Drift Tires?

[Ian]

For reference, I've already searched, and all I came up with was "ES100's are teh sux0rz!1"

So I want to know, "What specific brands and sizes does everyone use?"


I like a 215/45/17 on 17x9, but I've been having trouble finding a cheap tire to burn. I personally like having a brand new set to burn up, so I don't have to keep switching up tires and retire early because I've run out of rubber.

So far I've used:

-Kumho Ecsta 712 (**half way used** crap, burned pretty decently but chunked up at the end)
-Kumho Ecsta MX (**basically brand new** burns pretty well, lots of smoke, resists chunking a little better then the 712 but once again, chunked up a bit. They're also pretty pricey to drift on brand new)
-Goodyear Eagle F1 (**Barely Used when I got them** I loved these, held up all the way down to the cords! Smoke pretty decently too)
-Michelin Pilot Sport (**50% tread left** junk. They got REALLY greasy, literally fell apart. I could hear large tread blocks flying off into my wheel well and ended up having to quit after 3 runs because i was slapping my car w/ cords)


What have you used, what did you like? I'm looking at Falken Ziex 512 because i've heard good things about them.

[S14DB]

Pirelli P Zero Neros are a great drift tire.

[Ritz S14]

Dunlop FM901.. but they wear out fast.
Falken ST115s pretty stiff sidewall and doesn't chunk.

[Brian]

I swear by Falken ST115.
Best tire I've ever used.

[mr_240sx]

Nankang BABY!!!!!


bahahahhaha who am i kidding? those things suck!

[A Spec Products]

Originally Posted by Brian

I swear by Falken ST115.
Best tire I've ever used.

Indeed. I knew before I opened this thread Brian would have chimed in about the ST115.

Good tire good price.

Some people say 512's have the softest sidewall ever, but I've used up front 215/45 and its okay, price is the biggest factor, its more of a street daily drive tire.

[kuruptR]

Hi grip tires for drifting, kuhmos suck..cheapest tire id go is an es100.

I used BFgoodrich Kdw's 2...but i also get them for free...

[RedSuns]

Originally Posted by Brian

I swear by Falken ST115.
Best tire I've ever used.

same here...they are really cheap too

[North240]

like mentioned above the fm901s are a tire of choice for many. Falken Ziex512s hold up to a decent beating but they deffinitly have a much softer sidewall.

[s13srmadness]

st115 that's all
just look at what the big guys without tire sponsors run. you think anyone actually wants to run cooper tires???
and i've been told by many to try and run the same tire all around. same size if you're not making RETARDED power.

[mr_240sx]

what about the falken grb 451? are they decent?

[SpeedMonkeyInc]

Originally Posted by s13srmadness

you think anyone actually wants to run cooper tires???

I do. Cooper Zeon 2XS are the best tires I have ever driven with, lots better than ST115s ( which are great tires ) I found really good prices here:
https://www.tiresavings.com/tireShop...season=Regular

[AndysAutoSport]

+1 for the ST115's! Inexpensive, great sizes, and excellent for drift/autocrossing.

Right now I'm running 225/45/17s up front and 245/45/17s in the back. I was worried about how well the fronts would grip but I got no complaints here!

[HyperTek]

The GRBeta series tire is cool if you don't honestly drive hard, the situation (in my opinion) is the tread wear rating, which is around 260-80, not bad, but falkens heat up very quick & die out even faster, so I don't recommend that tire for someone who wants to drive home on them, after a good course run or drift. .. . other than this, the Falken Betas are very smooth road couse types, I wouldn't recommend them over the Ziex 512's either, cause those cater to the Bimmer class, those who show & only somtimes go. .. . canyon type tires, they provide an adequate amount of control as well as traction under specific conditions for wheel break driving styles. .. .I think they would be beautiful time trial tires. .. .

This is NI_YON_Zenki. .. .

[sideview_180sx]

as said by someone who crashed........??? 451s are alrite they are decent for up fronts with 280 treadwear they will last up front. ES100s I think are considered sux0rz is because of the squared edge, from contact patch to sidewall. st115s are the sex because they are cheap, grip nice, and have a treadwear of 360 and z-speed rating. I feel its a matter of coincidence that st115s have bested most other tires in an all-around setting.

[S13 Charlie]

Originally Posted by sideview_180sx

as said by someone who crashed........???

j/k

Originally Posted by sideview_180sx

st115s are the sex because they are cheap, grip nice, and have a treadwear of 360 and z-speed rating. I feel its a matter of coincidence that st115s have bested most other tires in an all-around setting.

I've talked to a contact I have at Falken when I got my tires, and she told me that despite the 360 treadwear rating, most people only get about 20,000 miles on their ST-115's, which isn't much for a 360. I had a set on my 16's, and now I have kumho 711s on my 17's, and as soon as these kumho's are done (soon) I'm going to get some ST-115's, they really are a great tire. Anymore comments on FM901's?

Cheers,
C

[upSLIDEdown]

I'm running ST-115s, but I don't drift on em. So far I think they're an awesome tire. Really impressed me in the rain too. I would recomend them to anyone looking for a good street tire, but unfortunately I don't have any input for drifting.

[Agent_S13]

Originally Posted by S13 Charlie

I've talked to a contact I have at Falken when I got my tires, and she told me that despite the 360 treadwear rating, most people only get about 20,000 miles on their ST-115's, which isn't much for a 360.
Cheers,
C

I picked up a set of Falken Ziex 512's recently, mostly for their really cheap price but when I took 'em to the wheel shop to get mounted, the guy wasn't thrilled to see another set of 512's in his shop.

He was telling me that they used to sell that tire but then people complained about getting only about 12k miles out of them before needing replacement so they stopped carrying them. I figured that since they were catering mostly to SUV's and trucks, that they weren't working with people with smaller cars, sedans and such.

His response was that the complaints were from a variety of car owners. I decided to start reading the reviews about the Ziex online and they were all over the place --- good reviews with people claiming to get 60k miles out of them and others who only got 8-10k miles out of their tires. I was wondering if anyone could comment on it? Then again, if they're drift tires... they meant to be abused and used up within a few hundred miles.

And finally something on topic...

Why not get a set of 15" wheels to drift with instead? Tires are much cheaper than 17" tires. Doesn't matter what brand you're running, smaller diameter tires are always cheaper and that means more money for more tires/drifting.

I figure for drift events, I'll go back down to a stock 15" for events... just need to find some 5-lug steelies or something.

-Aaron
'91 240sx coupe

[Dousan_PG]

ST115 for realz

[hi.im.kaji]

yea i used to run the falken st115's on my e36.....it made O.K. tire smoke but they are a really good drift/autocross tire, the only thing is the tread wears a little fast

[SHIFT_control]

lol people were complaining about getting 12k out of their 512s? I got about 3500 out of mine...... I drive even harder now on my potenza RE950's, much better grip then the 512s, and they have lasted well over twice as long.
They burn really nice too, very little chunking at the very end of tire life.

EDIT: AgentS13, i have a set of 5 lug steelies off of a max sitting im my garage. They aren't mine, but he doesn't have the car anymore so I'm sure he would part with them.

[HyperTek]

ziex 512 is the suck for me
had tons of thread, never really "played" on the tires.. then the sidewall decided to blow.. cant claim warrantee on it cuz the guy i got em from got em off ebay.. oh well


trying out hankook ventus hrII now cuz they are cheap.

[sideview_180sx]

I hope you realize they are H-rated, that would suck for road noise. why not get the Ventus V4 Es H105 cost a lil' more 420 treadwear rating and W-rated.

[HyperTek]

Originally Posted by sideview_180sx

I hope you realize they are H-rated, that would suck for road noise. why not get the Ventus V4 Es H105 cost a lil' more 420 treadwear rating and W-rated.

Tires dont last forever.. esp on a rwd car with stretched/negative camber..

[revat619]

Originally Posted by sideview_180sx

I hope you realize they are H-rated, that would suck for road noise. why not get the Ventus V4 Es H105 cost a lil' more 420 treadwear rating and W-rated.

Road noise?!? What is that?

hahaha you cant be serious. When was the last time you cared about that?! Please explain this phenomenon of "road noise" that you speak of! NOW!

Back on topic....

I'll be running st115s very soon. I've never tried them before, but i've heard nothing but good things. Federal 555s (or something like that) are good drift tires though. The hold up forever and smoke really good. ES100s suck. They chunk like nobodies business. Pirelli P 6000s are OK, but they kinda chunk after a while too.

[SoSideways]

Originally Posted by revat619

Road noise?!? What is that?

hahaha you cant be serious. When was the last time you cared about that?! Please explain this phenomenon of "road noise" that you speak of! NOW!

Back on topic....

I'll be running st115s very soon. I've never tried them before, but i've heard nothing but good things. Federal 555s (or something like that) are good drift tires though. The hold up forever and smoke really good. ES100s suck. They chunk like nobodies business. Pirelli P 6000s are OK, but they kinda chunk after a while too.

Road noise sucks when you have no interior and you drive around daily in the car, including visits to parents' house 60 miles away and back often.

For that reason alone, I haven't tried the Dunlop FM901s.

The Falken ST115 is supposed to be virtually silent, so that's a good thing.

Also, there are a few people saying good things about Hankook H405 HRii tires, which I currently have in the rear. They grip pretty awesome so far, and I've put about 3000 miles on them so far, with 1 night of street drifting on them, and a few runs at the 1/4 mile track, and there has been virtually no wear on them, so... And did I mention they're cheap? $48 a tire for 205/50/15 from Tires.com, and free shipping...

[KiDyNomiTe]

FM901 - Suck, sidewalls are way to soft, wear too quickly, not very grippy, suck in the rain
ES100 - Used them a few times, I liked them compared to FM901s, wore fine, good in rain.
Azenis Sport - Best grip up front, in the rear they aren't that great, get greasy, and chunk up, but last a decent amount of time
Azenis RT615 - Used only in rear, great grip, lasted a decent amount of time, but for the price not worth it, but overall fealt great
Potenza S-03 - Great tire, especially in rain, only used in the front.
Kumho Ecsta MX - Use them up front right now, great grip, havent used them in the rear (need some 17s to put mine on)

ST115s I have yet to try but everyone I know who uses them loves them, and they last a good amount of time and nice and smokey
Ditto on Hankook Ventus (forget the exact brand)

[North240]

i'm curious why people are worried about milage out of a drift tire, or any summer tire on a 240. My street tires get destroyed every summer, and the following spring i have to buy a new set. 5-7k tops no matter what the tire. I'll worry about getting the most mileage out of my tires when i'm 65.

[MakotoS13]

jeez, im not even gonna get 3K out of my azenis sports and i dont even drift.

[DARKEST_HOUR]

random


How about them ADVAN Neova AD07's