I've done a search and read up a little bit on what tires you guys have switched to and haven't really turned up anything conclusive. The Potenzas are pricey--I didn't spend this much on Z rated tires for my 3rd gen when I had it (even though they were only 16in rims)--what is a decent more affordable alternative? I was leaning toward the Nitto 555s, but some of the previous threads had responses that were very polarized.

 

I used to have Kuhmo Ecsta tires on my old Celica GT-S. They lasted quite a long time, and they were much cheaper than the Yokohama OEM-ers. Kind of sucks how the RX-8 came standard with 18-inch wheels.

 

If you are looking for a good performance tire at a more economical price range i would suggest the Yokohama ES100. i have been driving them on my 944T and love them. i have around 9,000 miles on them so far and have no complaints. they do tend to have a little more road noise than the higher end tires such as the S03 or the PS2 but that really doesn't bother me. they are currently priced at 155.00 each in a

 

My Rx8 is a yearold now w/18000 miles and came w/Potenzas. They are almost completely bald butwill probably make it to 20000 miles. I evenhad them rotated and balanced every 3000 miles thinkingthat would help prolong the life but itobviously didnt do ****. Thatspretty pathetic in my book. My tires had amazing handlingbut this 20000 mile treadlife isjust bullshit and Idont want to go through that again w/my next set. Frankly Inever take my car outon the track so I dont care if my next set of tires fail tohandle as well as the Potenzas did.

Allof that being said--do you guys think Ishould get the Dunlops thatthey are selling w/all the new Rx8s today orshould I go w/a different tire? My main concern here is treadlife. Iwant to come closeto 40000 miles w/my next set of tires.

 

FYI, Racing Beat has stated that of the "4 or 5" brands of tires they have tested on the RX-8, they still like the OEM RE040 the best. Not necessarily being the best in all categories, but offering the best combination of grip, repsonse, comfort and lifespan. And no, they did not specify what the other tires they tested were.

 

Well that sucksto hear b/c the lifespan of my RE040s was only a year.

 

I hit my one year anniversary with my RX8 on Saturday and I have 19,000 on the factory Potenzas. I have them rotated every 3-5,000 miles or so and last week they still had about half of the tread left. They are getting noisy and I do not realistically believe that they will last to 40,000. My experience with other cars is that the 2 half of the tread comes off much faster than the first half.

 

a tire trades life for grip. so although mazda could have fitted a tire that would last 75,000 miles, i doubt we would be happy with the trade off in traction.

the rx-8 is a super car and deserves super tires in my mind. tires are a very big factor in how a car performs, and are not expensive compared to depreciation, insurance, and gas. i am considering replacing the OEM tires with tires that last even less long, but i will enjoy their brief life so much more.

james

 

I was looking over on the Tire Rack website (245/40/18's) and they had many numerous model tires. What is strange is the RE040 was substantially more expensive than many of the other "max" perofrmance tires. For the price I would get Michelin Pilot Sport 2 (on special which makes it more attractive), BF Goodrich Comp TA KD, Yokahama AVS Sport (best price of the bunch), or even the Bridgestone S03 Pole Positions. Even the RE050's were less expensive (not the run flat version) thean the RE040's

 

Dre,
I've had good experience with Nitto - had some 450's on my 7 that I loved... I'm a long way out of needing them on the 8, but I'll be considering the 555's as well.

 

I have Nitto 555's and they SUCK *** in rain. The 8 holds traction like a twin turbo Viper spraying

 

Also, they are harder rubber than stock so they'll squeel and give in turns way before the stocks do.

 

For what its worth, I'm giving the Fuzion ZRi tires a shot. I ordered them from tire rack and they should get here tommorow. 245/40 R18 - $126 each + road hazard + tax + shipping = $650 I was having the same dilemma on deciding which tire to get. We'll see how it goes. I have 14,000 miles. Tire tread is still good but I had a puncture in one tire and didn't want to buy just one replacement tire. Plus the local shops were quoting me around $280 for a replacement Potenza tire and install!!

 

How did you like the Fuzion's once you had them?

 

mdmaclean, I've put 1000 miles on the Fuzion's and so far so good. They grip like like a mother and they're not as noisy as the stock potenza's. One thing I noticed though, not that it's the tire but since I went w/ a lower profile than stock, I can obviously "feel" the road more i.e. bumps and stuff. But to this point w/ 1000 miles on the Fuzion's I'm really pleased. Now I just have to see how much life I can get from them to really give it a true review.

 

Has anyone here experienced the Avon Tech M550 tires from Tire Rack? Recently added to the list of tires available for 225/45/18 size. Very low price.

 

i have about 18000 on my bridgestones (23000 on the car) and about 50% tread i'd say left. it's all about driving habits i guess.

.02$

 

34000 miles on my 8 and tires finally wore out on me.

 

Which tires, bedrock 83? I've got 21k on my RE040s, but they won't last much longer. How many miles have the Dunlops given anyone?

 

I got a quote a couple months ago from a local tire dealer for the same tires. $639 installed. I am gonna go with these since the potenzas are **** in the rain, plus I get free tires (OEM) and brakes from my dealer when I get 25,000 on the car. It's a local dealer buying incentive program.

 

just remember to rotate your tires :D

 

I've spent hours and hours reading and researching tires and specs. From everything I've been able to learn, the best replacement tire if you want to go with the stock 225x45-18 size is the BF Goodrich KDW2. It got the best ratings for a tire in that size of any I could find. Price should be around $168 each.

I have 24k on my original tires and they have maybe another 6k to 8k miles left on them. I'm going to replace them with a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 tires in a 225x40-18 size. The Goodyears rate slightly better than the Goodrich tires and especially in the area of noise. Price is about $182 each. The reason for the change in size is these tires weigh 6lbs less than the stock size of 225x45-18. The reduction of 6lbs per wheel of unsprung rotational weight will make a noticable difference in performance. The only downside is my speedo will be slightly optimistic; at an indicated speed of 60mph I'll actually be doing 58mph. I can either have my speedo recalibrated or just live with it; not a problem to me.

The Eagle F1 had the best overall combination of performance in dry and wet, as well as good tire life and relatively low road noise. There were other tires that had better performance in specific areas, but they all tended to have lower tire life and more road noise. Not to mention being more expensive.

So for what it's worth, I'd recommend the Goodrich KDW2 for a stock tire size replacement, and the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 for a non-stock tire size replacement. The only reason I don't recommend the Eagle for a stock size replacement is because they don't have one. They have just about every size except 225x45-18.

 

What made you choose the KDW2s over Bridgestone SO-3s in stock size? Granted the Bridestones are more expensive, but they are considered a max performance tire as opposed to a ultra-high performance tire, and perform more-or-less identically with the GS-D3s (except for wet) according to Tire Rack. $209 per tire is tough to swallow, though.

Another non-stock size tire that should be considered is the Kumho Ecsta MX in 245-40-18. At $131 (TireRack price) they are a bargain, but perform with the best Max performance tires out there, are reasonably light (but I don't know how they compare to the stock tires) and are the correct diameter.

 

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I've been rotating mine every 3k miles - I have 34k on them now and plenty of tread left. At 40k I'll start thinking about replacements.

 

I rotated my RE040's this weekend @ 38K and they're just at the tread indicator.