ZoominRex

I've narrowed my tire search to 3 tires. Michelin Pilot Sports, Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Positions, and the BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Kdw-2's. I'm leaning towards the BFGoodrich's b/c they are about 50 dollars cheaper per tire and have good performance ratings. I just want to make sure they will last me at least 20-25000 miles like my current Potenzas have. Any other suggestions?

Chris

ZoominRex

oh and all are for the stock wheel, 225/45/18

om-nc

I currently have the SO-3's on my car in 245-40-18. They are great. Very little road noise and very comfortable for daily driving. I have heard they will get noiser with time but they are sooo quiet compared to the 040's.

Picked mine up at Costco and they were less than 1k out the door.
Paul

mitchfried

I've got the BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Kdw-2's, in 225/45/18, also from Costco. Did you get the S03's installed at Costco or just buy them there? I didn't think Costco would install non-standard size.

Anyway, I'm extremely happy with the BF's. There are lighter than the RE040's and feel more responsive. Only had them in the rain once, and they just shrugged off the water. Mine were $800 installed at Costco.

Sociopath

In my personal experience, NONE of those tires you mentioned would last you more than 20K, unless you're driving miss daisy. I run thru tires pretty quick myself, and I'm now using 2 types: Falken Azenis ST115 and Falken GR Beta FK-451. Both of those tires are extremely quiet and excellent traction. The GR has less tread life, but performs really well. And best of all they a lot cheaper compared to the ones you want.

My 2 Cent.

mitchfried

My BF's passed the wife test. She didn't say anything about the tires being louder or rougher riding.

ZoominRex

My current RE040's have lasted me 27000 miles thus far and still seem to have another 2-3k on them. I don't drive very aggressively. The BF's have a tread rating of 300 on Tirerack so I thought they might last a bit longer.

HELAS

I currentley have the PILOT SPORT on my Ferrari and they are absolutely AMAZING

PUR NRG

In my personal experience, both S-02 and S-03 tires last about 30k, be it on a BMW 540i, Honda S2000 or Mazda RX-8. During those 30k miles the car will see either two track days and 30 autocross runs, or "just" 90 autocross runs. Driving Miss Daisy I'm not.
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Cumshot compilation

connor@tirerack

The S03 are excellent tires. the only down side to them is that if you want to rotate you have to take them to a shop and have them dismount, remount and re balance. This can get pricey if you have it done on a regular basis. Because the vehicle uses one size all the way around i would recommend the 245/40/18 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. The overall rating are similar to the S03 but they will tend to be a little quieter and will last slightly longer if rotated. When comparing in the same size, the PS2 are normally less dollars also.


225/45R18 Bridgestone Potenza S-03 POLE -- 215.00
245/40R18 Bridgestone Potenza S-03 POLE -- 224.00
245/40R18 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 -- 219.00

124Spider

Boy, that's a world record for either of those tires, especially with track days.... Are you sure you're not talking about kilometers, and adding up the mileage for all four to reach 30k?

RotorManiac

since the S-03 come in 225/45/18, why not use this stock setup and buy 245/40/18?
will it affect performance? personally i think it will, but not sure though. and having 245 up front, steering feel will be worse...

om-nc

Just now got around to checking this thread. Yes, Costco mounted them They are "almost" the same overall diameter as the OEM 040. I think it is a "+1" fitment as the 225-45-18 and the 245-40-18 vary in diameter by a little (less than 1%). I did have to convince them that it was OK to mount them and they used a Michelin tire sheet to make sure it was OK.

Question for you Connor. Why dismount and remount for balance? I assume the S03's are directional and would need to stay on the same side and I am not running staggered. Enlighten me, please. BTW, I will get the Pirelli's mounted next week and then I will wait for a good day to heat cycle them. Thanks for your help.

Paul

RX-MEN-8

Great post for I too will be needing tires very soon. I can't wait to get rid of the NOISIEST tire ever--the crappy RE040. They are even worse than my old Conti. Sports I had on my 993. I then got SO3 and loved them.. Now I am debating about ordering the SO3 vs the Michelin Pilot Sports.. I went on the compare section at Tire Rack Very close..Did any of you see another post here w/ pictures of failed SO3??? kind of scary. Any thoughts on that??? Also, to be honest, not sure about 245/40/18 vs stock 245/45/18. My last question is having tires mounted at Costco..Did they handle our TPMS sensors ok? I worry some novice will damage it.. I was considering ordering from Tire Rack and sending them to my dealer Gunther Mazda in Ft. Lauderdale who have been great.. In fact I just purchased a Mazda 3 for my son (X-mas).. Any input will help me..I still have tread but can't deal w/ the road noise any more....Thanks to all..

om-nc

The OEM tires are 225-45-18 and the ones I put on are 245-40-18. I am still enjoying the quite and smooth ride of the S0-3's.

I saw the pictures and while it is an unusual failure, keep in mind that those are 2 sets of tires out of how many that have been sold. Every company will ocasionally have problems. If it was widespread I think it would have shown up a lot more often.

TPMS was not a problem for Costco. I had excellent service and they did not put a scratch on a wheel during mounting. Balance is good and overall I am very pleased.

Tire Rack is an excellent choice and by all means use Connor's name if you choose to order through them. They support this forum!
I have bought tires from them and the service is excellent. I will get the latest set mounted tomorrow and then wait for good weather to heat cycle.

Just my 2 cents worth...Paul

RX-MEN-8

To OM-NC Thanks Paul for the reply. When I had my 97 993 which I sold in December I had two sets of SO3 and loved them. I was 100% sure I was going to put them on the 8, but I now see the Pilot Sport is also a good choice.. Sooooooooo it is between those two.. I just got my SUV tires for my wife at Costco, but I just feared they might be novices with the TPMS.. Why the "40" over the "45". what do you gain from that? thanks..have a good one... (Are you an SEC fan ?)

om-nc

I will start with WAR EAGLE...and that is all you will hear about SEC from me:{)

FWIW, I don't think you gain anything, other than very little speedo error, by changing to 40 profile from 45. Yeah, flame away, I know the decreased sidewall will make the possibility of wheel damage greater, but I don't think the sidewall stiffness changes significantly with the small decrease.

The diameter of the tire is what matters and in going to a wider tire I needed to drop the profile to keep the mph error at a minimum. My speedo is already off by 2 mph (reads fast). I did want a little more contact area and that's why I went with the 245.

I was at Costco today and they are running $60.00 off on Bridgestones and I think Michelins through the 30th. Now would be a good time to buy. I hope this helps.
Paul

allicat22

I too need tire suggestions, but my requirement is that they have some tread life! We're not too gentle on the rear tires evidently. We burned through the first two Potenza's that came with the 8 in 5k miles or the dealer cheated us a bit when it was delivered. We replaced those with 245/40R18 Michellin Pilot Sports (Z rated) and they have made it 10k miles but they really need to be replaced now. What should we be looking at to get some more life out of the tires?

The front tires are still the original potenza's, but by the time we thought about rotating the back tires were too far gone. We'll probably get all 4 this time, the front ones have some left.

army_rx8

i'm surprised no ones mentioned teh Pirelli PZero Nero M&S . these are teh ones i'm thinking of getting in a 245/40/18 size (there are like 152 a pop)...gotta get new ties b/c my oem ones (29348 milse on them)..suck real bad in the snow...i onl ygot like a tenth of a mile befor i had to push her in a parking lot adn get a ride home b/c they are so bad in the snow....damn Potenza's

ah well just throwing out anouther tire to consider. a few people on here have them and love them :D

legokcen

Damn Alli,

You seem to be driving it like you stole it. My first set of the Dunlops lasted 17000 miles and they still had about 5000 miles left in them. They also had about 6 autocrosses and a Road Atlanta Track Day in them. They were great tires.

I have a set of Kumho 712's now in 245 40 18 which were a great price from tire rack, and seem to be lasting pretty well. I've also heard good things about Falkens.

Hope this helps.

fredw1

I just got these and really have not had time to put them to the test with just 300 miles, but was swayed by the endorsements of many forum members. I have yet to test them in snow, but they have been great so far on dry roads and in rain. Numbers on Tirerack give 806 vs 810 revs/mile, meaning neglible speedo error.

musclecarconvrt

I barely got 20K out of the stock Potenza's and I ran 'em nearly bald. I just re-shoed my 8 with 245/40 18 Kumho XM's. They are sweet! Very good grip, very smooth ride, not much noise, and way WAY less expensive. Wear raiting on the Kumho XM is nearly twice the Potenza's too so I hope to get a few more miles fun from them too.

mitchfried

I stayed with the stock size 225/45/18 in KDW'2s. They are 3 pounds lighter than the 040's and about 3 pounds lighter than the KDw'2s in the 245/40/18. Reducing rotating mass was more important to me than even more grip (not like the car is a torque monster or doesn't handle well).

musclecarconvrt

For $70-$80 per tire less, I can live with 3 pounds. Not like the car doesn't handle like it's on rails already.

Neddie Seagoon

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I replaced my OEM 040's yesterday (37,250 miles on 'em and noisy as hell) with the KDW 2's. They are a bit noiser than the 040's were when I first had the RX8. I put my daily hundred on 'em to Los Angeles and enjoyed the ride - made 90 degree corners very tightly!
This morning the TPM went on as soon as I started the car - 4 beeps and the light.
Went to the gas staion and checked air pressure in all 4 tires - the range went from 27.5 to 35! I'd asked for 36 all around but didn't check they had done that.
Levelled all at the 35 lb mark and headed to work - tires were much quieter and the car drove even better, which was great 'cos a storm cell followed me and things were gnarly for a while. I enjoyed the ride and the cornering even more than yesterday!
Not sure if American Tires didn't balance pressures or if the tires just needed a good drive to seat properly.
Cost was $847.