'06 WRX tires

I REALLY like my Kumho ECSTA ASX-es

cheap, but they probably won't last a long time.

carl

I don't know about Kumho (um, just *HOW* do you pronounce that?!?!?! ;) )

I have a set of Hankook K106's on my Supra. I bought them 'cause they were cheap. Three years (approx 36,000 miles) and they look new. I also have a Sport Roof. Good thing they were quiet, too!!!

Supposed to be All Season, but I wouldn't know. It gets garaged before the first snow and doesn't come out until...oh, last week!

For my driving ("Sprited", not "Nuts") they're pretty good. I don't think I win any Gymkhanas with them, but for the driving I do ($150 ticket territory) they work just fine...

I purchased Bridgestone Pole Position about 5K miles ago and love them....before I used to have Continental Extreme Contact which were also amazing except a bit softer sidewalls....

Ecsta MX (Kumho is pronounced cum-hoooooo! The sound you make when you climb aboard the girl that you really like: typically that does not happen in SillyCone Valley ) ASXes are cheaper, but squeal when you press them. Hankook R-S2 is probably better than MX a nudge and also not too pricey. If you are not "Nuts" then you may want to skip Direzza Sport Z1 but if you get it it's two heads above MX in terms of grip.

If you need to drive in snow/ice and won't re-shoe for winter (bad, bad idea) get

960AS pole positions as scoobiena suggested. ASXes are not that good in snow. But I bet they are a whole lot cheaper than 960es. Personally, If I were ever to move back to Kaulifornia i'd probably get 960s myself, since driving with dedicated summer tires to ski areas would be suicidal in winter.

I'm currently enjoying Nokian Hakka i3 on the front wheels of my rear wheel driver, but I don't think you can get Nokian Hakka series in the US :^) Besides, I'd suspect they'd hydroplane in a heavy rainstorm. Otherwise it's a decent inexpensive choice if you are ouside the US, which you are not :-]

Tony,

I considered summer only tires for my '04 WRX, and also for my wife's

2005 Outback 6. I use Blizzaks on the Outback and Cooper Vikings on the WRX for upstate NY winters, but eventually decided on all-seasons for the 9 months the snows are off the car. I'm currently using Conti Extreme Contacts on the WRX and Goodyear Eagle F1s on the Outback. Reason being that our winters can last from October into April, and both tires got excellent reviews for dry road performance and especially wet traction and hydroplaing resistance since we're in a very rainy area with our average annual rainfall exceeding Seattle and San Francisco. Several reviewers claimed that the Eagles and Contis outperformed many summer tires. Can't say that's true in all cases, but the combinations work very well on both cars. Bought both the Contis and the Eagles from Tire Rack, the Goodyears on a set of Kazera rims. Very happy with the products and their service.

Vinny

I use Bridgestone High-Performance summer tires on my Scion tC exclusively.

I use an '89 Subaru GL AWD hatch with studded snow tires from November to April... ;)

Tony,

I considered summer only tires for my '04 WRX, and also for my wife's

2005 Outback 6. I use Blizzaks on the Outback and Cooper Vikings on the WRX for upstate NY winters, but eventually decided on all-seasons for the 9 months the snows are off the car. I'm currently using Conti Extreme Contacts on the WRX and Goodyear Eagle F1s on the Outback. Reason being that our winters can last from October into April, and both tires got excellent reviews for dry road performance and especially wet traction and hydroplaing resistance since we're in a very rainy area with our average annual rainfall exceeding Seattle and San Francisco. Several reviewers claimed that the Eagles and Contis outperformed many summer tires. Can't say that's true in all cases, but the combinations work very well on both cars. Bought both the Contis and the Eagles from Tire Rack, the Goodyears on a set of Kazera rims. Very happy with the products and their service.

Vinny

I have Toyo Proxes for my summers. I find they are great performers, have good traction, both wet and dry, and are reasonably priced for a performance tire.

Surely they outperformed summer tires. In winter at temperatures below

8F; which is the area where summer performance tires, well, don't perform. Either that or the reviewers were very high on crack. You people buy a high perf car such as WRX and then put on crappy demi shoes. Sick, sick subaru folk. Sigh.

If I did run my Scion tC in the winter, I would go on ebay and have a look. Toyota makes a 'tuner' version of the car for about a grand less then the 'stock' version, with an am-fm radio only and...16" steel stamped wheels. They figure a tC buyer is going to swap wheels and save on the 17" alloys.

They were all over ebay for near nothing, with tires.

There are plenty of places that sell steel wheels for almost any car. I have a regional wholesaler abut 25 miles from home, and steel wheels are cheap. I'd leave the Bridgestones on the alloys and swap them for *real* snow tires on steel wheels in November