rysbrnr

I recently bought some Fondmetal 9x (18"x8") with Falken Azenis ST-115's (225/40/18). I bought 225's instead of 235's becuase the car is waaay too low...thanks to H&R's so-called (1.3"F and 1.4"R drop)...yeah right.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/33995/angleview.jpg">
The tires are real nice and sticky. Treadwear is 360 and traction is A (thanks S4MAdman). There are two huge circumferential water grooves that make GY Aquatreads look weak. On dry pavement the tires grip like glue and there is no tire squeal. These are probably the quietest tires I've owned compared to Michelin Pilot, Nitto NT-555, Toyo Proxes, Potenza's, GY GS-DI've had in the past. There is definately an improvement over my stock RE040's. I don't notice any sidewall flex. I went out to a parking lot in the rain and tried to slide around with ESP off and these things don't break loose easily. My main complaint about these tires is that they seem quite narrow for a 225 sized tire. On my 18"x8" they are stretced on there and offer no rim protection even though they have rim guarding lip on the tire. I'd recommend a 235 for anyone else using a 8" wide rim. For only $130 per tire, the Azenis ST-115 are a good buy and are rated better than the Falken GRB FK-451......

EDIT (the GRB are rated better, thanks S4MadMan) What I mean is the Azenis is more suited to my uses...long distance,daily driving and good treadwear.

The Fondmetal's are very heavy, around 25lbs each! This isn't my race car so I didn't really care about weight. I was told that they would fit fine so I bought em. Wrong, the front's require a 5-7mm spacer or you'll hit the caliper. With a custom 7mm spacer I have about 1.5mm gap between the spokes and the caliper. I'd compare these wheels to the AT Italia Riva's. Bright silver finish with a polished stainless steel lip.
Along with the new wheels and tires I installed a 2 Bennett Racing sutd conversion. It was easy to install and makes mounting tires easier than using OEM wheel bolts. Now I can have a larger selection of wheel locks to use too. To install you just need some red Loc-tite and a allen wrench, preferably one that you can use with a torque wrench.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/33995/2bennetstud.jpg">
In this pic you can see how stretched the tires are on the rim. BTW, my 2001 Type R (39k miles) is now for sale spread the word, thanks
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/33995/s4typer.jpg">
Sorry for the sh***y low-res pics. I'll be investing in a better camera soon. If anyone wants certain shots or more pics and close-ups, email me.

Sully

yesgaro

Nice writeup, pics ain't half bad...

No More B5 S4

...first off, the treadwear on the ST115s = 360 not 300.

The ST115 is for customers who want a nice, quiet ride first and foremost. Performance is secondary. I recommend the ST115 to most of our Mercedes, Jaguar and Lexus customers who want a nice ride in a Z-Rated tire.

The GRB FK-451 is a ultra high performance tire. It's up there with the S03 and T1-S for again, max performance on a streetable tire.

Additional specifications by the UTQG:

ST115:
Treadwear: 360
Traction: A
Temperature: A

GRB FK-451:
Treadwear: 280
Traction: AA
Temperature: A

The next set of tires I'm going to test...either the BF Goodrich KDWs or the Goodyear F1s.

"That is all." :-P

Ray Khan

even tho the kumhos have a AA for traction. The Falkens are also better in the wet. I'm very happy with them so far, but I know they aren't a high performance tire. I will use them for the quattro challenge and see they compare to teh kumhos a little better as the few AutoX's I've done were with the kumhos.

PhoenixGTS

P.S. I think they are quiet, but not special quiet. Plus I am convinced they make a weird growling noise at very low speed like coming to a stop.

No More B5 S4

I have them on my C280 Mercedes.

rysbrnr

U'r right! Discount Tire told me Azenis was better. He talked me out of GRB FK-451 for some reason?

No More B5 S4

...I was going to get a daily driving, comfortable tire with good performance, and long life, that's what I would get: Falken ST115s. :-)

That's *if*. :-)

mpwolf

Perhaps he's thinking of the Azenis Sport, which probably performs better than the GRB in the dry.

No More B5 S4

Ahhhh, the track tires...hopefully. :-)