Omi, Did you stick with 245's all the way around like the stock 225's that came with the car? I am thinking about getting some SSR rims and may want to pick up this tire at the same time.

I went with 245/40-18s on all four corners. They look awesome... even Mrs. Omi thinks the look cool. :D

What did you do with your old setup? It's hard for me to justify getting new tires, though my car does have over 17,000 miles on it. but who knows. maybe I will.. the price sounds great.

I sold my "old" tires (they had less than 2000 miles) to another forum member. It was almost a wash to buy the new tires.

For estimates of speed differences, this Miata site is good:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Hope is not too off-topic (it is a Mazda afteral :o))

Got New Rubbers: Pirelli PZero Nero M+S
 

Realizing that there's already a long thread on this awesome Ultra High Performance All-Season tire, I will keep this post short and just a few photos of what the 245/40/18 profile looks like on the Titanium Gray RX-8.

With just 80 miles riding on the OEM Bridgestone before the swap, I feel that the Pirelli seems to be somewhat "nervous" and "twitchy" response-wise for lack of technical-correct terms. The traction is definitely on the par albeit just a shade lower than the Summer tire on the dry. As far as riding in wet goes, it does a commanding job. The real test on the Pirelli will be in winter time when I can experience firsthand how it compares to the amazing Dunlop SP5000 that makes driving in snow a pleasure and worry-free relatively speaking. Though there's probably no match for the true dedicated snow tire such as Hakkapeliitta that carried me and the CRX in 90+ mph runs from Midwest to Jersey thru hail, sleet, and loose snow.

Without further delay, here is the photo looking at the thread design:

I should also mention that McManus in Hackensack came thru on getting these out-of-order Pirelli tires. Both TireRack and EuroTire in Fairfield were out of stock on these tires. McManus is a mom-and-pop store that differs from EuroTire in both management style and shop appearance. Whereas EuroTire represents the finest crop of tire/alignment service, McManus is good in its own ways by being more grounded when it comes to price since the store does without shiny service bay and immaculate waiting room. Just a few cautions: they utilize clip-on instead of stick-on weights and three out four brand new factory 18'' wheels did get nick/chip although small and not noticeable in the grand scheme of things on the outer rim edges.

McManus Tire
254 River St
Hackensack, NJ 07601
201-488-1199

ps. If you do decide to use their services, please tell Lou that Steve refers you.

I here some people say the twitchiness goes away after a few miles of driving on the tire.

-Mr. Wigggles

They are HAIRY!!!!!

Wheel balancing procedures
 

Remember to get the tires rebalanced by the dealer. There are specific requirements for balancing due to the TPMS shifting the center of gravity on the wheel.

Here is my post on balancing the wheels for the RX-8 (and others with the TPMS)

Wheel balancing

The twitchiness does indeed go away after a few hundred miles.

Re: Got New Rubbers: Pirelli PZero Nero M+S
 

Congrats on the new rubbers :). I'm curious why you got new tires so soon - gettin ready for winter already? Whadya do or get for the RE-040s?

rx8cited

PS: I running RE-040s for summer and Dunlop M3s in the winter.

rx8cited,

I unloaded the OEMs soon after taking delivery of the RX-8 because I knew I had a better chance of finding potential buyers with least miles and in the summer time. I would settle with OEM if I live somewhere nicer as far as climate goes. See my other threads for detailed write-up on tire negotiation and transaction.

Ok, so what's the verdict now that you have a few more miles on these? I personally love my Pirellis...

Omicron,

My initial seat-of-the-pant feel on these Pirellis is probably not as great as yours. Got about 1500 miles riding under these tires now, and the impression I got is that they tend to squeal a bit too much to my liking and quite "entertaining" in heavy rain. They made the hairs on my back stand up a number of times in adverse weather condition.

One good quality about these tires is that they hold up really well in pothole-ridden area such as Jersey City despite being low-profile sitting on 18'' rims. I try to swerve around whenever I encounter potholes, but for those that are inevitable the tires are at least confidence-inspiring.

Will report back once I take the car/tire onto an Autox setting.

I finally decided monday to put the p zero nero M S on my car. My stock potenzas were a mess, noisy, "bumpy" eneven wear ... since about the 12000 mile mark. ( i'm at 15 now) The dealer was doing nothing, saying it's bridgestone's problem, and the rep wasn't returning their call. (crap) I couldn't take the noise anymore so got the new set monday: 235-40-18 . I was going for the 245 but they weren't in stock at the pirelli's place in MTL and they weren't expecting arrivals anytime soon.

The tire looks great, it fits nicely, (a quarter of an inch lower but impossible to notice). Now my other set was so noisy that this feels almost too quiet, the ride is deffinitely smoother, much smoother in fact. After only 2 days i can say it doesn't react with the same "nervousness" as the other set but after a good scrubbing it will stick more i'm sure. The sidewalls also feel like they are not at stiff, the bumps are not as noticeable as before and the ugly roads we have up here around MTL feel a bit less horrible.

I Haven't tested the tires on nice bends and twisty roads yet, i have my alignment done next tuesday and i wanna wait after that but i'll keep you posted on how i like it. Omicrom was very helpfull with my decision process, i wanna thank him.

Does it seem like your speedo is drastically off? Thats over a 2% change....

Thankx!

there is actually a very small difference in the height of the sidewall of 7.5 mm (94 vs 101) . I suppose it has an impact on the speedo but i can't feel it. The good thing is it's on the safe side, speedo reading a bit faster as the wheel is smaller, but it adds km faster :-)

Omicrom, do you know the tread rating for the nero's M+S? BTW, love mine, i have about 2000M on them and i am happy i switched.

I believe the tread rating is 400. I know the speed rating is ZR.

Thanks Omicrom

Has anyone tried these PZero Nero tires on the track? I have never had my car at the track, but knowing that I could for a day would be nice. If they would not stand up to a day, then I would probably go for the Proxes T1-S or the BFGoodrich KDW NT.

Any opinions for very very occasional track use?

Happy to help... thanks for the thanks! :D

My speedo is off by +2MPH (higher than actual) at 60MPH with these tires. Before the tires it was off by +1MPH at 60MPH.

By pure chance, I have indeed tracked my car with these tires on it. :D I am faaaaaaar from a professional race driver, but to my inexperienced hand they felt great. Granted, I wasn't pushing real hard, but I didn't once break the rear end loose or lose control of the car.

Once comment that was made though by a guy who does track the car a lot is that because of the rubber compound used in any all-season tires, the rubber is much more apt to "chunk" than with softer, more track-appropriate tires.

So, they'll probably be ok for occational track use if not pushed too hard, but if you really want to track your car do yourself a favor and buy a good set of track-specific "race" tires.

Hope this helps!