When summer comes: 205/45/17 Michelin PSS or Bridgestone RE-11's?

[praecurvo]

Hey there,

I'm looking for an awesome tire already for summer. I have the OEM 17's and would like to keep them. I'll AutoX a few times a year and 3-4 track days as well. I noticed the RE-11's are quite heavy and have a smaller contact patch than the PSS's.

Suggestions and experience with this setup or tires?

 

[GAbOS]

The PSS is a more Daily Driver than the RE-11.

 

[terr3nce]

For track and dry performance applications, RE-11 is a better choice. This tire needs more heat to grip properly.

 

[praecurvo]

For track and dry performance applications, RE-11 is a better choice. This tire needs more heat to grip properly.

Do you think the RE-11's will last longer in my above mentioned scenarios?

 

[RAAMaudio]

I would stick with a 205/40 or 45 on a 7" wide wheel as much better sidewall support, better feedback, faster almost always and will weigh less and you are already going to use really heavy wheels.

I would go with their newest tire, RE-71R as it comes in a 205/45/17, 21lbs which is 2lbs less per tire than the RE-11, $3 more apiece, same wear rating.

 

[justinsane]

I have been dailying on Federal RSR's just because they are dirt cheap and perform surprisingly well on the track. Not ideal for the wet/winter conditions we have here but I have other cars if it's really gnarly out.

RE71R wouldn't last as long as RE-11 but will be a faster tire on the track. Will you be getting a second set of wheels? I find the stock tires are pretty good for the street and a set of re-71r's would be nice if you had a street setup + hpde setup

 

[RAAMaudio]

I have heard some good things about the RSR as well.

How many miles do you drive a year?
How hard do you drive when on the street, canyons, etc...?
When you autocross or track the car do you use the tires as much as possible?
Do you check temps regularly, check roll over, etc?

These things can make a big difference in how long the tires last and do what you want them to when running the car hard.

 

[RAAMaudio]

I have heard some good things about the RSR as well.

How many miles do you drive a year?
How hard do you drive when on the street, canyons, etc...?
When you autocross or track the car do you use the tires as much as possible?
Do you check temps regularly, check roll over, etc?

These things can make a big difference in how long the tires last and do what you want them to when running the car hard.

 

[richtor]

I was looking at the RE-11, S-001, RE-71R. Any comments on these three tires and how they grip and last compared the the stock 050A?

 

[RAAMaudio]

Those tires have some large differences in abilities and applications, there may be an entirely different tire that is best for your needs.

Please provide more info so we can better help you out

1) wheel size
2) use as in street, hpde, autocross, pick street and one of the others please.
3) wear expected
4) weather conditions used in

 

[richtor]

Those tires have some large differences in abilities and applications, there may be an entirely different tire that is best for your needs.

Please provide more info so we can better help you out

1) wheel size
2) use as in street, hpde, autocross, pick street and one of the others please.
3) wear expected
4) weather conditions used in

If you're talking to me. Best performance or grip is what I want.

1. Stock wheel
2. Most grip or performance
3. Wear would be my next ideal(would like 30-40k miles)
4. I'm in NorCal Sonoma county with occasional trips to Tahoe mostly summer.

 

[RAAMaudio]

You can have either highest grip or longer lasting but not both as the highest grip tires are going to simply wear out much faster even if you are fairly easy on them meaning not using the grip they provide or seldom doing so, they will still wear out pretty quickly.

The highest grip tires come with a 200 or even lower wear rating.

You would be better off to get a higher wear rated tire known to last really well and still be able to use it to it's limits much more often to get the fun and last longer.

I generally run the highest grip tires so less experience but the numbers, reviews, are what to look at Tirerack.com does extensive testing and is the best place to find out how they compare different tires in the same league.

This tire seems to be good, I have driven on them on the Octane Academy and liked them well enough and they did really well against other tires in their class, wear rated at 340 so still might not last as long as you wish but should last much longer than the 200 rated tires.
They are exceptionally wide for a tire marked 205/40 or 45/17, I think perhaps to wide for a 7" wheel to work at their best but they felt good when I drove them at speed on track.

BGF Sport Comp 2

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+Sport+COMP-2
---------------------

Those are still summer tires meaning when it is cold they are not going to grip well so you may need an ultra high performance all season and this tire, same manf, is one of the very best. It has a narrower tread which I feel is better on just a 7" wide wheel, only in 45 series so a bit taller than stock. Wear rating is 400 which is closer to what you want to get out of them.

BFG Sport Comp 2 A/S

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+COMP-2+A%2FS

I have these on my car, Mich PS-3 A/S and they are an outstanding 3 season tire as not good in the snow but OK if a light snow and take it easy, great in the rain, dry grip is amazing for an all season and they wear really well and handling is superb for an AS, rated as the top AS made.
Tread width is still pretty wide at 7.5" but they seem to do well on 7" wide wheels.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?AFFCODE=AD5&tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+A%2FS+3+%28W-+or+Y-Speed+Rated%29

I happen to be selling mine as going down to 16 or 15 for a better ride and lower weight wheels, I have ten 15x9 wheels, race tires, summer tires and want 15x8 or 16x8 all seasons now My tires only have 3k miles on them and rated at 500 for wear so they would last far longer than the others listed or any summer only and ultra high performance all season.

I did not start this to try to sell my tires, just thought about it right now and in Sacramento for a few more days so let me know if interested.

Have a great day
Rick
775-600-5718

 

[richtor]

I was looking at the RE-11, S-001, RE-71R. Any comments on these three tires and how they grip and last compared the the stock 050A?

I was looking at a compare and contrast for the 4 tires above. I'm looking for performance 1, last 2, cost 3, wet performance 4.
I don't like Michelin tires.

 

[juliog]

For anyone planning to do a few autox and 3-4 track days a year: first, get proper pads and fluid and run the OEM tires until they have no tread left in the front (~3 track days). Then, with stock wheels, I'd run 215/40R17 Dunlop ZII or AD08R. Grippier *and* longer lasting than OEM tires.

If less than 3-4 track days per year, PSS or RE11 would be fine, maybe look at the tires suggested by RAAMaudio if you need longer lasting tires.

I do not recommend RE71R, they wear way too fast, and the enormous grip makes it a bad beginners tire. Fronts would be done in 3 track days, and on the street they won't last over 10-12k miles. They are advertised as 200 treadwear but in practice they wear like a 100 tire. But thing is, actual 100TW tires like the NT01 last longer on track. I also wouldn't run them without a front BBK.

 

[meFiSTo]

...They are advertised as 200 treadwear but in practice they wear like a 100 tire. But thing is, actual 100TW tires like the NT01 last longer on track. I also wouldn't run them without a front BBK.

Hi there!

I'm wondering about your thinking with regard to not running the RE-71Rs without upgrading to a BBK up front.

I've run NT01s, RA1s, and even some old Hoosiers back in the day on a FWD momentum car of similar characteristics to our FiSTs with no issues. Great grip, very compliant, and just running Carbotech XP10/XP8 pads, race fluids, and braided fluid lines. Otherwise stock hardware. No issues whatsoever on dozens of HPDE-style events. Although, so far, I've only had one event on the FiST, but it's done fine. Having said that, I am probably less aggressive that most lappers -- all things considered.

But I would be interested in getting some insight regarding the relationship between the tire upgrade and the BBK suggestion. I'd rather NOT do a BBK (especially since I'm running 15x7 track wheels), but I'm open to the reasoning. Thanks.

 

[juliog]

RE71R may be borderline usable with stock brakes, since the tires will overheat in the 3rd lap anyway and you'll have to slow down afterwards. The advantage of an R comp like the NT01 is being able to run hot lap after hot lap consistently, which is ideal in a sprint race scenario or a competitive TT session where you are dealing with traffic. They're also more consistent throughout their lifetime compared to street tires, so if you can afford a 2nd set of wheels or the car isn't driven on the street at all, R comps end up being the cost efficient option.

I don't have hard data yet (slowly working on my build, about to be on my 3rd set of OEM tires so I can keep doing apples to apples comparisons of upgrades...), but I don't think stock brakes would be up to the task of continuous hot lapping at the pace that a tire like the NT01 enables, no matter the pad compound. Even if the stock brakes did the job, chances are pads would be running so hot that a BBK upgrade might save you money in the mid term (the hotter a pad runs the faster it wears).

This is all assuming you're going "fast enough", lap after lap...

 

[meFiSTo]

RE71R may be borderline usable with stock brakes, since the tires will overheat in the 3rd lap anyway and you'll have to slow down afterwards. The advantage of an R comp like the NT01 is being able to run hot lap after hot lap consistently, which is ideal in a sprint race scenario or a competitive TT session where you are dealing with traffic. They're also more consistent throughout their lifetime compared to street tires, so if you can afford a 2nd set of wheels or the car isn't driven on the street at all, R comps end up being the cost efficient option.

I don't have hard data yet (slowly working on my build, about to be on my 3rd set of OEM tires so I can keep doing apples to apples comparisons of upgrades...), but I don't think stock brakes would be up to the task of continuous hot lapping at the pace that a tire like the NT01 enables, no matter the pad compound. Even if the stock brakes did the job, chances are pads would be running so hot that a BBK upgrade might save you money in the mid term (the hotter a pad runs the faster it wears).

This is all assuming you're going "fast enough", lap after lap...

Thanks! I love the NT01s and have found them to be very consistent and durable track tires for my purposes. I probably push my car hardest in technical turn combinations (not a lot of threshold braking going on back there) and generally don't late brake at the bottom of the big straights. I do trail brake some if I'm very comfortable with a particular turn sequence, but that has precious little effect on the wear of tires or brake pads. In general, I suspect that I'm easier on my brakes than some folks on lapping days (I don't do competitive events). I could hardly tell I'd been to a track day on the XP8s last spring. I'll keep an eye on my brake hardware. In the past, I have gone through some discs and hubs/bearings, but that just seems like normal wear and tear given the excessive heat. I did find that adding cooling fins helped reduce fade over the course of lapping day.

Sorry to hijack the OP's thread.

Please return to your normally scheduled programming.

 

[richtor]

Thanks for the information! Is there any info on the new S001's by Bridgestone?

 

[RAAMaudio]

I just put my 15x9, 225 Rival S setup back on as out of the winter now in SoCal and the ride and noise level is hugely reduced over the 205/45/17 PS-3 A/S tires, my wife practically hates the car on the 17s and loves it on the better riding tires.

That said, I would only consider 16 or 15" wheels and tires and selling my AS tires and wheels and getting 15's to replace them, asap!

 

[15performanceblue]

I just put my 15x9, 225 Rival S setup back on as out of the winter now in SoCal and the ride and noise level is hugely reduced over the 205/45/17 PS-3 A/S tires, my wife practically hates the car on the 17s and loves it on the better riding tires.

That said, I would only consider 16 or 15" wheels and tires and selling my AS tires and wheels and getting 15's to replace them, asap!

That is really good to know...I will be buying new tires 100% when the time comes, April or May..I REALLY want new rims, so you would say 15 inch rims would be the best way to go? 15's with what type of tire. I do not autocross at all. I mainly go to the drag strip, and daily drive, stage 3 E30 tune, probably going Cyborg turbo around April or May, so good grip in a MUST. Any suggestions for not crazy priced Rims. Maybe stay in the $1000-1200 range for rims and tires? I have read many of your post, but I like to directly ask.

Thanks!