires, but I
don't have direct first hand experience with them. I rode my friend's
car shod with Falken Ziex 512 tires, and it handled much better (on the
track) than I expected. Or maybe it's because he has an Integra with
double wishbone suspension?

One last comment: I believe that it is a myth that all-season high
performance tires perform better in the wet than "dry" high performance
tires. Look at the in-depth tire tests on www.tirerack.com and you will
see that the street tires that perform best in the dry usually perform
best in the wet as well. The main advantage of all-season tires is
better mud or snow traction.

matt ma . 92 SE-R