Tires BRIDGESTONE or Maxxis

I ride a Maxxis Aspen up front and a Specialized Renegade in the back. Both are very fast rolling and I like the Aspen better than the Specialized Fast Track up front.

In my experience I have had way less flat tires switching from specialized to maxxis tires. Fast trak and ground controls were super unreliable for me. I’ve used maxxis rekon, ardent, ikon, and aspens. Will never go back to spec tires.

I can, however, recommend some tires that I trust wholeheartedly, and I don't take it easy on my tires. (Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22) Fantastic grip in rain, dry, hot, or cold.

I just checked Tire Rack for the 17in size tires and they're in stock. There's also a Bridgestone version.

In winter I run a set of Blizzaks in 225/40/18 on the factory wheels. Car is excellent in snow

All 4 wheels are in perfect condition. No scratches, bends or dents. They were installed on my 2024 Golf R for 3k miles Tires are in perfect condition with only 3k miles. Bridgestone Potenza S005 235/35/19 8.5x19 rim size ET45 offset

For my winter set I'm using the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 (205/55/r16) and while not as good in the snow as the Conti WinterContact, they handle amazingly in wet conditions (we get quite a bit of rain) and are relatively silent and good on fuel.

The Bridgestone is going to be faster. The nankang would probably wear a little bit better call and is more heat tolerant. But not as fast when cold, and also heavier. If you were happy with the Bridgestone I would have to say probably stay there

I am not a fan of ardents. They roll fast but have a habit of loosing grip when you least expect it and suck at regaining grip once they start to slide. I'm running Recons front and back and really like the set up. They roll pretty fast and are usually very predictable.

The factory Bridgestone Ecopia tires were trash. They were useless in any wet conditions at 30k miles. It’s rocking some Generals now.