Hey everyone, was hoping the group might have some good advice I could tap into. Thanks for reading.

I went to have my summer wheels put on and the dealer told me the tires were so worn it would be "illegal" to do so (personally I think they're exaggerating. I knew I had to replace them this summer but I didn't hear squat from them when they took them off last fall).

So now I'm wasting my winters on sunny, dry roads and it's time for new tires.

Rims: I'm using stock rims (the dark silver gloss '05 special edition version but otherwise identical I think)

Usage: Plenty of spirited back roads driving, lots of hard cornering but 90% of the time it's a daily driver. I've thought about taking it on the track but there's not a lot of options around here. I keep thinking about it tho.

None the less my 1st priority is excellent summer-only dry traction (with some wet thrown in occasionally) but It'd be nice if every time I school a Boxter heheh, I'm not worrying I just lost another significant chunk of tread life. The stock Potenza's were very grippy but failed on tread life and were pretty lousy for noise/ride comfort to boot.

Now on to Goodyears. My uncle works for Goodyear and I can get a pretty good discount. I read some really great things about Eagle F1 GS-D3 performance summer tires but when I do Tire Rack's search for 2005 6 Spd RX8s the only compat models they come up with are the Eagle F1 All Seasons and Eagle RS-As (which aren't that great). Same with Goodyear's website. Since I have dedicated winter tires/rims I have no interest in All Seasons. Any one have solid performance Goodyear summers on stock rims?

I'm not locked on Goodyear tho and all advice is appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Justarius

 

i dont know about goodyears. i havent really seen them mentioned at all on the boards.

usually falkens, toyos, or kumhos.

im quite happy with my toyo T1Rs. very nice tires. 245/40/18.

and legal limit of tread i think is 2/32". if you take a penny and stick it upside down between the tread. if the tread is not at least touching lincolns head its waaay to worn.

edit: this is a ridiculously good deal btw. get the 225/45/ZR18s. you really wont find a better money/performance deal anywhere. anywhere.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes....um=245YR8S03PP

 

Goodyear F1 GS-D3 245x40x18 on the stock rims (the F1 GS-D3 doesn't come in 225x45x18). Outstanding wet and dry Max Performance Summer.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=1

I don't go with less tread than the top of Washington's head on a quarter.

 

Hey guys, thanks for replying. I'll see what price my Uncle can get on the Goodyear F1 GS-D3s and see if it can touch the Potenza's at Tire Rack. Ordering from Tire Rack to Canada can't be fun as shipping/duty will play a major factor.

Quick question, when I clicked on Sizing and Prices for the F1 GS-D3s I noticed a few others that I assume will fit, including a 225x40 (stock is 225x45). Huey is there a reason you picked the 245x40s over say the 225x40s or 245x45s (or any of the others)? I know the 1st number is width and the 2nd aspect ratio but I have no idea which is "better" or better suited for the RX8/stock rims anyway. I would instinctively pick a tire with the same ratio but a little wider or the same width with a lower ratio. The one you listed is wider and has a lower ratio, is that better?

TireRack lists the F1 GS-D3s in:

225/40/18

235/40/18
235/50/18

245/35/18
245/40/18
245/45/18

Basically my question is, since 225x45 is out, which one of these would you recommend and why? The why is so I can learn.

p.s. Hmm, I wonder if I have a US penny or quarter kicking around. I'm not sure if the Queen's head would line up with Lincoln's

 

The most popular alternative tire size on the stock 18" rims is the 245x40. It's a nice mix of wider footprint without sacrificing too much tread wall height and therefore not much stiffer ride than the 225x45's. There are no fitment issues fore or aft at this size.

Many folks like a 35 tread wall height, but you do sacrifice some ride comfort as well as street forgiveness (not as much tread wall to flex). Of course for the track they're superior.

The 245x45 may rub on the fender in a turn, as they are as tall as the stock but wider.

The stock 225x45's are very well balanced for the 8's capabilities. A bit wider looks better but with that extra width of footprint contact altering course will be a bit more pronounced requiring a tad more attention (but aren't we all attentive in a sportscar?).

So, as all these choices, it really comes down to personal preference.

But since you asked my recommendation - 245x40 Goodyear F1 GS-D3 on the stock 18" rims. Do as I say; do as I do.

 

^^^All great advice - those potenza's are a crazy deal too and very hard to beat.

I ran the GSD3's in the 235/40 size for over 20k and they still had good tread left on 'em (maybe 4/32). Loved the performance in both dry and the occasional wet.

I would have liked to go for the 245/40's, but I was in a pinch at the time and my local dealer only had the 235's - they fit, but have an overall smaller diameter - this results in slightly higher gearing which you really wont even notice.

Both are great options -

 

Thanks for all the excellent replies.

I was pretty torn, but in the end I went with the Goodyear's. They were about $200 more than getting the discontinued S-03 Potenza's from Tire Rack but I was able to get them locally which has some advantages. Plus the tread life and ride comfort should be a chunk better.

If you believe the big Car & Driver showdown, the Goodyear's are a fantastic tire. If you go by Tire Rack the Goodyear's were about a 1/2 second lap time faster dry and a full second on wet vs the S-03s and almost on par with RE050A Pole Positions. But I have a feeling I would never be able to tell the difference personally.

If there were decent track options around here, or something like The Dragon I might have picked up the Potenza's too. Alas so far all I've found is a couple of oval tracks and a lot of deer packed back roads!

Anyway, thanks again group, a $1000 purchase with peace of mind accomplished.

 

No one ever got fired for buying Goodyear (or Sony, or Bose, or .... it's a State's colloquialism, but apt)

Enjoy!

btw: what size did you end up getting?

 

Thanks, they look pretty crazy (tread design) but I look forward to having grip again!

I went with the 245/40s as per your recommendation.

Someone suggested 255/40s are a better fit and linked to a tire size calculator which compares OE to alternate sizes (http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html). It looks like the 255s do match almost every dimension exactly vs the 245/40s which are off slightly but I went with the 245/40s anyway as that size had the overwhelming majority of recommendations on this forum from yourself and several others. I figured the 255s are wider even if the other dimensions are the same and you guys probably have your reasons for preferring 245 (better on paper vs real world ramifications is out of my depth)! I listed the data at the bottom though if you're curious.

Side note, the calc has a nice little feature where it figures out how much your speedo will be off with non-stock sizes. According to the calc, with my new 245/40s when the speedo says I'm going 60mph I'm really going 59. Could come in handy where speeding tickets are concerned.

Thanks again!


p.s. Here's the data:

Stock
-------
Sidewall: 4"
Radius: 13"
Diameter: 26"
Circumf: 81.6"
Revs/mile: 777

255/40
---------
Sidewall: same
Radius: same
Diameter: same
Circumf: 81.8"
Revs/mile: 775
Speedo Accuracy: 0.2% slow

245/40
---------
Sidewall: 3.9"
Radius: 12.9"
Diameter: 25.7"
Circumf: 80.8"
Revs/mile: 784
Speedo Accuracy: 1.0% fast

From a purely numbers point of view the 255s are a closer match. Every dimension is identical except the circumference is slightly bigger (but still much closer to stock than the 245s). The 245s are differently in all categories and have a bigger impact on the speedometer accuracy (well, 1% is hardly anything but a lot further off than 0.2%).

 

Some folks have had rubbing issues with the wider 255x40's on stock rims, even tho' the sidewall is shorter than the stock 45's. No one has fitment issues with the 245x40's.

On the stock rims the 255's also have a somewhat bulbous sidewall appearance, rather than the nice straight drop of the 245's, which is why most go to wider rims when going 255 (x35). Eye of the beholder thing.

The speedo/speeding ticket thing may help indeed.

 

how is the road noise with these?

if you had a choice between the gs-d3, kumho ecsta spt, and the bfg kdw nt which is better? looking for performance, low noise, longevity..

i'm torn between these!