we get plenty of snow where i live. i've popped off my brand new yoko avid s34s and put on michelin xice xi2s.

since not going all-season, i want to sell the avids to raise money for performance summer tires. some obvious contenders are:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/test/t...y.jsp?ttid=118


0) any sizes besides 205/50R17 i should consider, front or back, without changing rims?

1) any tires i should consider besides these (direzza star spec not available in 205/50R17)? see http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...r_spec_page_11

advan AD08's are $40/less per tire for same wear rating compared to RE-11. that's one free tire ... and at these short tread life ratings, that's big.

thanks in advance,
ohyeah

 

I just switched out my 205/50/17 stockers for 215/45/17 Direzza Z1 Star Specs. 215's fit the 7" wheel perfectly (no sidewall bulge) and I can't even tell that my speedo is off by 1.8%. The ride quality is way better than the stockers due to the soft tread compound. Dry grip is phenomenal. Car feels like it's on rails. I considered RE11, AD08 and Extasa XS also. RE11 are just too expensive for tires that are only going to last 10-12k miles. AD08 start out with only 8/32 of tread (Z1=10/32) and the Extasa had mixed reviews on tirerack. Star Specs at $125 ea after rebate are a good deal. I also contemplated Federal 595 RS-R but they were a little too much of an unknown and I'm not the Guinea pig type.