Falken AZENIS RT-615's or YOKO ADVAN NEOVA AD07's???
Im looking at getting new tires for my evo..and was wondering if anyone has heard anything about either of these two... On one hand, the azenis are cheaper..but do not come in the exact size im looking for...id either go with a 235/40R17 or 255/40R17..(dont want a 245/45 because i have that size now..and the sidewall is too tall)...the advans come in the exact size i want (245/40) but are more expensive...If the yoko's are better...i will fork out the extra bucks...but if the azenis are a better tire..then i will suffer the size difference.
thanks
Yeah, from what i hear...those are grippy tires. I was looking at the older ones (RT-215's) but they only come up to V-rated...( i used to work for a tire store..and know that thats not a huge deal) but i want to kinda keep to the w-rating that the stockers came with. So the azenis (RT-615's) are the way to go??
in the august issue of Grassroots motorsports magazine they had a tire comparison with a bunch of auto-x tires. azenis rt-615 got first place, the azenis rt-215 got second the advan neova ad07 got 3rd place the hankook rs-2 got 4th place and the BFG g-froce kdw got last. They tested these tires by doind laps at a track to see what tire gripped the most.
I just got the RT615's in 255/40/17. They handle well from what I can tell. Tuning and developing the MAFTPro so really have not pounded it in the twisties yet.
I have not noticed additional noise over the ADVANs, but they are supposed to be just as noisy.
The fact that they are 180 treadwear and your wallet should be the two factors in determining if these would work as daily driver tires as they will last maybe 10-12k just like the advans.
The RT-215s were extremely noisy as they wore down close to the wear bars. I have separate racing wheels and tires now so I don't care so much about having the absolute best street tires, but I've been quite happy with the Hankook RS2s (245/45-17 on stock wheels). Shipped free from DiscountTireDirect, I think they're just about the best bang for the buck.
This isn't going to be a completely fair comparison as the sizes vary a bit, but hopefully it will be helpful. Last year I ran the RT-615's in 275/40/17. This year I am running the Advan Neova's in 285/30/18. All I can say is that these two tires feel COMPLETELY different.
First off, the Azenis worked best at around 38psi front, 42 psi rear. The Neova's work best at around 28-30psi front, 32 psi rear. They respond to pressure changes way different.
The Azenis had quicker, snappier turn-in, but this could be caused by different wheel offset, not really sure. The Neova is a bit slower on turn in, but seems to have much more overall grip through the corner. And the grip just feels different. I can't really even put it in words. The first time I drove the Neova's at an autocross I was almost speechless at how they felt. I will try to get on them again this weekend at a test and tune day before my next autocross so that I can figure out how to put it in words.
As far as wear on the Azenis - I got about 12 autocrosses, 60 drag launches, 20000 HARD miles with lots of negative camber, and then the inside edge just started to wear smooth. One other difference in wear, the surface of the Azenis was always very smooth as it wore(high silica content?), whereas the Neova's have a very rough texture. I only have about a thousand miles on the Neovas, so time will tell how well they wear, but I don't think they will last as long as the Azenis.
The only reason I switched to the Advan Neovas was because the Azenis weren't available in a 285/30/18. If they do come out with that size, it will be a tough decision when this set wears out!
Ive currently got the 615s on my evo and I feel they are pretty good. But Ive got the 245/45 and the sidewall is definitely too tall. I wont go with the 255, its too wide imo. But the 245 is too tall so I was thinking of trying the advans next time around. I can say the 615s are quieter than my stock advans were and are a more progressive tire in the way they break away at the limit. However once there too hot they get really loud and tend to breakaway almost on off, now this is after lots of pounding on them but I still feel the stock advans put up with the heat better than my 615s have. When these are done if they havent come out with a 245/40 I will be switching to the advans if I havent switched to a wider rim by then.
255 is great. I have them and am tearing up the track almost like using race tires. Yesterday, I ran the fastest lap of the day by almost a full 2 seconds over the next car, and this was against about 20-25 cars in HPDE3/HPDE4 with transponders. Many didn't have transponders, but I was faster than all of them, too. Only one full race car from AI class was in there, and he was the one almost 2 seconds behind. The next closest was a 911 turbo 3.5 seconds behind. This is on stock suspension, 255/40-17 RT615s on stock-size 17X8 Rota Torques, and some good brake pads+fluid. The 255s fit wonderfuly with only a little bit of the contact patch not used. To me, even if they are slightly not as good as Advans, that minimal difference isn't worth the $125/tire price differential. Getting a neary-new set of Advans off a new Evo who upgraded rims right away is the best way to go there...
Yeah I thought about looking around for a slightly used set of factory tires but usually they want to sell you the wheels too. Ive got two reasons for not running the 255s right now. One being that with an aggresive alignment a few people I know report slight rubbing at full lock underload, I know its not a big deal but something Id like to avoid for now. And the other being info gleamed from talking to tire guys and reading on the net, I havent gotten any of this info from evo guys or shops so I am not completely sure if its true but I have shyed away just to be safe. It has been said when stepping up to a 255 to fit on an 8 inch rim it bows the center of the tire up effectively decreasing the contact patch of the tire slightly, so in essence you get less rubber on the road than if you were to run a 235 or 245 tire. What with evo guys running good times on socalevo, and in your case warrtalon I am beginning to wonder if its true, but for now I am still looking at the 245s.
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