Spartan

I was ready to buy my Bridgestone Pole Position S03s today and the guy at Discount Tire started to make me think twice about my purchase. He recommended the Micheline Pilot Sports All Seasons, not the Dry weather ones. Supposedly these JUST came out and they are THE tire to have. Anyone heard anything about them? I was going to order them, but the 275 rears were on backorder for 30 days atleast due to the fact that they have not run that part of the production yet. They are not as expensive as the Pilot Sport "dry" weather ones but supposedly better overall.
NEED SOME ADVICE....want tires for my HREs badly!

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks
MIKE

Shinchan

Why do you want to buy 4 season tire? Depend on where you live.. I guess. but think again.. 4 Season tires on HRE? Why? Bet you that you would not take your HRE on Snow/salt/sand.. so why 4 season? Your HRE would look really awesome on some tires with agressive tire pattern.

Try Toyo T1-S.

RON430

I will see if I can some references but I have seen some tire reports recently comparing all weather to "dry" performance tires. The "dry" performance tires outperformed the all season in the dry and wet, convincingly. The all season had marginally better performance in snow but on a performance vehicle the conclusion was the difference wasn't going to get you home and you need to change to type specific snow tires. This was a revelation for me. The tire guys are able to hit very good performance with the max performance tires in the dry and wet now. I think the T1S is one of the ones in that category. But the "all season" tires are not as good in the dry or wet conditions. Here in cal, I am not going to have to come up on snow very much so it is pure dry performance tires for me and my wife. If you want the Michelin, I don't think you are making a big mistake but I really question the value of the "all season" tire anymore. Too much racing experience in the wet is going into street performance tires to be worried about them when it gets drippy.

Spartan

Thanks for the advice guys....
I think you are right ron.....I am gonna get a dry performance tire....
I am still leaning towards teh Pilot Sport....but it is 300 bucks more for the set than the Bridgestones.....hmm...not sure there..
Any opinions...?
I hear the s03s grip nicely...but the rubber runs down quick...
Thanks
MIKE

RON430

Hey Mike - Obviously if you read the posts, seems like guys are happy with S-03s and Michelin Pilot Sports. Also fans of T1-S and Yok AVS Sport. Probably advantages and disadvatages to all of them. There are also guys who like Dunlops but I haven't been so impressed. They started to get good press, even at Consumer's Reports, so I bought a set, don't remember which ones exactly a few years ago and had very high tread wear and significant balance problems so I am not so much a fan. Doesn't mean they may have sorted their problems out but what can I say? If you have a bad experience, there are too many alternatives out there to go back. Personally, I have had surprisingly good luck with Yokos, the db, AVS intermediate, and sports on an MR2 turbo. MR2 turbo, like an NSX, gave me a lot of chances to experiment with rear tires. Biggest thing may come down to what you want to pay and who's brand you want to advertise on your rims.

TMitchell

I agree completely with RON430. People seem to think that an all season will be better in the rain, but they are not as good. The only advantage to all season tires is if you have to drive in very light snow conditions. If you are going with extra wide tires in the back, even an all season tire is not going to help on light snow.

RON430

TMitchel - Thanks for your comments. Doggone it, I feel like I am late to the party. I guess I believed the advertising over the years and believed that all season were the way to go. Then, I saw these reports, and it was more than one, that compared the performance of performance "dry" tires to all season in dry, wet, and some snow, and the performance "dry" tires were markedly better than the all season in the dry AND the wet. And, as I think we all know, a performance car is a handful in snow (if you can get it to move at all) on anything other than type specific snow tires. I am very conservative on things that can affect safety and I thought for years that all season were a better tradeoff but now I will go for the modern "dry" performance tire. Wonder why it took so long for anyone to question the value of the all season tires? Hope I can find some of the references for the tire tests.

MRGS400nSoCali

I have some SO-3s (245/35/19 front and 275/30/19 back) and I love them. I had a pair on my supra before and they lasted me approx 25k miles and that was with aggressive driving. I'd go with the SO-3s in a heart beat.

Martin

whitels

RON430-
Well, I used to have an MR2 Turbo coupe (hardtop) and I'm glad someone here had the same car. If you remember, these MR2s came with the Bridgestone RE72 (now long discontinued) and I was really pleased with those rubbers. My fronts actually lasted through 62,000 miles (including some occasional autocrossing) while rears were gone at 30,000. But the tires' performance was simply incredible in my opinion. This is the only car I've driven where when I brake hard enough, I feel my eyeballs literally popping out due to G-force. Wish the RE72 is still around.

RON430

whitels - You did better than me on the rears. I ate them up in well under 20K miles. I think I had 11K on one record set of Michelins. Fronts would last forever, just no weight up front. But what a car. I ran it for over 200K miles before giving it to a charity and outside of a couple of timing belts and routine maintenance - nothing, and I mean nothing went wrong. Toyota really is in a different world from everyone else. That was a big factor in the Lexus purchase. I am doing the dyns in the front doors this weekend and the door panels are not quite as easy to get off as the MR2 but I don't think I have buggered things up too bad yet. Glad most people have the same opinion on the all weather tires. I generally prefer the best dry and wet handling I can get and these all season things are some kind of marketing scam to my way of thinking.

GS4Will

S-03, one of the best values, if not the best tyres at the present time.....imho.

chowder

I got these tires ~3weeks ago. I got 28K out of my stock re030s. At first, I went Kuhmo 712. That lasted about 3weeks (~900mi) before I swapped out for the Pilot A/S. I had all sorts of strange vibrations and wobbles depending on temperature, throttle, and braking with the K's. Moreover, my VSC kicked in more in those 3weeks than my re030's ever did in a similar period. Was contemplating going to s03/AVSdb as well from the K's but decided to give Michelin a shot partially based on it's higher treadwear rating and reputation for avoiding out-of-rounds (workmanship/quality control). Plus, I've had Dunlops, Pirelli, and Bridgestones on cars before, but never tried Michelin. My re030's feathered starting at 8K; that gave some pause with the brand, despite the resounding rave reviews for s02/3. Further, gimmick or not, the technology behind the Pilot A/S intrigued me enough to burn extra bucks. Note: no alignment/rim/balance work was done between the K's and Pilot A/S (it was all done between the re030 and K's). Are the Pilot A/S twice as good as the K's as the difference in price would imply? Probably so. In 3weeks haven't felt the slightest vibration (ahh), stability is up (less tramlining), and there is an order of magnitude difference in turn-in.
I'm a very aggressive driver. Using real world benchmarks like hard launch and high speed exit ramps off the interstate, I never really got my re030's past their limit. The K's failed those test upfront. The Pilot A/S are passing, so far. Would the s03? Certainly. The issue to me is how safe you feel at the limit of your driving style. I'm not posting track times, so I will value treadwear, noise level, and ride comfort over sheer performance, once my performance needs are met.

RON430

New Michelins always felt great. Not sure I believe some of the brands, like the Kumhos, bring much to the party except price. Be sure and let us know after 10 or 15K miles how they are doing. Used to be able to tell when to replace the Michelins on the MR2 by sound. About the time the howl got really obtrusive, it was time to change. Of course, the MR2 is no where near as quiet a car as a Lexus but it was very noticeable. Sure is nice to have a choice in tires. Just wish Michelin and Pirelli weren't always at the top of the price range. I was intrigued by the Pirelli Rosso technology when they came out but it doesn't seem it has made much difference either. Still looks like the S03, T1S, and the Yokos are also viable alternatives.

lexguynj

MAN OH MAN - I am hoping this is the solution to the horrible stock RE030s! Thanks for the info. I only have 11K on my stock tires, but every day it's looking better and better to replace them with the Pilot Sport A/S/

Spartan

Well....
After all this....I just went back into thhe tire shop Saturday and told the guy to order me the S03s. I hav ehad my on these tires from the start and you guys pretty much confirmed it.
They should be in by Wednesday and I will have pics for all of you by the end of the week.
Thanks for your help.
MIKE

p.s. the guy seemed pi$$ed off that I did not go with Michelin....Must get pkick backs or he is the ultimate Michelin superfan!