Thinking of trying a new summer tire next season
 

This is for the stock R3 rims, so 225/40/19.

Let's say all I care about is the following (no particular order):

- Wet grip
- Sharp steering feel/response
- Weight

I don't really care about dry grip because I figure any tire in this league would be plenty grippy on dry roads (I don't track the car yet).

Given that, does anyone think there might be a better tire than the Michelin Pilot Super Sport? I'm currently running that tire and LOVE it. Just wondering if there's something that might be better given the above criteria.

I love the idea of the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11, but it's 5 lbs heavier and I've heard it's sketchy in the rain. The OE Potenza RE050A felt good, but it's 5 lbs heavier as well. Everything else in this size just seems meh compared to the Pilot Super Sport.

The Michelin is excellent and youd do well to stick with it.


The Continental ExtremecontactDW is usually a little less costly and is often used as a "wet weather tire" by autocrossers for its high silica content.


If you want the ultimate solution the Bridgestone RE71R is proving to be insanely fast not just in the dry but is astonishing in the wet, there is no better tire you can put on your car at this time. But they do not last long, Id recommend them only on a car that doesn't see weather below 45 degrees and is only driven occasionally. And even then they'll fall off from aging in 2 years tops.


Id go with either the PSS or the ContiDW, whichever is less costly, performance will be similar

Can't get the RE-71R in this size, unfortunately. :(

Does Bridgestone take requests??

you can install the 245/35/19 or 255/35/19 onto your stock wheel, the RE71R has enough side wall stiffness to preserve the turn in sensitivity you want.


If this will see more than occasional street use and ANY winter use youre better off choosing the Michelin or Conti, if you choose the bridgestone you should be aware they will be totally spent after a year, maybe two if you store indoors.


You can also enhance the turn in sharpness of any tire, even a soft walled one, just by setting some front toe out. The best geometry and feel comes from about 1/8" total toe out in the front.

You sure about 255/35/19? I thought about it, but Tire Rack says that size needs at least an 8.5" rim. Pretty sure the R3 stockers are 8" wide -- correct me if I'm wrong.

You're right about the r3 stock size, 19x8.

If it were anything other than the re71r I'd say go with the 225/40/19, I only recommend that because I know the sidewalls are stiff enough to support the tire despite being a bit pinched.

245/35/19 would work too, that's the go to size for the r3 wheel, but you get slight gearing change with the smaller diameter

Yeah, the OD difference was the main thing keeping me away from 245/35/19.

Oh well. Guess I'll be sticking with the Pilot Super Sport for now!

As an aside: you mentioned 1/8" total toe out in front gives the best geometry. Could you say more about that? Did someone actually measure toe/camber curves, wind-off, etc.? Also, isn't the static toe-in in the stock alignment meant to compensate for bushing compliance that would otherwise cause toe-out under some loads?

PSS is a great tire, and a known quantity for you so cheers!


I don't have much to back my statement up besides my own anecdotal evidence. I don't know much about the dynamic toe changes under loading.

8 years ago fastmike said, "I have never measured it but I think the NC and the RX8 "new and improved" rear suspension toe's in on compression which can cause push.
We were experimenting with rear toe out on the 8 before changing cars and it was improving but still not ideal for our driving styles.
FM"


I had slight toe out in the rear before, I had a little bit of oversteer on corner entry, now I have slight toe in in the rear and the rear is much more planted than it was.

The difference between the 225/40/19 (stock) and the 245/35/19 is marginal. I'm running 245/35/19 atm, and don't really have much of an issue. I checked my gps speed versus the car's speed via obdii paired with my phone - it's about a 1mph difference at 80mph.

I can't speak to lateral grip difference between running the 245s versus the 225s, as I went from the stock re050s to hankook v12 evos - when I'm running stickier tires, I end up going with a set of 17s that I have.

Ran the PSS for a while on the 17s - they're great all around tires. If you're looking for wet traction, but don't need anything related to snow / ice, it doesn't get much better than that for an all around tire.

Thanks for the feedback.

Are you running 245/35/19 on the stock R3 rims? I wonder if it ends up a bit taller because the rim is 0.5" narrower than the tire's measuring rim width.

Either way, good to know about that size. Sorely tempting to go with it. If it weren't for the extra mass and reduced wet traction of the RE71R, it's be a slam-dunk.

Yep - running 245/35/19 on the stock R3 rims.

Can't speak to how the PSS would work, since I ran the PSS on a 17x9 wheel, 245/45/17.

The other tires I've been looking at for daily type tires are the Sumitomo HTR ZIII (Sumitomo HTR Z III) - they're almost half the cost of the PSS and are $30 per corner less than the Hankook V12 Evos... great bang for the buck for a daily type tire (if you have other wheels/tires that you're going to use for fun).

Just a thought - good luck!

I've been running Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position tires on my Infiniti and they've been pretty good to me. I've only had them for about 6 months so I can't speak to longevity but they're quiet and grippy. Also, they're available in a range of 19" sizes.

I just recently went for Pirelli P Zero Corsas for my R3.
Wet grip Rating of 'A' for a summer tyre.
Directionals on the front and Asymmetricals on the back, as per the corsa system.
Can't fault them yet.

I gave a 2007 8 with 55,000 miles on it. I don't race and want good tires that are quiet, wear well & are appropriate for all round driving here in So Cal especially LA. Suggestions?

If you're not going up into the mountains or headed up the Grapevine in the winter, a summer tire is probably a good bet.
Consumer Survey Results By Category
(as I've already stated, I'm a fan of the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position)

On the other hand, if you think you'll see temperatures below 40 dry or 50 wet, a no-season tire is probably safer. I run the Kumho Solus TA71 on the street (because I got them wicked cheap) and they're not bad for a no-season but don't hold a candle to any summer tire.

My vote for this is the POTENZA RE760 SPORT

If you want to trade off some comfort, for more performance, then EXTREMECONTACT DW look good based on current pricing

for driving around here in SoCal, I'd go with something like the Potenzas (even though they can be a bit noisy), Kumho's or if you want a little more performance try some Toyo T1R's or even Vredestein.


side note: I've run all 4 of those tires on my car here in SoCal and you'll be good with just about any of them. Just depends on what you want and what you're willing to spend.