Ericm

I'm approaching 20K on the IS and I notice the OEM Bridgestone tires are getting louder and louder as they have aged. I anticipate having to replace them within the next 2K miles. After doing some research online It seems like the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's have a very good rating. My main concern with the new tires is comfort and quietness, I do take my car up the S6 and S7 (Palomar Mtn.) on occasion so performance is also necessary. When you replaced your tires what did you end up going with?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

RE050A Pole Position. Excellent tire, cheaper than PS2, within 0.08 seconds of the Michelin's dry lap time in Tire Rack's comparo, and performed better in the wet in their comparo. I drove these tires in a heavy downpour yesterday - they won't hydroplane below 60 mph even with an inch of standing water, and braking feels identical to dry conditions. They are also MUCH quieter than the OEM RE050. All in all, I am very happy with them, HOWEVER, I only have about 1k miles on them and I do not know if they will get louder as they wear. Many tires do.

Flipsonic

To anyone that has the PS2s, did they get louder as they were wearing down? I have Pirelli Scorpion Zero Assimetrico on my Benz and they sound like winter tires after 10k miles. I have Falken 452s on my IS and they are starting to get louder (after 7k miles).

Cleric

I tend to believe most tires will generate more road noise as they wear. I think the PS2 and RE050A Pole Position tires are great performers. As Lobuxracer indicated earlier, the BS are cheaper and in my personal experience perform just as well as the PS2. However, the PS2 tires are ~4 lbs lighter and have a higher UTGQ treadwear rating 140 vs. 220.

FiveOhNine

I believe that there is no standard in treadwear ratings across brands. What this means is that 140 is only meaningful compared to other BS tires, not with other brands such as Michelins. You will get similar treadlife out of RE050A @ 140 and PS2 @ 220.

Cleric

You are correct in that there is not an exact standard or procedure to measure treadwear between manufacturers, so one can expect a good amount of variability across brands. However, if treadwear is of great concern one should strive for a tire with a higher number.

FiveOhNine

Oh, of course. I just meant to point out that treadwear rating across brands is not a good measure of realistic expected treadlife unless you have a good understanding of that brands baseline compared to another's.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I'm having a hard time with the lighter is better crowd in the tire department. Yes, I understand the tire is the farthest thing from center on the wheel and a heavier tire should accelerate more slowly than a lighter one, but when I see a 0.08 sec per lap difference on the same car with the same drivers and only the tires being different, it's hard to imagine what the real world advantage is.

FWIW, I got 34,160 miles out of the OEM RE050s and they're also rated at 140 by BS. I don't like running any tire more than a year because the rubber gets greasy and they don't stick as well (IME with my Supra on both MXX3s and S-03s), so one year and 34k miles later I'm pretty happy with the OEM treadwear under real world condtions.

Cleric

Yea, real world differences will be minimal. These are just the spec'd differences b/w tires. With the power output of our cars, the mass difference is perhaps a moot point, but if one wanted to eek out as much performance as possible the 16 lb decrease could be attractive, but yes I can see a 0.08 sec track time difference hardly being enough to justfy the addtional $$ of the PS2.

FiveOhNine

Lobux, I think it would make much more of a difference on your Exige S, where weight and unsprung weight are huge factors in the performance of the car. Not so much with the IS, though. Another 100 pounds of theoretical gains from unsprung weight just don't really matter all that much in a 3600lb car.

I assume the test car for the TR comparo was a 330 or other porker?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, you know Tire Rack - I think it was a 325i though. Still no lightweight anything.

Yeah, not lightweight by any stretch.

ffpowerLN

iTrader: (1)

Just changed out my original set, was going to go with the stock Bridgestone or Dunlop but saw good reviews for the Eagle F1 GS-D3 so decided to give it a try. I wasn't really expecting much since the original tires weren't bad at all. However, much to my surprise the Eagle F1 GS-D3 appears to be better than the original especially while cornering and during high speed. The only downside is the higher (just barely) road noise compare to the original. Since the IS is intended to be driven I'll take the better performance over less road noise in less than a heartbeat.

Bottom line is I would not hesitate recommending the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 to all my fellow IS owners.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

They were in the same Tire Rack test. They finished third by a whisker in the dry and third behind the Bridgestones (#1) and Michelins in the wet. Tire Rack did say they had the best ride quality of the three.

They also tested the Bridgestone S-03 as a place marker. It finished last in all tests. I never really liked the S-03 - I liked the S-02 PP much better under all conditions.

I don't think anyone could go wrong with any of these tires. They're all excellent performers and significantly better than anything available just 5 years ago.

Bichon

Had the Eagle F1 GS-D3 on my Audi S4. They were MUCH quieter than the worn S03 pole positions they replaced. They performed well, good tread life for a performance tire, and never tramlined, even when worn.

al503

On my last three cars (G35 sedan, G35 coupe, and the IS) I've tried out the Michelin Pilot Sports, Pilot Sport 2's, GS-D3's, and the Bridgestone S03's and of course the Dunlop Maxx.

Out of the bunch, I would rate the GS-D3's and the PS2's the best out of the above. The PS2's have a little better initial turn-in response and a little stiffer sidewall. They are the best in the dry, period. They are also very quiet for a max performance tire.

The GS-D3's might be a little quieter and are slightly better in the wet. They also tramline a slightly less than the PS2's. In terms of treadwear, the GS-D3's rule over everything else and the PS2's don't last quite as long.

I've heard complaints about the D3's and the PS2's both getting louder as they wear down but I haven't found this to be true.

I have a couple of buds in the tire business and they both say the Michelins are the best tires out there in terms of quality. They usually require the least amount of lead weights to make them balance and they never see a defective one, which they can't say for the any of the other manufacturers (to varying degrees.)

Even though we get a LOT of rain in my neck of the woods, they're cheaper and they last longer, I still go with the PS2's over the D3's because there is no equal in the dry, they're a little lighter and the quality is first-rate. I may try the RE050A PP's in the future but they don't make them in the sizes I want right now.