What next (after Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3)?

[latzke]

The Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 reigned for years as the king of tires for the NSX (based on my perception of NSX Prime recommendations). I was going to recommend these to a friend who daily drives his 91 NSX (along with upgrade to 1994-2001 wheels). Unfortunately I found these are no longer available in the sizes folks were recommending for OEM rims (same as OEM for 2002+, 205/45-16 and 245/40-17 for 1994-2001...especially the latter).

Nominations for a tire to assume the throne? (Tire as good as OEM in dry, or better; better in wet; better treadlife; etc)

Thanks.

(I used the search, found a couple partly-relevant threads with not much useful info.)

 

[Osiris_x11]

max' performance summer tire...

(I used the search, found a couple partly-relevant threads with not much useful info.)

These might offer some insight:

"Bridgestone or nothing! "

"Suggestions..."

nsxtasy's words...

Long-story-short: in the max' performance summer tire category, the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position has been a great alternative to the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 for me. I have the OEM 17/17 size in an after-market wheel setup, but 16/17 sizes are also available.

Other viable options extreme performance summer tires which are (generally speaking) less expensive, better gripping, similar wet-traction, and more aggressive tread-wear. These include Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec, Kumho Ecsta XS, Falken Azenis RT-615, etc'. . .

... my 2-pence!

 

[CL65 Captain]

Goodyear F1 GS3s pushed to their limits.... they sucked. Hear the squealing? They yaw bad because of the soft sidewall and then set, not so great for the track. They were good street tires, but there are better, cheaper tires. Spun it at the end of the video. I hated tracking the car with these tires.

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Dunlop Z1 Star Specs - LOVE THEM!!!! Almost as good as R comps, but without the wear or tread noise. Hands down beat the crap out of the Goodyears. Good tire in the rain too. The Falken 615s were good also, but so-so in the rain. Kuhmo XS I haven't tried but have heard they they are down right scary in the wet.

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[goldNSX]

Well, if you go with a street tire on the track...
They're great for the street with being on par with the RE050A. For a street tire they don't have soft sidewalls, it's a tad softer than the very stiff RE050A.
In Europe we have the Asymmetric model also but the GSD-3 is still available. One good alternative for the street would be Hankook Evo V12.

 

[DocL]

Dunlop Z1 Star Specs - LOVE THEM!!!!

+1. Even though I haven't tracked with them, their dry grip is fantastic and the wet traction is awesome in the Florida torrential rains.

 

[latzke]

Well, if you go with a street tire on the track...

...you take this thread off topic.

 

[EK@ASU]

Bridgestone RE-11's anyone? I'm going to be installing some in a couple weeks on my Integra right before a track day. These are a good competitor for the Dunlops and Falkens. I think the downside is that they are more expensive then the Dunlops but they are supposedly very easy to live with every day, not that the dunlops aren't. Just another option though.

 

[nsxtasy]

in the max' performance summer tire category, the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position has been a great alternative to the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 for me. I have the OEM 17/17 size in an after-market wheel setup, but 16/17 sizes are also available.

Nope. In the RE050A PP, Bridgestone doesn't make a 16" size that works on the NSX front. Neither does anyone else; for 16"/17" wheels, the "maximum performance summer tire" category doesn't really offer anything. So you can get a stickier "extreme performance summer tire", with its shorter treadlife (and sometimes high price; see below), or you can get an "ultra high performance summer tire", whose performance is a significant step down from the max performance tires. The OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE010 is still available in the stock '94-01 sizes, too, so that's still a viable option too.

For the extreme performance summer tires, check out:

Kumho Ecsta XS 215/45-16 $94 255/40-17 $140
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 205/45-16 $156 245/40-17 $211
Toyo Proxes R1R 205/45-16 $128 245/40-17 $166

For the ultra high performance summer tires, you ought to look at one of these:

Fuzion ZRi 205/45-16 $88 245/40-17 $103
Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport 205/45-16 $100 245/40-17 $143
Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 205/45-16 $142 245/40-17 $186

Other viable options extreme performance summer tires which are (generally speaking) less expensive, better gripping, similar wet-traction, and more aggressive tread-wear. These include Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec, Kumho Ecsta XS, Falken Azenis RT-615, etc'. . .

While the tires you mention are less expensive, other tires in that category (Bridgestone RE-11, Yokohama Advan Neova AD08, and Toyo Proxes R1R) are significantly more expensive, comparable in price to the max performance summer tires that aren't available.

The Star Spec is not available in a 16" size for the NSX front. And at this point all of those competitors are superior to the Azenis in grip as well as treadlife.

Bridgestone RE-11's anyone? I'm going to be installing some in a couple weeks on my Integra right before a track day. These are a good competitor for the Dunlops and Falkens. I think the downside is that they are more expensive then the Dunlops but they are supposedly very easy to live with every day, not that the dunlops aren't. Just another option though.

The RE-11 is a very good tire, but as you aptly note, it's a bit pricy. The Tire Rack recently did a side-by-side comparison test and found that the RE-11, XS, AD08, and Star Spec perform very similarly on dry pavement; on wet pavement, the XS is a bit worse than the other three. All four of these, as well as the R1R, are better than the Azenis. But the Star Spec and AD08 don't come in a 16" front size.

I'm pretty sure the above information also applies to 15"/16" sizes (IOW no "max performance summer tires").

In 17"/17" fitments, Continental makes two "max performance summer tires" in the stock '02-05 sizes, the ContiSportContact 3 ($162/$197) and the ExtremeContact DW ($116/$154), and in "extreme performance summer tires", the Star Spec and AD08 are both available in those sizes. For those running 17"/18" wheels, all of these four except the ExtremeContact DW are also available in 215/40-17 and 265/35-18.