WAT THE HECK?? is it me or do the factory stock tires REALLY blow when it comes to traction???? I was racing with this 2003 Benz E500, and we hit a fairly wide turn. I was hopin to out handle him on it and get ahead. I hit the turn at like 50 ish and all of a sudden i hear my tires start screeching BADD and i have to start eating the next lane in order to avoid loosing traction completly. I really felt the tires were struggling to grip and was not the car's fault. was it the car??? can i get some feedback??? was it my error or do these tires really have horrible traction???

BTW I have a 2004 performance trim with almost 600 miles on it.

plz help, this scared the @#$@$ out of me. I really thought the car would take it.

 

I found the Potenza's lateral traction to be fair for the tire rating. Our suspension setup is worse than our tires. Because of understeer, you have to initiate the corner more slowly and precisely to avoid pushing or sliding and since the car does not squat upon acceleration, the tires don't hook up very well in a straight line. The Potenza's would probably seem like a better tire if those two problems were "fixed".

 

I think they aren't that great. I was going around a corner with the road damp (a bit fast, but I've done it in other cars with Goodyears or Michelins) and the rear end came loose and I spun a 270! Luckily, there were no other cars in my lane and I drove off with no damage. I'm definitely not getting the RE040s again when I need new tires, maybe Michelin Pilot Sports.

 

I think it's because of the tires. I just got the s0-3 pole positions, and when taking the turns i can go pretty fast without the tires making a sound or even losing traction, the handling seems really good. Also with the re040, shifting from 1-2 the tires would squeal, but with the s0-3's, they dont make a sound, but i can feel them spin a little. I have the 245 and 275.