195/50/15 - Which would you buy?

2 years or so ago I purchased what I thought were pretty good tires.... until I got them. I purchased General Exclaims... and 3 of 4 tires were not round! I was allowed to swap/warranty 2 of the 4... but I'm still unhappy with the Generals....

In recent searches on Tire Rack and a few other places... I've found a few options - delivered prices are in written in red

The BF Goodrich g-Force Sprot Comp-2 is the segment leader (#1 in surveys) and seems to be the tire to purchase... but I thought that of the Generals and I was disappointed.

Previous to the Generals, I had a few higher end Bridgestones (RE71 or similar), Kumho ecsta supra 712s, a few Yokahamas (ES100 was one in particular)...

Is the Goodrich a worth tire? Will it be round? What say the hive?

Oh... this is for my Corolla... street driven 95% of the time... BUT desire a high quality handling tire... good enough to enjoy a track event with....

Given that my 2002 is going to need tires in this very size this spring, this thread is relevant to my interests.

What about zii or azenis or rs3? Are they not available in that size?

I've always been happy with my S.Drives.

I was very happy with the S.Drives I had on my old Euro E28. Given, they are not Rivals but I felt they were a great daily driver/medium performance summer tire. The Proxes and DZ102 are wild cards; FWIW the DZ101 was not well-reviewed and the BFG is an OLD tire design now and almost certainly not worth the price over any of the other contenders. Do they make Conti DW's in 195/50-15? I love those tires, would be my pick.

195/50 15 is pretty rare these days. 205/50 really opens up your choices.

wvumtnbkr wrote: What about zii or azenis or rs3? Are they not available in that size?

they are... but I'm looking one step down from those... actually 2 steps(the ultra high performance category)... because there doesn't seem to be any maximum performance tires in that group... (only one in the 205 size... and that one is rated 23rd)

If I were going to track days 3 or 4 times a year or more I'd say lets look at the extreme performance tires... but I'm not going to be going to track days that often... I drive on coarse roads (Portland Or - few pot holes, but MANY rough/abrasive road surfaces).

As I see it, the current Ultra high performance group is where the tires I've used likely all fall into today... so that is why I was looking in the group...

also the extreme performance tires are closer to $500+ for a set delivered...

I'm an extreme cheap-ass, and I bought these in that size: http://www.onlinetires.com/products/vehicle/tires/accelera/195%252F50-15+accelera+alpha+82v+bsw.html

Picked them up from the distribution center for under $200 for all four, and they're round and are fine for DD'ing.

I've also had these before (they came on the car). http://www.onlinetires.com/products/vehicle/tires/achilles/195%252F50-15+achilles+atr+sport+82v+bw.html

In my experience, they were tires. I have had the Acceleras for about 3k street miles, and they're fine. Not too much noise, wear seems fine, ok grip for a cheap tire, probably on par with Kumho Ecsta SPTs or something like that.

I autocrossed on the Achilles a few times, and they weren't grippy, but they were very predictable, and were just fine on the street. Same feelings as the above. Both are great value if you're just looking for something round and black.

I had T1r on my miata when I bought it. Awful tires.

DaveEstey wrote: I had T1r on my miata when I bought it. Awful tires.

Weird, I had them on my Swift GTi and thought they were gods gift to man. Decent grip, quiet, best riding low profile tire I've EVER experienced, and also ok in the rain.

Were they the best? No. But they sure weren't bad, and definitely better than kumho 712s.

The g-force sport comp-2 is the tire on the top of my list for my weekend fun car/autocross s13 (which runs basically the same size as you). No, it's not likely to be as fast around the cones as the g-force rival, but it's cheaper and more likely to handle rain on the interstate. The Tire Rack survey results look good and the internet reviews seem decent.

Out of the choices you listed I would go with the S.Drives

I just got done with a set of S.drives. Quite frankly, they provided more grip than a Hyundai Accent ever needed, but that didn't stop me from pushing them. They lasted about 35K miles before they hit the wear bars. Very good all-around summer tire. Rain traction was pretty awesome, too.

Ive had a lot of experience in the "small 15s" tire category, mostly on the cheaper side.

Ive owned Nexen N3000s, DZ101s, Sport Comp 2s, and T1Rs.

To be honest, i didnt have the same expectations for all of them, but the ones that exceeded my arbitrary expectations the most were the n3000s. I went from those to DZ101s and hated it, but i got the dz101s free and already knew that they sucked.

Im curious about the Dz102, though.

The dark horse i am planning to try next is the Federal RS-R.

Ive been driving around on 195/50/15 Sport Comp 2s since last Thursday and don't have anything bad to say about them. They're certainly nothing crazy, though. If people put them anywhere in the same ballpark as Rivals (which i havent driven) i have to assume that is a major diss to the Rival, because these Sport Comps sure don't seem like ULTRA HIGH PERFORMANCE tires.

Seeing the thread made me wonder if someone could identify a Z rated tire in this size or a similar size?

I am watching this as well. I have been using Kuhmo Ecsta ASTs on my daily driver Jetta. While not a "top shelf" tire, I have received my moneys worth from them.

tread pattern on on the DZ102's looks similar to the 101's, but one difference i noticed right away. 101's had a 300 treadwear rating and the 102's have a 460.

Consumer Reports rated the Comp 2s slightly higher than the S.drives. The Comp 2s had the worst noise rating in their test. They rated the GT Radial Champiro UHP1 a little higher than the S.drives, and those things are really cheap from Discount Tire on eBay. Consumer Reports didn't rate any of the UHP summer tires as Best Buys.

FWIW: Tire Rack is now carrying the Hankook Ventus R-S3 in this size. The Dunlop ZII comes in this size and is on closeout with a $50 rebate. The Bridgestone Potenza RE-11A is probably the best all-around summer tire in this size.

I was looking at the bfg or the dz 102 in 225/45/17 for my wrx. I have dunlops ( whatever the stock tire was for the 2009 model ) on it now and they have been good.

On my miata in 195/50/15 I have the dz101 which have been great. They are about on the wear bars now and have been retired to just dd and I upgraded to a set of z2 for autox.

I'd recommend the dunlops but I was thinking about giving the bfg a try on my wrx for a dd and maybe one autox a year.

DaveEstey wrote: I had T1r on my miata when I bought it. Awful tires.

Seconded. They're on our 95 right now and they're on my top 3 list of least favorite tires from the major brands. I mean, i expect tires like the Nexen N3000 to be garbage. I don't expect a Toyo T1R to be garbage. But it is.

depending on how much grip vs. life you want (and they last a yr + of a-x and driving to and from events … 25/yr, and 250 -270 mi. round trip) …. the Toyo R1R in 195-50-15 is pretty much the E36 M3s ….

a step lower (for MUCH less $$$$) would be the Federal 595 RS-R … not sure, but I think they come in 195-50 … maybe only 205-50

It's too bad Kumho stopped making Ecsta SPTs in that size, it's an awesome street tire.

I've heard good things about S-drives. I run this size but I use EPS tires.

GameboyRMH wrote: It's too bad Kumho stopped making Ecsta SPTs in that size, it's an awesome street tire.

That's what I was thinking. I have a set on my 2002 now, and they were quite good, but they're pretty much shot at this point. Based on the discussion in this thread, I'm leaning toward the S-Drives for replacement, but the price on the BFGs after rebate is tempting.

I had Bridgestone Ecopias on my Lexus IS-300. They were the first non-high-performance tire I ever bought outside of outright snow tires. I even drove the things in 4 inches of snow and had no problem--even leaving my alley which is pretty steep and up-hill. I've seen that car get stuck in a level parking lot in less snow before on different tires.

They claim gas mileage will improve, but I did not see an improvement. They were quiet, they were sharp handlers, and I think I probably would have gotten 40,000 miles out of them easily. They aren't Azenis, but they were ROUND.

Conti DW and DWS aren't available in less than 16". I wish they were.