I hope somebody out there can help me out on this before I got more frustrated. Forgive me if I ramble, but I'm buzzing on NyQuil right now.

Long story short: I know somebody who works at a Michelin plant locally. He is able to get a couple of set of any make/model/size of Michelin family tires (Michelin, BFGoodrich, Uniroyal) every year.
In years when he has a an extra set or two, he sells them off. (I got my current KDW2s and Pilot Sport Cups form him a couple years ago.)

Anyway, I put in an order with him for a set of 245/40/18 Pilot Sport PS2s.
When he tried to order, they came back and told him, there are multiple models in that size, so he needed the specific model/part number of the tire.

I jumped on Michelin's site here:
http://www.michelinman.com/assets/pd...otsportps2.pdf

There are 4 models of PS2 that come in 245/40/18

2 models are flagged as MO, which apparently means stock Mercedes fitment. Part numbers 78337 and 54549.

One model is flagged as RF, which apparently is a Euro-spec for Extra Load. Part Number 81619.

Finally, the 4th has no flags at all, and is Part # 76261.
So, I order that.
He comes back the other day and says they told him that model is "unavailable" but he can get 54549, 84619 or 78337.

So, (I'm guessing he mistook 84619 for 81619) it looks like the only ones currently available direct from Michelin are the special fitments.

That being the case, what is everybody else running? Any idea what, if anything, is different about the Mercedes OEM fitment PS2s that would prevent me from just using them?
As you can see all of the specs are identical.

Anybody have any thoughts?

 

So, nobody knows what, if any difference there is between the standard and Mercedes fitment versions of the tire?

 

there is a standard load (MO) and an XL load (RF). The sidewall is a little stiffer on the XL's, so if you plan to autox, go that route. The ride isn't effected much.

You'll love those tires though!

 

Won't be autocrossing the RX-8.
I have a dedicated Nissan 240SX Improved Touring Car that I'll drag out when I want to do that.
I will do a couple of HPDEs with the 8 however. (Local BMW Club frowns on dedicated track cars coming out.)
The XL does sound interesting actually.... I tend to like a stiffer sidewall.

So, no real difference between the MO and standard versions? Probably just price... which is somewhat irelevant here.

 

I'm not really sure...the XL's were a little more expensive than the regular PS2's they had on tirerack. The MO's are probably the XL's since benz's are obviously pretty beefy cars.

get the XL's though, you wont be dissapointed

 

Thanks. I might just go for the XLs than.
It's a flat-rate price for any size and model of Michelin manufactured tire, so normal cost of the tires isn't a factor.

 

Hey guys,

Which would you recommend, the 225/45/18, or the 225/40/18

thanks.

 

At the current I’ve had 3 sets of non-oem tires on the Rx-8:

GoodYear Eagle F1 GSD3's on 8.5'' wheels in 245/40/18
Azenis RT615 on 9.5" wheels in 275/35/18
Michelin Pilot Sport 2's on 8'' wheels in 245/40/18

I'll start with the Pilot Sports, they are a luxury oriented sport tire. I hated them, sidewalls folded like butter under hard cornering, sidewalls were generally weak as they bubbled on me after a few potholes, and even when I decided to be rid of them they couldn't even hold out for more the 30sec burnout before they "belted" see attached picture.

The RT615 I put on my car with a friends set of wheels and tires, I like the set up so much that I purchased 9.5'' wheels and 275/35/18 over Christmas.

I have another set of 8.5" wheels wraped with 245/40/18 GoodYear Eagle F1 GSD3's, even with the smaller wheel width+tire, and much higher treadware ratting, these grip in the same league as the RT615. I like to think of it as UCLA(Gsd3) vs. USC(RT615), UCLA should lose, but at least they have a upset shot. While the PS2 is more like Stanford vs. USC, .

Anyway before I finish I think you should look at is the Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212, they just released this tire in 18'' sizes, I would have bought them over the GSD3's just because they are cheaper, but they didn't have 18" sizes when I was looking at the GSD3's, but I don't have any first hand experience with them, like the RT615 lots of AutoX guys use it.

 

any reason you got the smaller sidewall profile?

(40, over 45)?