Summer tires

[Thirty-Nine]

My Falken Ziex 912s are starting to wear down (down to just above 2/32), so I'm starting to look at new tires. Since I have studded snow tires for winter (November-April here in Oregon), I was thinking about ditching the all-season tire and going with a "summer tire." However, I need something that'll be good in the rain (hey, I live in Oregon), and something that'll still be safe in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall (high 30s, low 40s in the mornings).

Tires I was considering (195/55/15):
- Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
- Dunlop Direzza DZ101
- General Exclaim UHP
- Yokohama S.drive
- Nitto NT 450 Extreme Performance

Thoughts? Opinions?

[thebarber]

i have toyo proxes4's and like them a lot. good wet traction, good dry traction.

not sure how the price point per performance works out for you though...

[SailDesign]

+1 on the Proxes 4.

I' have them on my second Yaris now, and they are a great 3-season tire to go with snows.
My #1 kid has SparSpecs, and says stay away if you're in the rain a lot. He likes the 101s, though.

[ROCKLAND TOYOTA]

i have the dz101's on my car now and i love them.....

[scape]

I have used a set of Exclaim UHP's 195/55/15 for about 3 years, tread looks great and I have used it in my winter which bottoms out around 25f.
The only downside I have noticed is that they do lose a tad bit of pressure over time, and like to be kept inflated- however I only inflate them a couple times a year + at oil changes.
PS: they certainly grip

[bzinn 1]

Hey did you consider the NeoGen's.......they are a great summer tire,grip like crazy,and still for the PNW rain they do fine......

I would of gotten them for the currant setup but they did not have the 195/15/50s so I got the Proxes4...which are a good tire till they wear down and then it gets slippy.

See ya at St Helen's man.

[kimona]

The Nitto NeoGen is the best performance tyre I've used for everyday driving conditions. Unfortunately, they are not available in the size you are after.

In 195/55/15, I'd consider the Yokohama Avid ENVigor.

EDIT: BTW, I've had a couple of sets of Proxes4's and while very good when new, they wear quickly and begin to lose traction in dry conditions and are downright scary in the rain.

[SeriousBlack]

I had General Exclaims on my RX-8. Great treadwear and very good in our Vancouver rain. Great value for the dollar as well.

[dingbat]

Man-up and get the Star Specs.

Seriously: I've been on 195/55/15 star specs a month or two now. Driven in the spring rain plenty and even a couple of light spring snows. They're fine in the rain until you hit standing water. When they do, they fight you through the steering wheel pretty hard and seem as though they'd hydroplane fairly easily. Not surprising looking at the huge flat tread blocks and not a big issue on most of the roads I drive but I could see it turning real ugly on the highway in a down-pour. The first time I got caught in the snow I was pleasantly surprised at how well the tire did. I was taking it way, way easy, and it was one of those lite, wet snows that mush to water under your tires, but I thought it was going to be a white knuckle ride getting home and it wasn't.

Wouldn't recommend them unless you are willing to be on your toes all the time in foul weather and find that worth it for the extra fun in the dry.

[TOUGEghost]

Voted Star Specs before I read the post, but BFG KDW2's would be my choice if there is lots of wet weather driving involved. Those are what I have on my car right now. My drive to work involves a steep and twisty mountain road and it's been pretty rainy lately. These tires have outstanding dry traction, and wet traction feels almost the same as when it's dry; a slight drag from the water is the only difference I feel. So far they have also lasted twice as long as the last tire I used.

[MUSKOKA800]

I voted Exclaim UHP as they are highly rated and a great value. HOWEVER, they are now phased out. General has a new model to replace them. Sorry, can`t recall the name of the new model but can tell you that they are said to be an improvement which means they should be excellent. Likely not much data on them yet though.

[HTM Yaris]

Star specs . They will have better grip than the other tires you mentioned . I have no problems in the rain . In fact , the Star Specs are almost as good as the Advan AO46D in the rain . The down side is that they are noisy . Think monster mudder truck My personal temp. threshold for the Star Specs is 45 degrees . When the temp dips below 45 , I put on my stock Goodyears .

Hope this helps .....

[thepartsmancometh]

we have general exclaim UHP's (205/40r17) on the summer wheels. been pretty happy with them. I always say Continental isn't necessarily the best, but they are a good bang for the buck!

[AppleJacks716]

DZ101. The star spec is great but more of a track tire because of how soft the rubber is.

[minicorolla]

I just got a set of Hankook Optimo 726 Nice ride, great in the rain and highly rated.

[minicorolla]

Sorry, I missed the part about summer tires, they're all season.

[why?]

Originally Posted by TOUGEghost

Voted Star Specs before I read the post, but BFG KDW2's would be my choice if there is lots of wet weather driving involved. Those are what I have on my car right now. My drive to work involves a steep and twisty mountain road and it's been pretty rainy lately. These tires have outstanding dry traction, and wet traction feels almost the same as when it's dry; a slight drag from the water is the only difference I feel. So far they have also lasted twice as long as the last tire I used.

I'd second this.

[skootdog]

Like Kimona said The ENVigors would be a nice consideration. Rated for 149Mph and you get 5yr/60000 warranty. Thats what I put on my car and they ride and handle nice. We get our fair share of water in the bayou as well ( alot of low areas ) and its always hot.