My Car: Evo IX SE w/ light mods
Purpose: Street, occasional AutoX(1-2 times a year), and hopefully HPDE some day.
NOTE: I do have Blizzaks for winter setup, so I have some other rubber to share the wear.

According to my last service receipt, 3 of 4 of my stock Advans are down to 3/32 or less and one at 4/32.
Furthermore, my rear brake linings measured 2mm, also being described as immediate replace. My front linings measured over 5mm.

So it seems I need 4 new summer tires and a set of rear brake pads.

Currently I was considering Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec 245/45ZR17
I've read good things about these tires and the price is a lot easier to swallow than Advans. I'd love to hear input from people about this choice? What difference will I notice from stock? How hard are the sidewalls, will the steering response worsen? How does the Wet/Dry grip compare? Are there other tires I should consider? Bumping size from the 235, is that wise or not?

The part I know the least about is brake pads. My last vehicle had drums and I pretty much just let them all wear till they squealed unbearably and got whatever my mechanic said was a good deal. On the Evo I found the factory brakes/pads to be quite good. Never let me down. Anything as good or better will satisfy me. Lower dust would be nice, but not necessary.

Pads that caught my attention:
Satisfied GranSport GS5
Ferodo DS2500
Where can I get the best prices on these?

Newbie question: Is it bad to run different front/rear pad combination? Am I committed to replace all four if I want to run non-oem?

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ct-thread.html

 

Thanks. But this is the thread that lead me to list the above break pads. I was hoping for more detailed information on the two. Also, what of my Newbie question about mixed pads front and rear?

Any comment on the tire questions I posed above?

 

You'll find lots of reviews on these, but here's my take compared to the stock Advans: Grip in both dry and wet is up noticeably. I find the Star Spec provides more feedback and is easier to drive quickly. I'm running 245/40/17 and even with the shorter sidewall, the steering response is slightly slower than the Advans. The Advans were a bit sharper. I would not describe the Star Specs as sluggish though, and I still prefer the feel of the Star Specs. The Star Specs are also loud during normal driving, but I didn't buy them to be quiet. Overall, I couldn't be happier with the tire, particularly in terms of value.

 

Well, then in that thread you'll have saw - need at least 2 set of front pads for DD/AX or HPDEs. And you can run 2 brands of pads as long as their properties are close (bite or r).

So all the pads you listed are DD/AX pads - not HPDE ready.

GS5 and the 2500s are very similar in terms of feel. GS5s are a little cheaper. Also check out the Axxis ULTs. I ran those for rear pads (DD/AX/HPDE) and GS5s front (DD/AX) and HT10 (HPDE).

Tire - this has been discussed inside and out. I ran 245/45/17 Z1 and Z1*s on my Evo to a handful of AX wins and very fun track days.

 

A 245/40-17 would fit a bit better and is more common that the 45 series. The Z1 is a home run tire and tons of EVO owners are using them. Great multipurpose tire that out performs those much more expensive than it. If you didn't want to try those the only other tire I'd recommend is the Kumho XS.

I can't comment on the Ferodo as we do not carry them. However they were OE on my G35 and I felt they performed average. The GS5 work well for aggressive street use and a local auto-x event. Wouldn't use them road race applications though.

 

these tires are just great, especially if counting for value for money. Currently ran approximately 7k miles on them and feel pretty happy. Driving include DD as well as amateur racing events and track day. The only drawback is noise (as compared to some other less sporty tires), as it was mentioned above (however, it's not any kind of problem for me). Only thing is that i'd not stick to 245/45 size as in this case the sidewall will be taller and this can have significant adverse effect of the steering feel. Personally i prefer smth not significantly taller than stock. As for the questions you outlined - sidewall are quite stiff (np here), wet grip is good for sporty tires. All round, I can see no competitors for their price, in case price is not that significant, of course, you should consider AD08.

factory pads on the Evo are nothing if compared to Ferodo or other well-known pads. My second set of OEM pads died and poured after track day due to high temperature. DS2500 are well known performance pads for Evo and work well for most not too much raced applications. Only significant drawback is that those are noisy in most cases. Prices can be found in the marketplace here.

np at all, pads can be different as long as they are of more or less same performance category. I personally been driving some time with different F/R pads and got no issues with that.

 

Thanks for all of your responses. I know that it is a bit of a covered question here, so I appreciate the input.

I'm quite sold on the Dunlops. 245/40 or 245/45 seems to be the next question. 45 is the stock height, dropping to 40 has a slight drive ratio change correct(higher?)? And going 40 will give me better sidewall stiffness, but also a little less rubber between my BBS rims and potholes?

Chances are that I'm not going to do an HPDE any time soon are fairly low, and if I can afford to enter I'll probably dedicate to new pads and fluid for the occasion.

Neal: Tirerack doesn't list GranSport GS5's for the rear for Evo IX. Out of stock, or not made?

 

I show we carry the part # but not sure why not showing online. Price is $54 + shipping.

 

sidewall height is a percentage of the tires width. Hence on the stock size you have sidewall height being 235*0.45/254=0.416inches, for 245/45/17 it will be 245*0.45/254=0.434inches and for 245/40/17 it will be 245*0.4/254=0.386inches. Hence, 245/45/17 will be slightly thicker than stock size and 245/40/17 will be a bit thinner. The choice is yours, but I personally would not go with sidewall higher than stock. Anyway, the difference between those three is very insignificant (<1% of the total height from the land to the wheel hub) and you should choose the one that you believe will be better for you.

 

Everything I hear, Direzza is the best. I would really consider Racing Brake ET800's as well. I had very good luck with them and purchased from MAPerformance.com along with ATE Super Blue.
Dan

 

The OP's purpose for the pads are "street, occasional AutoX(1-2 times a year), and hopefully HPDE some day". Would you recommend ET800 for the street driving? I'm also in the market for pads for street and occasional HPDE. ET500 and ET700 are among my choices. I know I should be using different pads for street and track...but, oh well.

 

I have had the exact experiences with the Dunlops vs the stock Advans. 245/40/17 is the best size for the stock setup. Only problem I see with going to a smaller diameter tire is that it's not going to match your spare tire anymore by .6" (according to TireRack numbers). So worst case, if you need to put that spare on, don't drive far distances. The performance vs cost is too great to pass these tires up.

As for pads, I agree with SmikeEvo. Driving a street pad on an HPDE course is going to cut your day short. I ran an street/autocross pad on a very small road course one time, cooked my fluids, made my pedal mushy, and my pads fade...that was after 10 min of racing where top speeds might have been 75mph. I've never done an HPDE course, but aren't you racing on the track for a couple hours? Get a dedicated, high temperature track pad if you decide to race any kind of road courses.

If it's mainly DD with a couple autocrosses, then I think RacingBrake's ET500 is a great choice, which is what I currently run. It's slightly grippier than the ones in its class (comparing to stock and Hawk HPS only), but wear considerably slower with less dust and noise.

 

As a bonus, I can't seem to overheat the Z1* during autocross use. They seem to relish autocross levels of heat. FWIW, I'd go with the shorter, stiffer sidewall (245/40/17), it also gives you slightly better gearing for autocross. Note: your speedometer will read ~2.5% higher than actual speed.

Here's a link to a great wheel/tire size calculator: Here

 

Other way around, shorter tire, less gearing to use. Its why I ran a larger series (245/45) to stretch out 2nd more for AX.