killav

I have ZRi tires and have had no problems at all. I like the tires and would buy them again. Great street tire. Hard to complain about the performance of this tire for the price.

anonymousagain

Interesting results Brendan.

Agreed it's not a track test, but my "test run" is a tight winding constant 15min, with continuous right/left that range from 15mph hairpins to 65mph sweepers. Tires are definitely hot by the end and perform supurbly.

Perhaps vehicle dependant?? as in your case the S2000 is pushing much faster corner speeds - although that's still a function of heat and a lighter vehicle...hmmm.

Somewhat of a reference point, even Nicole mentioned during the Devek Fun Drive that she was shocked at our performance with stock wheel/tires, to which I commented about the quality of the ZRi's. You can imagine my shock when the Conti's performed worse

Anyway, will have to report back whether the new size increase is an improvement over the 225's. It's a very affordable tire, when considering this grip and speed range.

928ntslow

I've got the Fuzy's too! LOVE 'EM and they were quite reasonably priced for a 19" tire (go check 19" pricing just for sh*ts and giggles!) I do not track them, not do I care to (actually,I don't think they are meant to be taken to the track at all), but for a street tire, they are unbeatable for the price. Most of the 996/997 guys run them. They are great wet and dry tires and have the right mixture of rubber compounds to give a nice ride, grip better than you can hang on in your seat and have a very aggressive looking tread pattern.

ErnestSw

For what it's worth, my experience with the Fuzions was with the 91GT running in the intermediate DE run group on a hot track. I find them to have excellent grip and nicely progressive response at the limit with no surprises.
Brendan's experience seems to be an outlier and MAY be based on lower car weight, or cold tires, or a rookie driver driving his hormones instead of his equipment.

BC

I replaced them with RE750s. It feels like I actually have rubber on the tires now instead of plastic.

The rubber of the ZRis at Willow Springs was under durress in some not very hot weather. The S2000, in relatively stock form is not a pusher. Its more of a "I'll back into whatever I may hit" kind of car on the track for me at least. The fronts were basically melting - the tread pattern was re-aligning as if it were entirely shifted when molten.

You know when you have glue on your hands, and you rub it off in strands? Thats what happened to the tires. The rears did this as well.

Street driving, as many can say, is not the real test of a tire. I haven't even worn the little prickles off the RE750s, and I took some twisties myself recently.


You'll notice every ends thier sentence with "For the money" Thats how I bough Kumhos for the 928S4, and I hated them. I like feeling a hard bite in a corner, with a slight wiggle telling me where the limit is for that situation. Good tires communicate from beginning to end, bad tires send a post card from the edge that gets to you too late.

BC

I'm not being evangelical about tires. I have always read tire reviews with great interest and attention. People's opinions can differ, but prejudice can also play a role. And while I did mention that I was a rookie on Willow Springs, I do not appreciate your comment regarding my "hormones" and equipment. The tires were fully brought up to temp on preceeding laps before the hot laps. I had an instructor in the passenger seat at all times, and I also on two occasions had an instructor drive the car, as other stock, inexperienced S2000 owners were able to drive around the corners with much greater speed with much less attention then even I was giving to apexing and lines. The tires were discussed. I did not mention the more subjective comments I received in my prior post, but I will now:

"Crap", "Greasy", "Cheap *** Korean Rubber", and "Get a real tire if you want to go on a real Track" were these subjective comments by experienced S2000 driving instructors "droving" my car. When after only two hard laps, the ABS has to kick in for a straight line dry brake zone like you are on ice, you start to wonder about things while your life flashes by your eyes.

ErnestSw

Musta had a bad batch of tires. Next time try putting air in them!

Jim bailey - 928 International

All tires are a compromise just like about everything on a 928 or any other car! Street tires simply do not work well on a race track at least what I have tried. I can chunck the edges of the tread blocks in 15-20 minutes. On the street who cares since you are rarely able to push it very hard for very long. If you have never experienced being on a track it is nearly impossible to comprehend what a 928 is capable of doing. My last "student" at the Cal Speedway had a NEW GT3 car his comment on the second day as he looked at the old very brown 1980 was "That car just defies the laws of physics" ! He was trying to figure out why his lap times were slower !

James-man

It usually takes me about 5 laps in hot weather for tires to start becoming problems. Hot tire pressures too high leaving too little tire/track contact? The result of that could be described as "greasy". I used bridgestones last year that were in the low 200 treadwear range and didn't like them as much.

Now to water down my ensorsement of these ZRi tires, I did have to get an alignment last December after a torque tube replacement. My alignment may be different/better now???

IcemanG17

This is a good thread.....personally I have not tried the ZRi's but was considering them for replacements later....I currently run sport contact II's 235/40-18 & 265/40-18......much better than my old crap all season 16's....

On the track I was impressed.....they squeel quite a bit, but give you plenty of warning when they are pushing it......I didn't notice any "tire fade".....but wasn't pushing the 928 all out for very long either too to traffic and passing rules at my first DE

anonymousagain

Good inputs on this one...

James-man - absolutely the alignment helped, but no need to water down <your> experience since it's relevant to hands on in your 928. Actual experience "in Shark" is always appreciated.

Brendan - also appreciated input about track use, although it seems use on a different vehicle entails potentially different results, especially since others have had good on-track results in their 928. Will be interesting to hear from some others that DE these on their 928 for extended periods.

Want to point out, however, that "For the Money" is not a categorical statement, but rather an added bonus. My comparison was to the Conti's, which confirmed my choice for the ZRi's over those, price excluded; added bonus that they are nearly half the price.

Brian - Good to hear the Conti's worked well when new; reiterrate that I compared worn examples of both and expect new would be much better. Then again, the ZRi's performed much better when new as well, so I interpreted new/normal performance as <for me> the ZRi's are very good and the Conti's are good. Although mine are 17's, it would be cool to do a swap sometime for a poor-man's-test to see what your impressions are, since you are accustomed to the Conti's...my 5-bucks says you'll find the ZRi's have stronger performance and we'd have fun finding out

Landseer

OK, a little later in time, Fusion ZRi still a candidate for those that have been running them?

Am ready to go tomorrow for a 225 40? 17 front and 255 40 17 back on 7" and 9" boxster/996 wheels.

Leslie 928 S2

We bought Fuzions back in March for our most recent 928 acquisition (not sure now if they were ZRi's or ZR1's), but got a flat on one of them about a month ago....in a situation that should not have caused a flat.

When I called Firestone for a replacement, I was told they are discontinued (we were looking for 16's, don't know if that has any bearing). They would have had to bring in a tire from their warehouse to replace ours -- 2 days hence. We passed on that and put an old set of tires that we had in the basement on the front instead. We just didn't feel the Fuzions were worth it after the experience. The side walls felt much sloppier compared to the Bridgestones I'm currently running on mine....still, after like 5 years and being driven on two different cars.

We are (still) much happier with the Bridgestone Potenzas we have had for years. Sure wish they'd bring those back...

Landseer

Thanks, Leslie. I want to avoid tires with soft sidewalls. Have Uniroyal 10 ply on burb and they have been scary soft since day 1. Should have returned em.


Am running out of easy choices here, especially in the rear size.

Maybe Yokahama S-Drives. Or..?

Leslie 928 S2

I feel your pain. We have been agonizing over the very same decision of late....we still have to find a replacement for the two old [edit: back] tires, and may as well do the two [edit: front]Fuzions that are left, so everything is consistent, but there doesn't seem to be much out there for 16 inchers to choose from. Then you want speed ratings, side wall stiffness, water traction, and all this other stuff, from just one tire, it makes things more difficult.

We've been considering G Force....but haven't yet looked through the tire thread to see what has been said about them.

Kevin would also like to go wider. These are for his supercharged car. A day at the track recently proved the tires he has on there now (Fuzions on the front, ancient Dunlop 9000s on the back) are highly inadequate. He couldn't even put the pedal to the metal until the end of the track, or he lost all traction.