Anything better than S-03's??
 

Any tires better than the Bridgestone S-03's? Maybe the new Goodyears?

This is for a street car. We have wet, rainy weather for 6 months up here and the roads will be wet all the time for 1/2 the year.

Also, I want progressive break-away - so I can feel the limit.


Any thoughts?


And when does Costco run their tire sale on the S03s?

Randy, the SO-3s have gone on sale at Costco in June for the last two years. I think it's only once a year, about an $80 savings for 4 tires.

Dunlop-9000s or Michelin Pilot Sports

Randy,

You may want to also take a look at the new Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, which supposedly is a marked improvement over the original Pilot Sports in wet and dry.

Tim

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1092342629.jpg

Tim, it appears that they don't make those for 15 or 16" wheels.

Michelin's involvement with 911s in Europe for years and their sponsorship of Supercup would tend to steer me towards them, even if these are only for street tires...

Just priced them on Tire Rack: $124 each, 205/55 x 16. The SO-3's are great looking on early cars and what I had planned on ordering later this week. Now I am not as sure. Anybody running these yet?

The Dunlop SP9000 are *not* good on light weight cars. Wandering steering, too much flex in the carcass.
The Eagle GS-D2 and GS-D3 have worked flawlesly on out 911 and 930. The Yoko AVS sport are like glue, and perform very well in the wet.
If money is no object, Michelin has reintroduced the TB15, but this time with a DOT approval. Pure 80's race tires whch are allowed on the streets...yum!

You're correct, Paul. The PS2's are 17's and up only. I've run 17's on various cars long enough now that I overlooked the lack of smaller diameters being unavailable. Tire myopia.

In any event, the initial reviews for the PS2 look promising, although I'm waiting to a see a straight up comparison with the S03's. I've gone through several sets of S03's, and they'll be hard to top IMO.

Tim

To be clear, Tire Rack does list a few 15" and 16" sizes. They are limited, but they do list them. :)

I just replaced my Michelin XGT Pilot tires with S03's. I had been using the Michelins for about 130k miles. Here is my testimony:

The Michelins are made of a longer-lasting, harder rubber compound (300 treadwear). The S03 is 225 treadwear. This means the S03's will wear out faster. It also means they are stickier. Also, the Michelins made so much noise at autocross that it was embarrassing. They squealed like stuck pigs all the way around the track. The S03's have not made a single peep. And again, they are substantially stickier. That's the good news. The bad news is the Michelins gave more warning. Did I mention that the S03's are WAY stickier?

The Michelin sidewalls are not as firm as those on the S03. This means that the car tended to get upset with on the Michelins. Cornering line trueness and obedience is greater with the S03s.

The Michelins, when new, were very good rain tires. I am told the S03 is an amazing rain tire and I believe that.

All in all, the S03 is about ten times the tire.

Strange. The Michelin PS2 spec sheet (a) shows nothing smaller than a 17 for the new PS2 and (b) shows a 245/40/17 as the largest, not a 225. The Tire rack shows the same info here.

I guess the segment they're targeting is me, since I currently run 225/45/17 and 245/40/17 S03's, which appear to be readily available PS2 sizes.

Tim

Oh Really:rolleyes: could have fooled me;)

You can't compare the old XGT w/ the Pilot sports, totally different tire.

I would have recommenrded the PS2s great tire but limited range of sizes.

I don't have the experience to compare them to other HP tires on the track or street..

anyway, I just got my second set of the S-03s. The faster I go the more relaxed I become riding on them. They are much more stable at 80mph crossing thru Colorado with high winds than the RE-71s. I rode them in the rain till they were worn down to the wear bars on the hy at 70-80mph consistantly for the last few thousand miles and their rain grip supprised me. The first set returned 20k miles till the wear bars at Only cross country driving speeds. actually the ride itself was over 19k mi. Sized at 205-55-16 X4.. they are also relatively quiet.

FWIW, I am now getting entirely different size availability depending on what size I seach for at Tire Rack. If I look for 204/55x16, I see 2 15's, 2 16's and 4 17's. If I seach for my wife's S4 (235/40x18) I see nothing smaller than 17's and up to 21's. Go figure!

Tire Rack doesn't always have or list all the available sizes.

I had some of the "old" XGT Pilots which were a (yawn) plain-'ol passenger car tire, but then the tread pattern changed. The tires I have been using lately are the "new" XGT Pilots, which have a treat pattern very reminiscent of most of today's high-performance tires. You know the long, curved channels. Another similarity is price. So, I agree that the S03 is a far better tire, and I accept the notion that the Pilot Sports are a notch above the XGT. But it sure looks to me like the XGT Pilots were intended to be pretty high performance tires.

You know, another thing I have heard about even the Pilot Sports is that their performance when cold or cool is disappointing. I have heard they are a far better tire on a track in California in the sunshine, than they are in damp, rainy Seattle with 40-degree ambient temps. Of course that would be the case, but I have heard their performance against other comparable Ultra-High Performance tires is equivalent at temperature, and not equivalent when cooler. I have reason to believe the S03's are going to perform better in the cooler weather we have here.

For the rain, maybe
 

Track junkies use Toyo Proxes TIS's as a dedicated wet tire if needed. They are a street tire (not R compound) that are outstanding in the wet and hold their own quite well in the dry.

The local tire shop that shoes all the local PCA race and DE junkies fitted me with the T1S's after turning down the RA1's for the street. Said for the price that they were the on par if not better in the rain than the S03's.

Check Tire Rack for feedback.

http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines...s/jpgs/t1s.jpg

What do you guys think about tires that cost 1/2 as much as the SO-3s? I'm thinking of the Kumho 712, Kumho ASX, or the Yokohama AVS ES100.

I love my S03's, they are superb in the wet (& dry)!

and the Bridgestone tire formula seems to maintain a better appearance thru the years.. especially in hot sunny la la land type climates better than the others.. but I'm not a track guy.

Re: Anything better than S-03's??
 

You've described the S-03's, IMO.

I actually prefered the snappier break-away of the Dunlops I had, to that of the S-03's . . which I have now. The S-03s give lot's of warning. . .squeal like pigs for the first 600 miles, or so. . .quiet down after that. (still lots of slip angle, IMO)

IMO, they really shine in wet road perfomance . . .very impressive. My Dunlops were like driving on snow. . .when in the wet.

P Zero Rosso Direzionale front
P Zero Rosso rear.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1092358356.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1092358398.jpg

Great tyres

SO3
The best !
I'm running 245 16 and 225 16 on my 88 coupe 7n8's

I have run new ES100s on the street (200 miles) and at a DE last weekend, and they are fairly good. A bit squirmy and soft compared to the AVS intermediate. Kind of like the Kumho Ecsta Supra.

For the price, I'm very happy with them.

I run the SO3s hard, 235x40x17 and 265x40x17. They are great but cost$.

Best regards,

If you commute big miles with your P car buy mileage.
If you use it for fun, shoe it with something appropriate.!!

I had SP9000's on my car, they were good tires, but I liked my Bridgestone's better, and I had the RE 730's not even the top of the line.

It seems to be a general consensus that the BF Goodrich TA KD's are the best non R compound dry tires that you can get. You didn't say if you were looking for wet and dry or only dry performance.

i have pilot sports on my CS (205/55 + 245/45) and love them. when i was shopping it was down to those or the SO3's. FWIW, i was informed that the SO3 245/16 tire size was actually not a true 245 width wise. in addition, i had a somewhat disappointing experience with SO3's on my S4.

does anyone have any insight as to why michelin is not offering their new PS2 tire in 16in. sizes?

Tire Rack has 205/55x16 for $124 each. Nothing bigger in the 16" size.

T A KD = noisy
TA KD is a summer tire

Hal,

Where do you see that on the Tire Rack website? I can see that they have the original Pilot Sport and the Pilot Exalto PE2 in that size, but, as on the Michelin site as well, I don't see anything smaller than a 17" for the actual PS2. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place?

Incidentally, it looks as though the Pilot Exalto PE2, a lower performance derivative of the PS2, is also being rolled out by Michelin over the rest of this year and next, and will be available in quite a few 15" and 16" sizes.

The Michelin press release at the PS2 introduction in April referenced 33 PS2 sizes available intially, with an additional 26 sizes to be added throughout 2004. Hopefully that will include some 16" choices to make the PS2 an option for more folks on this board. However, I've not been able to find anyone listing a PS2 smaller than a 17".

Tim

Tim, I went to the Tire rack site, selected "seach by size" 205/55x16, and Michelin only. On the first page. HTH.

Thanks Hal. But, when I open the link you attached:

_http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?shipquote=N&compare=true&partNumber=& make=&model=&clarifier=&price=&width=205%2F&ratio= 55&diameter=16&sortCode=&speedRating=&qty=&stockMe ssage=&type=T&URL=&newCompare=true&prevprice=&load Rating=&promoShortText=&promoUrl=&promoLongText=&s idewall=&sidewallShown=&frontTire=&frontLeftTire=& rearTire=&rearLeftTire=&wantRHP=&RHPprice=&sumRati ng=&hasSpec=&hasWarranty=&hasComments=&hasTests=&h asSurveys=&perf=&pre=&specCode=&autoMake=&autoMode l=&autoYear=&autoModClar=&goWhere=%252Ftires%252FC ompare1.jsp&AddToUser=true&manufacturer=Michelin&s tartIndex=0&sortValue=1&qty_055VR6MXV4EPL_=4&qty_0 55VR6MXV4ES8_=4&qty_055VR6MXM4HX_=4&qty_055VR6PRIM ACY_=4&qty_055VR6PRIMACYC3M_=4&qty_055VR6PRIMACYG1 _=4&qty_055VR6PRIMACYG1RP_=4&qty_055WR6PRIMACY_=4& qty_055WR6PRIMACYG1_=4&qty_055SR6HARMONY_=4

I don't see any listing for the PS2...:confused:

Tim

Have you guys compared the tires you mention with the S0-3s? CIll, Yellowbird, et al.? Or is thus just that you hav ethe other tires and like them w/o a direct comparison? Thx.

FWIW, Tire rack compared them:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/mi_ps2_nextGen.jsp

Tom

Tim, I edited the link out of my post because it was too long for the BB to handle. Have you simply searched on the 205/55x16 size? I still find them.

Dunlop Sport 9000's!

all I can confirm is that the S-03 is considered by pros to be the best street tire available. I was also told that it's basically an S-02 made more streetable.. info is 2yrs old.

What pressure are you guys running your S-03's at for DE? I've got 3 track days on mine, but am still experimenting.

I've been starting cold w/ 33 front and 35 rear, and then bleeding off anything above 36 front and 38 rear when hot.