i have 196/60/14 azenis on my front wheels and i love the traction. got the pair (2) for $120 installed, balanced, etc etc
wow either im spoiled with better tires or the es100 sucks too. ive had falken ziex 502’s 205/50/15- very stiff, decent dry, kinda poor wet. many say they suck royally. next i upgraded to dunlop fm901’s in 195/50/15. compared to the falkens they were softer (200tread compared to 350, soft sidewall), wayy better dry, better wet. paid 89 each i think.
so back to the avid h4’s. i consider them stock tires since they came with my car on the stock alloys. original owner was a middle aged, caucasion school teacher. id hate to see what the real stock (michelin’s?) are like. they suck royally compared to what ive had. they squeal and break loose easily while cornering or while launching, probably have at least 2x less grip, super soft sidewalls = mushy steering response. i hate having them on again.
now since reviews on tires are extremely subjective, let me rate them based on the others i used, with falken ziex = 5. dunlop fm901 = 7.9. yoko h4 = 1.
90integra sedan, eibach sportlines, front/rear/lower bars, st f/r sways, poly bushings.
i used to have the yoko a520 and now i just got the avs es100
the a520 gripped better, but i think it doesnt last long compare to the new avs es100
i like them both
I just put the Falken 512’s on 20/50/15. H rated, M+S, all. They do inspire confidence. Not to rough either.
my old ziex 502’s… i felt they were midrange in my experience. many people buy them tho, i guess because theyre somewhat cheap, last a long time, come in lowpro’s, and have better traction than stock. heres my scale from 1-10:
firestone 14’s = 1; $free. they suck royally in every way.
yokohama avid h4 14’s = 3; $free. better, but suckage too.
falken ziex 502 15’s = 6; $free. ah much better. tons more grip. starting to hydroplane with the bad camber. very stiff.
dunlop fm901 15’s = 8; $90. wow. grips like a mother. wet is a lot safer now. much softer walls. hard to get any sound from em.
falken azenis 14’s = 9; $40-something. weee! these are the ones. wet isnt as bad as people say. if they break loose they eventually grab in a second or so at wot. the others just kept spinning until you let the throttle go. just gonna keep it under 50mph in the rain, np. ah stiff sidewalls again. ride isnt harsh at all, the ziex were harsher. steering response is much cripser than the dunlops. road noise? what noise? even harder to get them to make noise than the dunlops.