Tires in question on Toyo T1-S 225/45/17 on SSR Comp 17x8 +48 Rims, total wheel+tire weight 34.8 lbs.
First off, the tread on these things looks awesome. The foot print it leaves on the ground is incredible looking. Just glancing at these tires immediately tells everyone in the vincinity that your not running their mother's all seasons.
The max pressure of the tire is 50 PSI, up 9 psi from the stock's max pressure of 41. Giving you a little more area to play with when your autox'in, or driving aggressively.
The grip of these things just has to be experienced. When tireswap made his recommendation, I figured they'd be better then stock tires...I was wrong. These things make the stock mich's feel like you had been riding along on mushy playdoh. The lateral grip on the Toyo T1-S is just unbelievable. It continues gripping far beyond the point at which the mich's would have let go, screaming in frustration.
The wet traction is also extremely good with the Toyo's. The SCCA, previous to 2003, ran the Toyo T1-S as their primary road course tire (World racing), and required all participants to use it. They raced in the wet and the dry. This is a testament to the performance of the T1-S in both rain and dry conditions.
It basically feels like its not raining when driving in the wet. Might just be my excitment with the tire, but it felt much sturdier then any other tire I've ever driven on in the rain.
Road noise is higher then the Falken's, but to be expected. These tires are designed to communicate with the driver and do so quite well. Performance is key here, over secondary aspects such as "road noise". These aren't loud by any means, just "louder" then the falken ZIEX's. However they might just be about the same level as the stock mich's, maybe another owner can comment.
There may be better dry performance tires on the market (like Falken Azenis Sports, or Toyo RA-1's), but neither of those can compete with the T1-S's dry and WET performance. I will be definitely purchasing this tire in the future from tireswap (for all my car's) again.
Some additional later notes:
I've been racing on these tires (autox) for over a year now, and the tires are still in one piece. (Though the fronts quite a bit worse off then the rears). Under normal driving conditions these tires should last about 2 years...time gets shaved off the more events you go to, and the harder you drive through the corners.
The tires are quite quiet for extremely high performing tires. Compared to Falken Azensis Sports, or Kuhmo MX's, their almost silent by comparison. They give great feedback when your in a harsh corner letting you exactly when your heavy opendiffy FWD family sedan is going to plow into the cones.
Because their sidewall is relatively soft (as far as summer performance tires go) their ride is also very close to most stock all-seasons. Had I not gone with a lower profile tire setup, I'd imagine I'd notice almost no difference over a stock mazda6 mich pilots (Which btw are absolutely horrible tires).
I'd have to say these are quite possibly one of the best performance tires for the street. Not only do they have one of the highest rated wet traction ratings, but their dry traction will decrease your stopping distance (as long as your brakes aren't the limiting factor) and increase your vehicles manuverability (helping you to avoid a possible accident).
These tires are not available through tirerack, and must be purchased through offical toyo dealers.
I got mine from tireswap.com.
Here's some more reviews.
http://www.carreview.com/Tires/Toyo/PRD_1008_1577crx.aspx#reviews
