Hi folks,
Its time to replace the 15+ year old Goodyears on my FD, any recommendations for a tire for
street driving that wont immediately leave me in the ditch if I have to drive home from work in the rain?
not sure whats best on the market today.

Thanks

Keith

 

Depends on what you like... since you're in upstate New York, I assume you're looking for all-season tires right now?

My FD rides on Michelin Pilot Super Sports (235/40R18), but they are summer tires. I have Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season tires on my daily driver – they are decent for a passenger tire, but not suitable for a powerful sports car in terms of grip, handling and sidewall stiffness.

Tire Rack did a roundup of All-Season Ultra High Performance tires, and I'd consider the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 in that category along with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus and the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season (currently on sale) in the review to start – they all fit the stock FD wheels (225/50R16) – Tire Rack tests on heavy Beemers, so you have to take their impressions with a grain of salt:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=280

 

I had Continental DWS 06 on my old SS Sedan and they were excellent. The new version is even better from what I hear.

 

Tire Rack has pretty decent reviews on many of their choices. Generally speaking I’d probably stay away from the Ultra High Performance Summer picks. High performance summer usually have a better wear rating and wet performance but still don’t like cold. Even if you don’t buy from them there’s a lot of info there.
“Whats best” is going to be subjective, like “best delivery pizza”. It also depends on what’s available in the size you need, and if your’s are 15 years old, they definitely need replacing.

https://m.tirerack.com/content/tirer.../homepage.html

 

If you plan on going a plus size for oem like I did, take a look at the Bridgestone Sport Potenza in the 245/45 16. I am currently on Toyo T1R's (same size) that I got in 2019 and will get those Potenza's next. They have some wet traction capabilities as well for that occasional trip and the 300 TW offers some decent tire life. I'm in NY as well and run the stockers when my other wheels come off after summer.

 

Continental ExtremeContact Sport is a great alternative to Michelin PSS (i've owned both, but not on an FD). Summer and winter tires are the way to go if you have space and wallet for two sets of tires, or summers only if you don't plan to drive below 40. Summer tires in the winter are really squirrelly. Based on my experience with the Continental summer tires, i'd look at their all season (DWS 06) if i needed all season.

 

Michelin Pilot Sport 4S if you don't drive in New York winters

 

New York isn’t far off from Toronto. We get brutal winters so it’s hibernation time for the FD whenever winter months role around.
This being said, I’m a Bridgestone guy so I’d recommend the RE71R’s. If that’s too extreme I’d settle for the new potenza sport. Either way, getting a proper summer tire is a must for our vehicles. As they say, all seasons is no seasons.
Plus you own an FD. Get proper rubber on there!

 

The problem you're going to have is what's left in stock size (225/50/16), or the alt size (245/45/16) for stock wheels. Pilot 4S woulds probably be the best, but don't come in either size. Bridgestone Potenza Sports (300tw) are available in 245/45, or if you want max performance, Yokohama A052s are available in both sizes. Most of the rest are either cheap, all-season, or track tires.

It's actually getting to the point where some of the best tires aren't even coming in 17 and 18" sizes, since a lot of the new stuff is rolling on 19, 20, 21" wheels.

 

Plus one more recommendation for DWS - my wife and I have been running enough sets to warrant ownership shares on all of our daily drivers since approximately 2010 (a set on her hatch, a set on my quattro coupe, two sets on my xDrive coupe (two sets of wheels shod in the same rubber), and two sets and counting on our SUV workhorse)

My only complaint on every iteration I have had is that the sidewall is softer - especially on the "green" tread compound. You will notice this if you drive your RX-7 spiritedly on the streets. I have been tweaking tire pressure on every car to offset this a little bit, but FWIW I will take the squishy sidewall anyday over dead as a doornail non-communicative run flats my latest daily driver came with


Also, additional $0.01 FWIW I have autocrossed a set of DWS on my german pig and they performed surprisingly well - not class winning fast up against 180TW, but beat my personal expectations


Caveat to discount everything I just said - my fundamental needs were a solid all-season for dry | rain | snow | ice on our daily drivers

My consideration for an FD street tire would be different - AD08R / A048 current; Direzza / Ecsta XS prior

 

This was my experience some years back. I used to run 245/45/16’s for years but they became obsolete. I couldn’t find performance tires from any manufacturer whose name didn’t read like a Chinese eye chart. It forced me to move to 17’s. And I'm hoping those don’t eventually go the same route as I personally prefer 17’s on the FD.

 

Keith, we don't know if you have any modifications or whether your car is a Base, Touring, or R1/R2, for example.

Most new performance tires aren't going to disappoint if you're coming from a 15+ year old set.

In general, the extreme performance summer tires like the Bridgestone RE-71R and Yokohama Advan A052 are going to provide excellent grip and braking but they'll be noisier and tramline with road imperfections more often as a result of the softer rubber and tread design. Great for light track driving and fast street driving, but a bit overkill for the more casual driver and unlikely to last another 15+ years.

My FD has Koni Sport shocks and Pettit Trak Pro springs along with 18" RX-8 wheels and it still rides relatively well on the Michelin PSS tires, so you don't have to get beat up by a handling-oriented setup if you don't want to.

The Falken Azenis RT660 and Continental ExtremeContact Sport summer tires are also available in 225/50ZR16. I don't have any experience with them.

 

For the gents recommending the Bridgestone RE71R, that tire has been discontinued and is NLA...like a lot of other bits and pieces of our cars

 

If you're going with stock sizing I'll add another vote for the Continental Extreme Contact Sport's, assuming you're not driving in cold temps. I put a set of these on my stock FD wheels last spring and have been very happy with them. Previous tire was the older Michelin Super Sports and the Continental's are very comparable in spirited street driving.

 

Thanks for the advice so far, let me elaborate though, its a bone stock touring only driving in the Summer, nobody in the world salt's like NY and it would
be toast in just a couple years if I drove it year around. Spirited street driving probably describes me best, although the 15 year old tires are getting replaced cause they
are old but not worn out so I dont put too many miles on or push too hard really. I wasnt aware that the size is getting to be a problem, this is the second car i have where that has been an issue!

Thanks,

Keith

 

I'd throw these on and be done with it. They rate well, are reasonably priced, and are perfect for a summer/street-only car.

 

Was in similar dilemma, though my priority was spirited driving, acceptable wet.

Went with Continental ExtremeContact Sport. Stock size, didn't break the bank. Drives great dry, have not driven it in wet but it has good ratings for wet on tirerack, so expect it to do ok.

The Sport is their DW successor. The DW had soft sidewalls and the Sport addressed that among other things. This is an older review but what I looked at years ago when I decided to buy the Sport.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a1...contact-sport/

 

I’m with you!

 

I put the Michelin PS All-Season 4 (PS AS4) on the OEM rims in stock size.

VERY impressed with them. Clearly the tech from the PS4S (and newer tire tech) has trickled into their AS4. Great traction, quiet, and handles rain no issues at all. Have not driven in snow/ice, but it would be just ok and allow you to get around safely.

When the time comes to replace the 'summer tires' on my other vehicles I will definitely by installing the PS AS4 as I will expect excellent dry traction, excellent wet traction and will extend the 'shoulder season'. I put winter tires on 3 of my vehicles (which currently have summer tires (P Zeros) and it is always safer to put the winter tires on sooner than needed, and keeping them on longer than needed to avoid getting caught in the snow with a summer tire.

 

appreciate everyones advice, I shall digest and act.

Thanks

Keith

 

The Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's are available in the OE size (225/50R16) and are highly rated and very reasonably priced. They are asymmetric, but not directional, so they can be rotated to any position. I have them on my FD and they are great.

Tire Rack Link: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...7&autoModClar=

Description:
The Firehawk Indy 500 is Firestone's Ultra High Performance Summer tire developed for drivers of sports cars, sporty coupes and performance sedans who want to maximize sport driving pleasure through racing-inspired technology. The Firehawk Indy 500 is designed to deliver impressive performance in wet and dry conditions.

Like all summer tires, Firehawk Indy 500 tires are not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice.

The Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 uses a new, high-performance, silica-enhanced Long Link Carbon tread rubber compound molded into an aggressive-looking asymmetric tread design featuring large independent shoulder blocks designed to improve cornering and handling in dry conditions. The center circumferential groove features proprietary Pulse Groove Technology to enhance water evacuation, and combined with the new tread compound and two additional circumferential grooves, provides shorter stopping distances in the wet than its predecessor.

The tire's internal structure features a high-turnup polyester casing (2 ply in some sizes) beneath twin high-tensile steel belts and nylon reinforcement to provide responsive handling, stability and high-speed capability.

 

I put a set of the Firehawk Indy 500s on my Subaru STi and they were excellent.

Noisier than I expected, but TONS of traction in both dry and wet.

For the $$$ they are an excellent choice. Did not use them in the cold/winter conditions at all. For a summer tire I would consider them as a great value tire.

 

+ 3. I hesitated on mentioning these along side the others because they are so reasonably priced. But I’m running them to and think they’re not only as good but better than my previous and more expensive Yokohamas. And don’t let the wear rating fool you, they stick like something with a much lower rating. I love ‘em

 

I've been looking at getting the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 to replace the all-seasons on my daily driver. It has winter tires on right now and the Firehawks sound perfect for street driving.

It came with Firestone OEM tires 21 years ago (which were terrible – I called them "Firerocks") so it turns out I've come full circle.

 

Winter driving is more than driving on ice and snow, but it is always about driving in cold temps. IMO, just because it's cold isn't a reason not to drive her and it's actually good to get in a winter workout every so often. The problem are the tires. I love my summer tires, but they are dangerous in the winter, hence two sets. I never drive her on ice or snow (or water if i can help it)