Tires. What is every one running?

[cbean]

". I just kinda realized that I don't need wet weather capabilities and that may give me some other options."

As I follow this thread, this is the same question I keep asking myself. The PSS4S seems like the GO TO tire, and I am ready to pull the trigger on them, but I drive a few days a month, maybe a track day or two a year, and living in So Cal have the ability to focus only on performance . . . but I always fall back to . . . fundamentally it is a street car for me.

[Nick_P]

". I just kinda realized that I don't need wet weather capabilities and that may give me some other options."

As I follow this thread, this is the same question I keep asking myself. The PSS4S seems like the GO TO tire, and I am ready to pull the trigger on them, but I drive a few days a month, maybe a track day or two a year, and living in So Cal have the ability to focus only on performance . . . but I always fall back to . . . fundamentally it is a street car for me.

That is why I went with Yokos A052s, I never drive the car during winter so who cares how good they are in rain or snow...which they're not good at all

[cozmo kraemer]

I really liked the Bridgestone RE-11. Good street tire, but not as comfy as the comparable Michelin, but stiffer sidewalls and better on track. It was a good compromise for me to have a tire I could drive to/on/from the track without having two sets of wheels.

There really is not a better summer street tire than the PS4S. I was in a pinch where I had a tire blow out and had to have my car towed to the nearest tire place. All they had was Michelin A/S 3+... so I had to go with those. I had limited experience and no real HARD driving on them, but they were a really great street tire. Quiet, comfy, good grip, great rain grip, were wearing really well. Didn't tramline nearly as bad as the RE11 did. Just a good tire. Not quite as grippy as the Ultra high performance summer category, but they had plenty of grip. They are probably pretty good for a geographic area that doesn't see much snow, but sees cooler weather and maybe a dusting or two and doesn't want to switch from PS4S to dedicated snow tires every year. They also wear better than the UHP tires.

[cozmo kraemer]

That is why I went with Yokos A052s, I never drive the car during winter so who cares how good they are in rain or snow...which they're not good at all

Those are supposed to be great in terms of performance, but aren't they really expensive? I thought the last time I checked they were a lot more than that PS4S

[liam821]

Those are supposed to be great in terms of performance, but aren't they really expensive? I thought the last time I checked they were a lot more than that PS4S

They're actually about the same price.

[mrgizmo04]

I know I'm coming back to this late, but. Also to comment about subjectivity of the topic, "street" is different for everyone.

There is a VERY broad spectrum (similarly how everyone has a different definition and threshold for what they consider "stock" - many times I hear "car is basically stock except for a bbk, coilovers, slicks, tune, big wing/aero, headers, cf blah", but that's a separate topic) .
For some street means driving on city streets only.
For some it would be commuting mainly on highway.
For some it would be running some city/highway with some canyons mixed in.
For some it would be commuting several hours to/from track (swap wheels/tires).
For some it would be occasional drive to/from cars and coffee once a month.
For some it would be driving only in the summer while keeping the car garaged in an air conditioned space for 6 of the cooler months.
For some it might be the only car they have that they use for city/highway/canyons all year round (including rain/snow).

Not an exhaustive list, but let's not forget that we all use our cars differently, have different preferences, have different budgets (some might be ok dropping $1k on tires every 5k miles, others want to try to drop only $700 every 30k miles), have different road noise thresholds, etc.

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[tnord]

That is why I went with Yokos A052s, I never drive the car during winter so who cares how good they are in rain or snow...which they're not good at all

how's the noise/wear on them?

[Obioban]

I really liked the Bridgestone RE-11. Good street tire, but not as comfy as the comparable Michelin, but stiffer sidewalls and better on track. It was a good compromise for me to have a tire I could drive to/on/from the track without having two sets of wheels.

There really is not a better summer street tire than the PS4S. I was in a pinch where I had a tire blow out and had to have my car towed to the nearest tire place. All they had was Michelin A/S 3+... so I had to go with those. I had limited experience and no real HARD driving on them, but they were a really great street tire. Quiet, comfy, good grip, great rain grip, were wearing really well. Didn't tramline nearly as bad as the RE11 did. Just a good tire. Not quite as grippy as the Ultra high performance summer category, but they had plenty of grip. They are probably pretty good for a geographic area that doesn't see much snow, but sees cooler weather and maybe a dusting or two and doesn't want to switch from PS4S to dedicated snow tires every year. They also wear better than the UHP tires.

I tried using the the RE-11s as a track tire... they were showing cords after single weekend.

Actually, I had a similar experience with the PAS3s-- I put a set on the M5, as it's my wife DD and she's fine with them. First set, with her driving, was great-- lasted 30,000 miles, quiet, great in all non snow conditions.

Then I drove the M5 for a couple months, with a new set... and used them up in ~5000 miles. At least on a 4000 lb car, I didn't find they held up well to routine hard driving. Gotta get those PS4Ss for the longevity

Thinking about it, ability to take abuse is one of the biggest factor in my tire choices. I'm running Pilot Alpines because non performance snows last me <1000 miles, I'm running NT01s because I can get 8-10 events out of them, and my wife is now on PS4Ss so I can drive her car.

[cozmo kraemer]

I tried using the the RE-11s as a track tire... they were showing cords after single weekend.

Actually, I had a similar experience with the PAS3s-- I put a set on the M5, as it's my wife DD and she's fine with them. First set, with her driving, was great-- lasted 30,000 miles, quiet, great in all non snow conditions.

Then I drove the M5 for a couple months, with a new set... and used them up in ~5000 miles. At least on a 4000 lb car, I didn't find they held up well to routine hard driving. Gotta get those PS4Ss for the longevity

Thinking about it, ability to take abuse is one of the biggest factor in my tire choices. I'm running Pilot Alpines because non performance snows last me <1000 miles, I'm running NT01s because I can get 8-10 events out of them, and my wife is now on PS4Ss so I can drive her car.

I have no idea what to tell you about your RE-11 experience. I would get about 20k street miles and 5-6 track days out of a set. I did two sets that way on the e46m. I would go to the track maybe 3 times a year (not a situation that warranted a set of dedicated track tires). They were perfect for that. Would they hold up to 20 minutes of full bore race style intensity, NO. But that wasn't the point, and around here there is too much traffic in the sessions for that anyway. They were great for running 3-4 good laps in a row, and allowing me to find space to have fun. That was the point of the track sessions for me at the time. The PSS, which were the forum tire of choice at the time, were much quieter and softer riding on the street, but would get greasy and slide all over right away...and they had crazy soft sidewalls so you had to run way too much air pressure in them to prevent them from rolling over. The RE11 you could run FAR FAR lower pressure. I only used the PSS on track one time because of that. I think the PS4s would probably be a bit better than the PSS, but i dont know yet as I haven't tried.

[Obioban]

I wouldn't run any Pilot Sport on track. They turn into puddles. The Pilot Cups are the RE-11 equivalents, and they don't make them in sizes useful to us anymore.

[cozmo kraemer]

I wouldn't run any Pilot Sport on track. They turn into puddles. The Pilot Cups are the RE-11 equivalents, and they don't make them in sizes useful to us anymore.

They also stopped making the RE11 so I guess experience with them is also pointless. I thinke the A032r might sort of be an equivalent now...or the RS4.

I only used the PSS on track once, it was a rain day and I had track tires. I threw them on the car as they were my streets. Even on a damp track they got too hot to work. When you first were heating them up they were ok, but once they got hot and that was really quick, they never recovered.

[tnord]

They also stopped making the RE11 so I guess experience with them is also pointless. I thinke the A032r might sort of be an equivalent now...or the RS4.

I only used the PSS on track once, it was a rain day and I had track tires. I threw them on the car as they were my streets. Even on a damp track they got too hot to work. When you first were heating them up they were ok, but once they got hot and that was really quick, they never recovered.

I'm suspicious of this experience. Even hoosier wets, if the track is actually wet, show negligible wear after an entire race.

[cozmo kraemer]

I'm suspicious of this experience. Even hoosier wets, if the track is actually wet, show negligible wear after an entire race.

It went from wet to dry... I was just saying it was damp. Once it stopped raining and the line dried out, they got too hot too fast.

That particular day was a ton of fun though. It poured rain in the morning. The track was really wet and so the sessions were really empty. Around lunch time, the track was drying but everyone had gone home, so they opened the track up for just open lapping for everyone that was left. I actually got more than a full tank of gas worth of track time in a single day. Probably the best day ive ever had at the track. But you can be suspicious all you want. As soon as the line was dry enough to put heat in tires, they got too greesy to work and I went to dedicated dry track tires.

[Obioban]

It went from wet to dry... I was just saying it was damp. Once it stopped raining and the line dried out, they got too hot too fast.

That particular day was a ton of fun though. It poured rain in the morning. The track was really wet and so the sessions were really empty. Around lunch time, the track was drying but everyone had gone home, so they opened the track up for just open lapping for everyone that was left. I actually got more than a full tank of gas worth of track time in a single day. Probably the best day ive ever had at the track. But you can be suspicious all you want. As soon as the line was dry enough to put heat in tires, they got too greesy to work and I went to dedicated dry track tires.

Ha, you should try some east coast tracking! I always need to get gas at lunch and again at end of day (both time with ~1/4 in the tank)!

[SG/IRM3]

how's the noise/wear on them?

Since my earlier post in this thread regarding the A052s I've done three more track days so will update my experience with them after several years of using the RE-71 for track and autocross events. While, as I mentioned earlier, the grip appears to be on a similar level to the Bridgestone the wear is much worse. After three autocross events (31 runs total) and four track days (total of nineteen 20-30 minute sessions) they are toast - as in at or below the wear bars on all four tires. This at least twice the wear I experienced on the RE-71s and is unacceptable IMO so I won't be getting them again. I will reiterate that they don't get greasy like the RE-71. Street mileage is about 1500 miles.

I'll add that my car is well set up with 3.5 f/2.0 rear camber and a typical alignment for track or or autocross so it's not a situation of lack of camber or improper alignment. A contributing factor to right side shoulder wear is my local track is a roval which includes a NASCAR banked turn with 11 degree banking which is tough on right side tires with the CCW direction. But I ran the Bridgestones and Dunlop Star Specs on the same track without experiencing that kind of wear.

On the street, they are much quieter than the RE-71 and not quite as harsh since the sidewalls are a little softer but they are firmer than a typical street tire. I guess I'll spend the off season deciding on options for next year but the Yoks are off my list. Although I doubt I'll get three sets of tires at this point in a perfect scenario I'd run PS4S for the street, RE-71 for autocross and NT-01 or RS4 for track days.