oblax4

Its time for me to get a new set of tires. I've had the PS2's, which I have been greatly pleased with. Unfortunately, in my rear size, they are not available at this time (when I originally ordered them, it was the same deal, and I had to wait 4 months for them to come in). I don't want to have to deal with this every time I need tires. I talked to the TireRack guy, and he recommended:

Bridgestone Potenza SO3 Pole Position

He said the PS2's were "made to compete with the Pole Positions, because the regular Pilot Sports were outmatched by this tire".

Upside is the Bridgestones are about $100- cheaper per tire!

How about the Eagle F1 GS-D3?

Any feedback / thoughts / recommendations from you guys?

Thanks!

oblax4

Anyone?!?!

hydeaway

I used to have a 320whp supercharge S2000 with s03's. They were great at taking corners but not very good at the track (1/4mile run's). It depends with what your looking for. I would stick to PS2's if i were you.

stevebez

I have researched this pretty thoroughly of late as I wanted to change the POS conti's....

Best MAX performance summer tyre out there is either Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD07 or the B'stone RE01R - but think the RE05 is more easily available. The latter is on the new E63.

This is for regular driving - but these tyres are not good in freezing cold temps and on snow ice... compound is not suited to it, so keep this in mind.

The next best GOOD summer tyre adn will cope with snow / ice are the PS2, GS-D03's.

If you only going to drive in the dry you might look at some semi track day rubber like the Pilot Sport Cups, Dunlop SSR's or Yk'hama ADVAN A048's.... might try a combo of these semi's at the back and some ADVAN's Neova's up front.

Think thats my next setup. ESP will keep back end in check in the wet even with the semi slicks, and lets face it in the wet there is no tyre that will get ANY power down anyway.

Another tyre good for wet and is used for track days is the Hankook R-S2... anyone had any experince?

http://www.hankooktireusa.com/produc...ail.asp?pid=13

stevebez

This was also pretty interesting ...

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...the-tread.html

Goodyear 1st , yokohama 3rd but had best dry performance... conti 2nd !!

oblax4

Great info, Steve - exactly what I was looking for. I drive in Florida where its never cold, and sometimes wet in the summer afternoon thunderstorm season. Thanks for your help! I'm leaning toward the Eagles right now, I think.

oblax4

Its becoming painfully obvious to me that 285/30/19 tires are hard to find in the brand/style I want.

PS2 - none in Michelin warehouse, they can't tell me when the next batch will be
Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 - not available in that size
Pirelli PZero Nero - same
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 - same
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx - same

I don't really want to go with "semi track rubber" like Steve above recommended.

So, its back to the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position. Do any of you guys have any experience running these tires. Any feedback good or bad?

Also, ANY other suggestions for this size? Thanks again for the help!

amgrocket

There was a thread regarding exactly this about 10 days ago or so.. you should do a search. There was more discussion on a few other tires. Good luck.

oblax4

I ordered the SO-3s today, so my tire shopping dilemma is done! I hope these run well.

dsc

oblax4, can you please tell me what you thought of these tires. I'm considering them. Thanks.

DoctorXylophone

deleted

Rafal

I have the same problem. Luke at TTR does not answer my emails any more!
It is ridiculous that a company with such huge buying power, cannot exert any pressure on Michelin!
SO3 are a bit old now and have no tread life what so ever (140, I think, vs. 280 Contis and 220 PS2).

There are two tires with 255/285 available, which are getting very good reviews: Bridgestone Potenza RE050A, OEM on SL65, CLS55 -I drove the
CLS55 and the tires felt great.They seemed a bit softer and quieter than PS2.
The other, Yokohama Advan Sport V103 is OEM on Bentley Continental GT and has been driven at 200mph!. It is very grippy and even more quiet and comfortable than PS2 and RE050A. Cheaper too.
Good luck!

Vetluver

I got PS2s from the Tire Rack recently. I think the problem with nonavailability relates to 19 and 20 inch versions. I like the looks of the 19s but have fought the urge because of the shortages of available tires. When 19s and 20s become more mainstream Michelin will increase stores.

As for Bridgestone tires, I had several sets a while back but had problems with balance and quality control. Hope they have improved in the last 3 years.

Goodyears get hard after a year or so. Seemed to me to be very hard riding compared to the Michelin.

lauer87

I just tried to order 19' PS2's for my SL55. I got the same response, none available and they dont know when they're gonna make more. I went with Pilot Sport A/S. They ride better but dont grip quite as well near the edge, which is what i expected. I am also hoping to get a few more miles out of them.

oblax4

I've only had them for a couple weeks. So far, the grip feels okay, but the ride gives me a feeling that the tires are "harder" than the PS2s - the PS2s seemed to feel "softer" while driving if that makes any sense. I think, at this point, I prefer the PS2s to the SO-3s, but these are okay, and I'm stuck with them for now.

Dogshine

back on the bmw e39 boards people mentioned that the so3's were heavy compared to other tires. not sure if that applys to the sizes we use on this board.

GTR Power

A few issues I've discovered using either the Bridgestone S-03PP and/or the Michelin PS2...

1. S-03PP is loud- transmits road noise more readily into the cabin.
2. S-03PP has been discontinued- remaining stock and inventory is what is available.
3. Bridgestone seems to have more tire puncture issues than Michelin (anecdotal evidence from former One Lap of America competitors when comparing the Bridgestone only races (several punctures) vs. the Michelin only races (virtually nil)).
4. Michelin PS2 has big tolerances for runout (I've personally seen over 1" difference in tire circumference on same size tires mounted on same wheels)- a big issue if you run a diff (or expect a straight tracking car).
5. Michelin PS2 does not compare to S-03PP when both are worn- UNI-T with optimised softer inner compound seems to perform better than the Michelin rubber tech (completely subjective to my own real life experience).

You guys may think I'm crazy- I actually like the Conti's for daily street driving, but I think they wear out quick. If I were to choose tires right now it would be between the Dunlop SP Sport Max and the Conti Sport Contact 2. I don't think there's enough of a performance gain, if any, over the more expensive offerings for a true street tire- and the circumference run-out issue with the Michelin makes them a non-starter in this race for me.

oblax4

I had three punctures on my PS2s in 11 months.

Can you please explain this "runout tolerance" thing to me? I don't know what this means.

Are you saying you like the S-O3 better when worn than the PS2?

So, between the two tires, which would you choose for your car if those were your only two choices?

dsc

Sorry to hear that. Thanks for the feed back, I'll steer clear of them. Get it, "steer" clear? Seriously, that sucks about the tires.

GTR Power

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I've personally felt the PS2 was more puncture resistant than the S-03PP...
Issue with actual circumference of the tire. When you actually roll the tire out and measure the real circumference of the tire, I've seen 1" differences between two same sized PS2 samples. If you have a diff you'll run into premature diff wear issues with that sort of thing if they are mounted on that end of the car- and in extreme cases, the traction control will intervene more readily because it sees an earlier (in fact, continuous) difference in wheel speed.
Yes. But it's a marginal benefit that may or may not apply to your particular needs.
err... sorry, neither... S-03 is out of production (so if you have a sidewall issue you may be stuck buying four new tires of a different design/brand), and PS2 is also at the end of it's life cycle if I understand it correctly so the same applies.

Of course, if you don't care about availablity in the near future (during the useable life of your purchase) I would probably steer you towards the S-03PP if you want performance or the PS2 if you want less in-cabin tire noise, although the Conti is my first choice based on several issues- cost, NVH, and performance (and in that order). Does that help?

Jakpro1

Brand new Conti's are out now!!?? (Sport Contact 3)

KIDDING!!

Wow, can't imagine being the joke of the tire world.

Link to the Conti's

oblax4

Thanks, Nick. My problem (if you read above) is availability in my rear size (285/30/19) - the only options I have are: PS2, SO-3, Potenza RE050A, Dunlop Sport 9000, PZero Rosso (the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx, and GY Eagle F1 GS-D3, which would be my first choices, are not available in that rear size).

stevebez

I have got the Bridgestones RE050A's 19x255x30 & 19x285x30's - will let you know how it goes when the new rims and rubber go on the car... hopefully next w/e sometime.

I would love the yoko Advans but I cannot seem to find it in this size...

GTR Power

Within that list of tires I would recommend to stay away from the PZero Rosso (not a true performance tire which is what you seem to want). Pirelli's PZero system are not that good from what I've used (Rosso, Nero and Asymmetrico). The Dunlop SP9000 (I think it's the same as the Sport 9000) has a very soft sidewall- not good for the E55 or 4200lbs in my opinion.

Between the S-03PP and the RE050A I would choose the latter.

The PS2 would be my last choice amongst the ones you listed due to the runout issue I mentioned earlier.

Cheers,

whoover

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Potenza RE050A Pole Position. I've had a set on my S55 for about 10k miles now and like them a lot. I've had both the old RE050As and the S-03 Pole Positions, and these are an improvement over both. In addition to better handling characteristics, both dry and wet, the fact that they're still usable after 10k is an improvement.

Of course, I don't know if they're available in the sizes you're looking for, or how they will feel on the lighter cars.