CosmosMpower

Yep that's why most the top national competitors for solo 2 ran the Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R for 2006. They must suck ***.

DarkBrew

But they didn't run RE040 tires....

CosmosMpower

No **** but you just said that Potenza's suck and I don't think the RE040's are THAT terrible. There are plenty of supposed high performance street tires that are far worse like the Yoko ES100 or Kumho 712.

I actually trophey'd this year with my local BMWCCA in the Y class (R comp miata, street tire STi, Evo's, other RX8's etc) in my bone stock 05 RX8 on the RE040's.

DarkBrew

I never said they suck.
Don't get me wrong. There are days that I love the RE040s for the grip they offer when they're warmed up and I'm ready to have some fun. It's just the rest of the time I don't like them very much. When I replace mine do you want to buy them?

swoope

iTrader: (5)

this is a location issue...

they are ultra hi pref tires... not rain tires.. not tires for the north or very north..

beers

tmak26b

Go for a set of S-03 or GS-D3 for similar performance except with a little less quirks of the RE040

Fanman

Pretty sure they have a new RE050A's that are the new Pole Positions (replacing the S03's).

I have Toyo's now, and I really like them, and the tread wear is much better.

valpac

iTrader: (2)

Yep. My stones got about 15k (three track events) and my Kumho MX's need replacing at 17.5K (one track event).

Welcome to the club.

Fanman

Tire Rack is running specials on the :

Bridgestone Pole Position S03's (closeout) = $170 (though the treadwear is only 220)
Good Year GS-D3's = $176 (tread wear = 280)

Also another tire to look at if you are worried about wear but still want good traction...

Edge Racing has the Pirelli PZero Nero's for $150, and the treadwear is 400 !

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

I think we have another average joe in town ! Who knows nothing about Sports cars, Tires, and Rotary.

Sooner or later We gonna see more and more complain from this guy.

Nothing personal ok ?

csuttman

I got 18k out of mine.

After pricing tires when I needed them, I decided to go cheap on the next ones assuining all "ultra high performance" tires should be pretty equivelent. Ha! I bought the Avon 550's from TireRack. The first thing I noticed was the difference in the sidewalls. The Potenza's have very thick sidewalls that I could barely move when trying to compress them when they were off the car. The Avon's have extremely soft sidewalls. They are not built up at all with extra rubber.

The preformance is definitely noticable. The Potenza's were like riding on rails compared to the Avons.

I was also hoping to get more wear out of the Avons because the wear rating was almost double. Well... I'm about 10k miles into these tires and I don't see them making it to 18k. They probably only have about 2-3k left in them before I need to be shopping again.

I don't mind giving up some performance if it saves me money in the long run by giving me longer lasting tires, but in this case I gave up performance AND the tires won't even last as long as the OEMs.

I have 18" wheels and I do drive it hard.

Can anyone suggest some "long wearing", "good performing", "inexpensive" tires for the RX-8???

csuttman

As for TireRack... I'm really questioning their reviews after owning the Avons that got great ratings on their site. The reviews and ratings sound pretty convincing, but they seem to be making thier lower end tires like Avon and Kumho sound like they are very comparable, if not better than the more expensive ones. They probably have bigger markups on these which helps their bottom line.

My suggestion is don't believe the reviews from TireRack since they have a vested interest in selling you whatever makes them the best profit.

That's just my opinion though because of my own experience. I will probably buy from them again, but won't rely so heavily on the info I get from their site. I'd much rather hear from rx8club members what tires they've had good expriences with.

tmak26b

I like the S-03s a lot.

If you are going to keep spinning tires, nothing is going to last too too long.

shaunv74

I have the BF Goodrich KDW-2's. I'm very happy with them and they've lasted me about 15K and still look great. Do some searching around the tire forum and you will see what people are buying and what they think.

csuttman

Just to let you know... I did buy from TireRack again. This time I got the cheapest tires they had in the 18" size... the Kumho ESTA (or something like that) They were less than $100 each and ride great. The sidewalls are stiff they stick to the road like glue. I'll buy them again.

LionZoo

Tirerack reviews are from people that have the tire, not from Tirerack themselves.

CarAndDriver

If you read on here or on Tirerack.com, you'll find out that the Kumho ECSTA SPTs do not have the stiffest sidewalls and that is why people on here tend to inflate from 34 to 36PSI.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

the sidewalls are fine... but they are a not a track tire...

i find 35psi works great.. i bet many with ultra high pref tires are at the same psi..

if you read the reviews, the spts do well against tires costing 2x as much...

but again, for street tires they are great.. if you are doing serious track time.. i would choose again...

note: tire pressue is a tool..

beers

CarAndDriver

I agree, I just put them on my 8 and I think they are a great daily driver tire. I have no intent to autocross on a regular basis. If I was made of money, I would have got Bridgestone Pole Positions RE050A's, but nobody sent me any money.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

how many miles do you have on them? ever heard of release compound?

beers

CarAndDriver

What is release compound? I have about 500 miles on them.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

pm

beers

CarAndDriver

Thanks for your PM and also Googled quickly. Well now I just need a bit of heat, but it doesn't ever get to warm out here in coastal NorCal.

csuttman

I guess I'm comparing the Kumho's sidewalls with the Avons I just replaced. The Avon All Season tires had incredibly thin sidewalls. They felt like the tires were made of sponges when driving. The Kumhos weren't as stiff as the OEM Potenza's, which seemed very stiff as far as I've ever seen. Granted, my knowledge of race tires is very limited. I love to push the car to it's limits, but only know to work with what I have.

If there isn't already... there should probably be a sticky on what tires are best for what driving conditions and price ranges... and where to find the best deals.

csuttman

OK... I'm curious. I googled release compound... but how does it effect the tires and what is the point you were making?