Hello all, I don't actually post very often but I browse quite a bit. Since I'm now on my third set of tires on my '07 GT I thought I'd share my observations of each.

First, my car has the stock 18/19" wheels, Tein Monoflex suspension, and Hotchkis adjustable sways. If you do a search using my name I'm sure the much more thorough review of that suspension will pop up as I don't have that many posts.

As you all know, the car comes with 245/265 RE050A tires stock. While I never had an issue with these tires, I also wore them out in a little over 12k miles. I can't really blame the tire for that..it had much more to do with my love of curvy roads.

Regardless, when they did I wanted to both upsize the tire as well as get something with a little better tread wear rating. I opted for the BFG KDW II as I'd seen good reviews and many people here spoke highly of them.

I went one size up and ran a 255/40 in front and 275/35 in back. These tires were NOT as sticky as the OEM tires but there is no great surprise there. For normal every day driving (even relatively spirited) the tire suspension combination had a limit on the north side of what you would typically do.

The down-side is that I found them quite noisy, and when you DID want to push it you could easily be at the limit of traction. Makes for some fun if you like to hang the rear out and play a little bit, but not very comforting if you're wanting to stay stuck to the road. Also, not the most progressive or predictable tire when it did lose traction in my opinion.

For those drag racers out there (which I'm not) again I found them to be capable, but not tires you can expect to truly hook up with very quick shifts etc. Expect some fish-tailing when you ****** 2nd gear.

On the upside, the tires lasted ~30k miles which is much better than the OEM tires. The one caveat I'd add here is that those 30 were more gentle than the first 12k.

Personally I was not impressed enough by the tires that I would choose them again, even assuming I was still going with a higher mileage type compound.

As it is, I keep the car parked much more now, and decided to go back to a softer compound since I'm not racking the miles up as fast. I chose the RE050A Pole Positions based on tests and reviews I'd read. In retrospect I may have opted for the new RE-11's but frankly, wasn't aware they were out till the decision was already made. I had originally wanted to go with the RE-01R but found that they were not available.

I stayed with the same 255/275 set-up I had with the BFG's.

In few words, what a difference! I finally feel I have a tire that pushes the suspension as opposed to one that breaks loose before it can. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but I can definitely feel the suspension working more now as opposed to feeling the tires getting ready to break loose.

They're a dramatic upgrade in adhesion both when turning or accelerating from a stop. As an added benefit they seem to be quieter as well..but we'll see how they wear from that aspect.

Although I haven't fully put the tires through their paces in all conditions yet. I must say I'm pretty impressed with the wet grip they seem to have. That's not an area I take many chances with, but from time to time I drop into the odd wet parking lot to just get a feel for it.

Again, no real surprises with this "review" but perhaps some information for those looking at the same choices. By no means is this in depth and I'm sure there are other reviews here.. just passing along what I can at this point.

Take care!

 

Much appreciated! I'm considering going 255/65 and 285 in the back with either the RE050A PP or the RE-11's... both seem to be a great choice, around the same price too.

How much of a difference are you feeling vs the stock RE050A if you remember?

 

The PP's are significantly more sticky as best as I can recall. I have a few "test spots" in the are where I can safely test the limits. I've gotten more aggresive in those areas than I every have before and so far they're really well composed. I've broke them loose a couple of times so far, but they're very predictable and respond well to input.

 

Thanks I appreciate this info. As I'm needing tires.

 

Good stuff, thank you! I may go PP considering the higher treadwear... that's what I wanted to hear!

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

No problem. I tend to stay out of the more "exciting" discussions around here, but I like to pass along what I can.