New Tires

There are always signs when your tires are worn out such as sliding out when cornering, car floating when it rains heavily or lost of traction and grip even at the traffic light. All of these happened to me and some time almost cause an accident during rainy season. Since my last set of tires really disappointed me, I spent some time searching for better tires. When I first bought my car, it had different set of tires for the front and rear and the rear had a negative camber setting, around 50% usage of tire. I had it adjusted back as straight as possible (around 80% usage) to save tire cost. Now, I decided to use different set for front and rear and if possible use negative camber again.

I asked around for recommendations. My friend with the turbo Celica recommended me a tire, Achilles ATR Sport from Indonesia. According to him, it is grippy even for his power and is very cheap. Those description really fit my criteria. Since my rear tire only uses 80% of the tires, it would be a waste to use expensive tires and with the ATR Sport it would be cheaper and performance is still maintained. As for the front, I wanted good tires because of the front wheel drive system and handling is in the front. I bought Yokohoma S Drive tires. The S Drive is performance tire from big Japan make, Yokohama and it has high review. 

Achilles ATR Sport

Before actual use, what actually seems different about the S Drive compared to other tires is the groove shown below with the red arrow. In Malaysia where is rains all the time, getting a good tire that drives well in the rain is crucial and I think the special grooves definitely will increase the performance in the rain. However, I am not happy about the shops that changed my tires. I got 3 rims scratched and I just had them painted. It seems that I do not deserve perfect rims. Everyone should be aware of their rim condition after changing tires.

After 2 weeks with the new tires, the performance is better than my previous Falken Ziex ZE-912. Cornering has been great and the steering is lighter making handling and response so much faster. In the rain, the car does not slide or hydroplan easily and it is possible to drive faster. I had a feeling that the tire pressure plays some part too and I checked the pressure. It was at 230 kpa in the front where usually I pump at 220 kpa. I guess 230 is more comfortable and corners better.