If so, please help me spam them.

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not really, haha. I'm trying to just drive more cost effective tires for the R3 wheels... and run better and wider tires on my 17x9 to keep tire cost down, lol!

 

IME, 99% of the time, the most cost effective tire is just whatever the best tire is. When I average out the purchase price over the amount of time I own a set of tires, I feel like I'd have to go FAR down the food chain to get any real cost savings over the best cost-no-object tire, and at that point all the options carry huge performance/feel/NVH/quality penalties.

On the original topic, it seems to me that there was never really a compelling update for the OE R3 tire, which is a generation old at this point. AFAIK the S-04 is the closest thing to a newer RE050A, but I get the impression that it's a softer tire -- and either way, there's no way to justify the S-04 when Michelin makes the Pilot Super Sport. The only problem with the Super Sport is its slightly squishy sidewall (as with the S-04 from what I'm reading). Great for NVH, but kind of out-of-character for the R3. If you step up one performance category to the RE-11 or R-S3, you get the sidewall the R3 wants, but you lose a lot in the wet. The RE-71 loses less in the wet while retaining the sidewall. It's also lighter than the RE050A or RE-11 in the sizes I've seen, which is a huge plus. If it came in 225/40/19, it'd likely be an excellent option for preserving the character of the R3 while stepping up to the current generation of tire tech.

 

I don't disagree at all, and I do have the luxury of a second set of wheels for when I want performance, so take what I said with a grain of salt.

If I had one set of wheels, I would probably get better performing tires on the R3 wheels, but since I have an alternate set, my R3 wheels are just for cruising and DD-ing where I'm not pushing the limits of the car in any way, shape or form, so it doesn't make sense for me to spend the extra $$ on the tires. At this point, the tires on my R3 wheels have hit the 5 year mark from the manufacturer date, and will be replaced more based on that than the actual wear of the tire... =P

 

Makes sense. Definitely sounds like you have no use for a high-end tire with a rock-solid sidewall in the R3 size! lol

 

here i m running nt555s still, they no good no more?

 

No idea, though I get the impression that Nitto rarely competes with the high-end brands.

 

i think a lot of people like the grip and (relative) longevity from the NT01 (for an r-comp).

NT555 really doesn't compare with an RE71R though. You'd have to look closer to the NT05 to even come close, but the NT05 is older tech that works well, but is nowhere near the top tire in that class...

hope that helps!