Hey guys,
It looks like I might be getting some coupe 18's any day now and I need some suggestions on tires and tire shops in the south bay. (maybe east bay or peninsula if they are good)

So far I've narrowed it down to these four and need your impressions:
BFG T/A KDW2
Nitto NT 555
Dunlop Direzza DZ101
Yoko AVS ES100

I'd love the pilot sports, but I'm strapped as it is.

Now on to the shops. Anyone have a suggestion as to where I can buy , mount and balance these things?

Thanks in advance for the help.
Dave in Campbell

 

Hey Dave,

The KDW's are my absolute favorite tire ever. I would recommend those over anything else on the market. They have gobs of grip and handle well in both wet and dry. They have more grip than S03's and double the treadlife. Another good tire is the Falken FK452- I have them on my IS and they perform very well with minimal noise.

I'd buy the tires off of tirerack.com or edgeracing.com. As for local shops, I'd hit up Auto Innovations in Milpitas for mount/balance/alignment for a fair price and a quality job...

 

+1 for the KDW 2's. I have had 3 sets of the original tread design on my bimmer. I love the new tread set-up, which I have now. They are quite meaty and afford a bit more lip protection than other tires offer. I am currently running 255/285/35's.

 

Would you guys say KDW 2's are louder then say T1R's of the same size?

John

 

I'm running the KDW NT also, they are great tires with a lot of meat to protect your rims. Only down side is that they are loud as hell.

 

The KDW's are a bit louder, but with an exhaust you'll never hear the difference. I've got T1R's on my new rims simply because the rounder sidewall let me run a more aggressive offset. Although the T1R's are good tires, I much preferred the predictability and stickyness of the KDW's.

 

you should also consider the yokohama advan sports. they are pretty quiet and a reasonable price

 

Dunlop Direzza DZ101 SUCK! I Had NOTHING but Problems with them SUX but the Dunlops SP 9000 Were Probally the Best Tires I Ever had..........

 

Great, thanks for all the input. KDW2's were my first choice, I'll give em a go.
As for Auto Innovations, I think I've been there before a long time ago. (civic days) Anyone have a contact name I should ask for?

Thanks again.
Dave

 

I jsut got some Falken ST115s and they are great, super inexpensive. I paid $105 a tire shipped from edge racing. They are better currently then my Toyos but I have not seen any rain yet so...they are great in the dry and have very little noise.

 

I love my Bridgestone SO-3's... second set.

I may try something different since they don't last very long and they put the hurt on the checking account. But DAMN it's like having hot glue rubbed all over the tires. I've got 245 and 275/35/19. Front has absolutely NO lip protection. Rears are meaty as hell. I think I am going to switch up to 255 on the front on the next set.

 

I have Yoko AVS ES100 on my 18' tires now. So far, it's run just fine, not as smooth as the Michelin Sport but it wouldn't be so rough on my pocket. The thread seem to last longer the Sport since it's a bit heavier. I haven't try other brand yet so I have no comment. But seem like the KDW is also the most popular choice too! I think you should check out these two choice without make a big dent on your wallet! :-)
pd

 

KDW/2's for me, never the pilots again. Way more grip and control ( dry & wet), much better wear and price......and they look mean too! They are a bit louder than the pilots, so what I did ...ordered som eDead matt (like dynamat) for about $70 and matted my whole trunk...I still had a bit left over so I did other parts of the car. Now it's way more quiet than ever before. I ordered the tires from tirerack.com and had them drop shipped it a local tire shop which did the install at $25 per tire.

 

Ok, I just picked up my rims. Now, I'm a lil confused. When I go to tire rack, they tell me 225/45R18 for the front and 245/45R18 for the rear , but all four rims say 18x8 on the back side. The rims look identical and don't appear to be a staggered set. Am I missing something here?
I want to be sure I'm getting the right size(s) before I place my order.

Thanks in advance.
Dave

 

that's the correct tire sizes for coupes.