I was running the Perdana till the tires were balding. I will post a non bias, neutral review on all the tires I've used in sequence along with my personal scale of 1 to 10 to help you guys in making up your choice.
- Eagle F1 A2
- Nitto Invo
- Hankook RS3
- Toyo T1R
- Bridgestone RE-11
-DM*CK Kinetic S
Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
These were the very first set of tires I've used ever since I got the car and upgraded to 17inch. Pricey, but at that time I was running on 7jj and used their 215/45/17 series.
These were one of the best overall tires I've used. Sadly, they lasted only about 20,000km. These tires cornered in the dry as if the car was on rails! It performed equally as good in the wets and sliced through standing water effortlessly! Also one of the quietest tires I've used. I think the treadwear rating was 300, AA and temperature A. Worth getting this if you are running 17inch above as they do not make anything lower than this. Pretty soft compound with stiff sidewalls. Car slides abit in the wet on straights when it is down to 20% tread. It launched pretty well without breaking much traction. Threshold braking was also not bad.
Wet Grip (cornering) : 8
Wet Grip (straight road) :8
Dry Grip (cornering) : 8
Standing Water (straight road) : 8
Threshold Braking (straight road) : 7
Threshold Braking (wet straight road) : 8
Launching (launching as it is) : 8
Tire Noise : 8
Longevity : 5
Nitto Invo
I got a slightly larger size for this, 225/45/17. They also lasted about 20,000km. These tires looked "digital" or somewhat like Tamiya tires. Tire shop asked me to give these a try and no doubt they performed identical to the Eagle F1A2. But just a little better, probably because it was 225 and not 215 in width. Treadwear was somewhere between 240 and 280. The car started sliding in both dry and wet on straights when it was also down to 10% thread. One of the tires started hopping at 60% thread and Nitto issued a refund without any hesitation. Good aftersales. These tires are brought in by Toyo. I believe this is quieter than the F1A2 abit although is was a tad wider. Launching and threshold braking was pretty much similar as the above F1A2 too.
Wet Grip (cornering) : 8
Wet Grip (straight road) :8
Dry Grip (cornering) : 8
Standing Water (straight road) : 8
Threshold Braking (straight road) : 7
Threshold Braking (wet straight road) : 8
Launching (launching as it is) : 8
Tire Noise : 9
Longevity : 5
Hankook RS3
I paid quite alot for this. Didn't have a chance to test it out much though as I swapped tires when I got down to JB just for the fun of it. These tires we freaking wide, 235/45/17 all around. I gave this a try because it claimed to do 2:40 in Sepang with a bone stock Honda Civic Type-R (FD2R). Man, these tires were super grippy yet sticky. I was told not to speed in the rain but somehow never had any issues. These tires are summer tires, in the semi slick category. These tires wore out pretty fast though. Treadwear was about 140-180. It cornered decently in the rain too. However, I could feel the car sliding off abit eventhough with 50% thread in the wet straights and on standing water. I was told that these tires are gonna be pretty noisy, but 7k has been spent on the Perdana for soundproofing and I can only benchmark these with the Invos. High freuency humming could be heard, but not too bad. I didn't have the chance to brake hard on these tires in the wet. One of the best gripping tires I have ever used. If you have money and don't mind the slight tire noise, this would be the tire for you.
Wet Grip (cornering) : 7
Wet Grip (straight road) :7
Dry Grip (cornering) : 10
Standing Water (straight road) : 7
Threshold Braking (straight road) : 10
Threshold Braking (wet straight road) : n/a
Launching (launching as it is) : 10
Tire Noise : 6
Longevity : 3
Bridgestone RE-11
225/24/17 I had alot of good reviews on these tires and found a used set of four from Singapore because it's hard to come across them in Malaysia. The grip was somewhere between the Eagle f1 and RS3 and wasn't all noisy. It handled pretty well in both wet and dry straights and corners and launced pretty decently. Very very stiff sidewalls, need to play with a bit of tire pressure on this. These tires wore out slightly faster than the F1A2. I could still brake hard in the wets.
It launched as good as the RS3 too! Now, these tires are pretty fucking expensive too. Treadwear was about 180. If you can find a used set for these, go ahead.
Wet Grip (cornering) : 9
Wet Grip (straight road) 9
Dry Grip (cornering) : 9
Standing Water (straight road) : 9
Threshold Braking (straight road) : 9
Threshold Braking (wet straight road) : 9
Launching (launching as it is) : 9
Tire Noise : 8
Longevity : 3
Toyo T1R
225/45/17. Currently have one pair of this on the rear of the Perdana. Aggresive thread design. I believe these are a tad noisier compare to all the other above tires but not as noisy as the RS3. It performs perfectly in the wet and this can be compared with the F1A2. Braking and cornering was also decent in both wet and dry and I would put this in the same category as the F1A2, UHP Tire. I can't tell how fast these tires are wearing out but it's pretty slow. These tires are on the rear of the car though. And apart from that, the sidewalls are as stiff as the RE11.
Wet Grip (cornering) : 8
Wet Grip (straight road) :8
Dry Grip (cornering) : 8
Standing Water (straight road) : 8
Threshold Braking (straight road) : 7
Threshold Braking (wet straight road) : 8
Launching (launching as it is) : 8
Tire Noise : 6
Longevity : n/a
DM*CK Kinetic S Tires
225/45/17 These tires have nothing but negativity. I know that we get what we paid for, but this is shit. fucking piece of shit. Bag of shit, Bag of death. Or whatever shit you call it. Half the price of a UHP, probably the price you pay for a 15inch UHP. I bought these tires, went out of the shop. Found out that the tires were shaking like fuck and went back to the tire shop. I was accused by an incompetent worker that my rims were bent and I gave him an indication that he deserves nothing but my middle finger. Another tireman attended to me and verified that the tires were hopping, REFUSED A REPLACEMENT and tried to do an on-wheel balancing on the Perdana. And on top of that, he told me to leave and said "if the vibration still persists, change your driveshafts". Little did he know my qualifications and the number of sets of driveshafts I have replaced. I am not stupid.
I went to their HQ and they granted me with a replacement, and came out that the replacement was also hopping. They, too, insisted on doing an on-wheel balancing. Went test, failed, vibration. They blamed my lower arms(which i admit was giving way). As far as I'm concerned? Arms dont cause rotational vibrations on high speeds. I gave up, I will replace these tires in three months as I cover 5,000km a month. Who in the world would manufacture tires that are not round?
These tires, they lock too soon, in both wet and dry. The dry grip is not up to my liking and it is totally hopeless in the wet. I would understeer in both conditions at my normal driving phase and can actually compare this with s*me Tires. I almost crashed when a container trailer came cutting into my lane, I brought it down to threshold braking where the tires were half locking for a full 5 seconds. I almost crashed into the toll barricade when the tires locked unexpectedly when it was raining. It was either I let the brakes go, regain my grip and pray that the barrier opens, or continue braking and locking the tires letting the car hover to the left and crash. I was fortunate as the barrier opened. Apart from that, I can feel the car wobblling and sliding badly upon changing lanes in the wet, on the white lines. I did a launch too, and it didn't hold in neither first nor second gear. Tire noise isn't too bad though. Now I am not comparing these with good summer tires nor semi slick tires, not comparing an apple to an orange, but my personal scale of tire rating. These tires are crap. They take quite some time to wear out though. Probably because of it's hard compound.
These tires are still so-so for standing water situations though, probably due to the super wide grooves. However, I noticed that I can see right through the tires from the front if the car is parked at an elevated angle, which means... wider grooves means way less contact area. I did a simple calculation after taking measurements and came to the conclusion that the contact partch/point was only of a 185/195width tire.
These tires are made in China. If you can not buy them, don't buy them, at all cost. I cannot imagine tires that are not round, similar to a bent Iphone 6+. Fuck this shit. Forgive my language but, fuck it.
Wet Grip (cornering) : 2
Wet Grip (straight road) :2
Dry Grip (cornering) : 6
Standing Water (straight road) : 7
Threshold Braking (straight road) : -1(note the negative)
Threshold Braking (wet straight road) : -1(note the negative)
Launching (launching as it is) : 0
Tire Noise : 6
Longevity : 5
I am typing this on my off day and am not able to obtain good pictures for the time being and will do so when I am in the office next. Sorry!
Cheers
Elton
