Best Tire Option

Weird, I thought I replied to this way back when. I've been running Dunlop Direzza Star Specs for the past 2 sets and they've been excellent. The first set I got 16k miles out of them on the s2k but the grip started dropping off around 9-10k miles in September 2010 (purchased them in January). My second set I purchased in February 2011 and got maybe 6 months out of them running 2 autox's a month and some track time at H2R. I'm down to the wear bars on them now and they're still passable on the street if you don't play around and don't drive in the rain but they really need to have been replaced 3-4 months ago as far as autox competition is concerned.

The RS3s are great from what I hear for ultimate dry grip but they're less impressive in the rain and ambient temperatures lower than 50*F. Sidewalls are much more squishy compared to the Star Specs which will wear the outer shoulder faster killing their autox life. I like the fact that a set of them is $200 cheaper than the Star Specs which is tempting for me but I think I'll be sticking with the Star Specs for the 2012 season.

Also to note: 12 of the top 17 trophy winners in STR a couple months ago at Nationals were ran on RS3s. Either 3rd of 4th place ran on Star Specs. I believe a majority of them run brand new sets at Nationals so take that for what it's worth. The Star Specs are a great all-around tire. I was kicking butt against people running RS3s when it was cooler than 50-60, they're better in the rain, and they're pretty darn good in the hot summer as long as you spray them down if you're double-driving.