I am on the fence about purchasing these tires mainly because of the reports of tire noise. It seems that the rest of the reports for this tire (traction, steering response, ect) is exactly what I am looking for.
For those of you that have them please chime in and let me know your feelings. Occasionally I see a report that they do not feel the noise level is too loud. I thought possibly the type of car, or weight, may be a factor.
My second choice would be the Continental Extreem Contact DW. It seems that this is also a very good tire but is a little lazy in the steering response catagory. My tire size is 205/50/16 and the majority of use is for spirited street driving.
Thanks for the help, Steve

 

Yep, they are loud.

I took 'em off a few days ago, and put on some Toyo R1Rs, and noticed the difference right away (and I am not claiming the Toyos are quiet).

They get louder the more they wear.

They also wear out fairly quickly, with 10-18k miles being the reported norm (I have gotten more myself).

They are however one of the top autocross tires out there, with outstanding performance wet and dry at any temp higher than 60 deg.

If absolute traction is your top priority I would recommend them very highly - I've used them for two competition seasons with no regrets.

Trade-offs, y'know?

Cheers,

Charlie

 

It seems to me that all high performance tires get loud. Rotating helps, but they all do seem to end up loud.

 

Well since we have both sets your talking about I feel somewhat qualified to answer. I am running the Z1's on my car, 215/40/17, my car is quite modified, it's kinda loud anyways , but they are quieter than my last tires, BFG KDW2's. They hum a little, but I love these tires! Some people say they have trouble with them in the rain, I havent seen that, but I don't run up and down the interstate everyday either. In the dry....they are awesome. Now my wife just put on the Contis Extreme DWS on her 09 MCS. The ride is light years better than the run flats she had, but having just did a twisty run last weekend with her car I can say they are no where near the performance level of the Z1's Do remember I also comparing my car to hers But if your thinking they have fairly the same performance.... nope.

 

I have gone through three sets of dunlops z1 star specs in the last two years. As everyone has explained already, they are quite load and do get louder as they wear. The tradeoff is a great handling tire, both in the dry and in the wet. I think the straight line braking in the wet as where it really shines. I have had the dws and the BFG kdw2 and would say neither have the performance capability of the Dunlop. I have not tried the continental DW at this time.

I think that for me the tradeoff between noise and performance is worth it and I would go with the Dunlop z1 anytime.

 

Thanks for all the replys. At this time I am really leaning towards the Star Specs. My motto has always been "Performance before Beauty". I am pretty sure if I lost a responsive turn in I would be disappointed. I am currently running Michlin PS2's on the stock GP wheels.
In reading more of the Tire Rack reviews I noticed a few people increased their tire pressure. They claimed that this lowered the noise level and increased the steering response. I always fiddle with pressures to find the sweet spot that I feel comfortable with.
Has anyone that is running the Star Specs found this to be true?
Thanks, Steve

 

34/34 on the street

38/48 in competition [that's front/rear]

but that is not at all a stock setup, so take it with several grains of salt

they do stick!

at the risk of preaching to the wise, do not look for their limits on the street...

kind regards,

charlie

 

I just picked up a set of these and put maybe 100 miles in them? I came from Dunlop SP Sport Runflats. As much as I absolutely %&$#ing hate runflats and I almost never HATE anything, the runflats are actually quieter then the Dunlop Z1s. I almost noticed right away of the Dunlop Z1 rotational noise as I'm driving. I know for sure it's not wheel bearings, because they were all changed very recently. The Z1s make a tiny rotational noise at certain speeds, but not something you'll notice if you have an exhaust and music on. I only noticed it with the windows down and music off. But the performance on these tires are absolutely phenomenal. The drivability is great, and the car feels much more composed and confident in the twisties. It's been raining every day since I had my tires on and they grip much better in the rain than my RFTs in the dry. There is no sense of "floating" or "drifting" in high speed curves, and it feels very predictable. I haven't really pushed the tires yet but they are definitely in another class in terms of performance.

 

Had the Z1 Star Specs for about 15K mi. They were loud and grew louder as the miles progressed.

Absolutely fantastic grip wet and dry and the grip is there at low temps and warmup quickly.

Switched to the Bridgestone RE-11's. Lot quieter than the Z1's when new, although initial turn in appears to be slower. Might be the tire pressures.

TireRack reviews are a good read as well comparing these two fantastic tires.

 

it's hard to argue with > 1G lateral on wet pavement... the leftmost reading was the baseline, and the rightmost was the best result obtained after exploring tire pressure variations - on my car high thirties returned the best results. (205/50-15 Star Spec on 15x7 rims)

 

Just put these back on. It is the start of summer and track season.

Forgot how loud these are. But they are loud. I will still be using them as wet track tires.

 

I have a set on some OZ Ultraleggeras just waiting for my new MINI that I pick up next week. I can deal with some noise for ultimate grip =)

 

Have you seen this tire test? http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...mparison_tests

The Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's placed:

2nd overall

Tied with Bridgestone and Yokohama for quietest

Finished midpack in the dry autocross but beat the PS2 and was only half a second off the Dunlop

Was third fastest in the wet autocross, only 2 tenths behind the Dunlop and only 3 tenths behind the PS2.

Was ahead of the PS2 in dry braking.

And placed first in the wet braking over both the Dunlop and the PS2.

The Hankook's also placed 2nd in BOTH the dry and wet skidpad, both numbers better than the Dunlop.

I was going to try the Dunlops, but they didn't make a tire in the size I needed (I run 18" wheels). So, I went with the Hankook's and they've been fantastic! I'd give them a try as others have found them to be great as well.

 

I'll post another positive endorsement for the Star Specs.

Yes - they get louder the more they wear; but I absolutely do not mind - as the benefits far exceed any down-side.

Wet traction is supprisingly good.
Dry traction: as cmt52663 said - don't look for the limits on the street as it is way beyond where you want to be. The great thing is that these tires have incredible traction without needing to 'warm-up'. It's always there!

Turn-in was my top requirement (next to grip) for a tire. The Run-Flats have fantastic turn-in response due to the stiff side wall. I went to Yokahama S drives first (based on several recommendations); but quickly changed them out for the Star Specs due entirely to turn-in. The Yoko's were quiet; but I couldn't stand the way they felt like I had to wait a split-second before the car did what I asked. The Star Specs are about as good as you're going to get for turn-in short of runnning the Run-Flats.

And - the icing on the cake - the Star Specs are one of the most reasonably priced tires out there!

 

martinb
Thanks for the link to the test.
Steve

[quote=martinb;3280042]Have you seen this tire test? http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...mparison_tests

 

I took delivery of my 2011 S yesterday and had the OZs/Starspecs installed before I left the dealership.


The ride is MUCH better than my 09 JCW even though my new one has the sports suspension and my JCW does not.

I don't think I've come near breaking them loose yet although I took some sharp corners pretty hard/fast. No understeer at all.

So far very happy with them. They are not noisy (yet?).

note- nothing wider than a 205 will fit in the back (at least as long as they are mounted on OZ Ultraleggeras). The could actually hit the trim now if I went over a bad enough pot hole.

The 205 Starspecs look quite a bit wider than the OEM 205s

 

what offset on the OZ wheels pretty please?

Thanks,

Charlie

 

I believe they are et 37.