I'm finally straying from my Nitto NT05 which I've owned at least 3 sets. Part of it is out of bored one. Part is because the Hankook RS-3 is supposedly a better performer in the dry and they get up to temp quicker along with coming with considerably more tread depth. The other reason is I've had two of the same failures with the NT05.

The first time it happened I figured it was a one time deal but with this latest identical failure on the opposite side of the car it's time to switch. It's basically a 1" wide section of the tread on the inside of the tire that's worn bald with steel showing in a few places. The other 90% of the tread looks perfect. At first glance it looks like an alignment issue. However, I would have to have 10 degrees of camber for this kind of wear only on the very inside and even part of the sidewall. The kicker is the fact that it's not even around the circumference of the tire. There's one spot in this worn out side that looks fine then rotate it a few inches and there's metal. Another few inches it's worn but not too bad and another few inches and it's metal. It seems like a defective tire. My compliance bushings are practically new. Shocks are great. I had the alignment checked a month ago. This is one of about an additional $1,000 worth of things I found wrong as I was doing the timing belt.

So I decided to go with the RS3 not only for it's better performance but in the hopes I won't have to prematurely replace them like the Nittos. I was going to order from Tirerack but they don't seem to have my size. After using the search, the tire came up but there's no price and no way to add it to the cart. I'm buying struts for the other car and was hoping to buy both from the same place. Summit has both and that's probably where I'll order from but there's an 8 day delay on the tires and I need them now, the car is pretty much undrivable in the shape it's in.

Any suggestions on other tires (Justin??). Anyone know what it means when the tire does not have a price associated with it on Tirerack? I need to get these today. Any help is appreciated.

 

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...%2FPerformance

I highly recommend DTD ^^

When I ordered my V12's I ended up calling and got some money off, about $6 a tire. They shipped fast too.

Good luck! Hope that helps!

They'll price match if you can find it cheaper somewhere else too.

 

Back order and sold out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks! That was one of the nicest guys I've ever talked to. He told me they're not expected for another 30-45 days. I got desperate and started looking around locally and one shop said they had two in Texas. I'm waiting on a call back to see if he can get them. I'll take just the two for now, 45 days isn't too terribly bad to have mismatched tires I guess.

It looks like discount tire has the NT05 in stock so if I have to I'll order just one to get the car going and sell the set of 4 cheap when the RS-3 comes in.

 

I am anxious to read your review of them! I was looking at them recently, and didn't know that they would be difficult to get (also lookin for 255/40/17). Keep us updated!

 

No problem! Glad I could help!

 

No RS3 for me today. I ordered a single NT05 to get me through. The shop that was looking for me said 4 weeks. Anyone want a very lightly used NT05 and 3 others with 50% left?

I'm definitely going for the RS-3 the second they're in stock.

 

Awesome! I look forward to your review on them as well. How many miles do you usually put on your car per year?

Curious on the treadwear. My V12 EVO's are holding up pretty well, I have about 15k miles on them and just recently had them flipped since I'm running a little camber.

 

At most I put 2,500 miles a year and that accounts for the occasional out of town trip. That's why I don't mind the soft rubber that's going to wear out quicker. I should get 4 years out of these tires minimum.

The RS-3 was rated at 140 treadwear but they changed it to 200 with no changes to the compound. The NT05 is rated at 200 as well and I can get about 15,000 miles out of them when they're not failing early.

To be honest, I would run an R compound like the Nitto NT01 or something similar with as little as I drive my car but in a test I did years ago, the extreme performance summer tires perform better under normal street conditions. The R compounds had the highest grip once warm but they never got warm enough on the street. In normal driving, the NT05 actually had better traction. You had to drive like a complete moron to get the R compounds up to temp. You would probably end up in jail before they hit full traction. And that says a lot because I've been known to do burnouts at a redlight to heat the tires before a street race and I still won't use the R compounds.

 

i, too, get about 10k to 15k with these tread wear ratings of 150-200.
and I dont daily drive.

Austin, they're gonna go a lot quicker than your V12's. especially if you run more negative camber than stock.

 

Yeah, I figured they would since they're higher performance than the V12's.

Thank you, IHC, 2500 miles that's so low.

Well I hope the RS-3's work out for you!

 

So, after a little wait, I just ordered and paid for my RS-3s in the 255/40/17 size as usual. There's a small chance they might be here tomorrow but I'll probably have to wait till Monday. I'm very excited and a little scared since I've run at least 3 sets of NT05 and they're proven to work so well.

I'm glad it took a while because these are the version 2. I'll explain why by talking about the biggest complaint I have with the NT05. It's traction before they warm up. I like going sideways. I'm used to it literally making a pass at 60mph or going to the track and going sideways at 100mph in my turbo car. However, it's not nice not always knowing how the car is going to react. I've had the TL sideways around one long corner in particular when I'm late for work (at 4:20am, no one around) more times than I can count because the tires were cold and at speeds it would normally take easily in the afternoon. It seems like when the tires are cold the car oversteers (tail out) which is better than the front pushing but still....

There's not just speed but safety when cold. What about stopping distance if I have to make an emergency stop and the tire is 60F. What about swerving around an obstacle as I did today luckily with warm tires. I even got a comment from a guy in a diesel F350 that must have been behind me that he had never seen a car handle like that. It was just a piece of plywood but it could've done some bad damage to the car. Anyway, while sideways is good for fun, safety and performance are far more important. This is not a problem with just the NT05, every tire with this kind of hot grip that doesn't get slippery at the track when very hot will suffer in the cold. By cold I'm talking below 100F or so. When I complain about traction, these tires are no worse than the stock tires were, to keep it in perspective.

One of the biggest complaints I saw with the RS-3 was it's cold traction. The new version 2 gets a few complaints from the track crowd about overheating and getting greasy at the track on heavier (non Miata and S2000) cars. Since I have no plans to track the TL again since she's getting older and all of my money is going into building the other car, this is good news. Apparently these tires are ready to go right out of the gate, at least in the summer. What good is a tire's potential when it's not at it's optimum temp when you need it?

So to sum up I have high hopes that not only will these tires outperform the NT05 under optimal conditions, I hope and I think that they will seriously outperform the Nittos on the first trip out of the driveway and for most street driving. I've gotten used to these sticky tires and their double digit 60-0mph stopping distances have saved me more than once. Maybe I can improve on the NT05 by a foot or two but more importantly they should be much better performers when cold.

I know that was boring but I wanted to state what I expect to gain out of these tires other than better grip when fully warmed up which doesn't happen under street conditions often. Next up will be the review. Probably subjective first and objective once I get the time to take measurements. Hopefully I didn't waste $850 today as my Nittos did a lot well, wet traction, low noise, never got greasy, etc.

I also have a 3 month old NT05 with about 350 miles I had to put on it to get me through till these tires came in if anyone needs one by chance. More to come.

 

Got the RS-3s installed today. All I can say is unbelievable. I remember how the Nittos set the bar eventually but they weren't super impressive right off the bat. They needed a week of driving before traction levels really rose. Not the case with these. On the way to the tire shop I hit ABS several times to remember what they feel like. Just a mile after leaving the shop I hit ABS a couple times on the new tires and it was instantly obvious, absolutely no doubt these tires are in a different class. I never thought I would say the NT05s were outclassed in every way a tire could be out classed.

Dry grip is enormous. It's literally R compound level, just without the need for much heat, I'm not exaggerating. This was with just a couple miles on them. They should improve over time.

They're near silent. I forgot how quiet the TL is supposed to be.

Turn in and feel are totally different then the NT05. While the RS3 feels not quite as sharp at first, I quickly realized they have less sidewall give in a corner where the Nitto has a little sway and then tightens up, making the car jerk and giving a false feeling of sharp handling. The RS3s seem to roll better which is contradictory, go figure.

For what it's worth, they look great. The sidewall is awesome. The tread is pretty nice but not quite as exotic as the NT05.

EVERYTHING sticks to the rubber. Looking at the tires in my garage after a couple miles of driving, there was a lot small rocks stuck into the rubber

I expected to get similar performance levels to the NT05, maybe a little worse since they're new. I did not expect them to totally walk all over the NT05 so badly and for it to be immediately obvious. I'm in awe at these tires. I don't expect them to last more than 15k bit wow, what amazing performance. I still can't get over it. Plus, 15k is over 4yrs for me so I'm ok with that.

I'll get objective data in a month or so. Performance should only get better from here. The best part is they have more traction than the Nittos when cold as the Nittos do fully warmed up. Just amazing. I did not get it aligned so nothing changed but the tires. I will be getting it aligned very soon though. The shop scratched the hell out of my rims so that will be my mission after work tomorrow. Not looking forward to that battle in 107 degree weather.

I believe these tires have completely blurred the line between street and R compound. I'm sure under full race conditions the R compounds will hold up better to the heat but for street use temps the RS3 will walk all over the R compound. I truly believe that with both tires at their optimum temps, the RS3 gives up almost nothing. I'm looking forward to getting up and leaving for work at 4:30am for the first time in a long time.

 

I'm pretty sure I tore the subframe this morning. Huge pop and lots of body roll afterwards. I was trying to slalom and see what it would take to get the ass to step out. Never got it to slide.

 

RS-3s are a track favorite in the S2000 world, so you made a good choice for dry grip.

They do not like the rain, and they do not like freezing/ice/snow.

For a tire with comparable grip and better rain performance, next time look into the Dunlop ZII. They cost a bit more, but they will also last longer.

 

I haven't seen the latest version of that tire yet. I've always liked them.

It only rains a few days a year here and I put about 1500-2000 miles a year on it so even with the soft rubber I should get 4-5 years out if them assuming a good alignment. That reminds me, it's time to buy a camber kit.

 

^ IHC how are the Hankook RS-3's after you've put some more miles on them?

 

I struggle a lot to move to a different tire from the RS3 just because of how good they have behaved..

I have about 10 track events on my set and they are great.. Sees minimal road use but i do drive it to and from the track and last event I came back under a really bad storm and they still performed well under that heavy rain..

Interested to read IHC feedback after his use..

I have thought about moving to either Rival's, R888 or Z214 (this last one only if I trailer the car)