RX8 owner input: PolePosition S04 vs Michelin PSS
 

I'm in the market for new tires for the 8. I'm down to Pole Position SO4s or PSS.

I will drive the car almost daily to work and back (35 miles, freeway) with probably 3 track days this summer. I prefer max traction (braking and turning) over long life - I'm leaning towards the PSS because they have a mileage warranty that might help me later down the road - but I'm assuming it’s a pro-rated warranty. If I use the tread in say, 20,000 miles is the difference the credit me towards replacement more or less than the price difference for the initial purchase - they are about $35 more per tire than the S04s. The tracks I'm gearing-up-for are Grattan, Waterford, and Gingerman - if that helps your opinion. Size will be 265/35/18 Or are they 30? I forgot what I have now. I think they're 35 (with my RPF1 18x9.5)

I've read through the entire interwebs and have read opinions from a lot of car owners; focusing on cars with similar characteristics to the 8 (S2Ks, Miatae, etc). I'm looking for RX8Club's input on the two.

Ultimately I'm most-concerned with ability to stop and turn the car - if I'm pushed to pick something I want most. I figure a 30k mile-rated tire does me NO good if I'm on my roof at 15K. So - safety first - over 'warranties'.


Thank you.

Be careful with tread wear warranties, I believe that they'll often stipulate tire rotations every so often, probably at a tire shop and will pro rate the life and make you pay based on a grossly inflated list price, so even if you do everything right and try to make a claim at say 1/2 the stated mileage, it might be just as expensive as buying a new set from Tire Rack or wherever else has the best price.

I have no direct experience, but this is what I've heard, so read the warranty and make your own conclusions based on what it actually says.

Now, as for the needing max traction for track days and such, a harder, longer lasting tire will simply make you a little slower, it won't make you crash unless you over drive the car. I teach at a high performance driving school and can tell you that you don't need anything special to get around the track safely. I've gone in my stock 05 Focus hatchback with 195 Goodyear Eagle GT all seasons, my dad's been in his 10 Honda Fit on stock tires, I've seen an instructor run in a first gen Prius on low rolling resistance tires and a Neon on snows, a few students were at the track this past weekend on all season tires on a Civic, Impreza and WRX and none crashed or had any real issues to do with their tires. Slower? Yes. Dangerous? Absolutely not, you simply have to drive to the limits of the tire and the car.

Thank you for your feedback!

there are cheaper tires out there that will get you what you want compared to those PP's and PSS. Mileage warranties are pretty much a joke and hassle to deal with, so I wouldn't focus on that all that much.

Black2010R3 has some good points. When you are new it is better to learn on less grippy tires for a few reasons.
1. they are usually cheaper and the more of your money you can spend on seat time vs tires...the better.
2. Learning on less grippy tires allows you to learn greater car control, as you can't hide behind the amazing grip of a tire. I know you weren't mentioning full race tires, but running R-comps is the worst thing a rookie can do because of what I mentioned above, plus a few other things.

Run some decent All season tires like Kumho 4X , Dunlops, or maybe Toyos if they come in your size. I ran Kumho 4x and was shocked by how great of a tire it was.

this would be my .2 after the many years I have spent driving and instructing

Thank you; am not totally new - have hundreds of miles of track time and thousands of mountain windy roads; have been put of the performance tire world for a couple years as i shifted to 4x4. What im looking for is a tire that communicates well in feel, primarily, and doesnt get stupid in the rain. The warranty was only a factor if what it covers is more than the price difference.

Thanks!

I drove the PSS for a while, and have done a few track days in them, dry and wet. They work great, no complaints here. Could they have more dry grip? sure! but they're a street tire with dry/wet track capability. Can't have it all (and maintain a budget)!

245x40x18 S04s
 

I have a set of Pole Positions and even though I cant speak for your other choices, I am very happy with these tires. I was caught in a severe thunderstorm just last week and they still did their job, and i cant say that for other brands that I have experience with. Tire Rack had some nice video reviews of both the Bridgestones and some other brands, and even though the S04s were not the best in their opinion, i took a chance based on other independent research and am pleased with the result after a couple thousand miles. Good luck!

I just did my first track day in my RX-8 with mostly used up PSS tires. They did great--probably way more grip than a newbie like me would need. I'm not replacing them with the same tires just because they're crazy expensive and don't last long, but they performed great for me while I had them, on the street and at Gingerman. I almost never drive the car in the wet, so I can't vouch for that performance. One of the instructors at the HPDE event who did a ride-along with me commented on how sticky the tires were, so that says something.

Had the Michelin PSS. They have superb grip on dry and wet roads. Cornering is good also, though never tried them in the track.

I actually did end up going with another set of PSS tires, as the price had dropped considerably since I bought the first set. Discount Tire also had problems finding the BF Goodrich Sport Comp-2s I had them order, so they gave up and sold me the PSSes for the same price.

I agree Kumho is great!

^ they really are for the money