So yeah, these tires are packed with pure awesome.
They won several SEMA Awards and were tested by many auto-cross drivers, such as Richard Jung. He won the Street Touring Ultra (STU) class with the new street tires on his Mitsubishi Evo in the 2008 Tire Rack ProSolo opener at the former U.S. Marine air station. He was the only participant using the Z1 Star Spec tires. People have also claimed that these tires UNSHAVED were better than their previously SHAVED Bridgestone RE-01R and even Yokohama ADVAN Neovas. If these were to be shaved, I’m sure the results would be EVEN better!
They heat up faster, have stiffer sidewalls and are more predictable at just a 3/4 of the price of a RE-01R and Advan Neovas.
I just picked these up today for myself and some customers, they’re just too sexy I had to post pictures.
PS: I forgot to mention, GBtires has awesome pricing on these
Here’s a little background info for those asking me:
The Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec is Dunlop’s Extreme Performance Summer tire developed for serious sports car, sports coupe and performance sedan enthusiasts looking for race tire-like traction on the street or for use in autocross, drifting and track events. The Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec is for drivers who don’t want to wait as long for their tires to come in during initial runs, as well as drivers of lighter weight vehicles who are often confronted with the task of working tire temperatures up to the point of generating peak grip.
As an evolution of the Direzza Sport Z1 and continuing to use the same tread design, the Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tread compound helps provide faster lap times from the start by developing more traction in temperate temperatures along with consistent grip on subsequent laps when the tires are fully warmed up. While this means the Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tread compound accommodates a wider operating temperature range than the original Direzza Sport Z1 and reaches its maximum grip level faster, Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec summer tires are not intended to be driven through snow, on ice or in near-freezing temperatures.
Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tires confirm their “Star Spec” identity in the form of a 5-pointed star symbol branded adjacent to the Direzza Sport Z1 name on the sidewall. However, this 5-pointed star should not be confused with the same symbol often branded by tire manufacturers on the sidewalls of Original Equipment tires for BMW vehicles.
The Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tread compound is molded into a directional design featuring notched, continuous shoulder ribs, large intermediate shoulder blocks and a wide center rib to deliver consistent contact with the road and enhance grip during cornering. Two wide, circumferential center grooves, wavy shoulder grooves and multiple lateral grooves provide water evacuation to enhance wet traction. The tire’s internal structure includes two wide steel belts reinforced by JointLess Band (JLB) Technology spirally wound polyamide to provide strength, uniform ride quality and high-speed capability while steel cord reinforced, 2-ply polyester sidewalls help resist lateral deflection to provide responsive handling and cornering stability.
I have Hankook R-S2 Z212 which also have a 200AA treadwear in 225/50R16 all around, but they are going to have to be changed real soon and I was going to get the same ones again (they are one of few companies that make 245/45R16 and i wanted to get that for the back), but I might stay with 225/50R16 all around. I was also looking at the RT-615, but these seem much better in the wet…
How would these compare to the Hankook R-S2? Anyone know?
My rims are 16x8 and 16x9, right now I have 225/50 all around.
I would want 225/50 front and 245/45 rear.
245/45 is only available in the R-S2, T1R and the ES100. Dunlop SP8000 to, but wayyy to expensive.
As far as I know, the R-S2 is the grippiest dry tire of the 3, so these are the ones I’d get in the back.
For the front, I was wondering if it would be ok to get some tires that are grippier then the R-S2, I would assume the balance would stay similar since the back would have extra width, but the overall traction would go up. Am I way off?
225/40/19 245/40/19