Cheap Daily Driver Tires: pitchfork and torch edition

I am prepared to burn for this, because I am bringing this on myself. I probably shouldn't be telling you guys... I do believe enough in my decision to bring on the flaming. I will preface this with the disclaimer that as a veteran autocross, track day, road race participant I have probably owned and shredded more tires than some of you have seen while passing by the tire department at SAMs club. So this decision was made with SOME prior knowledge. I have been a performance automobile driver for years mostly V8 BMWs and turbo or V8 rx7's.. And as Michelin puts it believe that "there is a lot riding on your tires" they can shave 2-3 seconds off a lap, give you the extra grip on launch and get you home safely at the end of the day. I traveled 8000 miles on my last set of SuperSport Pilots and since putting my C2 into daily driver status knew that this type of tire use was going to bankrupt my maintenance budget. I decided when getting this new set that I would try and put a cheaper set on that would still provide adequate performance for street/commute use. I'm not traveling 180mph or trying to beat a lap time on these wheels so I searched for an all season all weather tire. Years ago I ran some cheap tires on my msport 540i and was pleased although I couldn't for the life of me remember what they were. After searching through my records I found a receipt for.... hold your breath Nankang NS-20..... Gasp. I called discount tire and they were able to locate them, and they were on sale for $355 for a staggered set of 4... 225/40/18 and 265/35/18. $60 to install and I was out the door at $415 tax and install. Ok so at that price even I was nervous about them. They were a 360 tread wear so I figured that they might be sticky enough if they didn't disintegrate after driving out of the parking lot. I shrugged and crossed my fingers and checked that my full coverage insurance was up to date and took a 70 mile drive. I turned white, the car was very unstable and I felt that it was literally trying to fling the tires off the wheels. I gingerly made it to work and started shopping for new tires online. My workday ended and I considered towing the car home, I again took my chances and drove home. 35 miles of backroad driving and the car felt like a new car. I tried to get the car loose and I couldn't get it to break loose under even heavy high speed cornering. I did some reading and most likely I was suffering on my initial drive from mold release on the tires and the lack of heat cycling. Phew! I have put 1000 miles on the tires and am very happy with them when considering the investment to performance. I'm hoping to see more miles out of these and have so far seen no reason not to consider these tires again. I would potentially consider having them heat cycled prior to install next time. Elitists Flame on. But to other budget minded 996 owners, I would consider looking at the Nankang NS20 as a possible commute/light spirited driving tire.

I use the Sumitomo HTR Z3 as my economy tire, and it works fine for all 500 of the miles my car gets driven in a year any more. I'd be very careful with off-brand (especially Chinese) tires, though. A lot of people might think it's no big deal, then they go to apply the brakes in the rain and it takes an extra 40ft to stop the car. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...gain/index.htm

Hankook Ventus V12 EVO2. A set of 18's runs around $750 installed and they are great street tires, great for spirited back roads. OK for AX and track, just when they get hot, they get a little slippery and you need to drop tire pressure a bit.. I have 2 track days and 3 AX as well as ~10k miles and they still have life in the rears and much more on the front Otherwise, pretty sticky and predictable 320 treadwear I believe. Good wet performance too ( not that we get much wet here in San Diego )

OMG and holy sh@+!!! Please notify us before you drive this car on the street or track.

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at least he drives his car

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+1 The evo1 version were on my c4s and they were quite decent. Everyone said to go for mpss when they needed replacement. Better on track, but on the street I never notice the difference. No idea about wet, even less rain here in vegas

Horrors! I only use hand selected, matched Pirelli PZeros while my car is stored in its air conditioned trailer, with a separate set of Michelin Pilots for the 300 miles per year that I drive it (on carefully swept pavement, to avoid stone dings)... ...nonsense. Good for you, and thanks for the info. While I plan to replace my current PZeros with Michelins next time due to less noise (thanks for info in a separate post), having a good option for inexpensive reliable tires is invaluable, particularly for high mileage users. These cars don't run cheaply, and not everyone is an investment banker.

The evo2 is a great tire. I ran the original version on my 986, and the only complaint I had - that the sidewall could be beefier - was resolved by the time I needed new tires for the 996.

I have the ohtsu fp8000 (former Falken 452) on my mercedes. Really cheap and they handle just fine in both dry and wet. I also have the falken 453 on the 996 and they are great! inexpensive tires

Sumitomo

Bridgestone Potenza S04 are a superb UHP summer tire from a mainstream manufacturer and reasonably priced. I like them as much as the Pilot Super Sport and Potenza RE960, both of which are almost double the price. I've put them on a number of cars over the years.

Oh yes.....I did put them on a while back......I ran them for 35K miles.....as a non-track car....just highway miles.....and to me they are worth it....you can't go wrong for a daily commuter/highway driver.....you cannot beat that price.... ...... 275/35/18 and H rated for under a hundred bucks per tire?.......count me in for next rear tire replacement.....

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Fixed.

Having run with a set of Sumi HTR ZIII on my Boxster for while, they are great low cost street & back road tires. IIRC, they are under $500 for 4. The Sumi's are OK on track and AX, just not competitive

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How's the noise while driving? The last set of rear cheap tires I got sang like the Morman Tabernacle chior, and I'm not going through that again. Flame not included in this post, maybe later.

Eh - nevermind. They don't offer them in the 295-30-18 size.

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these...yes I have them on mine right now, no complaints!

My go-to tire is Hankook Evos. I have a few friends who run Nankangs and they report back that they're actually pretty decent tires, especially when you consider the price compared to other name brand tires.

I run hankooks and have zero complaints. I'm a casual driver and put less than 5k on my car a year. What I've learned with tire snobs is that they usually only buy Michelin or the like and have never used bargain tires. Which means they typically just regurgitate what Michelin paid engineers say. Honestly I'm not Michael Andretti so I probably wouldn't even notice the diff between tires. Just look at what the new nsx is using for factory tires. A sub 200k car with continental tires.

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This. Actually ran Nankang in my younger VW days. snow, rain, sun, didnt make a difference. Great tire. And great sidewalls. stood up to 2 years of a 75 mile commute daily with a 30 profile tire.

Thanks RRTEC, for a breath of fresh air.

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I wanted to get Hankooks for my 911 but didn't see correct fitments offered in 18" Wound up using Sumitomo's.

The more of these threads I read, the more I would like to yolo it on some sumibotos.

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Harry Hogge: Cole, you're in third place, that's a respectable position. Now when they slow down for turn four, I want you to pass them on the outside. Cole Trickle: Harry, you told me nobody passes on the outside in turn four! Harry Hogge: Well now, I'm telling you different. If you go to the outside, you can hold it. Tim Daland: He's gonna end up in the wall Harry! Harry Hogge: Because we have a really good set of matched tires on it. Tim Daland: What? Cole Trickle: What? Harry Hogge: Those tires are matched perfect and staggered special. Tim Daland: You're gonna get him killed!

I've put a ton of miles on them, driven in all weather and can't complain about the NAnkangs.. Like I said before.. Are they comparable to the Pilot Sports in handling- No.. But that's not what I bought them for.

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What he said....perfect for daily driving...... If the Nankangs are noisy, I could never tell....I drive a convertible, and the only thing noisier than the wind..... is the exhaust.....

My Sumis have been working fine, I don't drive my car daily but I put around 350 miles per month

+1 on the Sumis -- they're not Michelins but they ARE great all around tires; even without factoring in the savings. I'm at the point where my rears need replacement and I'm debating between getting new rears or a full set of Michelins in the Spring but, in truth, I'm having a hard time justifying the additional cost of the Michelins. -Eric

I put my first set of "Budget" Tires on my Golf R a few thousand miles ago... Think $350 out the door and they are almost the stickiest tire I have ever owned.... Car actually corners really nicely with them... "SENTURY UHP" Tires.... they claim the UHP is Ultra High Performane on the website So far my first budget tire hasn't had any downsides other than it is strictly a "summer" /Performance tire.