Tires Hankook or DUNLOP

Essentially, these tires are fantastic, as stated in my original post. They are quiet. I base this on driving the car 1200 miles in one go from Seattle to LA; I felt that I suffered very little ear fatigue and did not have to try and \"crank\" the radio to be able to hear my music. In daily driving, the tires are solid performers. It is easy to double or more the \"yellow sign\" speed on freeway corners. I have put approximately 2 track days on these tires. They are much more impressive in terms of low speed cornering, as I have been unable to cause significant understeer exiting tight corners at full throttle. There high speed grip (on track) did leave a little to be desired, however this feels more like a reflection of the suspension geometry of the vehicle than the fault of the tire (not enough camber gain). If you would like some sort of concrete comparison of how these tires perform, I can only tell you they performance wise out performed any previous tire I've driven on. I also passed an NSX in the corners of Streets of Willow Springs; grip is not an issue. Lastly, rain performance. LA is a brutal test of wet grip, because if the ground is wet in LA you are actually testing OIL grip. I have only experienced traction issues when accelerating in the rain; if you spin the tires on acceleration, you'll actually have some trouble getting them hooked up again. Hydroplaning seems to be managed very well; braking in wet weather is similarly impressive. *edit* Actually last is wear. The tires wear well. I ruined the fronts pretty bad in two track days because of the Jetta's atrocious suspension setup and weight balance, but normal street driving does not phases these. After 8000 miles including two track days the rear tires show maybe 15% treadwear, I've found this tire to be effective as a street tire in Seattle, LA, and a decent tire on the race track. At $70 a tire for 205/50/R15, you CANNOT go wrong.

I may try these next season. I'm currently on my second season with a set of Hankook W404's, and I've been very happy with them. The dry handling/performance most likely falls short of the iPike's, but I believe the W404's provide a bit more snow and ice traction, which was my main concern.

Coming back from Whistler on Thursday, a 5 hour stand still... The tires worked great on ice / snow.

I have the same tires on my Golf, we had 15\" of snow last week and the car behaved wonderfully. I only got stuck once, in my driveway because I was snow plowing. I've taken my car up to Mt. Baker a few times and was able to drive on snow and some ice.

For any of you guys looking for an inexpensive snow tire, i would strongly consider a set of these. the size i got were 195/65/15 i have not driven them in the snow yet, but i have been able to evaluate all of the other common complaints associated with inexpensive snow tires. noise: the noise on these tires is extremely minimal. they seem to produce no more noise then my sumitomo z rated summer tires. even cruising at 70 mph there is no noticable tire noise intrusion. handling: slightly squishy when pushed to their limits, but that is to be expected of a snow tire. overall, the handling feels true and confident. cruising at 70 mph there is hardly any \"floaty\" feeling that you can sometimes get. its not as planted to the road as my summer tires, but again, i didnt expect them to be. ride: these tires undoubtedly ride smoother then my summer tires. despite the aggressive treads, the softer and much larger sidewalls provide for a signifigantly smoother ride, especially over good pavement. less quirky body motions and jolts. price: the price for these was inredible. i went to a reputable tire dealer on ebay, and got them for 60 dollars per tire with shipping. it was 238 dollars shipped to my door. arrived within 3 business days. overall im very pleased. my biggest worry with these was not their snow performance. based on their aggressive treads i am very confident they will perform very well in most winter scenarios. my bigger concern was noise, dry weather handling, and ride. all of which turned out to be completely acceptable if not very good. these tires are also studdable, but i am not riding on them with studs.

I have Dunlop Winter Sport tires riding on 17" wheels during the winter and the ride is smoother and they are not louder than my 18" wheels with summer tires.

After speaking with the nice gentleman at Discount Tire, I opted for a Dunlop Direzza DZ101 in 205/50/R15. Wow. The Dunlops offer an impressive amount of grip. Thus far, just in irresponsible city driving, I have not been able to get the tires to lose their traction. In first gear cornering, punch the gas at almost full lock will not produce any tires spin. In long fast(er) cornering, there is not wallowing or any wiggling. In corners that I am familiar with, I am able to take them at much higher speeds, but feel much more in control and almost feel as though the car is going slower because it is very much more predictable. Overall, I am satisfied with the tires. For $70 a piece in my size, I believe they are the best money I've ever spent on a car. My on complaint is that they sit a little strange on my wheels because they have an extra edge to protect your rims from curbage. But oh well. They're fast, smooth, and even quiet.

Dunlop 5000's Are these tires super loud for you guys too? I'm starting to get annoyed by mine. They seem to stick real well through corners though.

On my S2000, about 2 weeks ago had brand new Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs installed by a local garage. A few days later, the driver's side rear tires was extremely low on air pressure, that I noticed after the car was pulling to one side during acceleration/letting off the gas pedal.

These tires are notorious for sidewall bubbles. I went through about 6 or 7 in a year and a half, eventually bit the bullet and bought a new brand of tire.