Robby

Do you really believe the SO2 would be a much better tire for me, for street, than the AVS sport? Based on some of the recomendations I'm gettting, I am really starting to lean toward the sports- I had GREAT luck w/the AVS Intermediates & have always had bad luck w/Bridgestones, but, I know the S03 (AND S02) to be the best they offer, so, was consdiering them, BUT, unfortunately, the S02 is even MORE expensive than the S03.... the AVS Sports are MUCH cheaper- BUT, if YOU say the S02's are better, then, I'll probably shell out the extra $$$- the only other concern is the breakaway characteristic you mentoined- that worries me a little- I REALLY want something that is VERY predicatable & controllable at the limit- the AVS Intermediates felt VERY good in this respect, but, the SP80000's do NOT.... any input here?


Thanks a LOT....


BTW- I ALWAYS throw weight in as a concern,. BUT, I'm not going to let that be a deciding factor unless EVERYTHING else were equal- the Cup 2's are only 1lb heavier in the rear & ~1/2lb heavier in the front than my 16" CS's- I'm only angry b/c ALL the charts show that they are actually a pound or so LIGHTER- I dont mind not LOSING weight, but, GAINING weight bugs me- anyway, a 17" wheel will STILL be better, even IF slightly heavier- at this point, however, the tires could actually take the difference either direction... oh well- I'll let that go, since my only choice is to buy an ugly looking open faced wheel, go BACK to smaller wheels, OR, shell out big bucks for some Fikses or something that will only save 2-3lbs anyway & STILL wont look nearly as good, ,IMO, on a 951- I LOVE some of those wheels on 911;s & other cars, but, not as much on our cars... The moree $$$ I spend on this damn thing, the pickier I get.... Imagine that...

Robby

Danno- checked Tire Rack- they don't offer the S02 in a 225/45/17- they DO have the 255/40/17 for the rear though- $219ea

Anyway, the following are whole set prices (but not including S&H)....

Yokohamam AVS Sport: $598
BS S03's: $786 (THEN A $50 rebate)
BS RE750: $600 (THEN A $50 rebate)
Pilot Sports: $748 (THEN A $50 Best Buy gift card)
Kuhmo Ecsta MX: $506 (anyone try these?)


IF I can't get the S02's, the, would you recommend the S03's, Pilot Sports, or, anything elsee, instead? Hell, the extra $$ for the S03 or Pilot SPort MAY be worth it- I'd LOVE to hear the AVS Sports compete w/these, b/c of their price, but, I'm kind of doubting that...

pete944

Personal opinion- the Kuhmo's are junk.
The S-03 is a great tire, the RE750 is also very good. I don't have experience with the Michelins.
I don't understand why the same people who rave about the RE730 diss the RE750. The 750 is the replacement for the 730 and most likely what I'm going to end up getting. From what Matt told me it's similar in performance to the S03 but should last a good bit longer.

dave120

I run SO3s on my S2 (previously Dunlop SP8000s) and they're excellent. The only thing about them is they don't last that long, especially if you use them on the track a little bit like I do. But for traction they stick REALLY well and wet traction is awesome. I recently bought new tires for my '98 Mustang GT and thought about SO3s for it too since Mustangs need all the wet help they can get, but with as many miles as I put on that car I wanted something that would last a little longer. I went with the RE750 and haven't had any problems with them. Wet is good, dry is good. I can't say TOO much about spirited cornering because the Mustang is just scary at that, but I do get into it a little bit and they stick pretty well. None of the above mentioned tires are very loud. The SO3s definately aren't. The Mustang being a convertible if the 750s are loud I can't tell over the little bit of wind noise from the top.

Robby

Thanks guys...


Pete- how do trhe S03's compare to SP8k's in your opinion? The Tire Rack TESTS show the S03's as being in a dif league altogether...


what do you think?

thanks a lot!!!

Danno

"Kuhmo Ecsta MX: $506 (anyone try these?)"
"Personal opinion- the Kuhmo's are junk."

Yah, they're absolute CRAP !!! I got suckered in by some biased marketing articles in various import/tuner magazines over a year ago when the MX first came out. Said they were just a tick behind the BFG KDs, hah! More like a couple minutes! I ended up being about 5-seconds slower/lap than on the Yokohama A032Rs. So I'd say they are similar to the SP8000 or my current BFG CompTA treadwear-340 street tires.

Ok, I'm gonna to quantify the performance of the tires you mentioned. Based upon my own and others' experiences who have kept logs of their track times.

Potenza S02 - were probably the best street-legal tire with decent mileage and wear. Only concern was that they weren't as great in the wet as some people liked.

"LAST tire question- do you really believe the SO2 would be a much better tire for me, for street, than the AVS sport? "

Yes, the AVS Sport is kinda like the AVS Intermediate with a new tread. I had a set of the AVS Dry on my Supra when they first came out; the ones that had a slick on the outer half. Boy do I miss those tires... Ok, the AVS Sport is about 1-sec/lap slower than the S02s.

Potenza S03 - came out to address the wet-performance concern on the S02. But they ended up sacrificing some dry-performance; partly due to a harder compound as well. About 1-sec/lap slower than the S02.

Michelin Pilot Sport - similar to the S03. Has a better ride and 'softer' feel. Smoother breakaway characteristic. Still not as good as the S02. If you're gonna get a Micheline, get the Pilot Sport Cup. About 1-sec/lap slower than S02.

Potenza RE750 - takes the difference between the S02 and S03 one step further. Even harder compound and is about 3-sec/lap slower than the S02.

Hmm, I take it you have 17x7.5/9" wheels then? I'd try to trade them in for 17x9" all around if you can. Then you can run with 255/40-17 S02s all around and rotating them for even wear would be a good idea as well.

"the only other concern is the breakaway characteristic you mentoined- that worries me a little- I REALLY want something that is VERY predicatable & controllable at the limit- the AVS Intermediates felt VERY good in this respect, but, the SP80000's do NOT.... any input here?"

Well, that's one of the trade-offs in going to shorter sidewalls with 17" wheels. That's the biggest difference and variations in tire-construction won't be as significant. So ANY 17" tire you go with will have sharper turn-in and more sudden breakaway than 16" tires. That's OK though, you'll just need some practice to get used to is. One good exercise is to get into drifting your car around the corners. It'll teach you to calm the reflex impulses of over-correction and sudden wheel movements.

Robby

Danno- EXCELLENT input- THANKS! I have the 17x7" fronts, not the 7.5" - remember- I talked to you about it b/c I was afraid they MIGHT not be right for a 225 tire- that upset me b/c the 7" CS uses a 225 perfectly well- The CS measures a hair wider (outside) than the Cup2- YOU told me that the inner width was much closer, that the extra outer width was b/c of thicker edges(?)... I'm just waiting until they're refinished- should be done yesterday- I need to order tires quickly...

Tire Rack test showed the AVS sport as being a little further behind that you're making it sound IIRC- that always confuses me, but, I'm not too sure I trust Tire Rack's tests, for SEVERAL reasons- anyway, I JUST looked- THEY showed the S02 as lapping their test track in 30.59 & the AVS sport at 31.50- so, it was showing a little FASTER than the S02, BUT, the S02 won every other category, subjectively, including traction, braking, etc, by a TINY amount...

I ALSO saw it tested against the BFG G-Force, TA KD- the G-Force stopped ~7ft SHORTER(!) from 50mph(!) & the lateral acceleration was ~.4g better tha nthe Sport- the Sport lost even BIGGER in wet- might have been a freak thing, but... I really hate bringing other tires into the equation at this point, but...

Pilot Cups look amazing- they cornered at 1.02G...

Anyway, the tet result for all these tires are kind of all over the place- THAT'S really helping to confuse me...

thanks again....

Robby

Damn- unless TR has lot's of tires in sizes that aren't listed online... I even looked at the P-Zero Nero- they don't show it for the 255/40/17...

The Pilot sport Cup looks like a real track tire, although that dry grip looks AMAZING!

Now, I'm looking at:

Pliot Sport
Pilot sport PS2
S03
AVS Sport (starting to lean towards the others..)
Pirelli P-Zero Assimetricos (POSSIBLY?)

I'm going around in circles- may have to start flipping coins at this point... Hard to say if I'd really notice MUCH dif b/t even te BEST & WORST of the above list....