From what I have read it seems the UK RX-8 may come with Bridgestone RE040s, does anyone know for sure?

I have just had a new set of rubber on my scooby slightly earlier than anticipated due to a puncture.

I have changed from the original fitted RE040s to Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s. This tyre won the Evo tyre test earlier in the year.

After letting them scrub in for a couple of days I gave it some stick today and I am amazed at the amount of extra grip and traction I get and also less understeer on familiar roads :D

Some of this may be due to my RE040s being worn down a bit but to be honest Im not that impressed with them and Im hoping that we dont get these on the RX-8.

 

Everything I've read says it will be the RE040s - how much are these to replace?

Incidently - I did some web based tyre research a few years ago when I wasnt happy with my brakes in the wet. In all tests I found Bridgestones came out near the top for wet weather performance.

 

recently switchED the bridgestone potenza's from my MX-6 for Avons, again I was amazed by the improvement in wet weather handling, although the soft compound is supposed to be quite poor in durability terms.

I'm sure a number of other people have suggested switching the 04's for michelin pilots (a la Focus RS)

 

When I spoke to the guys at MotorExpo they said the UK cars would come with the same tyre as the one at the show which were Bridgestone Potenza S03's.

 

There was a tread (unintended pun) running about this in the main forum a week or two ago. The RE040s were not rated as a very good tyre there, however the S03s were described as one of the best.
Favourite international brand seems to be the Michelain Pilot Sport though.

I learnt my lesson with tyres the hard way, shortly after I purchased the MX-6, I lost the back end on a fast corner in good weather. Luckily not much damage was done but when I was checking the car over I checked the tyres and was horrified to find the previous owner had put re-moulds on the back!

Something else to add to the list of checks when looking at second hand cars!

Edit: aplogise for unintended pun due to bad spelling.

 

I think people underestimate how important a good set of tyres are.

A mate of mine has just swapped his Bridgestone RE040's for Toyo Proxi's and is amazed by the gains.

It seems that the RE040 suffer from lack of grip as well as a lot of road noise.

I found that a good place to get tyres from is topgear (nothing to do with the TV program). They can be found at www.topgear.co.uk

After checking out the website I found that 225/40 18 Toyo's are about £120 ex VAT each. Not bad, if you ask me.

If the car does come with RE040's, then I, for one, will be looking to change them as soon as possible.

Shahpor

 

I'll buy your RE040s if reasonable....

 

I'll be swapping out my 040s for Toyo Proxes T1-S as soon as I get it. Run these tyres on all my cars, and wouldn't run anything else for road and light track-use at the moment.


-andy-

 

Same goes - if reasonable will buy them off you - will help towards the cost of your new ones at any rate !

 

I'll know who to contact if I need a cheap tyre!

 

Sixspeed,

Will the garage where you swap them buy your almost new RE040s off you in exchange?

I havent done this before, but if I thought I could change them quite cheaply then I would look to do it.

Cheers
Mark

 

Good thinking. I was going to keep them or sell them on ebay or something. lol.

I'll make sure I ask (although this is all a long way off and I'll probably forget by then)


Just in case people want a couple of good places to find cheap tyres, try www.mytyres.net and www.blackcircles.com.



*Edited to add that having done a quick search on the above sites it looks like I may have to go to a 245 width tyre to get the Proxes. S03s come in the 225 size though, but not 100% convinced by them after I tried them on the TVR last year.



-andy-

 

Thanks for the links sixspeed.

Seems like some good places to get tyres.

I am also a fan of the Toyo's, but I would hesitate to put wider rubber on the car straight away as I am not sure what that would do to the handling.

After a bit of driving, to get a feel for the car, I may decide that it could use some wider tyres, but I wouldn't do it without knowing the outcome cause I wouldn't want to be stuck with a set of tyres I don't like.

Still, you never know, it may help the handling no end.

If you can't get the Toyos's, then I might be tempted by the Michelin Pilot Sports, Dunlop SP9000's or Pirelli PZero's. Also, I have heard good things about the Continental ContiSports.

Ahhhh decisions, decisions :D

Shahpor

 

Someone else was going on about the Continentals to me recently. I think they won a recent test run by one of the magazines.

The Michelin Pilot Sports came standard on my MX-5 when I got it. They weren't bad, but when I changed over to S-02s at the time, they were nowhere near as good. And they cost a fair whack too.



-andy-

 

Yeah, Michelin's aren't cheap, but I hear that they are a good all round tyre.

One magazine that I know likes the Continentals is BMWCar magazine. They seem to like them so much that they don't buy any other tyre.

The other thing that needs to be considered is what the aim for the tyre is. As recent magazine test have shown, tyre performance varies depending on the weather.

So are you looking for the best all round tyre? Or is only dry performance important to you as you don't really push it in the wet? Or is it the other way round and seeing that we get some much rain here in the UK, is wet weather performance the deciding factor?

This could get really complicated.

Shahpor

 

I'm for out and out grip. The best available in wet and dry. I'm not too concerned for road noise, wear rate, etc etc... so long as they stick!


The Toyo's seem to be good at this, the old S-02s as well. The S-03s left me feeling a bit cold with their wet weather performance (in comparison - although they were still a lot better than most).


-andy-

 

Forgive a tyre newbie but I didn't know you could fit a wider tyre on the standard rim - how much wider would they take?

Does adding different width tyres affect cars differently. I'm just interested to see if I can try something different to my 225/45/R17 's for the last few months.

 

I would say you can usually fit within about 20mm of the original size quite happily.

What width wheel are you running? I'd expect probably 7.5 or 8...?


-andy-

 

I have no idea - I just know that the 225/45/R17 is the the standard size tyre for a C70 T5. Is there a simple way of finding out?

 

See if you can find out from Volvo?

Also sometimes it is stamped on the wheel... you might be able to find something, maybe under the centre-cap, with the width - 17x7, 17x7.5 etc..


Otherwise, based on the fact you have a 225 tyre on there now anyway you shouldn't have any problems going to a 215 or 235 width tyre.

Don't forget that the height of the tyre is a percentage of the width of the tyre. So if you went for something as high as a 245, you would probably want go for a 40 profile to keep the overall radius the same...


There's a good website for comparing tyre widths and sizes here.


-andy-

 

I agree with sixspeed, most wheels can accept at least 10 or 20mm wider rubber. Although, if you go to 20mm, sometimes the tyre will 'bulge' out a bit. If this happens then you need to make sure you don't hit the kerb when you are parking as you may cut the tyre.

sixspeed, I can see why you like the Toyo's so much! If what you are after is all out performance then the Toyo's seem to be the tyre to have.

My mate has Toyo's and he leaves Bridgestone cars behind in wet or dry conditions.

Although it is good you don't care about how long they last as my mates tyres have worn out after about 6000 miles!

Shahpor

 

Yes. I figure i'm buying a performance car so I might as well have the best performing tyre...

It makes a big difference, and certainly adds to the driving experience when you have a good performing tyre.


Unforutunately I'll agree with you about the amount of time they last. I just fitted my 4th set of rear tyres on the Tuscan, in 18,000 miles. Although that might be partly down to my heavy right foot :D


-andy-

 

Bloody hell! Must cost you a lot for the tyres on the Tuscan as well. What size are the rears on the car anyway?

Also, what is the point of having a car like that if you don't have a heavy right foot? :D

Shahpor

 

Well the first set I wore out a bit too quickly having a bit of erm... "fun" at a car show. :D Didn't realise how soft the tyres were and forgot that a quick burnout even in 1st gear spins the wheels at around 50mph.. lol.

The rest like I say is just down to lots of spirited driving. :D Realistically, it's probably going through tyres about the same rate as your mate - about a set of rears somewhere between 5000-6000 miles. I only just swapped the original fronts at 17k after doing the 4th rears, so that gives you a better idea.. lol


They're 245/40-18s on the TVR (at the rear - they're 235/40-18s on the front), so not far off the RX-8s.


-andy-

 

sixspeed, a word of warning, I think I have read somewhere that a motorcyclist was successfully prosecuted having filmed himself doing 175mph. The evidence used at his trial was the tape.

Chris