mogley

Decided to start a useful thread for a change.

My car is 2 weeks away and the shop has decided to replace the entire rim/tyre.

The other 3 tyres are the stock Potenzas which I was planning to replace which have done about 28000kms.

So i will running with 1 brand spanking new shoe and 3 old, hand-me downs.

Should I ask the shop to replace the tyre not with the Potenzas but with a tyre of my choice? That way I will only need to buy 3 new tyres.

On the other hand, If i just leave the new Potenzas on and replace the other 3 with different tyres, I would also be saving money but have different brands. Is that a problem? (EDIT: Now that I think about it, the new tyres will be different profile. Hmm problem)

I can't be bothered to ask him to change them and wait longer for my car unless it really is worth it. Plus, I don't know if he (or the insurance company) will be happy to give me $$ for the price difference. As I understand it, those Potenzas are expensive. I'd rather get something expensive for free than get something cheaper for free if they're not going to re-imburse the difference.
This also raises the question of who really wants to buy 1 brand new tyre?

NB: I'm not willing to buy 3 brand new Potenzas because they are noisy as hell and expensive.
Thoughts?

EDIT: Goddammit they've already fitted the tyre. Looks like I've got a brand new Potenza I don't even want. Should have thought of this before instead of worrying myself to sleep over stupid drug laws lol.

Cromax

I agree completely with MissyK

playa78

mogley, I will gladly take it away from you if you don't want it

timbo

It's all a bit academic now, but in due course you might want to look at prices for 245/40 040's rather than 225/45s. They are considerable cheaper as they fit more current models in the Australian market.

My conclusion is that "noise" is more a function of the 8's (and all Mazda's) poor road noise insulation rather than tyre specific. New tyres will be quieter but in my experience, only for about 10,000k

Finally, as has been said in a number of threads, the 040s have the numbers in terms of (road tyre) performance. Those stiff, hard sidewalls are what really helps turn in, and the compound is pretty grippy. You will spend a lot of money trying to do better

mogley

But the olds are on the way out. So the new will need to go out with the old because I dont want to buy new RE040's.

So it's a waste of a new tyre. And i could have potentially saved $300-400 in the process.

Gomez

Yep.....stump up for four new tyres and have them fitted when the car leaves the shop. Start shopping.

Sell the new RE040 here. Start the thread now....get a head start.

Cheers.

Gomez

You wore them out quick....I got 48000k's out of mine.

I keep the pressures up, 37psi all around.

mogley

They are actually not that bald.

The NRMA guy told me it had used up 95% of its tread at 22000km but I tend not to believe him given that on visual inspection, it is not that bad.

But given this opportunity I think it'd be foolish to throw away the value of a brand new tyre just to get more k's out of the other 3.

I try to keep it at 38psi but given those dodgy air pressure gauges at the servos, i'm not sure what i was really running.

Jambos

I got 59000k's out of the tyres on the old rx8 before the trade in on the new one and I reckon there was a few more K's left in them, I have the tyres at 39psi

auzoom

Mogley, there are doucmented isues with this "sort" of configuration causing DSC to kick in. Have a look at Nankang thread in the Aus forum. Basically the DSC has a tollerance for a difference in rolling diameter and if its to far out it just thinks the tyres are spinning. I honestly dont know what the tolerance is and how this configuration would affect it, but just wanted you to be aware.

Cheers

Andrew

yiksing

The DSC is quite sensitive about the circumference. I hit a wiper and had to swapped out both rear tires, the front about half used. The DSC keeps coming on whenever I take the same corner like I used to.

xxup

Same problem I had too... Had to replace all four at 22,000 km.... Sigh!

But it corners great now!!!

Cromax

I reckon 60-80k is what I'd get out of them on mine ... which is pretty decent really.

I reckon DSC off! You don't need it on!

EZZY

who drives with the DSC on?

skc

I had a similar problem when I had a nail in my tyre around this time last year. I was told that having one new tire at the rear would effect my diff as the wheels where a different diametre due to the different tread height.

You may want to look into this to prevent any future damage by running this configuration. I was able to solve my problem by purchasing a second hand wheel tyre combination with similar tread wear.

skc

yiksing

Yeah that too, you might fcked up the LSD if the rear tires cirumference are way off

Cromax

LOL! *shakes head* Apologies for sounding rude but who told you that? Was it the sales guy at the tyre shop?

How would your LSD get destroyed by running different tyres?

auzoom

I think in this instance the difference is tiny and so I dont beleive isnt going to be all that damaging, but in general, running different diameters on each side of the diff is equivelant to turning in circles constantly, the diff has to keep slipping.

timbo

First principles says it could be damaging, but whether in fact any have failed as a consequence..... would be interesting to know

Gomez

There is a guy on Ausrotary who claims to have broken three RX-8 diffs. I don't recall ever seeing a report of a diff failure here.