Originally Posted by mtbprelude
The tire war isn't as significant to the EF hatch crew as it is to those of us running in STS/STX with a rather heavy (2800lb right now) car, ANY extra tire width is necessary. (no 225/35/15 unfortunately :P ) There are SEVERAL choices currently available and many more on the way...
Your choices:
The Falken Azenis RT-215 is available in 215/45 from vulcantire.com, and also most Discount Tire stores for around $98-110/tire, currently these are the benchmark tires in STS. Super responsive, but to people new to the sport the edge of adhesion comes and goes quickly, once off they are more difficult to recover. Require a water sprayer to keep cool, they last about 130-140 heat cycles, and then grip goes away FAST.
Hankook has rolled out the RS2 Z212, and it comes in a 225/45/16, the gain in sidewall height is 1.4-1.6mm. As grippy as the RT215s, not as responsive, sorta numb...but very easy to keep on the edge: they howl like a banshee, and very easy to bring back once over the limit. Reports from a local national caliber STS driver say they can overheat, but not as bad as the RT215s, they are available installed at your local Discount Tire @ $98/tire + disposal fees and 1/2 shipping.
Kumho MX's, I've never been them so I can't say first hand... unshaved, they aren't close to anything currently out, but shaved they appear to be really good, love high temperatures, and are virtually immune to heat cycling out.
The 'New' Azenis RT615 won't be out until Sept if we're lucky in 16", but they'll some in the 215/45/16 again, and if they are like their predecessors, they'll look like a 225+ tire. Again, they seem to be heat sensitive, but not as much, grip/responsive about the same as before, marginally more communicative about impending forays into the extreme.
The 4 tires I listed were flogged over a weekend (tested Sat, autocrossed Sunday) by the local ST* crowd, as well as by a professional test driver at a test center in San Antonio Texas. They were mounted on a Sentra Spec V with 17x7s.
Locally we have 2-3 Integras in STS, most run the 15's, for gearing reasons, but one swears by the RT215s in 215/45/16. There are other much much costlier options from Toyo and Advan...but at 150+/tire...I haven't bothered to learn more, so I can't share.