After 18,500mi on My RE040’s I have finally pulled the trigger on some new and better tires for my 8. I just ordered 4 225/45/18 Pirelli PZero Rosso Asimmetrico’s through the tirerack for about $987.

My main reason for the purchase was the incredible weight savings of 5lb per tire, which is the equivalent of putting lightweight wheels and lighter tires on the car. While I would like to add lighter wheels at some point, these tires allow me to keep the stock rims which I like in terms of design, take some unsprung weight off the wheels where it matters most.

Now, I could have gone with wider tires, but the reality is, the stock size is fine in terms of balance and grip given the engines N/A power level, as much as I don’t like the stock RE040’s, I never felt like I was going to lose control of the car pushing it pretty hard into corners. If I was FI, wider would prolly be a good idea, but given the power band of the car currently, I feel its unnecessary. Yes there are some tires that at the margin have slightly more grip (S03’s come to mind) but for my daily driver that gets some occasional track/auto-x time, these are more tire than I can use. In addition, I’m also running the full MS suspension setup, so I can afford to balance that out with a tire that may give up a tiny bit of grip at the 10/10th’s for lighter weight and more ride comfort.

I’m really looking forward to see how the lighter tire helps the ride quality along with the better tread design in terms wear and noise. The treadwear (220 AA) is also much better on these guys than the stock tires (hell, slicks might have a better tread wear than our stock tires).

I’ll continue to post my impression here for those that might want to consider these tires. I plan on having them installed on Wednesday.

I’m going to be selling my stock tires soon, which are in good shape given there mileage. I rotated them every 3K so they have about 5/32 tread left and are evenly worn. PM me if interested, they may end up on Ebay soon.

Well, I got the tires installed today at Firestone (who did a good job), getting tires from the Tirerack is a pretty quick affair (I ordered them yesterday). First impressions are very positive, I’m being kind to them for the first 500mi to let them break in, but I can already tell the difference in road noise and drone (one would hope this would be better). The tires are very simple in design, no fancy tread pattern, there is a small red Pzero logo, but that’s about all that really makes them look different than the stock RE040.

The 5lb difference in weight can be felt immediate in the steering response, which is lighter yet just as accurate. The suspension does reach quicker over bumps, and the thuds I felt from the previous tires are a little more muted. The overall ride quality is definitely improved as the whole suspension system doesn’t have to work quite as hard as before. I can only imagine what another 3-4lb off the wheels with lighter wheels.

As far as acceleration goes, I haven’t really done any good launches due to the break in, the unsprung weight loss should also improve my general acceleration slightly but I’ll have to spend some more time with the tires as well as my Gtech to tell.

My grip reports will obviously have to wait for the break in, but I expect they will be quite good given the Tirerack report.

Overall, for the money, I fell the tires are well worth the price. You get the advantages of grip and handling, with better comfort and longevity, in a light weight package.

Old thread I know but I thought I would add anyway. I just bought 4 new 235/40/R18 Pirelli PZero Rosso Asimmetrico’s. They are on special at the moment for $380/tyre. I am curious how you went after your break in period. My change over was done in a hurry so they didnt get a chance to clean off all the Mould Wax. It made for an interesting first few Km's. Once that had worn off they are a fantastic tyre. I have only done 200km's on them so far but they are as good as the Potenza's if not better (hard to tel when you are comparing to bald previous tyres).

Cheers

Andrew