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Tire ratings are relative to the users experience, unless we're talking about a HUGE sampling (i.e. Tire Rack ratings) which average out in the long run...
It's hard to gauge other member's personal experiences unless you know them well.
(I find it funny that people are talking how good the Nexen and Sumitomo tires are "pretty good" in the other thread; I consider both of them "crap" in my book.)
I only see 2 people in this thread that I would really trust at this point.
It's a really fine line trying to get the BEST "street" performance tire.
You're trying to walk that fine line between "street" tire and "race" tire.
The problem here is that once you cross the boundary to "race" tire, you're playing with a different set of rules.
The problem with "race" tires is getting heat into the tires.
"Race" tires, which cold, are going to be a handful...and that's putting it mildly.
Yes, once you get them up to temps, you get to grow balls of steel.
The problem running them on the street is that you cannot always expect them to be fully up to temp for your situation, unless we're talking about a basically "closed-circuit" course like a canyon run or something.
I haven't messed with the current crop of top performers, but I can only offer you my experience.
I'm old enough to know what a set of Yokohama A008's are...
Anyone old enough to know what they are...knows what I'm talking about.
It was one of the first "cheater" slick tires that was technically "D.O.T. street-legal" (due to the two circumferencial grooves).
Some of the softer compound versions ("R", "RS", "RSII") were two-fisted steering steering on the street until they got hot...then, oh hell did they stick.
I had a set of 1st gen B.F.Goodrich Comp T/A's that I thought were the "sh*t" on the street - this was the first set of serious street tires I bought for my personal car (the A008's were always on other people's vehicles).
I've streeted full-tread Toyo RA-1's on the street.
When cold, they felt like some generic 400 treadwear M+S tires, but once you get some heat in them...did your suspension get a work out.
Bridgestone RE-71's were the king back in the day in terms of street tires.
Very nice stick and worked well even when cold - get some heat in them and traction went up a notch (not as drastic as the above two).
Dunlop countered with the SP8000, which didn't have as much stick as the RE-71, but it gave better tire wear and didn't chunk as bad when pushing the tire to the limit as the RE-71.
I run a set of Bridgestone S03 Pole Positions right now on the FC.
Great stick out of the driveway...wish the sidewalls were a little stiffer (typical of Bridgestone tires - I like Michelin sidewalls myself), but you never feel it's going to leave you hanging in a bad position - lots of feedback.
The S03 PP's breakaway feels familiarly like how the RE-71's did back in the day when you do push the tires past their traction limits.
I've got a set of Yokohama Advan AD07's (replaced by the AD08's) waiting when the S03 PP's wear out.
Now, I realize that pretty much none of that covers the tire models you guys are talking about in this thread.
(I don't think tire technology has increased that much over the past several years, IMO.)
The more important point is that I tried looking for that "ultimate street tire", and I never found it.
"Street" tires are street tires.
"Race" tires are race tires.
Unless you can live with the compromise, it's very hard to find your answer.
Most of us can probably live with the significant drop in tire life from performance tires, but the heat cycling is something that can scare the crap out of me when you least expect it.
If you guys ever do find out the answer to this...please share!
I'm all ears!
-Ted
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