builthatch

'09 C 63...bone stock w/ OE 18s.

PSS or S-04?

performance survey results are almost identical. treadwear and specs are almost identical.

S-04 is 4/10 wider tread width and basically $250 total cheaper (when pricing 2x 235/40 18 + 2x 265/35 18)

what do you guize think?

since i don't drive this car in the rain...like, ever...i'm wish i could sacrifice wet performance even more for additional dry traction...but i don't know if that is worth the trouble to figure out what would work for that specific need and would be manageable in cold weather during those rare occasions that i take it out in the NJ winter.

m a x i m u s

if the two have identical wear and performance ratings, i would go PSS purely for the warranty.

Karl901

Have you been paying attention. C63 BS and SLS GT are both running Dunlop Race Maxx tire, also Check out Sport Maxx for longer life. There not rate yet.

noodleman

Toyo R888 if you don't care about wet performance I would not drive any of these tires in winter time.

Critter

Isn't Dunlop owned by Firestone now, Wouldn't put Firestone on anything rated over 30mph. JMO

PSS, so far so good 5000km still look new, but they still break away when I feel like it.

Noodleman is correct "No winter" driving recommended for any of these tires, unless you are good buddies with your insurance adjuster!

khmergod

PSS have 30k mile warranty. Discount tire charges me 100 each time I replace tmmy rears trololol.

Critter

Yes khmergod , got the same warranty on my PSS, but tell me how do they know the mileage on the car vs the actual tire mileage?

When I purchased mine they ( discount tire ) stated warranty was good for punctures and wear but is there a time that 30,000 mile warranty is good for in terms of years?

SaphGreyC63

Mileage warranties apply to tires that come as original equipment on model year 2011 and later vehicles. Some vehicles come from the vehicle manufacturer with “split * fittments”—
meaning different size tires on the front and rear axles. Because these tires cannot be rotated as recommended by Michelin, the mileage warranty on each rear tire will cover half the number of miles as the standard mileage warranty for that particular tire design.

That's off the Michelin website. In other words they will give us a warranty for 15,000 miles on the rear and I believe its up to 6 years.

chrisridebike8

Dunlop Direzza Star Specs are considered some of the best autocross and nonslick track tires. The new Direzza IIs are supposed to be even better.

Critter

Oh well, each to his own. Personally the car is not driven autocross or at the track so these are definitely out of my league. PSS are good enough for me.

Critter

khmergod, when Discount Tire replaces your Michelins, do you send the others back? or just take a picture, or just what happens?

emericr

I had the PSS and Sears did warrant them but that was before the new Michelin rule of 1/2 warranty because of staggered set up.
$250 is peanuts in the overall scheme of things. Almost identical is not the same. I would tend to think that the Michelin will be the overall better tire.

rage2

My Rear Dunlop Race Maxx on my CBS lasted a whopping 1900 miles. My PSS's, I've got more than 1/2 tread left out back, and have gone 5000 miles on them. I'm expecting to last around 13,000 miles. On the street, both the Dunlop Race Maxx and PSS will deliver the same amount of dry grip. You need to get the Dunlops heated up at the track before it'll generate any "real" grip. I had a post somewhere here comparing the 2 tires using Performance Media data on street and on track.

I almost went with the S-04's on my CBS for street tires, but after trying them on a C63 non black series, I went with the PSS's instead. Although I tried both tires on 2 different C63's on completely different days (years actually) so the comparison is probably not even close to valid, the PSS as I remembered felt sharper when throwing it into corners. I've been very happy with the PSS's, so much so that I threw them on my CLS550 as well. It's totally transformed the car's handling (came with all seasons from the factory).

Jbizzy21

Listen man, it all depends on what you are using the car for. I'm assuming that the car is not going to see the track, so in all honesty you can't really go wrong with either one. I saw the sport maxx's listed as well, and those are a good tire, but IMO definitely a step below the S04 and PSS, which are the very pinnacle of Max Performance Tires for sure. I had the S-04's as my daily driving tire on my black series, and i absolutely loved them; More than sufficient grip for street driving, excellent in the rain, and the longevity of them was great. The PSS is a great tire as well, definitely a bit grippier than the S-04, around the same for rain, and you'd probably get around the same life out of them. Honestly if it was my car, and i was never going to track it, it would make sense to me to get the tires that cost significantly less(S-04), and are probably 95% as good as the more expensive PSS(for every day driving).

IF however you plan on tracking the car, throw the S04's out the window. I destroyed mine within 1 track day. Granted that was after about 8-9000 pretty hard miles on the street, but they were clearly not a track tire. They actually still had sufficient tread left in the fronts, but the rears were chunking and definitely needed replacement. If you're looking for a tire that would be good for the occasion track day as well as be really good for a daily driver, the RE-11 is my recommendation...if you can find it in the right size for the standard C63. The PSS is a very good track tire, with good grip, steering feel, and slow/predictable break away, but definitely a step below the Extreme tires in terms of absolute performance on track.

Please don't listen to anyone telling you to get an R-Compound (R888, Race maxx, etc.) If you don't plan on trying to post the fastest lap times you possibly can every single track day, and you track often. I track both of my cars a lot, and i'm even moving away from R888's on my GTR in favor of an Extreme Performance category tire, as im tired of the ****ty longevity that i've been getting from them. The top level Extreme's are almost as good as the R888 etc in terms of extreme grip, and will last a hell of a lot longer.

builthatch

thanks guys.

so...with regard to the warranty for the PSS...

i remember researching tires prior to getting this car and heard so much about the Michelin warranty.

i can't have anyone that sells Michelin install them...i'm not going to the places they have in my area. nooo way. i've read the fine print and it only seems to be imperative that an auth. retailer assess things when you have a warranty claim. it doesn't say anything about where they came from (tire rack, discount tire direct) and as long as you have a receipt for installation along with some other basic obvious things, you can get looked at for warranty.

has anyone gone through the PSS warranty process without getting them installed at something like a Sears, STS, Discount Tire retail stores, etc?

CoolBDPhenom03

The Dunlop Race Maxx don't come in 20". My tires are fantastic in the wet. I run Vredesteins all around. I can't seem to go 10k miles before I hit some kind of road hazard, but they're awesome. With "responsible" driving, I think you could squeeze 15k miles out of them. Warranties can be offered by the reseller, so I wouldn't sweat the manufacturer's warranty much. I'm already getting a partial credit on some new rear tires since I got a nail in it, but I was already down to 4/32nds anyway.

builthatch

yeah you know i might consider the reseller warranty, like from discount tire direct or something. they seem easy to deal with even though it would be through their online sales, not a store. so i think if i had a problem i could get it solved with 'em.

it's funny: i have a preference for corghi tire machines. they are *** awesome and DO not ruin wheels...ever. i always have a preference for places that use those machines. well a major source for those machines is a couple friends' business up in north jersey and they wholesale vredestein...it's the only tire brand they carry as far as i know. i've seen them a million times but never thought to ask about how they perform because they (my friends' place) seem to be selling mostly to accounts who cater to the "flossing" crowd, who buy Vossen and BBS wheels so their Audi or BMW looks cool. glad to hear you have a good experience with them on your car.

CoolBDPhenom03

I've been getting my Vreds from VulcanTire.com who typically ship them from the NE somewhere. ApolloTire.com operates out of SoCal and that's where I'm supposed to be getting this current set because they're back ordered.

You should try a set. They were about 1/2 the price of PSSs the last time I checked.

builthatch

yeah thanks. i'll definitely look into them.

here's a pic of me doing a demo for something on a Vossen wheel equipped with a Vredestein tire, haha in fact those are Vreds lined up above too!

CoolBDPhenom03

Gotta admit...the tread pattern is pretty sick.

builthatch

i am not sure if i'll need the warranty (because i dunno if i'll reach the wear point of the new tires in my time with this car), but it seems to be too good to pass up, so i'm going to go the Michelin route.

but i'm getting Pilot Sport A/S 3s...not the PSS.

the dry performance difference is too negligible to ignore the fact that i'll be driving on nice days in the fall and the winter. plus the treadwear is so much better.

Michelin is REALLY touting the performance of the A/S 3 vs. even some dedicated max performance summer tires so it should be interesting.

i verified with Discount Tire Direct that i will have no issues with Michelin if i buy the tires from them and get them installed by a specialist. the only thing now is that it says there is a $50 instant savings when you buy four of those tires but it's not showing up in my cart so i have to wait to talk to them because without that, they are more expensive than Tire Rack shipped.

builthatch