Federal RS-RR

[maestromaestro]

Thanks for all your help. It's nice to get real feedback. I'm sold on them. These will be my next set no doubt. Hard to truly believe a salesman who Is trying to sell you on tires he wants to sell. He lost all credibility when I asked him if he has ever sold them and replied with a no. I appreciate you guys being able to give me real world feedback versus guesses.

215/40/17 online tires was $111.26 per tire and a total of $445.04, without shipping. As of today. Thanks again!

There are a number of good tires "out there". As I said, I am a fan of BF Goodrich's Rival-S (I drive on them daily) - they run about 150 a pop, 200 compound, deep treads - and they are excellent on a track as well. The downside is expected - they don't last very long. My annual mileage is high, over 20K, so the fronts get replaced about 2x year. But - again, these are truly dual use modern tires. I have experience with Toyo R888 and Nitto NT01 - both are great, but NT01s are barely DOT certified, and R888 are ultimately a track-only tire. Rivals sit in a very sweet spot.

 

[eleven]

Which size at that price?

215/40/17.

Federals website mentioned a price rise a month ago. Looks like it's in effect.

 

[lemons6245]

Eleven and lemons, thanks for your perspective. I wanted a super sticky tire that wasn't a race tire, however I don't want to die for them. Seems the consensus is they are really loud. Fantastic dry grip. The wet driving seems to be iffy.

Lemons when you said sketchy did you mean you were hydroplaning all the time?

The price I was getting was $589 out the door installed. If anyone can recommend a tire that is just as sticky for the similar price I'm all ears.

$138 per tire installed.

To me I don't like the way the vehicle feels at 50+ mph on the freeway with the tires when it rains. At street speeds they are alright as long as you don't hit standing water. To me personally The vehicle feel unsettled with them at 50+ in the rain.

 

[M-Sport fan]

215/40/17.

Federals website mentioned a price rise a month ago. Looks like it's in effect.

OK, thanks.

As the 215/40-17 595 Evos shipped are almost that much now.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Rivals sit in a very sweet spot.

It would be a sweeter spot yet IF BFG/Michelin made them in a 215/40-17 (they'd be going on my wheels in a month IF this were the case!), as that combined company REFUSES to offer ANYTHING in that size for us here in North America.

I do not want to use a 215/45-17 or 205/45-17 so those sizes are out, and I REFUSE to use a size I don't want to, merely in order to get a certain model/'stickiness' tire.

(WE are the customers, and if a given size does not fit their corporate/shareholders' profit margin 'model', and therefore does not "justify" production, then they will lose MY business as a result. )

 

[maestromaestro]

It would be a sweeter spot yet IF BFG/Michelin made them in a 215/40-17 (they'd be going on my wheels in a month IF this were the case!), as that combined company REFUSES to offer ANYTHING in that size for us here in North America.

I do not want to use a 215/45-17 or 205/45-17 so those sizes are out, and I REFUSE to use a size I don't want to, merely in order to get a certain model/'stickiness' tire.

(WE are the customers, and if a given size does not fit their corporate/shareholders' profit margin 'model', and therefore does not "justify" production, then they will lose MY business as a result. )

Understood. I run 16s, so - no problem for me.[emoji3]

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[DaveG99]

Looks like the rs-rr has a tread depth of 7/32. The rs-rr has a tread depth of 9/32. And supposedly they are both 140 tread wear Even though the rs-rr says they are 200TW. So the rs-r should last longer. Wonder if there is much of a difference in grip.

 

[codestp202]

I think you have too many R's in one of those. I can say the RS-RR's are very sticky. From the reviews, the RS-RR's are a step up from the RS-R. Are you going to be tracking on them? I can't speak on the tire life between the two.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Looks like the rs-rr has a tread depth of 7/32. The rs-rr has a tread depth of 9/32. And supposedly they are both 140 tread wear Even though the rs-rr says they are 200TW. So the rs-r should last longer. Wonder if there is much of a difference in grip.

My RS-RRs have 200 tread wear imprinted right on the side wall, but I believe that the older ones, when they first came out, were labelled as 140 TW (they probably changed it right about when the SCCA and other sanctioning bodies upped their minimum TW ratings to 200 for many classes/run groups, as did most other tire manufacturers ).

I just swapped mine out today for the (fall/winter setup for now) factory wheels with the Pilot Sport AS/3s on them, since I don't want them to freeze and crack in the <30*F ambient temps expected here tonight.

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

I ran 275 RS-RR on my 35pZ track car. Loved the tires and so did my wallet. I'm debating going with them again on this car.....if I can deal with the road noise as a daily. My Z was not

 

[M-Sport fan]

I ran 275 RS-RR on my 35pZ track car. Loved the tires and so did my wallet. I'm debating going with them again on this car.....if I can deal with the road noise as a daily. My Z was not

They DO sing like canaries from ~30 MPH on up, but I got used to it, and the dead silence of the PS AS/3s is almost eerie now. LOL

 

[Fiester]

They DO sing like canaries from ~30 MPH on up, but I got used to it, and the dead silence of the PS AS/3s is almost eerie now. LOL

I was surprised how loud these tires actually are above like 35-40 mph. Luckily my loud exhaust covers most of the sound, but I think if I had stock exhaust the RS-RRs would be too annoying. They are super sticky though and feel great in the dry.

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

When I first drive home on them I thought they were rubbing cause they were so loud lol


It's like a car on mud turrain tires smh

 

[M-Sport fan]

When I first drive home on them I thought they were rubbing cause they were so loud lol


It's like a car on mud turrain tires smh

Yeah, when my son rides in the car during his visits here, he SWEARS there is something wrong with the tires, or that they were installed improperly. LOL

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

I really want to try out R888R cause I can cross rotate them vs RS-RR and RE71-R being directional

 

[DaveG99]

The 215/40/17's are kind of heavy at 22lbs

 

[JewFro]

Its great to see this tire get attention in this community, I've been using the 595 RS-R as an auto-x tire for my 83 GTI and really enjoyed them except for one flaw mentioned below.

Has anyone experienced cracks running across the tread? The RS-R seems to suffer from these and it'd be a shame for the RS-RR although the cracks seem to be superficial as they wear away with time. I noticed 3 of mine had cracked after 6-7 events and a web search turned up folks with the same issue after track days with the verdict being it wasn't dangerous. I'm not sold on that and haven't done an event with mine since but have done some street driving without issue.

You can see where the crack has mostly worn away on the left most tire.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I had a first year, bought new ('83) A1 GTI myself, albeit NOT 16V transplanted, nor 1/100th as modded as yours (Gillet catback, Koni Sport yellow double adjustables, Raid steering wheel, Alpine head unit/speakers, Yoko A-008s on factory alloys).

I had my RS-RRs (215/40-17s on 17x8 TD Pro Race 1.2s) on from about early June to just last week, and in that time, I have not noticed ANY of those cracks at all.

I PURPOSELY (and quickly) got those wheels/tires off of the car when we got this early cold snap we are currently experiencing.

Have you had the RS-Rs on the VDUB during actual FREEZING ambient temps at all?

 

[JewFro]

I had a first year, bought new ('83) A1 GTI myself, albeit NOT 16V transplanted, nor 1/100th as modded as yours (Gillet catback, Koni Sport yellow double adjustables, Raid steering wheel, Alpine head unit/speakers, Yoko A-008s on factory alloys).

I had my RS-RRs (215/40-17s on 17x8 TD Pro Race 1.2s) on from about early June to just last week, and in that time, I have not noticed ANY of those cracks at all.

I PURPOSELY (and quickly) got those wheels/tires off of the car when we got this early cold snap we are currently experiencing.

Have you had the RS-Rs on the VDUB during actual FREEZING ambient temps at all?

Nice! Even in mild form they're such a fun car, mine will always be a bastard child but it'd be nice to have a clean mildly modified 8v on CIS again. Mine actually now has large carbon flares and is in the midst of being torn down for a full re-spray and medium turbo 1.8T swap.

The coldest I've run the Federals was around freezing last fall and they turn into unpredictable hockey pucks but given the compound that is somewhat expected.

This is how mine currently sits

 

[tiggerbren]

The Federal RSRR sounds like a crop duster is following close behind where the Bridgestone RE71R sounds like you're pulling tape off the road as you go.