Affordable Wheels

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
April 30, 2012

These tires were on my car and slightly used when I purchased it a year ago. About 12,000+ miles I've added. Dry traction is very good. My 95M Miata handles extremely well with these. Dry traction is very good. These tires loosen up quite a bit when wet. Actually just loose enough to make wet road driving alot of fun at about the speed limit on spirited scenic drives. If your up for that. They reject hydroplaning rather well. Was forced to drive all winter with these in nothern WV. They performed better than expected in the snow on a rear wheel drive vehicle, but you better be a good driver to avoid getting stuck. However, even my spouse could handle snow under 1 inch and plowed roads. We did burn up our rear tires in >3 mild months of winter, we contend with many hills to climb. And we did climb them in the snow with these tires all winter. I'd reconsider using these if being used on a true performance vehicle with muscle. My stock 95M Miata can spin them at will and powerslide with mildly spirited driving if just a little wet. Fun for me, but dangerous at higher speeds/horsepower. These are one of the very few all-season tires available for the stock 95M Miata BBS rims. 195/50 15. Upon an inspection today I did find an outward bulge the one of my sidwalls about 2" in diameter. QC may be an issue? Overall for the price, I'm quite pleased with the performance of these tires. Can't completely say how much of it is the car and how much is the tire. But these tires are giving me exactly what I expect from my Miata and I can afford to burn them up having a little having fun. Also, they look good enough. I'm buying 2 more rear tires. Zoom-Zoom

Note: these are directional tires

Dry Traction = very good+
Wet traction = ok, safe at moderate speeds, good highway, easily pushed to fun limit
Snow traction = just good enough
Hydroplaning rejection = very good
Braking = good

Initial Review, 24,000 Miles on Tires
March 17, 2012

Vehicle: Scion xD, lower springs (about 1.5 in), after market shocks and struts, heavy duty rear torsion bar, under drive pulley, cat back TRD exhaust, 17" aftermarket wheels with 225/45 shoes.

These tires started out great. The noise wasn't bad, but the grip both wet and dry was excellent. I felt really good about these tires for about the first 12,000 miles. But things have tapered off significantly. Dry traction is falling off significantly as the tires wear; wet traction is still OK, but now I have to think about how I drive when it is wet where as I didn't used to give it a second thought.

My major gripes with these tires are road noise and ride comfort. The road noise just continues to grow as the tires wear and it wasn't great to begin with. Living in CA, we have pretty bad roads (not because of weather but because the roads are never fixed) and you both hear and feel everything with these tires.

I can't comment on the snow performance of these tires. I keep all season tires on all my cars as I do on occasion drive in snow, but my travels and weather have not brought this car into the snow just yet.

I know I drive hard and ask a lot from my tires, but I was really hoping to get a little more out of these. I'm at two years and here I am back at Tire Rack looking for some new tires. For the price, if you need a short term tire you will enjoy, these are fine. If you're going to have the car for a while and you can afford it, I would recommend spending a bit more on a higher rated tire.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
March 20, 2012

I originally bought a used set of slightly undersized Star Specs for my tC because they were convenient. I was a Bridgestone RE-11 fan. Going from 15" wheels on my old car to 17's on the tC was a shocker-RE-11's were around $50 more a tire!
With a minimal modifications, the car was competitive. When the car was replated with another tC, I bought a new set.
The only downside I had was extreme heat - a regional autocross event in 90+ degree heat. We were spraying the tires with wather between the runs. On the other hand, they excel in the cooler temps when other tires may fall off.
I have Dunlop to thank for my Regional Class Champ jacket last year. Thanks to Dunlop, I beat a Subaru 2.5 RS in the rain. Twice.
From March to October, I also daily drive this car. Good road manners. Reasonable road noise. When I store the tires over the winter, they have to be out of the house, as they smell terrible. Small price to pay for top quality tires at an affordable price!

Initial Review, 22,500 Miles on Tires
May 12, 2010

Excellent tire for the price, a great value buy. I bought these new to replace the horrid Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires that I was rolling on at the time and got the LT version.

I was looking for a year-round AT/M+S tire with some street composure, good winter performance and decent looks at an affordable price. The Rovers seemed to fit the bill with nicely designed independent tread blocks, deep grooves and some siping to handle the hard-packed snow we get up here.



They performed well during their first winter season in Canada. They plowed through moderate to deep snow with confidence. Super deep snow sometimes required 4x4 to get out of parking spaces from a standstill. Hard-pack and ice traction was decent for a non-dedicated winter tire. The siping seems to work but it's still fairly easy to break the rear end loose. However, spinning the wheels felt predictable and consistent which made it fun to drive in winter ;)



Dry weather traction is excellent. Felt a little squirmy for the first few miles but eventually broke in. I often drive my X like a sports car and the tires have never let me down.

Only took it off road once on a mild trail. They performed well in the dirt and shallow mud but got saturated in deeper mud puddles. I started to cross a mud pit that I quickly realized was too much for my tires and had difficulty reversing out. But I got out without assistance.



Wet weather traction is pretty good. There is some hydroplaning but not enough to make acceleration from a standstill a chore. The rear wheels have broken loose once or twice while taking a turn a little on the fast side but they seem to have been isolated incidents.



Although these tires are RAC/RMA certified (mountain-snowflake symbol) the rubber compound is fairly hard. This would explain the 500 tread rating. Tread depth has worn maybe 10% since I purchased it and has now been through two winters and 1.5 summers. Some of the tread blocks seem to be wearing unevenly but

Initial Review, 400 Miles on Tires
January 21, 2012

First iuse this tire for track days. The car has 19" wheels so all tires are expensive. I run the tires until the bead shows. I have run r compound ties, michielin sport cups (3), Hoosier A6 (1), street compounds Michelin PS2 (4) super sports (4), Yokohama sport vans (6) ADVAN AD08. It is within this experience that I report on the RE11. The number in the parenthesis is the number of track days I got out of each tire. The RE11 lasted 7 track days and stick well, not as good as the R-compound as you might suspect. The ADVANs wore well but did not stick. The RE11 are a good compromise of wear (cost) and grip. Until I win the lottery and can afford to rin the R-compound I'll stick with the RE11s

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
January 05, 2012

So i bought a set of star specs because of all the rave reviews ive seen here and otherwise. Greatest investment ive made in a long time. Granted, I literally only have about 100 miles on the tire currently, they are wooooooorlds better then the crap rsa's that came with the car. there is no more hesitation or nervousnes. the tires react instantly to any input from the steering wheel, and this is all while still wearing the flashing away. All this goodness and still very affordable. would recomend to anyone who is looking for a "fun" tire.

Initial Review, 83000 Miles on Tires
December 18, 2011

I got 83,000 miles on these tires and they still looked decent. Tire shop said that the tires would probably just fail due to wear than the tread wearing out. I figures with 83,000 miles it was better to replace them for new tires than take a chance of a blow out on the highway. The tires are bullet proof; excellent handling, incredible wear, fantastic smooth ride. I replaced them with same tires since it made sense not to try anything different. Well, after 40,000 miles I got a freakin nail in my front right side near the sidewall that could not be repaired with a plug. I learned that with an AWD vehilce you need to replace all 4 tires and not just one or two as you can do with a front or rear wheel drive vehicle. I couldn't put out the $1K for the Michelin's I wanted so I ended up with some Dunlop's AT20. Not exactly the same quality so I'll see how these do in comparison to the Michelin's. Recommendation: if you can afford the LTX M/S, buy them, you will not be disappointed!

Initial Review, 5000 Miles on Tires
November 06, 2011

This is my second set. Recently purchased a more aggressive wheel setup and naturally went with Hankooks. Running 235/40 fronts and 265/35 rears and continue to be pleased with the performance of such affordable tires! Yes, they need to warm up and yes, they will break traction if I want, but most of the time they are SOLID performers, rain or shine. I now have a wider patch front and rear and I still find it hard to break traction, even in the rain. I don't track them, but I really appreciate the value they bring on my daily driver. Recently went on a local club run through the twisties from the "mountain" near Skyline Drive and they held up extremely well. Even if I don't get 20K miles on them, buying them is so easy because they are so inexpensive...today.

Initial Review, 30000 Miles on Tires
November 03, 2011

I have had these tires for 30,000 miles. The wear is very good on these for being a winter tire. I had to leave these on the rear as i could afford different ones. So even on the rear the tread wear is very good. I will be using these this year and I have put the front ones back on for the winter. They have when above and beyond the call of duty for a snow tire. The Honda will go through 11" of snow(that was our first snow last year) and these are 1st tire I've had that didn't pull when you hit that unexpected patch of slush. My wife drives to Madison and back for work(75 mile round trip) and i feel better knowing these are on the car. We also have them on her Suzuki X90, 4X4 (11,000 miles),so it's a real, rear wheel drive when not in 4 wheel drive and it's a blast to drive when the snow flies!!! These are a must buy if you want to save a few$s over blizzaks. They are noisier but that's what you get with a snow tire. It's worth it!