A rubber composition for a tire tread comprising (A) 100 parts by weight of a rubber component containing (a) 50 to 95 parts by weight of a diene-based rubber containing 50 to 100% by weight of an aromatic vinyl-conjugated diene copolymer rubber and (b) 5 to 50 parts by weight of a conjugated diene-based rubber gel having a toluene swelling index Qi of 16 to 70 and (B) 3 to 40 parts by weight, based upon 100 parts by weight of the total rubber component, of a copolymer resin of an aromatic vinyl and dipentene and/or pinene having a softening point of 100 to 150° C. and a high performance tire using the above rubber composition are disclosed.