so its time to get some new tires. im wondering if there is anything else i should lookm into besides the factort bridgestone re050's. any reccomendations?

also can you go any wider on the factory wheels?

 

I had the pilot super sport 4S’s on my car for awhile, but didn’t really like them. Of course they were on 18 inch wheels and quite a bit wider and they rubbed in the back, and I think it ruined the handling. I just went back to the stock wheels and I’m thinking about the Michelin PS2’s. Anyone have experience with these? I really like the pilot super sports but these are course or a newer model. I’m hoping they’re closer to the super sports than they are to the PS 4S’s. Any thoughts?

I also want to go a size larger than the stock size because the pilot super sports look like they’re pulled in in the back. I’d rather have the sidewalls be straight, but not at the expense of handling better with the smaller size. Does stretching a tire slightly make a difference? I know racing tires are like that.

thanks

 

You get less sidewall deflection when the tire is stretched a bit vs not, so handling will generally be sharper and more responsive. Of course the sidewall rigidity of a tire across brands can be very different, so tire choice/construction over fitment is going to have just as much if not more of an influence on handling. On this car, you really need to stick with a twin ply sidewall construction, rather then a single as some of these sport sedan tires come with, and stiffer the better really. The stock Bridstones whether ap1 or ap2 had quite stiff sidewalls.

 

I think that except for some extreme cases, the extra amount of contact patch with a wider tire kinda balances out the slightly lower deflection you get with a slightly stretched tire. You see this a lot in autox where rules sometimes prevent running a wider wheel but do allow for wider tires than normally fit on those wheels. Many very fast drivers will choose to pinch a tire onto the stock wheel (see this plenty in ES for example) to get more tread on the ground at the expense of a bit more sidewall deflection. So basically trading off some response for more overall grip. This will feel different on a more stiffly sprung car I think as you may feel a lot more difference due to the higher sidewall deflection than on something like an ES miata which is very soft. For regular street use I do not think this alone is going to make a ton of difference though.

 

The two previous posts were pretty spot on. I prefer a sharper feeling tire so with all other factors being equal, i'll avoid trying to pinch a fatter tire onto the wheel. I'll happily trade minimal ultimate grip for a crisper, more responsive feeling tire. If you want more grip, use a tire that inherently provides more grip and maintain the correct sizing. Unless you are limited to a certain wheel width due to class rules as mentioned above, because then it's safe to assume that the fastest legal tire is already being used.

Ditto the remarks about sidewall stiffness. A tire with a stout sidewall is going to feel better if you have to pinch it onto a narrower-than-ideal wheel.

As for recommendations that are similar to the RE050.... The Pilot 4S is a pretty awesome all arounder. It really does everything well. Tons of grip, good lifespan, confident in the wet. The Continental Extreme Contact Sport is very similar. Honestly i'd get whichever of those two you can find a better deal on. Either of those is already going to provide significantly better performance than the RE050.

If you want to turn it up some more and you are OK with sacrificing lifespan, comfort, noise, and some all weather performance for ultimate grip, you can look at all the "extreme performance summer" category tires, AKA the 200 TW category. Check out the GRM tire test link below for more info.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ar...-buyers-guide/



The Pilot Super Sport (PSS) was the evolution of the PS2. The PS 4S is the evolution of the PSS
PS2 - 2005
PSS - 2015
PS4S - 2017

Maybe your less than stellar experience was more a function of the wheels than the tires. The PS4S is objectively the best of the 3, and an amazing tire. These cars seem pretty sensitive to wheel weight, offset and sizing. And then suspension and alignment setup, etc.