Riken Raptor ZR tires

[tommyb]

Anybody have any experience with these? They are a good price and they have a decent treadware and traction ratings. Plus they have a W speed rating. I will use them on the front only. I dont do any hard cornering or anything like that. The occasional fast take offs in straight lines but other than that pretty much just general everyday use. I think im going to buy them, i just want to see what you guys thought of them since i have never heard anything about them. heres the link to summitracing with their description.

Riken Raptor (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?auto filter=1&part=BFG%2D85165&N=700+%2D160885+%2D59143+%2D59903+115&autoview=sku)

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/ large/bfg-20507_w.jpg

[GoatKart]

i have em on all four corners, got them as kind of a "bargain" tire at the time....

they run a little wider than they read so be aware of that, my 245's just BARELY rubbed in the rear on my 04... but im running a 245/40/18 instead of the stock size...

good wet/dry tire.. sucks in the snow obviously...

tread wear is good... i've been running them awhile with no noticable or increased wear...

traction, well... i was able to pull 2.1 60' times when stock..... now i cant get below a 2.2XX LOL... personally i think the compound on the tire is actually HARDER than the 300 its rated at....

lastly, in COLD temps, the tire really hardens up, so be weary of that.... when temps get into the 50-60 degree F range, unless i've been driving on them and gotten a little heat in them, the dry traction is a bit weak, well, for a GTO it is at least ;)


they are no KDW's but for the price they do all right..

Riken is actually a daughter company of Michelin North America

Michelin North America Inc. has introduced a new line of ultra-high performance tires -- the Riken Raptor ZR.The Riken Raptor ZR tire has a directional tread design and a "waved" center rib to help channel water away from the footprint; oversized swept-back lateral rib elements for maximum grip during cornering; and rubber compounds that help the tire maintain its shape


lastly, having driven on them, i would buy them again if price was a concern, cost is low, road noise minimal, and performance adequate for the price point they are introduced at.... however, given a larger budget i would proceed to a different tire...

[tommyb]

Sounds good man, thanks. I have Nitto NT Extreme 555 (not the DR's) on the back right now and they have a lot of tread left so im good on those. I pretty much wanted something that will get me down the road and not explode when i get past 100 haha. i actually need the 235/40/18 and those runa little higher at 107. still a good price tho. im still going tolook around for a bit, but thanks for the input.

[05 red tomcat]

i have them on all 4 wheels also , and i agree with everything he said
i cant vouch for the snow though ,lol
and the do harden up at lower temps

[tommyb]

Does the hardening in cold weather have any effects on the tires as far as damaging them, or is it just a traction issue? I live in Chicago and it tends to get a little cold here once in a while haha.

[05 red tomcat]

no damage that i can tell just they are alot easyer to spin

[Bill3508]

When I bought my car the dealer had just put a set of these on it. I have no complaints so far. They seem to have good wet and dry traction and are not noisy. I would probably purchase them myself if I ever was needing a budget tire again.

Bill3508

[3rdgenfan]

I had them on all 4, but right now they're just up front.

Definetly noticed they got hard in the colder weather and allowed for small flatspots to become pronounced after the car sitting overnight.

They made some road noise when going around turns but as was already stated, they're budget HP tires.

I'd buy them for the fronts in a heartbeat but rears? Not so much. Right now I've got 275/40 Goodyear Eagle HPs on the rear, drivers side rubs under accel. With the Rikens (obviously 245/45) Never had a rubbing issue, they were also on the car when I bought it, and I've put ~20k on the fronts, they saw 4 quick burnouts (rotated them before) and still have a good amount of tread left.

[NeveGTO]

I have them on the rear in 275's and I like them for a non-pricey tire.

[mark039]

My gto had these on it when I bought it and I have no complaints. Tires get a little hard in colder temps but they seem to wear really well. Good tire for the $$$ imo.

[JonnieDago]

They suck

I bought a spare set of wheels that came with 2 of those. Put them on the front and it was understeer city. I am about to rip em off and make tyre swings out of them. I couldn't knowingly give them to another GTO owner with good conscience.

If you want a budget tyre that will give any semblance of performance I recommend looking at the exclaim UHP.

[cjack12344321]

Anybody have any experience with these? They are a good price and they have a decent treadware and traction ratings. Plus they have a W speed rating. I will use them on the front only. I dont do any hard cornering or anything like that. The occasional fast take offs in straight lines but other than that pretty much just general everyday use. I think im going to buy them, i just want to see what you guys thought of them since i have never heard anything about them. heres the link to summitracing with their description.

Riken Raptor (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?auto filter=1&part=BFG%2D85165&N=700+%2D160885+%2D59143+%2D59903+115&autoview=sku)

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/ large/bfg-20507_w.jpg


had these on my car before and stiill have them up front,

i ran my car 5 times and all 5 passes were 14.5 and up with Rikens(235/40/18 in the back
I just got new goodyears(245/40/18) and my first pass was 14.1 followed by 13.6 and another 14.1(at 81mph didnt have a hemlment and they told me if i hit 13s they would make me leave)
so results show that they are a bargin tire not to be used if you want traction

[JTSnooks]

They suck

I bought a spare set of wheels that came with 2 of those. Put them on the front and it was understeer city. I am about to rip em off and make tyre swings out of them. I couldn't knowingly give them to another GTO owner with good conscience.

If you want a budget tyre that will give any semblance of performance I recommend looking at the exclaim UHP.

:iagree: For $107ea you can get a much better tire.

[Mercury1]

I have em and all they do is spin. But thats for another reason.

[Frank04gto]

honestly had no problem with them. had them when i bought my car from the dealer.