mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

I'm just glad someone else has seen the light of going from a cheap, entry level performance tire, to a big name, slightly pricier, way better handling tire...

ZippyGuy

iTrader: (9)

no doubt on the F1's or PS2!! PS2's will take you to another world in handling.

Stokdgs

And got Michelin Pilot Sport A/Seasons in the staggered 18" sizes.
They are great compared to those loser ER33's. I would have loved to get the Bridgestone RE960 A/Seasons but unfortunately, they dont make these in the 2 sizes I need. I have these RE960 A/S on our '03 540iT with M5 wheels in the staggered 18" sizes, and they are absolutely awesome! Sticky, quiet, and not tramlining that the Michelin Pilot Sports I took off and threw away..
DanF

PineGreen

Another tire you might want to check out are the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta. They got great reviews over in Europe. They even beat out the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. I just ordered a set of rims and need to have tires ready once the rims are delivered. I initially was going to buy either the Bridgestone RE960s or the Michelin Pilot A/S. After much research, I'm gonna get the Vredestein. The guys on the Corvette forum seem to really love them. The g35driver.com, my350z.com, audizine, and srts really seem to like them too.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article...-tyre-test.htm

I don't get my rims until another 50-90 days, but I'll review them w/ the tires as soon as I get them on. They can be had for a very decent price also.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Where is the review that they beat the PS2??? I have driven those tires and honestly think they are horrible...

PineGreen

I'll have to look for it again (i've been reading up on too many tires to remember where I found it). I do know that it was done for some European car magazine (Evo...I think). I guess the link just shows the final results but doesn't show the actual article. I'll try to find the article.

Btw, can I get your opinion on those tires? What makes them "horrible" to you? I've been reading any type of reviews on them that I can find, and so far everyone has had nothing but praises (from MB drivers to Corvette drivers to Charger SRT8 drivers).

PineGreen

Btw, my apologies to the OP...I didn't mean to hijack this thread and make it into a discussion about a certain brand of tire...I was just trying to help. I'm no tire expert...and only know what I can find to read on the internet.

Mitsuguy: I couldn't find the actual article on the magazine's site w/o paying for a back issue, but below is a the link again of a summary of the results and also a copy/paste of the results from a post on my350z.com forum (http://my350z.com/forum/wheels-tires...-review-6.html) (post #106). Also, I realize that any study/test can be biased...so I guess I try to take it w/ a grain of salt.

Again, any insight that you may have on these tires would be greatly appreciated since you have firsthand knowledge.

Also, here's another study found on audizine.com
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1564051


http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article...-tyre-test.htm



The Car:
VW Golf GTI MK5

The Track:
Bridgestone European Proving Ground - Rome

Tyre Size:
225/45 R17 Y

Anyways very quick summary:


Tyres tested:
1. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A
2. Continental Contisport Contact 3
3. Dunlop Sport Maxx
4. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric
5. Kumho Ecsta STP KU31
6. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2
7. Pirelli PZERO Nero
8. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA
9. Yokohama S.DRIVE

Wet Handling:

Lap Times:
1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 99.05%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 98.38%

Lateral G:
1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 97.85%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 97.34%

Subjective:

1. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 100%
2. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 96.15%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 94.23%

Aqua-Planing:

Straight Line:

1. Dunlop Sport Maxx - 100%
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 98.85%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 97.01%

Cornering:

1. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 100%
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 83.37%
3. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 80.09%

Braking:

Wet Braking

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 98.19%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 97.44%

Dry Braking - Very little to choose between top and bottom [7% difference]

1. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 100%
2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 99.08%
3. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 98.94%

Best at the Pumps:

Resistance (rolling):

1. Yokohama S.DRIVE - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 97.88%
3. Kumho Ecsta STP KU31 - 92.72%

Dry Handling:

Lap Times:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 99.79%
3. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 99.18%

Lateral G:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 97.19%
3. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 96.18%

Subjective:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 95.55%
3. Pirelli PZERO Nero - 93.33%

Road Route:

Subjective:

1. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 100%
2. Dunlop Sport Maxx - 92.50%
3. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 90.50%

OVERALL RESULTS:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 96.4
2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 95.3
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 93.5

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

I installed them on a Maserati that had been lowered, aftermarket HRE's, and a performance alignment done... took a nice little test drive (the shop doing the work encouraged it), and found the tires not very grippy, and almost slippery... I attributed it to the whole new tire release compound and returned the car... It was in the SEMA show a year and a half ago...

About 2-3 weeks after the show, the car was brought back to have the alignment checked, and it was dead on... Complaint that the car didn't handle as well as it should... I test drove it again, and was still completely unimpressed by the cars handling... Couple weeks later, the car was brought back and we installed some RE050's on it - absolute night and day difference... I don't have any performance numbers on the car, but it was similar to me going from General Exclaims to my BFG KDW's...

If you look at those test numbers, in the WET, it is second in both tests, but scores first in subjective??? Dry handling, it doesn't score top 3 in any test (this is what I care about the most), but then again, in the subjective road test, it scores 1st again... Then in the overall test, it gets 2nd... Sounds like a loaded test to me...

PineGreen

Dang, I guess back to square 1 for me. I am just suprised that there were SOOOOOO many positive reviews from all these different forums...maybe I'll bite the bullet anyways and get a set to test out....

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

part of the problem is that they are relatively inexpensive...

if they weren't cheap, they wouldn't get so good of reviews...

people see (and I'm making up prices here)
$135 / tire - Vredestein vs $235 Michelin PS2, and when the Vredestein (or any other cheap tire) performs decently, people say "wow that things awesome"

I liken it to comparing the new Hyundai with 375 hp to a Lexus LS... sure, the Hyundai seems awesome when you drive it and when you see the price, it's like, damn, this is a great deal, what a bargain... but when you drive the LS, you realize how much extra you get, but you do pay more for it...

Czechlex

Anybody dirving on the Falken 452's? My car is dropped on Bilsteins with 20's and I am looking for a good reliable tire that won't break the bank.

2slow

iTrader: (5)

I'm getting michelin sp2s! can i run wider tires in the front and the back on stocks? lets say 245/40/18 265/40/18