Hey all,

Having a blast with the 507 and the time has come for tire replacement!

I don't know what the best tires for the C63 have been historically, and a search in the forums did not bring up anything useful.

Now reviewers have complained that even with the OE Continental 5P tires, there is still breakage due to the added HP. I found this to be true as well in my driving.

Elsewhere in the forums, I've read that people are going with wider rears and switching to Toyo or Michelin PSS.

For reference - the 2013 C63 Black Series came with Dunlop Sport Maxx Race (Track Pkg) and Continental 5P (Reg Pkg).

I don't want to deviate too far from OE spec, but would prefer to have some additional grip for the 507 - it's pretty much summer all-year here so I don't need to consider wet grip all that much.

My options (open to others as well)

1. Replace with OE Conti 5P at factory specs
2. Replace with OE Conti 5P - fronts factory, rears wider

3. Replace with Michelin PSS at factory specs
4. Replace with Michelin PSS - fronts factory, rears wider

5. Replace with a more aggressive tire
(I don't want to reduce the tread life by too much)

6....
7....
8....

For reference:

Stock fronts - 235/35ZR19
Stock rears - 255/30ZR19

Hope to hear from all you tire experts out there, and just doing some extra due-diligence so I'm not disappointed in my pick

 

I'd go with Michelin PSS in stock front size and slightly wider rears (235/35/19 front, 265/30/19 rear)


The PSS has a thick sidewall so I think 275's in the rear would look disproportionate on stock 9J rims.

 

I'll be going with 245/35/19 f and 265/35/19 R...PSS when it comes time to swap out mine, I like a 35 series in the back for a little extra rim protection...

 

I would go with PSS and agreed with the 265/30. 245/35 will fit up front just fine as well. Whether you will actually notice any grip difference with the small increase in width is debatable, but it can't hurt.

I definitely advise against 35 in the rear. The tires will be over an inch taller and your speedo will be off by a couple mph.

 

Maybe the marginal increases in tire widths don't impact the handling balance, but I would have thought upsizing in the rear and keeping the front at original size would increase understeer. The car is fairly well balanced as it comes, with power oversteer available any time almost, so maybe makes no difference.

Has anyone increased the rear size and then had it feel different when tracking or autocrossing aftwerwards?

 

Thanks for the reply guys

The PSS seems to be recommended across the board unanimously - even on the BMW/M3 forums - why is this tire so good / highly recommended?

And finally I'm probably going to take some heat for this, but do I want the dealer to replace my 507 tires, or is America's Tire / Wheel Works competent enough not to damage / scratch the 507 rims :P

Conti 5P
$1190
240 UTQG Treadwear

PSS
$1036
300 UTQG Treadwear

Compared to the Conti 5P, the PSS are about $150 cheaper and have a higher treadwear rating - but not really sure if it will actually last longer.

I'm also happy to spend a bit more if there any other tires that can satisfy my goals of being close to OE spec, increased grip over the Conti 5P, and with little to no decrease in handling performance.

 

Trust the board...these tires have been tested...PSS are better in every way...wet/Dry/tread life etc....

 

I will go with PSS but stock spec. Don't think a little bit wider with change grip a lot but mess up the height and speedo.

 

I just replaced the tires on my C63, sadly just 18" wheels on mine. I was considering Yokohama AD08r tires, but they don't come in XL rated versions in appropriate sizes for the C63.

The fallback option was the PSS. I got them in the one size larger version front and rear (245 front, 265 rear). Of course I can't say how much the change in width impacted the overall performance since I had two variables change (tire size and brand). I can say that the handling and traction improvement is night and day.

The back end of the car no longer races to get ahead of the front when accelerating briskly but reasonably out of a turn. Also, I get much less wheel spin accelerating briskly from a stop.

I did check the speedo using a GPS app on my phone. With the larger tires, the speedo reads about 1-2 MPH low at 75 MPH. This seems minor to me.

Cheers

 

Sounds like everyone loves the PSS here as well

Should I bother considering these tires below?
They are listed as Racetrack & Autocross Only on tirerack.com, but some members are using them as daily drivers

1. Toyo R888 ($1320, 100 AA A)

2. Dunlop Sport Maxx Race ($2366, 80 A A)

I really have no idea how much difference these track and competition tires will make, and not sure whether I should be looking at them at all as a daily driver...

Is the significantly lower treadwear rating worth the experience of superior grip?

I don't plan to track or anything, so the primary use case would be city / hwy daily driving.

Thanks a lot for everyone's input

 

I have not experienced either of the tires you mention directly, but I have heard lots of comments particularly about the R888s. I believe in both cases they are poor choices for daily driven cars for the following reasons.

First, for maximum traction, these tires need to be warm, the kind of warm that you get from a few reasonably hard warm up laps on a track. If you are just daily driving it is unlikely you will heat the tires to the point of getting maximum traction. This is especially true if you live in a colder climate as these tires really won't work well when very cold.

Second, I don't think either tire is particularly good in wet conditions. The PSS are much safer in this regard.

Third, at least for the R888s, I have heard that they are extremely noisy and thus would be very annoying for any extended freeway driving.

Finally, you should check to see if either of these tires are XL rated. If not, then they are technically not safe for a car of the C63's weight.

Good luck with your decision.

 

I would not get competition tires for a daily driver. Total waste of money and massive compromise in wet handling vs. pilot super sports.

Anyone can install tires just fine. I've had Firestone mount and balance tires before.

 

I replaced my tires today with PSS. 245 front and 265 rear and I couldn't be happier. Smoother, more comfortable ride and it appears the grip is excellent as well.

 

I just installed a set of Sumitomo HTR ZIII's on my 507. 255-35-19 front and 275-30-19 rear for a grand total of $740. So far so good. Nice and quiet and almost zero sidewall bulge resulting from the additional rubber. I'm a pretty conservative driver, though, and don't demand much in the way of performance through turns.

 

The superior grip of an R-comp tire is only achievable in track conditions and temperatures. They can be outright scary on the street, especially in the wet. Furthermore, I suspect that you'll heat-cycle them out from "soft chewing gum" to "hockey puck" consistency well before you wear them out, so running them on the street is a stupid idea to say the least, and quite dangerous at worst.

If you're not going to track or auto-x the car, either get a set of OEM Contis or alternatively Michelis PSS (the lattter is IMHO a considerably better tire).

 

Hey all,

I've got the tires on order and install is happening this weekend.

I'm doing

Front 245/35/19
Rear 265/30/19

I just got an email from tirerack saying they have a "New Tire for this C63 507 Package! Pilot Sport Cup 2 (Streetable Track & Competition)"

A set of four would run around $1550 it seems, not many reviews on tirerack, and I think these also need to be warmed up before achieving their max performance.

I think everyone is going to advise against these for daily use and suggest PSS again, but thought I'd put it out there :P

Here is the link
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ot+Sport+Cup+2

Again its part of the (Streetable Track & Competition) category - here is some description

"The Pilot Sport Cup 2 is Michelin’s Streetable Track & Competition tire originally developed for Original Equipment use on the Ferrari 458 Speciale, Mercedes SLS AMG Coupé Black Series and Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid super sports car. Designed to provide faster circuit times and consistent performance lap after lap, the Pilot Sport Cup 2 allows these supercars to achieve their full potential in dry conditions. Like all summer tires they are not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through slush, snow or on ice."

Thanks guys

 

Sweet looking tire. Not sure how they fare in the wet though.

 

No 255/30-19??

 

I went with 245's front and 275's rear, PSS. Fit is perfect and tread life is double that of my previous Conti's and Nitto's.

 

Just to throw a curve ball, I was about to settle on the PSS 245/265 combo, but now I am leaning to the Nitto NT05 245/275 combo. I occasionally take it to the drag strip and have used the Nittos before on other cars. They are awesome but will only last 10,000 miles max. I'll have to check out the Pilot Cup tires you mentioned as well.

 

Yeah its funny I got that recommendation for the Pilot Cup 2 from tirerack.com but they only have the front sizes in that tire

They dont have the rears in 30/19s for any size....so I'd have to go with something like 275/35/19 in the rear....not sure if I want to do that...

I should look up whether Ferrari / SLS owners were happy with the Pilot Cup as their OE tire :P

 

Yeah I think we will have some issues with 275/35. You would be fine with 275/30......maybe something for next time. But if the Cup tires don't come in 30/19 at all....then not good for me...lol

 

Just for reference - here are some posts on FerrariChat.com regarding the Pilot Cup 2's

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/360...t-cup-2-a.html

I have Sport Cup 2 on my 360 Spider.

Have not used the other two tires you mention, but had RE11s before. I find the SC2 are better for understeer, but not as sticky. Turning corners, it's not unusual to have the nannies step in, even with very modest throttle, which is quite annoying.

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Rob- The Sport Cup 2s will last much longer than the P Zero Corsa tires (wear rating 60 on those), which wear like erasers. If most of your driving will be on the street, believe you will be much happier with the MPSS tires. Just put a set on mine.

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Thanks, why are MPSS better on street?, Are SC2's not good in wet conditions?

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Rob- Wear for one thing, the MPSS tires have a 300 wear rating. The Sport Cup 2s are DOT legal race tires with shallower tread and ride not really a consideration. But, they are part of the Z07 package for the Corvette and are partially responsible for the outstanding track times turned in by the Corvettes fitted with them.

If all out performance is your goal, the Sport Cup 2s are what you want and just be careful when temperatures drop or it is really wet. The MPSS is the best pure street tire for late Ferraris and was introduced on the 599 GTO.

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MPSS, RE-11, and SC2's are all they talk about

Will report back after my install and some driving

By the way - the PSS that are coming from Michelin are from 2014 Week 27 and Week 23 - does that age make a difference or should I be looking at 2015 tires?

Probably not right? Since the life of these tires will be between 10-15k or about 1-2 years max?

Finally, I'm going to check some alignment posts soon, but if anyone knows of a indy shop that does C63 aligments (has the bolt-on kits for castor / camber) please let me know....dealer is asking $200 for only toe, or $400 if castor / camber are required

I'm in the South Bay (Silicon Valley, California)

Thanks!

 

No. Tires do harden and dry rot over time, but not for a number of years at the very least. It may be an issue if you were buying ten year old rubber, but anything manufactured within two years is still very fresh.

 

At the rate the tires go bald with this car, get Sumitomos.

I had them on my 996TT and they are a very good street tire for an incredible price.

That's what I'll be installing once spring time comes. Ultra high performance tires won't last long, the extra grip will be unnoticed on the street where achieving the limit means losing your license anyway.

That's how I see it anyway.