so i finally got my tires on today on my new wheels! Buddy Club P1 Sf in gunmetal for those wondering. I received the wheels first and started to research on which tires to buy. I did look around alot, and originally I was interested in a cheaper good tire. These include :
-Kumho ASX
-Yokohama Parada spec 2
-Falken Azenis
-General Exclaim UHP
- plus many other tire choices in that price range ($70-$85ish)

i did feel like i had a huge selection to choose from, and most of these tires did fit my budget very well (practically full time student, and i work 30+hours a week). but the more i thought about it, the harder it became to make a decision! But being the obsessive owner of my Fit (as we ALL are), I wanted something better for my car. After reading what seems like hundreds of reviews online and in person, I started to look at yokohama's as i heard only good things about them. Surely enough i came across the S Drives, as they are a fairly new tire for yokohama. they are not only meant to replace the AVS Es100, but to surpass the quality of it.

*here is tireracks link. Yokohama S.drive



Tirerack listed my tire size (205/45/16) at $95.00 per tire, which was pricey to me...so i started to call around local shops in my area.

surely enough i found a shop that charged me $102 per tire for the tire itself, and for mounting and balancing (a killer deal, as most places wouldnt even contemplate to price match with tire rack due to the shipping cost you pay) I paid cash so these came out to $408 flat...with no tax!

Anyways, on to the actual initial review!


-I did find the ride to be a bit stiffer (which is a good thing in my opinion) but not uncomfortable and the road noise was a bit louder, but that was expected. I find that the FIT is a noisy car, especially at high speeds. But this doesnt bother me as I usually have my music on pretty loud.

-This tire is very grippy! it just sticks to the ground and doesnt let go very easily. I first realized this when passing a car on a Freeway Onramp. I couldnt believe how stable and stuck i felt! I couldnt help but just SMILE !!
-I did a little more extensive "research" on just how well these tires perform. I got a chance to test these on two very different canyon roads around my area, and i cannot explain to you how much fun i had with these! I felt extremly confident about my tires after a few initial turns and I couldnt believe how relaxed i felt with these, even though i was driving the fastest i had ever been. I was all smiles the whole time, and even let out a couple of hoots here and there

IMHO, I dont know if i will ever buy a different tire AGAIN, as I couldnt be any more happier about the S Drives. I hope this helps anybody searching for tires, and I belive it would help a lot of us out here if we had more "Tire Reviews" .

If you dont take my word for it, here is another respectable review on this tire: JTuned - Yokohama S. Drive Experience - First Drive


* this is my initial review of the tire, and i will be updating this thread as time progresses. I will also include how the tires start to wear.

 

cool review. that's the tire i was thinking about getting when im ready
to change out the wheels on my FitS.

 

I am considering these wheels also, or the YK520 which I had on my Fit before, they last a long long time.. only I am curious to see how the S drive will preform in the wet.

 

lets see some pics!!!

nice of you to write this up though

 

the yk520 are a all season tire, but you can never go wrong with Yokohama IMO. i bought the s drives because i live in socal and the major crazy rains have just ended! and we dont get any snow where i live. If it does rain again, i will be following up with a review on how they do wet. If anyone else has these tires and would like to add...please do! If your looking for a ultra HIGH performance tire, this is the way to go.


I knew someone would ask for pics.....

I guess ill end up takign some shots when i wash my car(probably today) but im a little embarassed on the gap! Hence my posting for springs! i really need a drop bad...

 

Here is a test we did against a couple different tires.

Yokohama's S.drive Lands In North America=

If I can help let me know.

 

I have had these tires since november sitting in my bedroom waiting for spring, only a few months to go. I got them from tire rack, It was an easy ordering process (even for canadians ) all duty was included in the price.

 

dang...youve been waiting that long? and still some to go? i would absolutely just DIE. i had my buddy clubs in my room for less than a week and i was dying to put them on.

 

yah, not to scare anyone, but tires have a shelf life of about 3-4 yrs
so best you use it right away for optium performance.... now if you're
in a snow belt area like me, then i can understand waiting until it gets
warmer... but i'd let the store hang onto them as they know how to
warehouse tires in its air controlled environment.

ive been to TR in southbend a couple of times. huge facility and very
nicely organized. super courteous people too.

 

That is not quite correct. He is a link to an explanation.

Tire Tech - Tire Aging

 

i have them....they are noise

 

wat do you mean not quite correct? do i have to get Alex over there
at TR to come over to your desk and kick your ass on my behalf?

3-4 yrs is probably the longest it could possibly sit unmounted in a
normal hvac'ed garage/house from my experience without dramatically
changing the functionality of the tires. in your facility it can probably go
a little longer because your facility is dedicated to tires...

 

JUST a quick update to those interested!! After a few days of on and off wet weather here in SOCAL...i update with a status on the tires during rain. I have noticed that these tires still grip fairly aggressive during the rain. NOTE this is during LIGHTER rain, not heavy. Still, for the road to be this wet here, these tires still due a superior job over the stock tires, especialy for a UHP summer tire. The rain can be a very dangerous situation for us, but i still felt pretty confident about my tires.

 

in your area you only deal with faily good warm weather so summer
perf tires should do pretty well even in your colder months. (ie: 40F wooo
cold for you!!! lol. although most summers loose grip when temps drop
below 50F)

im sitting here at -8F ambient the other day thinking ice is kinda slippery...

 

So its been a couple of weeks with my tires...and after several runs with this tire i came to a conclusion:

A week or two ago it was really rainy and/or COLD(keep in mind, socal cold is not as EXTREME as some of you guys) I had a chance to run down in colder temps, and must say, that there is a reason why they are SUMMER tires. They dont provide as much traction/heat up enough when its colder. A week later i tested them when it was much warmer, and glad to say, they performed excellent like usual, and in conclusion....STILL no problems with these great tires!

 

Any reports on increase or decrease of mpgs?

 

I have these on my ge8 and have not noticed any significant drop in mpg.