Hi Fellow DCMMers !

Wensleydale is in need of some new shoes. Going on Hypnohealer's advice I am looking at the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's. But they do not make them in the stock 205/45/17 size. They are available in 215/45/R17 and 205/40/R17.

I have the stock S-lites and stock suspension, my question is does anyone have experience with these ? how do the 215/45/R17's fit ? Do they rub ? I really don't want to do any sheetmetal mods or add spacers.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Look into the Dunlop Direzza..I loved them.. they stick so well to the road.. the mechanic at TATE after driving my car recommended the tires to a couple of people... Mr. Falcon used them for a few days under his MINI a couplkeof months ago.

of course... I am very partial to Dunlop..which in the 17" dominates the market

 

The 215/45/17 size is fine, but is slightly larger in diameter and will make your speedo and mpg slightly off. But, it isn't that noticeable. You will not have any rubbing issues unless your car is lowered significantly, and since you are on stock S-lites, probably won't rub at all.

I personally love the Eagle F1 GS-D3's. They are great tires for spirited street driving and very good in the rain. I would recommend them for everyday use, but I don't think they are suited for snow. I have used them to auto-x and for track, and they are 'ok', but I would recommend something else for track days.

Having said that, I've been dying to try the Dunlop Direzza Star Specs Z1's. They are supposed to be superb in dry handling and also very good in rain, but maybe not as good in rain as the Eagles. Many autoxers have said the Dunlop Direzzas are as good as the Bridgestone RE-01R's if not slightly better. They are also more affordable than the Goodyears.

Hope that helps a little.

 

Any idea of treadwear ? I saw some folks saying the F1's wear out real quick, I got 30,000 on the RS-A runflats, I'm not a track person like you guys, just everday fun and our weekend sorties. What I'm looking for is a dry season tire (I'll drive the van in the snow) that offers similar performance to the GS-A but in a non run flat and less $$$$ (easy to do when you don't get the RS-A at $300 per !)

I really appreciate the help !

Mike

 

Nuts, looking at tire racks treadwear rating the F1's fair better than the RS-A so that's good !

Sorry for my timidness, this is quite a bit of $$$ for us right now so I want to make sure I get the right thing. I do want performance, just not a 10,000 mile super duper racer tire.

Thanks again

 

Check on Toyo Proxes T1-R. I had a good experience with the tire and it last me 30k + miles. http://www.treadepot.com/group/prt1r.html

Best price around at Radial Tires in Silver Spring, Md.

 

Toyo Proxes are also good, however, if you autocross and/or track with them on a regular basis be ready to quick wear. My GP at less then 10K (almost there..) is at her 2nd set - going for the third... I hope I can finish the autox season with this set

 

Mike, I have 215-45-17 Kumho SPT's on mine. Good price from the Tire-

Rack, will last up to 25,000 miles before getting very noisy and loosing

it's bite. I'm on my second set now and will be getting a third set when

these go bad. The only rubbing issue I have is if I hit a low spot in the

road at speed, but it's a minor rub no big deal.

 

Goodyear F1's are not 10,000 mile super duper racer tires. I have them. Hypnohealer has them. MMatarella has them. If you are willing to go to 215/40/17 size, then they are only $76/tire with a $50 rebate on them, now at Tirerack.

I just double checked and honestly, I don't understand how the F1 GS-D3's can be $157/tire in 215/45/17 and only $76/tire in 215/40/17! That's nuts!

 

Ah wait...that size is on backorder...you may want to talk to Alex at Tirerack to see how long the wait is. For that price it may be worth waiting for....

 

I think that the cheapies are made in China.

 

I'm very pleased with my GS-D3s. I have 16 inch wheels. The transition from dry to wet is what I like the best. . . nothing sudden at all. They are completely useless in the snow. Since I run snow tires in the winter, not an issue for me. If you think you can nurse these through a winter, forget it unless you plan to take public transit.

 

I tend to be a Bridgestone buyer and the last set I bought were the Potenza GO19 Grid. They are $100 a piece and have a 50,000 mile warranty. At the track they held up great and the traction was excellent. In the rain I have had no issues and overall ride sure beats my run flats.

They are classified as a high performance all-season tire.

Just my 2 cents

Thanks Brian

 

Thanks for all the info guys/girls ! I guess I have some headscratching to do.

PlayPlay - I don't get the price difference either unless the 215/40/17 is on more cars ?

In the old days it was simple, just throw some tires on the car and go, all based on price....not so with Wensley !

 

Did anyone ask Alex about these? I don't want to bother him if someone else asked.

I think these may have been on backorder for a long, long time but I could be mistaken.

Did some math on the size diff. Appears to be within 3% of stock, which I think is usually considered close enough?

Stock

195 55 16 is diameter of 24.445 circum of 76.796
or
205 45 17 is diameter of 24.264 circum of 76.228
---------------------------------------------------
I'm running the $157
215 45 17 diameter of 24.618 circum of 77.340 which is + .7% and + 1.5% of the stock sizes...

The 40 profile at $76
215 40 17 diameter of 23.772 circum of 74.682 looks like -2.8% and - 2.0%

The 45 and 40 profile are both Y rated (186mph) but the 45 is load rated 91 (1356LBs) while the 40 is load rated 83 (1074Lbs.)

Oh, and I read somewhere several months ago that all F1 GS-D3's were to be made in China now...

 

Mark, thanks for the info, I'm thinking that going with the 215/45/17 will get my speedo closer being accurate ( 3mph fast right now ) the 40's would look funny on my unlowered suspension too like Maxicooper's autoX setup ! I prefer Maxi with the larger wheels

I think I'm gonna do the Goodyears, can I get some advice on a good place to get them mounted and balanced ? Hypno ?

 

I've had good luck with the local NTB, others at other NTB's have not been as happy... But I'm down in Alex... Might be worth checking what Mach V and Behe charge if they do them. I"d imagine they're more careful.

 

Almost overwhelming, isn't it? Amongst the top contenders mentioned here, there probably isn't a bad choice to be had. I'm still getting used to the Goodyears (about 250 miles so far) so it's too soon to tell, but so far I like them. The ride isn't noticeably softer than the OEM runflats (also Goodyears) and the turn in is every bit as crisp. Seems to be more potential for generating Gs in the turns, so things look promising.

Jeff (E30R56) works for a Goodyear dealer in Bowie, and I think he has very competitive prices for the installation. This time I went to Chesapeake Imports off Chinquapin Round Rd in Annapolis (was there for something else already). Been going there for almost a decade and have always gotten excellent service, a fair deal (not cheap by any means) and I know that their work is going to be right the first time. It helps that one of the owners was a customer of mine when I was in the BMW bike business. Their number is 410 267-8411. Don't look for a fancy website. They've got all the business they can handle from word of mouth. They're not MINI specialists and don't have a lot of experience with our cars yet, but if you've got something else imported this is a good place to consider for service.

These guys just upgraded their computer software for me so it could talk to my R56 to read and clear the codes that were generated by the dyno run a few weeks ago (mostly ABS and traction control related). Fascinating to watch it scan every circuit in the car (looked like hundreds) and report what passed and what didn't. Next step was to tell it to clear and Shazzam! Done.

 

The F1's difference in ride was most noticeable to me on expansion strips and other sudden harsh hits, more so than in general ride. BUT, I changed to 16.7 LB wheels at the same time I did the F1's so part of that improvement is no doubt due to less unsprung weight.

For me it took until our class at Summitt Point till I learned just how much I could do. I'd never have tried looking that far for a limit on the road.

 

Thanks guys, I'll get the rubber ordered here in the next day and go from there, 100% on the Goodyears. I was really pleased with the RS-A run flats for overall performance, yeah the ride is noisy and a bit harsh but then so is my dad's old dart kart that we ran as kids (Its my brother's now)

Looks alot like this one:

 

I'd check with Radial Tire on Brookville Rd across from the Walter Reed Annex. It's convenient for us Silver Springers and they are top notch. I've had every tire-related job in the last 5 years for all my cars done there. Paul, the owner, is a good guy and "gets it" when it comes to treating customers who may be, shall we say, a little enthusiastic about their cars. I have always done my research for tires online and then called them to get a price, and they have always matched the price I found. Plus lifetime rotation and balancing. Fair warning -- they are always busy (as quality shops usually are) so plan for a few hours. Typical weekend line up starts an hour before opening, not sure about weekdays. Give them a call at the very least.

 

Thanks Wiley, I've been a fairly loyal customer to Paul for quite some time, really since I quit old NTW back when I was 18-19, about 20 years, but its a bit inconvienent for me now. I'm on hold for the treads right now, work is a bit haywire and I hate to get tires in and not be able to get em' mounted.

 

My money departed my wallet and I got the F1 GS-D3's and had Chesapeake Imports install them. Wow ! The ride is much smoother than with the runflats ! and much quieter at low speeds, can't wait to get some break-in miles on them so I can flex 'em a bit

Thanks for all the help guys ! It was a difficult decision to make