tonester

iTrader: (1)

I'm in the market for some new tires soon and after reading through all the threads here, I've narrowed my choices down to these 2. I've read the comparisions C&D did on tires back in 2009 and the Direzza came up on top. There was also a comparison test on tirerack on summer tires and the SP Sport Maxx TT scored pretty well.

If anyone here has had any experience with either of these tires, I would very much appreciate your feedback on them.

thanks

TLAwesome

I have no personal experience with either tire I'm sorry to say, but perhaps this will help you decide. Both are excellent tires. The Direzza Star Spec (the one C&D reviewed) is an Extreme performance tire which will wear very quickly and give you great dry traction but sacrifices some wet traction compared to the Sport Max TT, particularly wet breaking where it only gets an "A" rating (vs. the TT's "AA" rating). The Sport Max TT is a more balanced tire and falls in the "Max" performance category. The Sport Max TT should give a more comfortable ride, with excellent handling in wet & dry. I note that Tirerack's test results do not seem directly comparable, even though they used the same car.

German publication Autobild.de had this to say of the Sport Max TT in the 225/45 R17 size:

"Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT (ca. 145 Euro): Stärken: dynamische Handlingeigenschaften mit sehr guter Seitenführung und kurzen Bremswegen auf trockener Piste, niedriger Rollwiderstand. Schwächen: durchschnittliche Sicherheitsreserven bei Aquaplaning. Bewertung: Gut."

Translation:

'Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT (approx. 145 Euro): Strengths: dynamic handling characteristics with excellent lateral stability and short braking distances on dry roads, low rolling resistance. Weaknesses: average aquaplaning safety reserves. Review: Good."

http://www.autobild.de/artikel/somme...st_878025.html

Keep in mind the far less expensive Ventus V12 evo did very well in comparison to both the Star Spec and the TT. Also consider the Continental ExtremeContact DW if ride-quality and treadlife are important to you.

I hate cars

I visit several auto-x forums and other road racing forums. The overall recommendation for a street tire that would do well on the track was the Nitto NT05. It seems to edge out the Star Spec in some categories but overall very close.

I've run them for over 10,000 miles now. Pretty quiet for what they are. Treadwear isn't as bad as you would think for a tire with a 200 rating. Mine are maybe halfway to the wear markers at this mileage but I do a lot of freeway driving.

Braking is awesome. Cornering is amazing. It took me a while to get up the nerve to push these to their limits on the street. The limit is so high that it's hard to force yourself to take it there. I would hit the point where my old tires would break free at and the car was planted and stable with tons of traction left. But one area these tires really shine is the turn-in crispness. It's very sharp but without having an ultra stiff sidewall. The ride is what you would expect, firmer than stock but softer than many tires in lower performance categories. I think much of the turn-in crispness is from the large treadblocks.

In the rain they're average. I tried several ABS stops and some cornering in open areas and they're no worse than anything else I've run.

The big downside on a tire like this is they do like summer temps. In the middle of winter traction is still better than a normal tire but you have to remember not to push them because it is a larger difference between hot and cold than normal tires. I think this is true with any aggressive soft compound tire.

If you happen to try these, they run a little narrow. I'm running a 255/40 on the stock rims and they look like a 245.

Just found this older thread. I should've just linked to it in the first place instead of writing the above.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...highlight=nt05

99vtecaccord

iTrader: (8)

I've had experience with Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star. Great tires, excellect handling for summer & winter seasons. Only down side I can think of is noise level once the thread gets worn down. Other than that... Great tires for a good price. I think I paid $138 per tire a year ago

pimpin-tl

Hankook V12 Evo....way cheaper, and very good tires as they were 2nd place behind the Z1.