Capital Driving Club Discussion Forum

I'm shopping around for better tires for next season in the hopes I'll be able to afford some. (I will then no longer have the excuse of "My tires suck" for being slow, however.)

I've heard chatter about Dunlop making a second version of the much-venerated Star Specs. To wit, Tire Rack lists my vehicle's size on "Closeout." Does anyone have any info on this? Is there a new version of Star Specs coming out soon?

I read, although can't for the life of me remember where, that the new version will be coming out in March-ish.

BugBomb wrote:http://www.onehotlap.com/2012/11/dunlop ... re-as.html

Thanks for the link! According to the tire size chart, the ZII won't be available in my size. Dang it!

unless you're at a point where you feel like the car is holding you back, I'd be all over a close-out deal on the current Star Specs.

Wade Chamberlain wrote:unless you're at a point where you feel like the car is holding you back, I'd be all over a close-out deal on the current Star Specs.

Agreed. I've been through 3 sets of the current generation Star Specs and they're a good tire for a heavier car like yours. The Hankook RS-3 is another good one that is cheaper.

*10000 for Star Specs

z1's are on "closeout" but don't seem to actually be discounted.

Word on the street is TireRack won't be getting any more Z1's in stock before the Z2's get here in ~Feb. Hence why the closeout pricing is still ridiculously expensive. The Z1's, on "closeout", are $50 more per tire than when I bought them early last year. I'd wait for the Z2's. The quotes tirerack is giving to people for expected pricing on the Z2's is cheaper than the closeout prices on Z1's.

My .02.

yikes. I made my statement above assuming a usual level of tirerack close-out discount. If the pricing sucks, then it might pay to wait for the Z2 or keep a close eye on the closeout pricing and see if they drop it as they get closer to a changeover.

Thanks for the good info.... looks like a very nice selection of suitable Star Spec ZII tyres for my Mini... I will hold off until they are available this Spring!

Vince what size tires are you planning on running on the 'stang?

v10climber wrote:Vince what size tires are you planning on running on the 'stang?

Currently, I run 255/45ZR18s. That's as wide as I can go on the current 8" wheels. I was considering purchasing Z1 Star Specs in 245/45ZR18, which were slightly shorter but not by too much.

I need a tire diameter of around 27". I wanted NT05s, but I'll have to upgrade to a 9" rim. I might end up having to do that, but I'd like to get a good set of ~200 treadwear street tires to fit on my current 8" wheels for next season and then for the '14 season get a second set of wider wheels for slicks.

If you're going to do any track driving, i would also recommend the Kumho XS. They love heat and are very durable. Because they are optimized for high temps, they may not be as great for autocross, so the star specs are still a great choice.

Well, Larry and Andy think I can fit 275s on my wheels, so that just opened up a TON of options.

Suggestions so far have been Kuhmo XS, Nitto NT05, and something by Bridgestone? What else should I look at?

You're rims are 8" wide? Why not just get the 245/45/18s? It's practically 27". I've always heard if your tires are too wide for your wheels the contact patch won't be stable...???

http://mustangforums.com/forum/2005-201 ... rim-2.html

You can get R-S3 in 235/45-18...

Sky Render wrote:Well, Larry and Andy think I can fit 275s on my wheels, so that just opened up a TON of options.

Suggestions so far have been Kuhmo XS, Nitto NT05, and something by Bridgestone? What else should I look at?

Dunlop star specs, kumho xs, hankook rs-3, nitto nt-05, toyo r1r (may be too soft for heavy car), bridgestone re-11, yokohama ad08, falken azenis (may overheat on heavy car)...

Sky Render wrote:I need a tire diameter of around 27". I wanted NT05s, but I'll have to upgrade to a 9" rim. I might end up having to do that, but I'd like to get a good set of ~200 treadwear street tires to fit on my current 8" wheels for next season and then for the '14 season get a second set of wider wheels for slicks.

Are we talking like V710 slicks here or just sticky street tires? I'll go ahead and say it. Race tires are awesome... when somebody else carries them to/from events and puts them on the car you're driving

Sky Render wrote:Well, Larry and Andy think I can fit 275s on my wheels, so that just opened up a TON of options.

Suggestions so far have been Kuhmo XS, Nitto NT05, and something by Bridgestone? What else should I look at?

You can definitely "fit" a 275 on an 8" wide rim but it's not ideal. A stiff-walled race tires wouldn't flinch but some of the street tires have kind of a soft sidewall. You don't want to pinch them too much. Ideally you would just buy a different set of rims but that's more $$$. I would buy a set of RS-3s in 265/40/18 and spend the money you were going to spend on new rims on a Evo school or one of the SCCA drivers schools.

The NT-05s are meh, the XS are great except in the rain, the RE-11s are expensive, the star specs don't come in the proper size, the R1Rs don't come in the right size. Really I think your only options are the RS-3s or AD-08s in 265/40/18.

A lot of folks say the kumho xs is poor in the rain. i tried them in the rain at my first track day in the integra. they were good performers. i scrubbed them in at two autocrosses prior to the track day. i lapped a porsche 944 race car in a stock integra on the kumho xs in rain. maybe they suck when they are completely fresh, but after a few heat cycles they do pretty well. braking modulation and slide recovery are both predictable.

i know the car and driver tire test crapped all over them, but they seemed better in real life that what was claimed. that said, i hear the dunlop star spec is a great rain tire.

For what it's worth I got a set of star specs in my OEM size and they were more than a full inch wider than the 'identical' sized tires they were replacing. That being said I was going to suggest just getting the size that you were working with and don't worry about maximizing width so much, I think the superior compound will be such a leap in performance anyway, I wouldn't bother with an oversized tire until you've experienced the standard width first.

Nathan Atkins wrote:For what it's worth I got a set of star specs in my OEM size and they were more than a full inch wider than the 'identical' sized tires they were replacing. That being said I was going to suggest just getting the size that you were working with and don't worry about maximizing width so much, I think the superior compound will be such a leap in performance anyway, I wouldn't bother with an oversized tire until you've experienced the standard width first.

The Star Specs are all too short. They don't make tires big enough for muscle cars.

Regardless, some piece of crap whose daddy didn't love him enough slashed my tires, and the only thing I could afford at the time were the same, crappy Nitto NT555s, so I might be stuck with them for another year.

RE-11's (and Ecsta MX XRP if you want a run flat option) are available in the 275/40/18 size, they're both over 300 each though and that's still a ~2.2% reduction

Hmmm...if it were my 'Stang I'd just get the Star Specs in 245/45/18, they're only 2.1% shorter, not that you need more torque to the wheels, but I'd view that as a positive.

phoenix335 wrote:

Sky Render wrote: The Star Specs are all too short. They don't make tires big enough for muscle cars.

Regardless, some piece of crap whose daddy didn't love him enough slashed my tires, and the only thing I could afford at the time were the same, crappy Nitto NT555s, so I might be stuck with them for another year.

I have a set of Hankook RS-3s that have a season on them (came off my BMW) that i'll let go for cheap cheap cheap (150 for the set). They are 245 18s and have probably another season on them. They are great tires.

Wow, really?! What is the profile size on them?