[CJM]

You guys are all crazy. The Star Specs SUCK. I have had 2 sets of them now and they are crap, I hate them.They are on my daily right now. I had 2 where the belts broke on me with about 30% tread left. Star specs are loud too. The Hankook Ventus R2S or RS2 (whatever it is) is way better. I had them 3 times and they were great. Azenis are too soft and greasy as mentioned. I flat spotted mine in a minor lock up, really pissed me off, took forever to wear through. I drive about anywhere from 60-200 miles A DAY. I go through tires.

re-o1r's were awesome, potenza pole position S03's are AMAZING!, hankook ventus rs2 are great, and the best cheap daily tire for all season is the kumho ecsta AST. They have been on my girl's a4 for 31,000 miles and have no camber/drag wear, and very minimal wear. They're perfect for my area which has mild rain, light snow on occaision, and hot ass summers. Awesome tires for the money.

this is all just my personal opinion, but I dunno why all the hype over the star specs. they arent even like "ok" in my book, I hate them. Grip from them is better then decent, but there are definitely tires with more grip.I felt even Azenis had better grip initially but have less life.

-Colin

 

[CJM]

I HAVE DEFINITELY HAD STAR SPECS! they are on my car as I type as this very f'n second, lol.

I have read the reviews, praises and everything else that compliments them and I just dont like them. I have hydroplaned with them multiple times in a variety of wetness levels on the road, I have flatspotted them, broke 2 belts in the sidewalls, and they dont last long at all either.

Yes I have had 2 sets.... kind of. I wore the front 2 away and then the noticed them riding like shit, taking them off, took them to a tire shop to be told they had the broken belts with about 30% left. The rears have like 60% left. I bought 2 new fronts. STAR SPECS! AGAIN! The newer they are, the louder they seem to be as well. im just not a fan. the sidewalls flex too much it seems for me too. I havent auto-x'd them, but I have beaten on them and they just arent what I thought they would be.

they are 195/55-15's on 15x6.5 wheels. crap. hankooks any day

 

[CJM]

you can see the suck right here...

this is them on my wagon. this was clearly before the wagon was totalled. they were not on the wagon at the time of the accident.

only other tires I have ever had worse then these were dunlop sp9000's. I gotta stop buying dunlops on clearance from tire rack.

 

[CJM]

maybe I think star specs suck because I had bigger and wider hankooks, im not comparing them evenly. i'll have to try them again and compare same sizes. I had 215/45-16's in the rs2's and I loved them. I dunno. now im perplexed. hmmm

 

[CJM]

Toyo:up:

 

[CJM]

which ones? I've heard better things about the RA1s than the R888s.

I only track my car and drive it on nice (dry) days, so is there anything better than the RA1s for that? I'm going 205/50/15

RA1's

they are their grippiest right before they are chorded. So that means when you buy them new, they get better and better and better:up:

 

[CJM]

bumping this thread cuz it has a lot of good info

 

[CJM]

this thread should be stickied

 

[CJM]

same here, I have ecsta XS, love them:up:

 

[CJM]

anyone have any comparison between hankook rs3's vs z1 star specs?? Rain and dry grip?

grassroots oct 2011 issue just did a writeup on rs3's, star specs, re-11's, ecsta xs, proxes r1r, and advan neova ad08's.

word for word quote on star spec:

"weve put in lots of dry laps on this model, which has been our go-to rubber for the past year.looking back over our notes, however, we had virtually no wet lap experience with this tire. Despite that fact, both test drivers felt confident with this Dunlop in the Wet. The tire communicated its capabilities well, and its overall performance felt equal in all directions. Steering response, corner grip, braking, and acceleration traction all worked in harmony."

lap times of star spec:
avg. WET: 62.345 .884 g avg g load
avg. DRY: 56.621 1.141 g avg g load

word for word on Hankook Ventus RS-3 Z222:

"Our dry track superstar forgot to bring its rainy day dance shoes. The confidence we found on it in the dry was gone in the wet, as both drivers complained of abrupt breakaway characteristics.'you have to tip toe on this one', john added (a driver). 'Relatively small slides result in big penalty as you wait for the tire to recover traction."

lap times of rs-3:
avg. WET: 63.440 .864 avg g load
avg. DRY: 55.719 1.181 avg g load

fastest dry tire in the test was the rs3.
fastest wet tire in the test was the star spec coincidentally.

the advan neova was close to the star spec WET time, only .1 off, and the advan was quicker in the dry by .35 on avg.

test car was a miata, typical.

I agree with this writeup too. my only complaint is that I feel the star specs are loud and the rs3 may be too grippy for everyday use, occasionally picking up rocks n such tossing them around in the wheel well. not to mention they wont last long either, whereas my star specs, when they didnt de-tread, lasted about 13,000 miles.

I love the kumho ecsta xs. great in the dry, good tires size offerings, decent tread wear, ok in the rain, but its always predictable. never greasy, doesnt have abrupt 'snap' in loss of traction like the rs3. you can feel when you're going to lose traction and adjust. ecsta xs gets my vote.

hope I helped.

-Col:up: