Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

I've had the OEM Bridgestones on the car for almost a year and the tires were new when I bought the vehicle. I never really cared for the straight line traction which was partly due to the tires and later it was partly due to alignment after I lowered the vehicle a bit. But even stock, they just didn't grip in a straight line.

RE-050A plusses...
-Excellent cornering grip, more than one can safely use on the street
-Very predictable when traction breaks while cornering
-Pretty good in the wet through 50% tread life
-Great feedback. I was comfortable with these tires and always knew what they were going to do.
-Steering response was immediate

Cons
-Noisy
-Harsh, mostly due to stiff sidewall
-Heavy vs. some of the competition
-Poor straight line traction
-They can wear quickly. I still have a decent amount of tread left but they would have been done in 12-15K miles easily if my alignment had been more favorable to tire wear. I put about 9K miles on them and due to my toe setting, wore the inside edge of the tires substantially. The rears wore fairly evenly however.

I just switched to Michelin Pilot Super Sports and I've only had them for a day. I can make a few judgements about them now and I'll update as I spend more time on the tires.

First, they're far more compliant over rough pavement. It was a fairly dramatic difference vs. the Bridgestones. I have my dampers set prettyfirm and the car would track straight over rough patches and the tires didn't transmit vibrations like the Bridgestones did.

Second, they don't make as much noise. They're max performance tires so they'll never be silent but they don't produce the same frequencies that the Bridgestones do and really limits the in-cabin noise. At times the Bridgestones could be annoyingly loud.

I can't comment on grip too much yet as they're new and I haven't pushed them very hard. I also went up in size (255's all around) and my alignment is different. I had a lot of camber with the Bridgestones and I'm not running nearly as much with the Michelins. Straight line acceleration is most definitely better and I can hammer it pretty hard out of corners. They seem more predictable than the Bridgestones and will slide out in the rear a bit more slowly than the Bridgestones.

I feel like turn in is just a hair softer but that could be due to less front end camber.

Overall, the tires changed the feel of the car. It just feels more polished and less gruff while gaining some grip and keeping the steering feel at the same time.

I expect they'll be pretty good in the wet. The Michelins have massive channels compared to the Bridgesones which surprised me when I first saw the tires in person. They should have plenty of siphoning at speed.

I'll update this thread as I get more time with them.

The Pope

iTrader: (2)

I'm just going to munch on this while I wait.
Looking forward to your review.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Not too much new to report at this point although I had my first experience with them in the wet and at below freezing temps. I was really worried about the latter as we had a major cold snap (for my region anyway) over the past few days and into today. I haven't checked them yet for any damage but I certainly didn't see or feel anything. Luckily the temps are warming back up.

We didn't have a massive amount of rain but others have reported they're very, very good when it comes to hydroplane resistance. It was wet and cold but I still seemed to have a lot of grip from a stop and feel at highway speeds, in the wet, wasn't diminished.

I can't emphasize how much these tires improved ride quality over the Bridgestones. You sort of have to reset your brain with the decrease in noise and a ride that feels softer, yet there's more grip and they feel every bit as sharp.

ezbme

I miss my old Bmw, esp the 245/40/18 PSS. I only had them on the rear and would love to have kept them. I wonder where the car is. I had the Kuhmo ASX on the rear and was looking to replace the front tires. I had resolved myself to get another pair of the ASX. I asked the tire guy if they had any used tires. He shows me a pair of PSS that look like they just had the Stickers taken off. They were actually less expensive than the ASX installed. I had them mounted on the backs, cause rwd. I owned them for 11 months before I sold the car.

Wet grip and dry grip probably the best I ever had. I had over 10k on them and still have at least 7/10 on them. My rear suspension needed a complete upgrade and sadly never got it. The tires made it feel like it almost didn't need it. They are compliant and about the best tires I have ever owned.

Rochester

iTrader: (8)

I had similar good feelings going from RE050A to PSS four years ago.

It's a good tire. Certainly gets a lot of praise, even from the experts.

Goonz

iTrader: (9)

By far the worst tire I ever had, couldn't believe this is an OEM equipped tire. My gripe wasn't with the performance aspect of it, but more the wear. I mean the tire had a massive drop-off in performance after about 50-60% wear. After replacing with PSS on my previous coupe (and soon on my new sedan), I felt it was a night and day difference switching from RE050's to the PSS. Michelin all the way from now on..

Comatose_Koala

Michelin PSS all the way. Went from Goodyear RS-A tires (basically prius tires from previous owner) to the Michelins at. I could not be more pleased with ride, cornering grip, quietness or wet traction

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Just a brief update. Today was my first day driving in heavy, driving rain at highway speeds since installing the Michelins. Brilliant. As good as anything I've ever used and it was a total deluge this afternoon. Drove about 40 minutes in driving rain and through decent-sized puddles at speeds up to 75mph. Very little pull to one side or the other when hitting standing water with just one side of the car.

Looking at the tread, I'd never guess they'd be this good in the wet. Excellent traction from a dig too.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

Your first post comments echo my feelings of the stock Re050 and my switch to Bridgestone Potenza S-04. I used to cause the DSC to engage almost everyday, after the tire change I engage it maybe once per month with no change in driving style.

Tire Rack, for one, notes that max-perf tires are actually better in rain than all-season tires. I found the Potenzas awesome in the rain until about 3/4 worn. Now there's just not enough sipe volume to effectively move a lot of water. I have about 20k on the tires now, nearly time to replace the fronts but the rears are not even half-worn. Guess that's my FWD experience causing me to work the front tires extra hard.

When I put coupe wheels on my car in the very near future, I'm going to get the Michelins.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

An update, did my first tire rotation a bit over 5K miles. The fronts looked new but the rears had visible wear across the entire tire width. It was even wear thanks to a decent alignment but the center tread block no longer had sipe marks and you could easily eyeball the difference in tread depth. I'm guessing I'll get about 15K total out of the tires, nowhere near the 30K mile treadwear Michelin touts. After another 5K, I may rotate them every 3K.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

Keep that DSC engaged. Constant burn-outs and drifting eat tires like nobody's business.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Rolling friction is greater than sliding friction With that said, I'm using the ECUTek traction logic most of the time and it's really good.