Why don't stock SPT's get more respect?

1133 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Stanley Yahtzee, May 4, 2017

Doctor Jeff

Discussion Starter · Apr 19, 2017

I just put the stock Summer Performance Tires--Dunlop Sportmaxx--back on after a winter with Blizzaks, and boy what a change. Really makes driving a lot more fun.

The ride is smoother, WAY quieter, and grippiness especially with lateral motion MUCH better. They perform particularly well on wet roads. I mean, I cannot get these things to slide without some real effort.

I have read some disparaging remarks about the Dunlops. Admittedly I don't have experience with some brands that are pricier, but I have driven Fuzion and Yokohama SPT's and have driven a ton of AWT's--Goodyear, Bridgestone, Goodrich--and none perform as well as the Dunlops.

Just wondering who has replaced them with a set that they like better? And why? I'm open-minded--would consider an upgrade after another 40K miles or so...

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XJman

· #2 · Apr 19, 2017

The dunlops are alright. When I priced them they were 50 bucks a tire more than the mpss and the pilot super sports were the better performing tire, in every measurable metric aside from maybe life. I've always been a continental tire fan, but I'm not paying their absurd prices when Michelin is killing it at a lower price point.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

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irickchad

· #3 · Apr 19, 2017

they're garbage. They have mediocre steering response and stiff sidewalls, but if you've ever driven on Nitto NT05's, Pilot Super Sports, or the old BFG KDW2's, you'd understand.

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Doctor Jeff

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 20, 2017

The expert reviews of the Dunlop and consumer reviews are quite decent. They get particularly high marks for grip in wet weather. In comparison with the Michelins, the PSS were slightly higher rated.

I'd certainly consider the Michelins when I need to replace them, especially as they are cheaper compared to the Dunlops, but I don't see a reason to change now.

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irickchad

· #5 · Apr 20, 2017

Doctor Jeff said:
The expert reviews of the Dunlop and consumer reviews are quite decent. They get particularly high marks for grip in wet weather. In comparison with the Michelins, the PSS were slightly higher rated.

I'd certainly consider the Michelins when I need to replace them, especially as they are cheaper compared to the Dunlops, but I don't see a reason to change now.

They're fine for a stock tire. Nothing "wrong" with them, there are just better options out there when it's replacement time.

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Stanley Yahtzee

· #6 · May 4, 2017

im pretty sure when i get my wrx(late october) im gonna immediately take the dunlops off and put winter tires on the stock wheels. then when spring comes im gonna buy a 2nd set of wheels, i may get some 18s but definitely 8" wide and put some 245 wide pilot super sports on them. i dunno what very slightly used dunlops will be worth but im sure someone will want them. Michelin is just too good man.

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zax

· #7 · May 4, 2017

Certainly compared to winter tires they are far more grippy, but they are a far cry from a good track tire. As for OEM rubber, they are OK. 240TW, so you'd expect the 200TW tires to be much more grippy.

My complaint with the OEM Dunlop Sportmaxx SPs is that they get greasy quickly and lose traction.

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zax

· #8 · May 4, 2017

Stanley Yahtzee said:
im pretty sure when i get my wrx(late october) im gonna immediately take the dunlops off and put winter tires on the stock wheels. then when spring comes im gonna buy a 2nd set of wheels, i may get some 18s but definitely 8" wide and put some 245 wide pilot super sports on them. i dunno what very slightly used dunlops will be worth but im sure someone will want them. Michelin is just too good man.

The Pilot Super Sports are 300TW, so they will have much better wear characteristics compared to the OEM Dunlop rubber, but no real performance advantage. I personally wouldn't waste your time.

For the price, I just don't think you will be able to beat the upcoming Hankook Ventus RS4s.

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Stanley Yahtzee

· #9 · May 4, 2017

so your telling me tire racks ratings are worthless? what a concept. i mean it wouldn't shock me but a lot of people swear by Michelin, a lot of testing has been done showing their tires are the best, could all be bogus sure but i haven't really heard someone say otherwise till now. can you point me towards some reading on the subject?

the thing is im going to end up with 2 sets of wheels no matter what. ive read that you really want a 8" wide wheel for 245s, witch i want(and lighter wheels than oem too). the wrx comes with 7.5" so the obvious choice is for that to be my winter set since ive also read that having slightly skinnier tires helps in snow.

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zax

· #10 · May 4, 2017

Stanley Yahtzee said:
so your telling me tire racks ratings are worthless? what a concept. i mean it wouldn't shock me but a lot of people swear by Michelin, a lot of testing has been done showing their tires are the best, could all be bogus sure but i haven't really heard someone say otherwise till now. can you point me towards some reading on the subject?

the thing is im going to end up with 2 sets of wheels no matter what. ive read that you really want a 8" wide wheel for 245s, witch i want(and lighter wheels than oem too). the wrx comes with 7.5" so the obvious choice is for that to be my winter set since ive also read that having slightly skinnier tires helps in snow.

I'd be careful of biasing to a particular brand.

Exactly what are your goals with the car? These should be answered first. A tire with a wide heat range (i.e. one optimized for track work) will generally have a lower treadwear (TW) rating and consequently wear out much quicker. The PSS tire is optimized for high treadwear (300TW) and will not be competitive in autocross or on the track with a 200TW tire. The PSS tire heat characteristics are roughly equivalent to the OEM Dunlop Sportmaxx SP tires, but with better treadwear (300 vs. 240).

I'm not really quite sure what you mean by Tirerack ratings. Do you mean the user ratings? Of course, most of the time you will find user ratings to have heavy confirmation bias. Someone who is purchasing a 300TW tire will less likely be competing in AutoCross or road racing (these people would choose a 200 or lower TW tire) and therefore be less critical about the performance characteristics of the tire. You'll find that the people who buy PSS tires will be satisfied with the performance based on the fact that they do not use the tire competitively. This does not change the fact that a Potenza RE71R signficantly outperforms the PSS in cornering.

To quickly make my point, here are the reviews from the MPSS tires

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...in&tireModel=Pilot+Super+Sport#RatingsReviews

and the RE71Rs

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...nza+RE-71R&partnum=735WR8RE71R#RatingsReviews

First two reviews on the RE71Rs were from survey participants claiming to use the tire for "Track/Autocross" whereas the MPSS were reviewed for typical road driving.

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zax

· #11 · May 4, 2017

Stanley Yahtzee said:
the thing is im going to end up with 2 sets of wheels no matter what. ive read that you really want a 8" wide wheel for 245s, witch i want(and lighter wheels than oem too). the wrx comes with 7.5" so the obvious choice is for that to be my winter set since ive also read that having slightly skinnier tires helps in snow.

FYR, the base model WRX comes with 17x8 wheels from the factory. The Premium and Limited models ship with 18x8.5 wheels.

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Stanley Yahtzee

· #12 · May 4, 2017

you know i actually never noticed those numbers are simply customer survey results. i was very ignorant to assume they were actually based on some kind of scientific facts. michelin this year made some collaborations with big car you-tubers and they all spoke highly of michelin, again easily could be biased. well consider my bubble burst, this is not as simple as i thought.

yea they do come with 8" wide, i wonder where i read 7.5 thats odd. i cant get a premium or limited because they also come with a moonroof witch removes over 2" of headroom, i think the performance package deletes it but the car is just getting way too expensive at that point and i wanna choose my own exhaust when the time comes.

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