Dunlop SP 8050?

[SoCal-NSX]

Ok, so after reading through dozens of pages of everyone's opinions on various tires, I decided the 8050's were exactly what I needed right now - my stock yokes are dusted in the back and I just got the car, and want a wet/semi-performanace right now until I can get it to a track.

I called around and everyone says Dunlop HAS discontinued. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Thanks very much,
Dave

 

[nsxtasy]

Such stories about the SP8050 have circulated in the past few years; even when they hadn't been discontinued, they were hard to get.

Why not get another set of Yokohama A022H or the Bridgestone RE010? Performance of all three of these OEM tires should be very similar.

 

[ScienceofSpeed]

While I don't know how similar the 8050 and 8000 are, I have found the 8000 to be a very very poor tire with out dated technology. Check out a more modern tire with better performance, wet and dry, such as Toyo T1-S or even Dunlop SP9000 (never liked those Dunlops very much though either).

-- C

------------------

 

[nsxtasy]

The only similarity between the 8000 and the 8050 is that the numbers are similar. Dunlop makes several tires that are designed with the needs of a specific automobile in mind. The 8050 was designed for the NSX, just like the A022H and the RE010. I believe Dunlop also designed a tire (the SP8040, I believe) for the BMW M Coupe.

 

[mandrewz]

I really like the Toyo T1S- for the first
5,000 miles. They were great at first but
now are very loud, 'squirmy', and the side
walls have developed lots of small cracks.
And for some reason they are always brown.
They are used on a commute car-no track time,
too much traffic to have too much fun. I will
try S-03, or pilot sport next.

 

[SoCal-NSX]

******
Oops...somehow I missed FG's review of the RE010's. I guess I'll wait to see if the dealer can find Dunlops. If not, the RE's sound good.
******


The Yoko's wear faster than I want and don't perform well in the wet. My guess is that they are better tires than I know how to drive them until I hit a track a few months from now.

Tirerack called Dunlop and they said Dunlop said the 9000's are the replacements. Whether this is true, I don't know since I wasn't on the phone when he called.

I have a Big O Tires I trust in the area calling Dunlop and double checking this.

If the 8050's aren't available either then I'll consider the Bridgestone but I didn't see anyone review them here:
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/TireWheel/tiretech.htm

nor here
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/TireWheel/tirereviews.htm

Can anyone vouch for them? How good are they in the Wet? How is the wear on the rears?

Thanks all,
Dave

[This message has been edited by SoCal-NSX (edited 27 December 2001).]

 

[Poloman]

I am a true fan of the Toyo Proxies (T-1 S's) Drive these puppies hard and still get 11-13k out of the rears!!!!

265x35x18

Only problem though, they're expensive.

Around $320.00 a tire!!!

 

[nsxtasy]

The SP9000 is NOT a replacement for the SP8050. Like the Yokos and the RE010's, the SP8050 is an OEM-spec tire. These tires are designed to work specifically on the NSX, at specific corners (they make a "left front" tire, etc). As a result, your NSX will handle like it is on rails. Wet performance on any of these tires is actually very good... UNTIL they start getting worn down close to the treadwear indicator bars, at which point it's not good.

The SP9000 is Dunlop's generic high-performance tire, made in lots of different sizes for lots of different cars. It is very good in rain and lasts a long time. But it does NOT handle as well as the OEM tires, so braking, acceleration, and cornering are compromised.

I happen to think it is foolish to spend a lot of money on a high-performance car like an NSX, only to compromise that performance in order to save a few bucks on tires. It would make a lot more sense to save money by buying a less-expensive, less-capable car in the first place.

 

[SoCal-NSX]

Aaaaah. Maybe that's the part I was missing. Since I bought the car a month ago with 20% or so left on the rears, it's 'always' handled poorly in the rain. But it does handle - awesome - when it's dry so I would like to do the Yokes again. I'm not looking to save any money but I do want to keep it between the yellow lines when it's raining

Years ago I had an Integra with AVS Intermediate on them which were horrible in the rain except when you first got them so part of my assumptions were based on that.

So all things being equal, maybe I should just get the A022's again and call it good.

Dave

 

[nsxtasy]

I really like the A022's. And they're not as expensive as some other tires, either.

 

[SoCal-NSX]

Do you think the A022's wear the same as Dunlop? One of the posts said the 8050's wore slower.

The poster's agree with your opinion of the 8000's and 9000's short of the 8050's. One said they ride like marshmallows - I think that's bad, right? ;-)

Dave

 

[Hrant]

Originally posted by SoCal-NSX:
Do you think the A022's wear the same as Dunlop? One of the posts said the 8050's wore slower.

..........

Dave

Here is a first hand advice for you. My first OEM set of Yoko A022 lasted barely 6000 miles on the rears and about 7000 miles on the front at 40/33 psi respectively (as recommended)with several track events.

After an alignment on the second set the car was off alignment on the front), the rears lasted 9000 miles at 38 psi and several track events; the fronts are going still strong with about 50-60% tread left at 31 psi.

Moral of the story, every 2 psi will add about 3000 miles on your rear A022 from a 40 psi starting point, but I would not go below 36 psi; 12,000 miles on the rear Yokos is pretty good especially if you track the car! And for the fronts, make sure you have an alignment after you put new tires, and expect about 15K -18K miles.

HTH

 

[steveny]

Originally posted by nsxtasy:
The SP9000 is NOT a replacement for the SP8050. Like the Yokos and the RE010's, the SP8050 is an OEM-spec tire. These tires are designed to work specifically on the NSX, at specific corners (they make a "left front" tire, etc). As a result, your NSX will handle like it is on rails. Wet performance on any of these tires is actually very good... UNTIL they start getting worn down close to the treadwear indicator bars, at which point it's not good.

The SP9000 is Dunlop's generic high-performance tire, made in lots of different sizes for lots of different cars. It is very good in rain and lasts a long time. But it does NOT handle as well as the OEM tires, so braking, acceleration, and cornering are compromised.

I happen to think it is foolish to spend a lot of money on a high-performance car like an NSX, only to compromise that performance in order to save a few bucks on tires. It would make a lot more sense to save money by buying a less-expensive, less-capable car in the first place.

I wish the salesman had been honest with me and told me the 9000s were not the replacements for the 8050. I now have a brand new set of junk 9000 tires on my NSX. My advice is: anyone looking for tires DO NOT BUY THE SP 9000 tires. They are JUNK. I would have had more fun burning the money I spent on them!!!

 

[SoCal-NSX]

HTH: should I have it aligned even after just rear tires are changed? Is that a 2 wheel or 4 wheel alignment?

News to me, either way.

Thanks VERY much,
Dave

 

[Hrant]

Originally posted by SoCal-NSX:
HTH: should I have it aligned even after just rear tires are changed? Is that a 2 wheel or 4 wheel alignment?

News to me, either way.

Thanks VERY much,
Dave

Well Dave, if you are replacing only the rears, and you are happy with the handling and tire wear is even or mostly at the center of the rear (a function of the psi), you don't need an alignment. On the other hand, I would not recommend using two different sets of tires on the front and back even if they are made by the same manufacturer, and even if you are only driving in the street .... so if you are going to put 4 new tires, definitely recommend all 4 wheel alignment. If you don't remember when the last time you had all 4 wheel aligned, I say it is time ...!

Our local Big O Tire Company in Sacramento does all 4 wheels (Hunter model with laser) for $49 as a discount to NSXCA members ......

Hrant

 

[SoCal-NSX]

Thanks HTH. I just bought the car and the A022's were on it so I don't know when the last alignment was done. Unless someone can tell me the SP 8050's are better and availabel, I'll probably get more A022's and not do the alignmment since it doesn't pull at all.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Lud]

I would recommend running through a set of OEM tires before you start exploring other brands. That way you will have a baseline for future comparisons, or you can decide what you do not like about the OEM tires if you want to go looking for something else.

I would also really recommend getting the car aligned if you do not know when it was last done. The car not pulling is no indication the alignment is in spec. Again this will give you a known-accurate baseline on how the car should feel with stock alignment and tires, and it can also save you a bunch of money on tires if the alignment is off and causing the tires to wear too quickly.

 

[SoCal-NSX]

Good call Lud. I'm waiting for Big O to check with Dunlop HQ (snowed in) but they have a set of A022's I'll probably just go with anyway. Good idea on the alignment and baseline idea. I reduced the pressure based one some posters recommendations to F31/R38 and will keep everything else as 'stock' as possible until I get used to it.
Dave

 

[alexander]

Originally posted by nsxtasy:
The only similarity between the 8000 and the 8050 is that the numbers are similar. Dunlop makes several tires that are designed with the needs of a specific automobile in mind. The 8050 was designed for the NSX, just like the A022H and the RE010. I believe Dunlop also designed a tire (the SP8040, I believe) for the BMW M Coupe.

ok so the A022 was designed for the NSX, but that was 12 years ago! Surely tire technology has moved on since then. Are we not making comprimises by sticking to an old tire instead of exploring a modern alternative. Is there no modern tire which is similar to the A022?

 

[nsxtasy]

Tire technology advances over the years - but the advances don't compensate for the advantage the tire manufacturer has when they can design a tire knowing exactly which car, and which corner of the car, it will be mounted on. This enabled them to use techniques like biasing the tire plies for a specific corner, and using different compounds front vs rear, as described in the "Tire Tech" section of the FAQ. As a result, there is no other street tire made today that offers handling and cornering feel as precise as the OEM NSX tires which were optimized for this characteristic.

[This message has been edited by nsxtasy (edited 29 December 2001).]

 

[Lud]

Originally posted by alexander:
Are we not making comprimises by sticking to an old tire instead of exploring a modern alternative. Is there no modern tire which is similar to the A022?

ANY tire is a compromise of some type. Yes, you are making certain compromises with the OEM tires. You can trade those for other compromises with other tires.

 

[nsxtasy]

Good point, Lud.

The other point is that as new tires are designed - particularly tires that will be used on many different vehicles - the design objectives involve a set of compromises. For example, when Dunlop designed their current all-purpose highest-performance tire, the SP9000, the compromise they were looking for was a tire that would last longer and give great rain performance, rather than the best-handling tire. Other brands may have been looking for other compromises among multiple objectives, such as long life, great handling, dry traction, wet traction, moderate road noise, and moderate cost.

The OEM tires offer outstanding handling, great dry traction, wet traction that is very good with lots of tread but not so good as the tread wears, and moderate cost, but relatively short life. If your personal objectives are different, you may be better off choosing a tire whose characteristics conform better with your needs.