My Bridgestone S03's are on their last leg. What do you guys suggest for new tires? I don't want to spend as much as the S03's this time around. I was looking at the Toyo T1-S's. The tire shop down the street tried to sell me Fuzion ZR1's claiming they were made by Bridgestone or in the same factory.... lol, I don't know about that one.

 

I switched from Pilots to my KDW's...the new tread pattern handles wet and dry very well

 

I see...

I replaced my stock 18's wheels + pilots for 19" Volk GT-C's a while back. I did a little research on Fuzion and it turns out they are a Bridgestone/Firestone brand (very weird).

 

Right now, I'm looking at:

1) Falken Azenis ST-115's

2) Hankook K104's

3) Toyo T1-S's

 

why not falken fk-451s, or the new 452 that at coming out, they are a step up from the st-115, and are more comparable to a t1-s/t1-r. Hankooks are also a good choice if you are on a budget, probably the poorest performing out the 3 you chose, but likely the cheapest also. If you can get T1-s's still I would likely go with those, but they are supposed to be kinda noisy, and the fk451s are great, but hard to find now that they stopped production. Also make sure they come in the sizes that you need, I think the hankooks don't come in g35 sizes, so you may run into a problem there.

 

hankook?? NOOOOO

 

T1S is discontinued, look for the T1R.

 

What's wrong with Hankook's? I've had them on my previous ride and they were fine for just cruising.

They make the Hankook K104's in 245/35-19 & 275/30-19 so I should be good if I chose to go that route.

 

def toyo t1r's.........search it for more opinions

 

It's true that Bridgestone/Firestone makes the Fuzion's. I work for Firestone and the Fuzion is our line geared towards the tuner market for a cheap alternative to compete with kumho and such brands.
-GP-

 

hankook is a cheap brand. ive neve rbeen a fan of the toyos but id DEF take the Toyo's over the hankooks. i stick to michelin/pirelli/dunlop etc, but ofcourse its your car. also cash factor comes into play how much you wnt to spend. coming from SO3 im assuming you spent some dough on the tires before, why go way down low?? try the PS2, T1-R, Pirelli Rosso etc

 

275/30/19 is too small for the rear, and is not a good choice as it is shorter than the stock tire size, which may affect your VDC and also offer you less protection against potholes etc. Look for a 275/35/19 or a 285/35/19 instead, which are the right size for a coupe

 

I have experienced with both Hankook and Toyo(my current,T1-R). Hankook side walls were very soft even at 35psi I can still press it in pretty deep with my fingers. And everytime I go on a sharp step driveway , It felt like I hit the rim because of the soft side walls. Now the T1R, it is really hard like the pilot sports which in all makes them excellent reaction to steering response.

BTW, the T1R picks up alot of rock, maybe because of the shovel-like >>>>> design !

 

Can't say from experience as my Bridgestones don't have but 1500 miles on them, but I was talking to my dealer last week about wheels, tires and stuff. (possibly going wider) I had the parts manager as well as a tech and a service writer tell me to stay away from the Toyo's. Even the stock size on the 19's. They had an 06 in the shop that switched to Toyo's, (I think only on the rear) same speed rating and everything and you couldn't drive it out of the lot without it setting off the VDC.

They all said it was a combination of probably a bit harder rubber, and the ECU being used to the Bridgestones traction. What was happening is that anytime at all that you tried to 'get down on it' they would slip enough to trigger the VDC. Especially if you were turning out of a driveway or something like that. It also was bad about setting off the VDC when driving hard through the twisties and TERRIBLE if the road was both twisty and bumpy. The owner literally thought he was going to lose the back end on rainy days, with the VDC kicking in so often, even though the tires were new.

They reset the ECU but the problem didn't completely go away. Ended up with the guy buying another set of Bridgestones. Problem solved.

Like I said, I've not had the full wear cycle out of these, but have had excellent service from Bridgestones in the past. I used to own a towing service (almost 18 years) and tried Goodyears, Michelins, Toyo's, Kuhmo's, General's, and of course Bridgestones. The top two were Bridgestones and Michelin, followed by Goodyears. Now these were 19", 14ply monsters but driving 60,000~70,000 miles a year gives you a good idea of how well they are made. ALL tires end up going through so many heat cycles that by the last 15% of the tread you end up with seriously hard rubber. Commercial truck tires however magnify that ten fold with some. The Goodyears not only got harder, but would get flat spots all around them because of the sectional way they were constructed. The Michelins would simply wear out WAY to quick, and be dangerous as he!! in the rain during the last 25% of the tread wear. Typically great in the dry, but God forbid you have a week of rain! The Bridgestones were more consistent from top to bottom than anything else I tried. Sure, they'd get harder at the bottom, but at least they wouldn't put me sideways in a 15,574LB truck (empty) on the top of a major Interstate junction. (One here in Atlanta we call spaghetti junction where I-285 & I-85 converge.) I've literally been sideways with my front end looking at the wall and my back end in the other lane 80' up in the air doing 45 MPH. Talk about pucker factor. And don't even THINK about hitting the brakes when that happens!!!