I am planning on purchasing wheels come summer. I am thinking of these wheels

My question is on the tires I should get. I have narrowed it down to two or possibly three depending on my money situation. I was thinking either the Kuhmo ECSTA Supra 712's which can be seen here or the Yokohama Parada Spec II tires which can be seen here, my last option if I have enough money are Bridgestone Potenza SO-3 tires.

I am going with 215 40 17 series tires. I'm looking for a tire that will give me the best combination of both performance, and ride comfort. Any information you guys could give would be appreciated.

This post has been edited by 94Toy: Jan 10, 2004 - 12:24 AM

I originally had the Paradas (not the Spec II, but the first gen of them and they are very similar) and they preformed great, however I only got a little over a year out of them. The tread went very fast because the rubber was so soft. I even keep them rotated every 6000 miles or so and took it easy on them. Ride comfort was pretty decent also.

I'd recomend going with an H speed rating to get better tread life. Unless you'll be racing a lot, you won't notice too much of a difference in getting a Z rated tire and they'll last a considerably less amount of time.

Right now, I've got Yokahoma Avid H4 in the same size you are looking at getting and am very pleased. They preform well enough for what I've had them for about a year and a half and there's still a lot of tread left. I hope this helped you some.

94Toy,

I like your taste in wheels. I just love a nice 5-spoke design, especially with a 5-lug bolt pattern.

As to the tires... I was not all that impressed with the Paradas I had, they were a bit noisy and I didn't see great grip. Not a bad tire, mind you, but there are better ones for the money.

If you want great grip in the dry, and really good grip in the wet, I recommend the Falken Azenis Sport. They are bar-none the grippiest tire out there. It will wear faster than most, but as long as you don't push them real hard, or run some crazy alignment settings (like I do) then I would expect 15 - 20K out of them. You can check them out here: Azenis Sport

I have found a decent compromise to be the Bridgestone Potenza RE092. I can get them pretty cheap, which is good because I wear them out fast. Good grip in the wet and dry.

Good Luck
Mark