Tires YOKOHAMA or BRIDGESTONE
From personal expierence, the s.drives are a better tire, stretch slightly less but are a far better tire. the 512s are just good for stretching and thats about it.
A little spendier, but absolutely love my Yokohama S.Drives in 205/50/15. Best tires I've driven, hands down. They outperform the Dunlops in every condition, are queiter and stiffer sidewalls, don't squeal etc...
I just picked up a set of Yokohama TRZ's for my wifes Golf, as they seemed to be a good all-around choice. She's had them a couple weeks now and they have been great. They feel great in the dry and in the wet, and are much quieter than the OEM Goodyears that they replaced.
I like Yokohama's approach: In regards to handling, the tires were not destined for track duty, so we experienced a level of performance that was slightly above the standard OE tire on most modern passenger vehicles. A few of us did the sentiment that the tire did improve its ability to stay planted after a few hot laps, which would give credence to Yokohama\u2019s claim that the special compound will change its handling characteristics for the better when driven aggressively.
Here's what a 245/40-17 Bridgestone RE11 looks like after 18mths on the R - over 200 autox runs and 8k street miles. I run 40-44 PSI hot on a well setup car. Note that there's minimal indication of excessive scrub or rollover. These tires are wearing great and were good enough for top pax time in a 60 car field at a recent local event
I just put on Bridgestone RE760 Sport's on my car about 250km's ago. I was looking for exactly what you are, good treadlife and good all-around performance for the occasional track day... I cannot say enough good things about this tire, it meets and exceeds all expectations that i have had thus far; and with 340 treadwear i expect these 205/40's to last for a good amount of time. You can't go wrong with this tire!
I got em... I don't beat on them though. I don't have them stretched or anything, just OEM tire size 205/50 on my Speedlines. They look good. Water performance is scary if you do anything stupid, drive like a normal human being (your findings may vary...). Other then that, they are a really great tire for daily driver use. I've had mine on... I want to say 15k miles. I need to rotate them though.
I ran s.drives on my mk5 for a little while (ended up getting rid of them because some jackass at the tire place used the wrong wheels weights and the tires cupped badly) I was pretty happy with them, stuck well, not too loud (but had some noise for sure), and decently priced.
I wasn't thrilled to see the OEM tire choice is yet again the marginal Bridgestone RE92, but they seem to do the job without being noisy. I have a feeling a set of dry-pavement UHP tires (RE730, S-03, etc) would make a good thing even better.
i have the bridgestone potenza RE050A's.. came on my huffs stock...i need new ones on the front allready! with a 140 treadware rating they burn down quick!
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