I've been looking at several different summer tires and ran across the new Yokohama S.Drives. I buying 215/45 17's and would appreciate any feed back I can get from someone who actually has them.

 

I'm running them in size 235-40-17

 

What's your opinion of them? Dry and wet pavement.

 

EVO mag posted blind tests with them (search EVO and S.Drive here on NAM...I posted the results). They finished last. Better choices for the money.

 

235/40-17 is normally fitted to an 8 to 9.5" wide rim.
You list a 17x7.5" rim in your sig.

When a wider tire is put on a narrow rim there is possible tramlining,
do you feel any problem with this for grooved concrete surfaces (freeways)?

What about street comfort, ride quality and noise?

It got good tests by tirerack.com but there was an EVO magazine review of tires late in 2007 that downrated the S.Drive.

I'm considering the 215/35-17 ( a little smaller tire diameter) for street use. $104 each and 300 treadwear.

 

If the reviews are over a year old - they're not relevant as there was a change in tread pattern in July 2007 - totally different tire. Old pattern was really noisy but stuck like glue on the dry and were just OK in the wet.

 

published Nov. 07....new design. they were horrible in the wet compared to others reviewed and middle of the pack in the dry is hardly 'glue'

The results:
1) Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric
2) Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta
3) Continental Contisport Contact 3
4) Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A
5) Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
6) Pirelli PZero Nero
7) Kumho Ecsta STP KU31
8) Dunlop Sport Maxx
9) Yokohama S.Drive

 

what about the bfg gforce sports ? they any good.

 

decent, on par with other budget tires.....Falken 452, Direzza's, SPT's, etc. I asked Tire Rack about them and they steered me to SPT over the BFG and I wasn't happy with the Direzza (SPT either), so, either the BFG's are pretty terrible or there's more margin on Direzza. If you are looking for max dry performance, it's hard to beat Kumho MX and Yoko Parada for the money.

 

thanks pgt , they would be just for the street. ive got a long comute to work . just want a decent tire that will grip in the dry and decent in the wet. also one that doesnt cost alot. i want to get a set of 17'' konig feathers with 215-45-17 bfg gforce. i can get the set cheap and take the crown anchors and run bricks off.

 

I am running S-Drives and have been very happy with them in both wet and dry pavement. I had Falkens Ziexs (boo) before and these feel much more stabile in curves when the spirited driving over takes you. I just wanted to find a happy medium between treadware rating and performance and these seem to do the trick (about 10,000 miles on them).

 

one recommendation and seems the guys on tirerack agrees, is the General Exclaim UHP... price is decent, and as far as i can tell, few if anybody has ever said negatives about them

 

Thanks to all for the input. I ran across these and hadn't heard much about them so I thought I'd ask for your opinions. Probably not the tire for me

 

Just got them on last week so haven't had too much experience with them yet. They seem OK for as much as I have driven them freeway and street the feel is good.

 

--Hey boolean, how is the road noise and vibrations? You mentioned you already put 10k on them. How much more you think they got in them? I'm looking at ordering a set too.

~pyratio

 

check out the goodyear f1 gds-3 - a top rated wet and dry tire. I just picked up a set and don't have enough time on them but their wet performance reviews are tops and so far in the dry they stick very well.

 

I have them but they wear SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO quickly. Best darn grip in wet or dry but don't last more than 20K in mostly highway driving.

 

actually, RE01R's are better in the dry and slightly less good in the wet. no good tire will last 20k though.

I'm putting the new F1 Asymmetric on Monday.