help me pick out a set of tires

I need a new set of tires for my '88 SAAB 900 turbo. Its used as a general purpose motorsports beater; its used for auto-x, back road hooning (or as I prefer to call it unsanctioned tarmac rally), and hopefully a few HPDEs this coming summer.

The size that I think would be the best fit is 195/60/15. It appears that there are not a lot of UHP summer tires available in that size, the Yokohama AVS ES100, seems to be the best that is available from tire rack in that size.

Does anyone have experience with these tires? The reviews for this tire were inconsistent, some reviewers loved it, others hated it, and lots complained about the noise. I don't care about noise, and I suspect that some of the complaints about ride quality are due to this tire having very stiff side walls, which would be a good thing in my opinion. I would really like to hear if anyone in the GRM community has first-hand experience with these tires in a high powered front driver.

I would also like suggestions for other good tire candidates in 195/60/15. Tire rack also has Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position, and they are really cheap right now, are they any good? The only other size that I would consider is 205/55/15, which also doesn't have a lot of available selections, but most of them are UHP summer. I've been using kumho's in 205/50/15, and they are just not tall enough to match the already short gearing in my car.

BTW: I'd like to keep suggestions limited to what is available from Tire Rack because I can get whole-sale price through a friend who owns a shop a few miles from one of their warehouses.

I really liked the Potenza RE960s I had on my old E28. Perhaps not ideal for your application (mine was doing DD duty), but very high build quality and consistent, linear performance.

I had them a couple of years ago on a daily driver Integra in a 195/55/15 size. They were totally decent tires - I bought them because I happened to get a deal at the tire shop I was working at - they had been taking up shelf space for a while.

I don't remember the noise being bad at all, and that car got about 400 highway miles on it every week. They were really good in the wet, but not the greatest in the dry.

If you are going to do a lot of auto-x and HPDE, they would probably do just fine, but with today's crop of UHP and MAX street tires I'd probably look elsewhere.

change to 205/55-15's...

I've owned BFG g-force sports.
Very durable, great dry grip, great hydroplane resistance, cheap $.

Those or the Yokohama S drives would be my pick...

The ES100 were decent performance tires when I had them, but they're an older design/compound now and have been eclipsed by newer stuff. I think the S.Drive may have a softer sidewall, but the rubber is much better and the tread pattern seems happier in the rain. If you're not going for trophies, then I wouldn't discount the ES100 if it's one of your only choices. The noise or ride quality never bothered me (195/50-15 on an integra with a mild street suspension).

paul wrote: change to 205/55-15's... I've owned BFG g-force sports. Very durable, great dry grip, great hydroplane resistance, cheap $. Those or the Yokohama S drives would be my pick...

x2, exactly what we have on the XR4Ti dedicated autox/track rat because they have great ride/performance for the $$$, and decent wear considering how hard we beat on them and still drive to and from on the highway...

as an aside, we were actually running the 3 spoke 'aero' saab 900 rims before switching to Mustang turbines for the offset...

Just an FYI, that is the stock tire size on a base S13 and Cobalt.
which reminds me, I should probably swap the tires off the S13 onto the sol. Meh, just get brand new tires for the sol.
Anyone have any nice wheels for cheap for it?

Yeah I am so far very pleased by the Sdrives. Dunno about treadwear yet but at this point I don't much care. They seem to grip like an older Rcompound in the dry, and do better than anything else I've used in the rain.

I had Michelin Pilot sports on my E30 in 215/55-15 and loved the heck out of them. I forget the exact model but they don't make them anymore. They were the V-rated all season HP tire and did surprisingly well, progressive grip/slip, good treadwear, not cheap.

Toyo Proxes T1Rs have done VERY well on my Impala SS whale. I traded for some 20" wheels with Federal tires on them and they suck like nothing has sucked before

change to 205/55-15's...

Yes, do that.

I have some falken 912s in that size, and uh DONT get those for high performance driving.

The avs es 100 are still a good tire in the grand scheme of things and they still have some of the sharpest steering response of all cheap tires.

Id still go for something newer.