I have read a lot of complaints about stock tires on the forum. I got my 2006 GT about 2 weeks ago, and it came with Dunlop SP Sport 8090's. http://www.dunloptires.com/dunlop/di...5%2F45R18&zip=

They seem to be rated well for wet and dry traction, poorly for snow. I remember reading that people had problems with their tires even during the rain, but I haven't had any problems and it has been raining here for 5 days straight to the point of flooding and mudslides. Did they change the tires across the board, or is it a regional thing?

 

those are the same tires that came with my 05. I think they are very nice!!!

They grip extremely well in dry roads.....

I think some complains came with the 04 models which came with Bridgstone's Potenzas I think...

 

i have 06 GT my tires are Bridgestone Potenzas

 

Potenzas on the 04s were re04s. They were great on dry pavement! Not great on anything else. Snow=no go!

 

Mine came with the Dunlops. They seem good so far.

 

Bridgestone Potenzas RE04's came on my '06 Sport as well. Only 2700 miles and they're very loud. I'm trying to save some $ to replace them ASAP.

 

My 05 (bought April 06) came with Potenzas. Actually I find them not bad in the rain. After coming from driving a miata, anything is grippy in the rain by comparison. I plan to put snow tires on in the winter tho'

 

Never had a problem with my Potenza's in the rain - even with the absolute minimum amount of tread legal in PA.

... my problem is they are loud as hell and they wore down to their present state in probably less 15-20k miles (can't say for sure how many miles since i switch to snow tires)

 

my 05 GT came with the Dunlops. Very nice tire IMO.

 

How could your 06 be equipped with Bridgestone tires? Did you ask for these or are these stock tires that came by default with the car?

All 06 and 05 came with Dunlop SP Sport, don't they?

 

I've got an 05 that came with Potenzas

 

I have Potenzas; I had looked at all of the 8s on the lot that were there when I bought mine, and there were 8s were equipped with Dunlops, and others with Potenzas, in the same model year. My experience is that it depends upon supply at the time of manufacture - the car is designed to work well with a few tire brands (and perform similarly) so that if supply of the tires slows down then it doesn't hold up production.

Happens in lots of models - check out your VW dealer's lot next time...

 

Yep me too.

 

I think my Shinka-stock Dunlop SP Sport 8090's are outstanding Summer Performance tires. Don't expect any Winter (snow, sleet) use however.

 

My 06 Phantom Blue came with the Dulops. Ran over something on our LA freeways and had to replace the tire, Mazda picked up the bill. Otherwise, seems like a good set of tires. You can check out my Phantom RX on my thread "Got my new Phantom Blue RX-8"

 

i believe both Bridgestone AND Dunlop still supplies OE tires for the RX-8... it's a crap shoot what you'll end up with lol

and personally i think the Dunlops ar FAR SUPERIOR OE tires than the Bridgestones...

 

For noise, possibly. Has anyone driven both sets of OEM tires on their 8 right to the end of tread life?

 

My 2006 sports package (build date March 2006) came with the Bridgestone Potenzas........................they suck and they are loud..............

 

My 05 has Potenzas, I was SHOCKED to read the sidewall and find the treadwear rating is only 140! That has to be a misprint or something, I think my Advan A032R soft compound R autocross tire was around 120.

 

After this thread I feel like I won some sort of prize by getting the Dunlops. I have had Bridgestone's on new cars before, and ended up replacing them with Dunlops due to noise/ride. I'm glad I don't have to now.

 

Has anybody had the Yokohama Advan Neova's??? Any feedback???

 

yup, zoomzzomh is correct on this.

side note, i was at the dealership this weekend and both the 2006 rx8s they had in the showroom had potenzas on them.