As any one who has read my thread knows I am new to the MINI performance thing. I am having a great time and almost can'y get enough. That said I know very little about High performance tires. I am looking at:

Goodyear Eagle F1s
Toyo TS1s
Bridgestone S03s

I drive aggresively/spirited and really like performance but ride quality and noise are important as well.

Thanks in advance

 

I've owned S03's and T1S's on previous cars. Both are great tires. If money is no object I'd go with the S03's. It's been my experience that all max performance tires get noisy after a while. It's the nature of the tread patterns and compounds. Generally the larger the tread blocks the louder the tire will be. Check with Alex from the Tire Rack (moderator of this forum). He can hook you up with a tire that will meet your needs.

 

Hey there Spider,

I don't know tons about tires and I'm new to the performance thing too.

I bought a set of OZ Superleggera Wheels on E-bay because I liked the look of them. They just happened to come with S03s. Let me say this. The performance difference between the S03's and the stock runflats was eye-opening to say the least! I love them and can't wait until spring when I get to put them back on!

John

PS I put some Falken Azinis on my old 5 spoke star wheels. Wow!

 

John,

Yes the Azenis are very sticky "street" tires. I use them on the track a lot. Plus they're relatively cheap. Not the best tire for a daily driver though.

 

The new Azenis 610's might prove better for the street... Guess we'll see when they start shipping this spring.

Actually, the current Azenis are great street tires, but they're a handful in the rain - fine for wet pavement, but look out for standing water!

If it were me and money were no object, I'd probably go with the S-03's. They'll get a bit louder as they wear. The F1 GS-D3 is also a great tire and will probably stay fairly quiet over the lifetime of the tire... I'm just not so hot on Goodyear's quality, but it appears that the GS-D3 has broken that streak for them.

IMHO, the Kumho MX provides performance as good or better than any max performance tire for a heck of a lot less money - and they give the Azenis lots of competition at the autocross. The side benefits are that the MX is more suited for track use and is also a much better street tire...

 

Yep. That's how I use the Azinis too. I put them on for track and autocross. Fun. S03s are daily drivers.

 

Scobib,

Yes the Azenis are a handfull in standing water. But I personally think they are a much better track and Solo II tire than the MX. Though I agree with you... the MX is a good buy. There was I time when I'd buy a tire like the S03 for the street. But after running R compound tires in various forms of motorsports over the years, it's tough to spend big $ on street tires. That's why the MX and Azenis make such nice options. I would recommend the Azenis to someone who spends a lot of time on the track and autocrosses. I'd recommend the MX to someone who does the occasional track event or autocross, and just wants an good performing street tire (standing water aside). That said, it's always nice to try out a cubic dollar max performance tire at least once. And in that case the S03 gets my vote.

 

The Goodyears were much better from my perspective. I haven't done the S03, but the Goodyears are very good in the dry, and very, very good in the wet. The only problem is the price. But I think they're near the S03 price....

Matt

 

Not sure of the price on the Toyo TS1,
but the Tire Rack lists the Bridgestone S-03 Pole Position for $153.00
and the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 for $125.00.

The Tire Rack survey results put the F1 GS-D3 at #1, S-03 at #3

Hope this helps...

 

I have the S-03s in 205/50/17 size, and they're great! I upgraded from the stock all season runflats.. I was recommended 205/50 from my local MINI/BMW tire installer. They work except on deep dips that I take too hard, in which case the extra 5mm hits the inner wheelwell.. Crazy that 5mm does that!

I was also looking at the BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2s.. $124 each. I've heard that they were really nice, with an aggressive tread pattern as well! I'll probably try those out when these S-03s get worn out.

 

The KDW2 is a superb tire, IMHO... the only BIG downside is that those big, funky lugs slap almost as loud as mud tires do when they wear down. So, if you don't like cabin vibration and lug slap (yes, it's that bad IMHO), you might want to stick to the S-O3's or try something else... Other than that, they are STICKY in dry and wet!

 

From my experience:

S03 - excellent dry, excellent wet, ride comfort somewat stiff, a little noisy.

GSD3 - excellent dry, but soft initial turn-in, excellent wet, ride comfortable, less noisy than S03.

For people that drive agressively and fast, S03's the way to go.
For those that do mostly touring around town with some spirited
driving, GSD3's a better choice. Both tires have wide broad shoulders
which are about 20mm wider than most tires. (ie: 205 is actually
close to 225). I like them both...I'm planning to wrap the S03's on my
other car next (replace MichPilotSports).

 

Could this be the reason why my S-03s are hitting the fenderwell at 205/50? I'm not lowered either, just stock ride height.

 

Rune,
With stock suspension you would be fine if you stuck with 205/45-17 but since you have 50 series tires which are taller you may have some rubbing.
Not a big deal.

The alternative is to use 215/45-17 tires which would be OK as long as the shoulders of the tires were not "square" like in Yokohama ES100s- this may result in some rubbing with a loaded rear seat or with aggressive cornering- also not a big deal- more risk of rubbing with lowered suspension.

As for the Goodyear Eagle F1 vs Toyo vs S-03, the expensive and heavy S-03 are the best overall performers, still well mannered for the street and available in 215/45-17 or 215/40-17. The Toyos are light but don't perform quite as well- still a good tire. The Eagle F1s are also good tires, cost less than the S-03 and perform well in the wet. Check out the tirerack test results or talk to Alex. I had the same decision to make and I went with the S-03 in 215/45-17, I'll use them for street and for wet autocross.

 

I wonder if anyone knows how each of these tires performs in braking. I ask this because I watched a car show on TV today (can't remember which one it was) but they said the tires play a big part in braking. I thought they said the tires were the most important factor in braking, but I know the brakes are more important. Anyway, does anyone know or have heard of any tests on this? All 3 tires mentioned are probably all good in braking, though. :smile:

 

Then they'll be sticky for stopping too! And for acceleration!

When I got my Mustang, it had passenger tires (195-75 r 15s) with a 289 and a four barrel and a four speed. I could spin the tires through third! I went to my first ever good tire (Goodyear Eagles, it was quite a while ago) and I could barely chirp into second. The crappy tires, I could slide at will in turns, with the Eagles, I had to work at it . I never quantified the difference in breaking, but it was huge as well......

Matt

I'm sure whatever you go with, you'll be happy.

ps, I agree the GS-3Gs are a bit softer in turn in, but overall, I liked them much more than the toyos..... I used the GSs in three track events, and found that they're very easy to control at the edge, and that's good for me as I'm a track newbie! I haven't had the Toyos on the track yet, but I sure miss the wet of the GSs, the Toyos are almost scary after the goodyears!

 

I've had both the F1's and SO3's on my other car and I'd get the F1's again over the S03's even if they cost the same but the F1's are usually cheaper and even go on sale on a regular basis and they are better in the ride and noise dept.

 

Tireracks survey lists the F1 as the top tire. 215/45/17s any experience? The F1 does not come in 205 and I'm not sure in a practical sense what that means. My car is lowered with coilovers

 

215/45/17 should give quicker turn-in response than my 205/50/16, so
give it a shot! :smile:

 

The tirerack survey is from customers- that isn't the most accurate of results since it is bias by the individual reviewers but does give some relative information. I doubt that the GS-D3 is the one best tire- it is a good one and worthy of being highly ranked of the Max Summer tires.

I would place more weight on the tirerack.com test results which are done by experienced tirerack drivers in a group on a controlled track under dry and wet conditions with clear review criteria. The cars are the same but the tires vary. The reviews compare tires for street as well as track performance.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/mi_ps2_nextGen.jsp

The GS-D3 does not come in 205/45-17. It does come in 215/40-17 and 215/45-17.

Yesterday I had the chance to mount the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 tires I had to replace my Yokohama ES100s (worn but not completely bad). The difference was startling and I'm blown away but how good the S-03s are.
The ride quality is much smoother and much more quiet yet the traction and grip are first rate. I'll have to look for some rain so I can try them under wet conditions but I expect it to be also solid. It is hard to imagine that the GS-D3 performance or ride quality could be better than the S-03.
The S-03 do weigh more than the ES100 but I do not feel that difference.

I can order the S-03 through Costco.com and have them delivered mounted balanced and installed through costco, then later rebalanced and rotated every 5000 miles for free. Costco doesn't sell the GS-D3, I can't have them mounted/balanced at Costco due to their restriction of using only tires they sell. This adds to the cost of delivery, mounting, and rotation of tires and lessens the lower cost of the GS-D3 compared to S-03. Costco charges $10 per tire for mounting, balancing, installation and regular rotation and balancing.

 

Thanks for all the great info...what size do you run?

 

>The difference was startling and I'm blown away but how good the S-03s are.


So now do you believe me and have more trust in my comments?
ES100's are cool street tires, but no where near the performance of
S03's and GSD3's....GSD3's are softer than the S03's and provide
better comfort. I think the next thing I would recommend are
some 16" SSR Comps for your setup. I can lift my SSRComps with
GSD3's with my pinky. PilotSports are very good tires too especially
the A/S ones...they have great grip even in 32F weather.

 

My S-03s are 215/45-17 on aftermarket 17x7 rims.
I have too many wheels already so no 16" rims for me.
I use 15x7" Kosei K1 TS for autocross with 205/50-15 Kumho V710 tires (each wheel/tire about 29 pounds so plenty light)
and stock 15x5.5" holey rims and Pilot sport cup 205/50-15 tires for track and driving events.

Yokohama ES100s do come in stock 205/45-17 size while the S-03s and GS-D3s do not. For the money the ES100s are fine. Mine were worn (15,000 miles with some lapping, track, autocross and driving events) and needed at least 2 of the 4 tires to be replaced, it's likely they needed balancing as well. So more noise and less than smooth ride quality was expected. Rough cost of the ES100s (215/45-17) at tirerack would be about $101 each plus shipping while the S-03s were $166 each. Quite a bump in price. The GS-D3 falls in between about $147 each. Now that I can keep my street tires off the track and autocross they should last longer and wear better.

For the budget minded tirerack also stocks the Avon M550 A/S in the same size for $98. Good street tire.

 

Seems it was hard to imagine a tire could have been that much better than the ES100 why is it so hard to imagine the GS could be as good or better than the S03?

I'm very curious on the S03, but I haven't driven it yet. I was very hopeful for the Toyos, but for my driving style and skill level, they just don't meet my expectections and I can't wait until they're shot!

If I had multiple sets of wheels, maybe it would be different. Also, where I live (lots of damp roads from fog), the wet performance is very important. So my bias in needs, while being far from unique, is nowhere near universal!

Matt

 

I've heard many people rave about the S03s including Alex of TireRack, and have heard that if it is not the best it is one of the best tires for grip in the rain, especially in colder weather, i.e., midwest and northeastern US, as kenchan has said many times. They are a little heavier than others, but I've heard are wider than others of the same width, so that could account for much of the extra weight. I've been a big proponent of light tires and wheels (as are others here, i.e., minihune), and I have wanted to get Toyo Proxes T1S as they are one of the lightest performance tires. I may try the S03s (as I live in the NE) when my current tires wear more, as I can get them with SSR Comps from TireRack, whereas TireRack doesn't sell Toyo's. :smile: