WRX Tires

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
January 27, 2013

first some background into why i love these tires! last year at watkins glen, during a COMSCC time trail/ track day i was running original equipment bridgestone re070 tires on my 06 sti, and ran a best time of 2:25 and change on the full course, over all those tires where alittle noisy when pushed hard and once hot felt like driving on grease so didnt inspire much confidence when really attacking the track.
This past sept, i attended the COMSCC event at the glen with my car now wearing michelin pilot super sports, and i must say just the 7 hour drive out was more enjoyable, quiet and noise free, then came the track time!!!
the first warm up lap with these tires and i could feel the car was more responsive, and more composed mid corner, and the normal subaru push was somewhat less than with the bridgestones, they really make you feel connected to the road almost r compound grip, after the second 25 minute session i was timed at 2:24 and change, already a full second faster than last year, with the only change being the tires.
Now came the time trail, 3 hot laps with a warmup lap, after my 3 flying laps i recorded a best lap time of 2:22, and could have gottne more but im still learning the limit of my car, so thats a full 3 seconds faster, better handling, more grip, quieter ride on the street, and great tread wear, after the two day event i only lost 2/32nds of tread, and no adverse affects on the ride home!
will deffinitly be buying more of these tires when i wear out this set, anyone whos looking for a good quality street tire that can hot lap, the michelin pilot super sport is a no brainer

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
December 29, 2012

I highly recommend the Michelin P4 if you are interested in a very high performance winter tire. I run the Michelin Super Sport as my summer tire, and these are every bit their equal in cool dry weather, and with less tread squirm. Amazing! In 10" deep, relatively dry snow, the traction was superb, no loss of grip under power or brake. Yesterday, in 4" of packed, snow, ice, and slush mix, the car floated a bit more than our FX 35 on the Blizzak LM70, but the start/stop grip was very good, even in these poor conditions. Dry and wet cornering at speed is outstanding. I am quite happy with the tire.

Initial Review, 4,800 Miles on Tires
December 29, 2012

Just got 13 inches of new snow from a major storm. Snow drifts were up to 24 inches deep. Finally got to try out these tires in significant snow. They performed flawlessly. Traction in light to deep snow was awesome, no issues at all. I was able to drive thru any depth of snow with no problem at all. Ice traction was equally impressive, no issues at all. I plowed thru 24 inch deep snow drifts like they weren't even there. With these tires I was able to maintain control of the car in any condition. I have a up-hill long driveway and didn't even need to shovel it, I just drove right thru 12-22 inch deep snow and had good grip and control at all times. Best snow tires I have ever had. These tires also perform well in wet snow conditions or just wet roads from rain. No hydroplaning, good traction and response, good braking. As soon as the pavement gets wet these tires come alive. Since they are a snow tire, driving on dry pavement isn't as good as when driving on wet or snow, but they still do a good job. The side walls are a bit soft in hard cornering on dry pavement. Other than that, they perform just fine in dry conditions as well, but their true strength is in wet and snow conditions. Tread wear also seems good. After 4800 miles they still look brand new. These tires, coupled with the AWD system on my Subaru WRX turn hazardous winter driving into fun winter driving. Highly recommend.

Initial Review, 1,500 Miles on Tires
December 28, 2012

This is an absolute GREAT set of tires. There is nothing they can do, snow, ice, rain, all are handled with aplomb. The transition from my dedicated summer tires to these tires were pretty much seamless, that his how excellent the handling is with these tires.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
December 26, 2012

I have had this tire for 3 winters now and they are excellent. Paired with subaru's AWD traction in heavy snow or ice its as if the roads are dry. Even when playing around in an empty parking lot, it is very difficult to push these tires hard enough to lose traction. I have complete confidence on snow and ice with these tires.

Initial Review, 7,000 Miles on Tires
January 09, 2013

05 WRX STI STAGE 2 W/7000 miles.They say first mod most do is tire/wheels.Well only tire that should be sold in comb sales.Grip is insanely exciting,steering response @ F 1 levels.Any hydroplaning/wet grip cornering loss noticed only in the extreme.You simply, will be hard pressed to find drawbacks.Autocrossers don't even flinch @ buying

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
December 23, 2012

By far the greatest purchase for winter time driving. We had our first hard snow in PA a few days ago and the car had no problem at all.

I'm impressed with the wet road traction. With a hard rain, I was able to maintain 80+ on the highway with no resistance.

The hard snow that we had in PA the other day was nothing these tire couldn't handle. The weather was a mix of ice and snow and not one time did my tires break free from the ground. With three inches of snow, my car was still throwing me into my seat.

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
December 19, 2012

I love these tires! I live in the East Bay area in CA. We are currently in the rainy season and I travel 3 hours to Tahoe for skiing every weekend. These tires perform great in the rain, very little hydroplaning and great grip. Dry weather they are pretty good, handle much better when its colder out. As the temperatures creep up around or above 60 degrees they get very squishy and are less responsive. In colder weather they handle the dry conditions great. I have driven in three storms with them now. One was a cross country trip through the midwest (from Indiana to Colorado in a blizzard). The tires struggled a little in deep slush. They were great in both the snow and ice. One thing is my car does have excellent all-wheel drive so this may make them seem better than they really are. I grew up driving front wheel drive cars in bad winters so I was good at driving in the snow on all-season tires. So getting an STI with winter/performance tires feels like having glue on my wheels in the snow. I am not sure how well they would work on a rear wheel or front wheel drive car but the other reviews seem good. I am able to pass easily in snowy/icy conditions. I am not totally sure on the treadwear. Through 3000 miles of all kinds of conditions they seem to be pretty good, and I do push them hard in all conditions. They also handle high speeds very well, had them up to 140 and felt good. They are have a little sway during hard cornering but this was to be expected. Overall great tires in my opinion!!!

Initial Review, 60 Miles on Tires
December 14, 2012

Initial impression, which I will update... The tire, as other WRX owners have said, a noticeable difference in handling! However, it is a winter tire with lots of siping for hard snow/ice grip..it can't be as stiff as the original Dunlops. I also can't wait for my snow test! The ride is quiet..I'm running them at 42 PSI front, 40 PSI rear....seems like at that pressure you get just enough tread on the road..about 1/2 inch from the shoulder....

Purchased them on a set of TireRack private label wheels....Sport Edition. CANNOT BEAT THE PRICE and the wheel seems to be nicely finished! Seems like a lot of wheel weights which makes me wonder about the manufacturing...but..the balance seems perfect..up to 75.

TireRack is great...got them the NEXT DAY...mounted and balanced. I'll update this in a few weeks after some cold weather/snow miles!

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
December 04, 2012

I've run the HRi and ZRi from Fuzion. You really can't beat these tires for the price. I've never found them lacking and drive my car pretty hard. With a good alignment these things really take a beating and last a long time.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
December 03, 2012

Great tire for mid-west winters. I also run a set of Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3Ds and while they are a good tire, the Michelin is superior. Noise is better than Dunlop- same low whooshing but lower in intensity. Dry performance is better, likely due to stiffer sidewall. Winter performance (snow and ice) is great- really takes the stress out of foul weather commutes with added bonus of driving circles around all weather equipped adversaries.

Initial Review, 800 Miles on Tires
November 16, 2012

These tires are better than average. Coming from the stock Dunlop SP Summer Sport tires to these winter tires I noticed a big change in handling and ride comfort. The noise level is higher but that was to be expected with switching to winter tires. The sidewall's seem a tad wider than the summer tires so they have a bit more give which softens the ride of a hair and decreases the handling a tad as well.

Overall I am happy with them. Winter tires are for winter and not for dry road handling performance. In the rain these tires are GREAT. The subaru does have AWD which helps but these tires just grab the road. I cant wait for some snow!

Also - Ordered these tires and they were at my house the next day and I paid standard shipping. Tire rack is just unbeatable when it comes to service and prices! Thanks Tire Rack!

Initial Review, 15,287 Miles on Tires
November 07, 2012

My car isn't "stock" by any means, and my driving style coupled with an over active annoyance for road noise necessitated a tire that was quite but had a high speed rating. While this tire should NOT be taken on to a track as it is too hard, it is definitely one of those tires that will impress. Handles remarkably well in the rain and doesn't hydroplane at all really. Tram-lining (the car's tendency to follow grooves in the road or cracks) is virtually non-existent. After 15k miles the wear indicators are barely touched. Lots of life left in these tires! Definitely recommend as a sane and sound buy for your car!

Initial Review, 42,000 Miles on Tires
November 07, 2012

These tires came stock on my 07 Subaru WRX. I live in the 6th "worst weather" city in the nation averaging 162 days of rain per year, and around 85 inches of snow each year (I'm speaking of cities not places ie city population of over 50k people...where as some place like Stowe VT gets 220 inches of snow per year but has a population of 5000)...Needless to say I do a lot of bad weather driving.

These tires have performed well for me in the rain, snow and ice. I purchased this car last year with around 20000 miles on it, in the past year I've put on over 20k miles I have no complaints about performance. I've taken my car on many road trips to ski resorts and driven on hard packed snow with minimal slippage. Never had one problem in rain storms or heavy downpour. I do a lot of back road driving to avoid heavy construction, and because it's fun. These tires have performed with ease going around tight turns.

Only complaint I have is the noise level of these tires on the highway and going over bumps. It can also be my vehicle, but I'd rather take a loud tire that will perform well any day.

I've encountered many situations where I had to brake abruptly or swerve to avoid object/ animals/ or bad drivers. These tires respond well.

Sadly the tread is wearing and with winter coming I had to purchase a new pair. I went with the Bridgestone re970as tires because of their high rating and they're half the price. All and all 42k miles on an all season tire is pretty good.

Initial Review, 3,500 Miles on Tires
October 26, 2012

This tire can't tell whether the road is wet or dry, it just sticks. It really helped the turn-in on my AWD Subaru, but the obviously stiff sidewalls don't seem to make the ride harsh. The shoulder features took a little beating at a coarse asphalt autocross I drove, but nothing too dramatic. They seem to be holding up well through the first rotation. Overall I'm very pleased with the COMP-2.

Initial Review, 12,000 Miles on Tires
October 22, 2012

Thee Tires are excellent. I wanted a higher performance tire that I could drive on all year and not wear out in 10,000 miles like the OE equipped Bridgestone Potenza RE070. These tire delivered. I've had them in the mountains during blizzards, driving uphill from a stop, with 12+ inches of snow on the ground. They do excellent in rain and are plenty grippy on dry pavement. They are not a track tire but that's not what I bought them for. Will be purchasing another set when these wear out.

Initial Review, 27,000 Miles on Tires
October 29, 2012

I'm an aggressive driver. I don't do burnouts but I drift around corners from time to time. I never see snow but I do see a lot of rain. This is my third set of tires and definitely the best so far.

At first they were amazingly quiet, the quietest I've ever driven. That went away after a few thousand miles (8k-10k?). The big surprise is their longevity. They always performed well in wet and dry but, after 27,000 miles I don't get nervous on them like I used to on other tires. The tread is low so it's time to go but I only feel this way because of the tread and not because of the way they handle. They also held their air pressure better than any tire I've ever had. I'm sure that reads strange and I feel odd writing it but I almost never added air to these tires. FWIW, it just stands out in my driving experience with these tires.

For comparison I had the Bridgestone RE92s and General UHPs . I never like the RE92s and they wore out after about 18,000 miles. Their dry traction was particularly weak. I loved the Generals for their weight. They were incredibly light and you could feel it on launch. As for performance, all I can really say about them is that they were better than the RE92s in every way. They weren't great, just better and cheaper than the RE92s. They lasted 20,000 miles.

I will probably buy the HTR Z IIIs again. Everything that I find that looks better is far more expensive. For the price, I don't think you can touch these. It's only a probably because I love to try out new tires. I really don't have a good reason to leave these, though.

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
November 04, 2012

So I have never written a review for Tirerack before.....although I have read many reviews as an excellent resource for purchasing tires from them! However, I felt sufficiently inspired to share my experience which may help others.

I have an 04 WRX wagon with Cobb (Hotchkiss) front and rear sways, Cobb Stage 2 and Stop Tech Perf pads on regular brakes. I had previously purchased the Bridgestone RE01's and really loved them. Since I have the stock 16in wheels (I don't really understand this trend to huge and heavy large diameter wheels!), the RE01's were amazingly cheap. However, after end of life, the RE01's were discontinued replaced by the RE-11's, for about 50% more $$$. So needless to say I looked for alternate options, and I ended up purchasing the Bridgestone 760's.

Well, I had the 760s for over 20,000mi and was pretty satisfied with them. Then I got the dreaded nail in the sidewall. Even with a good deal of treadwear left on my remaining 3 tires, with 4 wheel drive I felt it was prudent to purchase 4 new tires to not stress out the center diff.

So I decided to pony up for the RE11's.......Oh my ---.......I thought the 760s were good and would not desire much more.....I was wrong. The RE-11's are unbelievably better in every way. The most amazing thing to me is how much better they ride. They are incredibly soft over sharp bumps in the road. And their high G cornering characteristics are incredibly predictable and simply outstanding.

I know they are expensive, but since I am probably keeping this 04 wagon forever (these subies are amazing....still feels like it is new with basically no failures after almost 9 years), my wife unit is OK with me occasionally splurging on these tires to make me happy! I will likely never go a different direction again. And I may finally be inspired enough to start some Autocross events.....at 56 years old!

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
October 26, 2012

Only had them for one summer on my STI, but they are very responsive and do very well in the wet.That is something most summer performance tires are not. They can be pushed and hang in there. Seem to be wearing better than other summer performance tires I have had, and are much better than the OE tires that came with the car.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
October 26, 2012

Denver has maybe 10-15 days when true winter tires are needed. So, these tires are perfect. They give up ice and moderate to deep snow traction for really good dry weather and light snow traction. Best winter tire dry and wet weather traction out there. But, if you spend a lot of time in moderate or heavy snow, or you want good ice traction, these are not the tires for you. Still, a very good high performance tire that will get you through moderate snow.