Kica

I recently wore down the stock Yokohama Advan A046 tires on my 2003 EVO. I tried to save a buck and bought the Federal 595. What a difference! I cannot believe how well the A046s perform. They are truly a performance car tire. Don’t get me wrong, the 595s are good for the price. They are cut out for something like a stock Altima that already has sloppy suspension. So they would probably be considered an upgrade. For the EVO though, you will really really feel the difference.
That being said, I see a lot of opinions on the forums about different tires out there. People speak highly of the Falken Azenis, Hankook R-S2, Toyos, Kuhmo, etc. Nobody really compares them to the stock Yokohamas which is what a lot of us have experienced.

The only, online, test I know of is the Car and Driver one where they compare 11 tires. There I saw the Hankook R-S2 excel.

Obviously I am looking for a tire that is less expensive than the A046. If money was not an issue I would just get another set of the A046s. I live in Southern California and drive a lot. I am not able to spend over a grand every 6-7 months on a tire that lasts, from what I hear, 10 to 15 thousand miles at the most. Using the A046 as a benchmark, what tire would you recommend? The criteria being: a summer tire (there is no snow and negligible rain in So. Cal), handling, treadwear and price. Grip is important but that implies a treadwear of sub 180 and that means tires every 6-7 months. What out there is unnoticeably worse, just as good as or even better than the Yokohama Advan A046?

value

iTrader: (1)

Check out the Yokohama Neova

rcheung

iTrader: (15)

I use goodyear eable f1 ds3 and they handle really well. I've used them for about 2 springs and summers and it didn't seem like the tread wore at all.

Lancer EVO IX

iTrader: (7)

off topic: i noticed you're from torrance, come out to our mini meets on wednesday, pm me for more info.

I have some BFG KDW's and they are very good tires for the money. They are comparable to the Advan A046's, but not in the exact same league. For 255/35/18's I paid $177 per tire, so if you still have your stock rims I'm sure it would be a little bit cheaper.

feldguy

iTrader: (4)

the only tire ive found that holds up to the advan is the neova, a048 (r compound) , toyor ra-1....etc. the a046 is the single grippiest non r-compound tire ive ever seen.

ohio-evo

I used the kumho MX's on my 03 and they seemed to be very good. I did not race on them but they seemed to be very close to the advans. I have also heard the kdw's are very good both are considerably less expensive than the stockers

SuperHatch

iTrader: (23)

This is an excellent question, I'm suprised no one has asked this before....

naucrx

iTrader: (19)

Unfortunately there's an offset between grip and treadwear. Generally if you want a tire to last longer it's going to grip less than a tire that lasts less and grips better. That being said, for a set of tires for someone who drives a lot (20k+ miles a year?) you might want to consider these: *treadwear rating in ()

BFG g-Force T/A KDW2 (300) -not available in stock size 235/45/17
Bridgestone Potenza RE750 (340)
Toyo Proxes T1R (280)

For more grip and less treadwear:

Falken Azenis RT615 (200)

value

iTrader: (1)

Might also watch out for the new bridgestone RE-1, I think it's called? Coming out soon.

Kica

Treadwear of 200-220 is sufficient just as long as the sidewall is just as stiff as the Advan A046. What tire has the steering response of the A046?

Cirrusly Evolvd

iTrader: (44)

I too have the Federal SS595's. The good thing about them is that they have predictable limits and you know when they are going to break loose on ya. But they certainly lack in the grip dept. compared to the stock Advans.

Anywho, SCC have stuck by the Toyo RA-1's and now have great things to say about the Falken Azenis RT615. They just recently published a tire review and there are quite a few offerings out now that perform pretty darn close to R compound but are still streetable.

Race Centric 1

Kumho MX looks like a good tire - check out the test results on tire rack.

upstateEVO

iTrader: (1)

I am also replacing tires soon and I have the same criteria as you.

I'd like to get more mileage out of a set of tires and give up as little performance as possible.

I have been researching for a couple months and I have found many people like the Michelin PS2, it has close to the same perfomance but better tread life.

To gain treadwear you will have to sacrifice ultimate grip by using a harder compound.

Check out the reviews on tirerack.com. Many evo owners have switched and have been very happy with them

The PS2 is also a favorite on socalevo.net... i'm pretty sure I'm going with the PS2.

good luck!

Greg K

iTrader: (2)

PS2's are great tires, but they do give up some grip on the A046's. I have 10k mile on my PS2's and they still have at least 50% life left. They have a softer sidewall and you can feel them "roll over" a bit in really hard cornering, but I can't complain. I upped my pressures to 39F-36R and have had nothing but good times.

AtticusDemon

I was in this dilema a few months ago and I ended up going with the goodyea eagle f1's. I took them out on the track and in the begining they were pretty slippery. After a few laps though my times were almost the same as when I had the advans on. So either my driving got better (I'm still new to road racing) or the f1's are a pretty good tire. You decide.

Had them on for about 10k miles now and they still have a good amout of tread on them.