Did everyone read the Performance Car Tyre test in Wheels mag? It rated the Michelin Preceda at no. 1 and the Bridgestone Potenza S030 at no.2. But my preference was for the S03's as they had the best wet braking distance and outright grip test when rounding a corner and these are my 2 highest priorities in a tyre.
So i went to a tyre retailer and asked about the S03 for the Z. Guess what - they don't make a size to fit the Z, at least the Touring model which wears 225/50R17 front and 235/50R17 rear. The Track which has a larger 18" rim and 45 profile tyre may be ok, but I didn't check. So my option is to stick with the original equipment R040 at $270 each front and $300 each rear or go with more expensive Pirrelli P-Zero Giallo 235/50R17 front at $470 each and 245/50R17 rear at $505 each. $2000 for a set of tyres is big bickies , but are they worth the extra money???
Pirrelli came a miserable last in the tyre test out of 7 vendors, testing its p7 tyre, so it makes me wonder if the extra dough on P-Zero's (which is supposed to be great rubber) is worthwhile???

 

Is that the latest wheels? if not any chance you could scan it as a backup in case of fire. I'll store it off site for you.

I'd stay away from the RE040 and Pirrelli.

Did they have the Michelin? What about Dunlop or Yokies?

You can't need new tyres yet surely? Planning in advance for Wakefield?

 

No, last months issue. Have not got a scanner, but will give you the mag to scan and post for us next time we meet.

Why???

Michelin Preceda - 1st in test
Bridgestone S030 - 2nd in test
Toyo T1S - 3rd in test
Yokohama A539 - 4th
Dunlop FM901 - 5th
Goodyear GSD3 - 6th
Pirrelli P7 - last


Yep

 

So what was the test criteria? Dry grip, wet grip, road noise, wear. Anything else?

I just haven't been happy with the RE040. Not a bad general use tyre but once you use some really good rubber you'll feel the difference. Pirrelli I've just never seen good results with and as you've seen they're not cheap so IMO they're just trading off their name to a large extent.

I've always wanted to try the Toyos but last time I was looking for tyres the only place that I could find that had them wanted a ridiculous price for them $305ea for 205/45-16s.

The Yokohamas are generally a good tyre although I believe they're refreshing their line up. Dunlops I used to like the Formula W1 IIRC but they stopped making that a while ago. The FM901 is supposed to be the latest incarnation of it but a few people have said it's not as good.

Goodyear I've never used, they've always just had a mass market image to me.

I think you'd be reasonably happy with any of the top 5 in that list. If you can't get the Bridgestone then compare prices on the Michelin and Toyo.

Better yet get an extra set of rims and a nice set of Dunlop D01 (if they're available in the right sizes).

 

Tyre test were the following catagories:
Brake test - 100-0km/h and 60km/h stops in the wet
1st: Potenza S03
2nd: ToyoT1S
3rd: Yokohama A539
4th: Michelin Preceda
5th: Dunlop FM901
6th: Goodyear GSD3
7th: Pirelli P7

Grip test - dry cornering forces / speed measured
1st: Potenza S03
2nd: ToyoT1S
3rd: Michelin Preceda
4th: Yokohama A539
5th: Dunlop FM901
6th: Goodyear GSD3
7th: Pirelli P7

Slalom test - drive around 6 cones on wet tarmac as fast as possible
1st: Michelin Preceda
2nd: Goodyear GSD3
3rd: Dunlop FM901
4th: Yokohama A539
5th: Pirelli P7
6th: ToyoT1S
7th: Potenza S03

Lap time - time to complete 1 lap around Calder

1st: Michelin Preceda
2nd: Potenza S03
3rd: Yokohama A539
4th: Dunlop FM901
5th: Goodyear GSD3
6th: ToyoT1S
7th: Pirelli P7

Lane Change - a standard ISO3888 lane change at the highest speed possible allowed by the tyres
1st: Michelin Preceda
2nd: Potenza S03
3rd: ToyoT1S
4th: Dunlop FM901
5th: Goodyear GSD3
6th: Yokohama A539
7th: Pirelli P7

If you ranked 1st in a test you were awarded 7 points, 2nd got 6 pts, 3rd got 5pts etc. At the end of the tests, the points were tallied to these results

Overall:
1st: Michelin Preceda 30pts
2nd: Potenza S03 27pts
3rd: ToyoT1S 21
4th: Yokohama A539 20
5th: Dunlop FM901 19
6th: Goodyear GSD3 16
7th: Pirelli P7 7

All tests were performed on a XR6 with the same rims and the same driver. The original XR6 tyres were used as control tyres and tested twice at each catagory to see if there were any differences over time.

Note these tyres are supposed to sell for about $330 per corner, so better, more expensive rubber is available but was not tested.

Now can I have the Editors job at Wheels?

 

For my two bobs worth, my last two sets of tyres were Preceda's and Yokohama AVS.

I went with the Preceda's after one of the magazine tests but thought they were terrible and would never touch them again. The AVS however were more expensive but were fantastic and if available in the right sizes would be my number one choice.

Have just gone with SO3's on the Z but mainly because they were the only decent thing I could find in the right size combination for a 19" upgrade.

B.

 

As I checked before.. they don't have any SO3 made for the stock 18" wheels! The only thing that have are SO2 which is the older series and a bit more expensive as they are specially made for OE fitments.

There are Michelin Pilot Sports and Pirelli P Zero available in the market in that size as well..... well... they are at the price tag somewhere around SO2s.... and they are "square" tyres I think, instead of SO series which have rounder shoulders. I love the P Zero tyres on my M3 and really miss those as they grip HEAPS... tried out Michelin Pilot sports as well as they were standard on the M3.... and they were DAMN DAMN DAMN good.... I never try out the SO series, therefore I cannot be able to comment on those tyres! So I don't know what I should go next, and I know I WILL NOT go for RE040.... DEFINITELY NEVER!

cheers,

richie

 

Picked up a great flu somewhere so I've been at home yesterday and today. I wanted a few quiet days at home but not this way.

Anyway I've spent some time looking around the Aust tyre web sites ann there's nothing out there in a ultra performance tyre to suit the Z. The only one I haven't been able to check is Yoko as their site is under contruction

The closest I could see for the Track was the Toyo T1S in 235/40-18 and 255/40-18. These sizes are smaller than stock but within an acceptable range. Assuming speed is read from the driving wheels the speedo would read 2.4% fast with these tyres so reading of 100kph is actually 97.6kph.

For the Touring I couldn't even find something that close to stock while maintaing the staggered setup.

 

I recently was searching for 19's and likewise could not find a thing on the web, so started calling the manufacturers and found that not all their sizes are necessarily posted.

I eventually found that Bridgestone had a handful of SO3's in the sizes I needed in an Adelaide wharehouse, so you might need to go back to using the phone for this.

 

You can get Michelin Pilot Sport in the sizes to replace existing on the Track........but watch the price. You are talking most probably over $2000 for the 4 tyres

 

Yokohama

Advan Neova AD07 225-245/45/18
DNA GP 225-245/45/18

Bridgestone

Potenza RE-01 225-245/45/18

Michelin

Pilot Sport 225-245/45/18

Nitto

NT-555 Extreme 225-245/40/18

To add a few