Yokohama S.Drive Review 205/50/17

[Fuman]

would I get these again? yes
Before I start, I like to say that at the moment
These tires can ONLY be brought in the states (for this size). Tires23 can get them (somehow). Discount tires cost me $568.16 with tax. (duties not not included).
http://www.yokohama.ca/en/article.php?story=20070328082246174
These are summer tires.

Cornering
Amazing sidewall. Noticeable increase in sidewall stiffness compared to the RS-As. (RS-As have amazing sidewall stiffness to begin with)
Got the tire rebalanced today. No more of that titchy feeling. Cornering has INSANE grip, INSANE stability. <-- at near freezing temperatures. Can't wait until it warms up.
I will go as far as the stock suspension isn't good enough for this tire

Rain
Amazing grip in the rain, beats the RS-A hands down

Light Slush (mostly water)
Handles better than the RS-As. YES I know, these are summers. I just tried it, lol. (Nov 7/2007). RS-As might or might not be better in extreme cases; I am NOT going to test that.

Road Noise
At highway speeds, slightly less noisy than stock RS-As

[Fuman]

Updated review. Just tested in light slush.
I couldn't put on my winters today. And since I have to drive tomorrow. I wanted to see how the car behaves in such conditions before driving it to work.

[DCYT]

Thanks for the review.
The S. Drive is indeed a good tire. Some of my friends with RX-7s have it and they say it's better than their old Yoko ES100s

[Fuman]

updated
(got the tire rebalanced, the tire is went from errrrr to INSANELY good)

[sleepyzippy]

What about road noise from the S.Drive?

[Fuman]

What about road noise from the S.Drive?
slightly quieter than RS-As
will update first post

[baymoe]

Can you compare them to any other summer tires that you've driven on?

[Fuman]

Can you compare them to any other summer tires that you've driven on?
These are my first set.
But for this price range, S.Drive is up there.
When I was researching I was looking at General UHPs, Falken 452s and Falken RT-615s.
My friend got a set of UHPs, we went for a ride, and I didn't like the sidewall. He hated it so much, he sold UHP for RT-615s. RT-615s didn't come in our size and tread wear is poor, so I crossed that out.

So now I had 452s and S.Drives left. I picked S.Drive because it was a near tire and based on Advan tires. Sidewall is supposedly stiffer as well (S.Drive is stiffer)

Hope this helps,

[doughboyr6]

i don't like my 452s simply of excessive road noise.....wish I could get rid of them.

[Fuman]

i don't like my 452s simply of excessive road noise.....wish I could get rid of them.
Track it, lol

[kai-wun]

I wonder how these compare to the Falken Ziex ZE912 (yes I know these are all seasons)

[Fuman]

I wonder how these compare to the Falken Ziex ZE912 (yes I know these are all seasons)
Allen@simply or tires23 can probably give you input.

[bhrm]

I wonder how these compare to the Falken Ziex ZE912 (yes I know these are all seasons)

912s I hear are good. In the end they're all seasons, but billion times better than the stock RS-As.

S. Drive is the replacement for the AVS ES100s right? I have those on a Jetta and they're amazing in wet and dry and i wonder how much improvement is in the S Drive. Again prior to that i had the RS-As.

[Fuman]

912s I hear are good. In the end they're all seasons, but billion times better than the stock RS-As.

S. Drive is the replacement for the AVS ES100s right? I have those on a Jetta and they're amazing in wet and dry and i wonder how much improvement is in the S Drive. Again prior to that i had the RS-As.
I think the S.drive is the replacement for the ES100.
They took some technology from Advan for this tire (or so said the brochure, lol).

To be honest, I think the RS-As gripped extremely well during the summer.
The limit of this tire is WAY beyond that of the RS-As. From sidewall stiffness to shear grip.

[MZ3_GS]

I think the S.drive is the replacement for the ES100.
They took some technology from Advan for this tire (or so said the brochure, lol).

To be honest, I think the RS-As gripped extremely well during the summer.
The limit of this tire is WAY beyond that of the RS-As. From sidewall stiffness to shear grip.

That doesn't really say much about this tire against other tires in it's class.
Any Summer only tire will have those characteristics. A good comparison would be Eagle F1 GSD3, T1R, Contisport 2s...

[Fuman]

That doesn't really say much about this tire against other tires in it's class.
Any Summer only tire will have those characteristics. A good comparison would be Eagle F1 GSD3, T1R, Contisport 2s...
bhrm asked with respect to RS-As. If you want comparison on with respect to S.Drive's competitors, the best thing I can say is tirerack or ask Allen.

This is my first set of pure summer tires.

[Fuman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWS7Jqcxb3M
video review

[Fuman]

had a flat a couple of weeks ago (rear passenger side), one inch gash.
The car pulled slightly right. I thought I bent something because the pull wasn't enough to warrant a flat tire.

I drove on it for a good 20 kms before pulling over to examine the car.
The sidewall stiffness help prevent me from damaging my rims.

I brought two new S.Drives to replace the unrepairable tire.