2.5 Roadster / Roadster Sport Tire Thread

[vfx]

.... I just don't have a good way of measuring 0-60 times. ...

http://dynolicious.com/ ???

[augkuo]

Another pro is that there's less tire "dust" on the back of my car, especially since it's white!

I noticed these tires are about 3lbs lighter than the stock tires. I wonder how much of the range difference may be due to that. The lower the mass in the tire, the less energy required to spin it.

I think I'm going to give the MPSS tires a try for my next set unless I hear some compelling reason not to. So far it doesn't seem like there is only marginal down side if any. I also read in some of the reviews that they are quieter than the AD07/08 tires, so that would be a nice bonus as well. Too bad they don't have them for the fronts, as Michelin is running a sale with $70 off on a set of 4.

[vfx]

Any try these?

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/productdetails/Home/Turanza_with_Serenity_Technology

Supposed to be quiet


$229 at Tirerack http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....R7TS&tab=Sizes

[Doug_G]

I've been running AD07 front and AD08 rears for a few days now. I've put them through their paces and I have to say they're just fine. As expected the grip is a bit better than the T1Rs I had been running.

Frankly I can't see any reason to spend more to get the older AD07 rears.

[Jaff]

Thanks for the input Doug...I think I'll switch to your config the next time I'm in the market!

[Andy Spaziani]

At 7500 miles I had the Toyo Proxes R888 tires installed. The car now has 9795 miles and the rear tires are down to the wear indicators. I'm older, don't race and rarely travel above the speed limits. I really don't believe these tires have a 100 wear rating.
Andy Spaziani vin 1198

[dsm363]

At 7500 miles I had the Toyo Proxes R888 tires installed. The car now has 9795 miles and the rear tires are down to the wear indicators. I'm older, don't race and rarely travel above the speed limits. I really don't believe these tires have a 100 wear rating.
Andy Spaziani vin 1198

There's a lot of good information in this thread but I'd at least put the Yokohama AD07s on all 4 tires or ADO7s on front and AD08s on rears. They will last a little longer (maybe 7,000 miles on the rear and 25,000 on the fronts). There are other tires that will last longer for the rears.

[Doug_G]

At 7500 miles I had the Toyo Proxes R888 tires installed. The car now has 9795 miles and the rear tires are down to the wear indicators. I'm older, don't race and rarely travel above the speed limits. I really don't believe these tires have a 100 wear rating.
Andy Spaziani vin 1198

R888's are a street-legal competition tire. Great for autocross, but I don't think they're a good choice for daily driving.

[btown]

I put a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports on the rear last week based on the positive experience some other owners had expressed. I was looking for a bit better wear and better rain performance. Here's my experience so far:

1. They are much quieter
2. Haven't had any rain yet, but the tread pattern definitley looks like it should do very well
3. They are sticky enough to launch (full accelleration) on dry flat ground without any traction control. This does not of course mean they are as sticky as the Yokohoma, but the only way to know for sure would be in aggressive cornering at high speeds and/or acceleration, which I have not tested. Fortunately, I think I've gotten past the reckless point of testing such capabilities (like I did back when I first got the car).
4. Traction control comes on a lot during regen (steadily blinks), but only for the first 1-2 miles after each start

That last item is an interesting one. At first I was concerned the tires were not sticky enough. However, the tires are proving capable of much larger Gs during acceleration than they are trying to inflict on the car during regenerative braking. That coupled with the fact the traction control during regen goes completely away after 1-2 miles makes me suspect this is possibly a minor issue related to the new tire diameter??? The new tires are 25", whereas the AD07s are 24.9". That doesn't seem like enough difference to be an issue, but I can't think of any other explanation. Here's my theory. The rear tires are larger and therefore spin slower than the "stock" tires. During regen, it appears to the car that the tires are slipping (ie. real slipping caused the rear tires to turn slower during regen). My guess is that the car monitors the speeds of the front vs rear tires during normal cruising (ie. not heavy accel or decel) and comes up with the proper ratio to base the traction control on. I'm guessing that when you start the car you are at a default ratio and the car is learns the real ratio after a mile or two? The only odd thing with this theory is the fact they wouldn't store the learned ratio for use on the next drive. However, doing so might cause some safety issues on the first mile or two after replacing tires. So perhaps they took the more conservative approach by always starting with a factory default which is over cautious (ie. more prone to throw on the traction control vs. less prone which would be less safe). I have NO idea whether this is really what is going on, so I'm all ears if anyone can come up with a better theory. Thankfully, the traction control during regen still allows probably about 50-60% of normal regen AND everything goes back to normal after a mile or two. I'm confident this will probably just go away once the tires have .1" of wear on them.

All in all, I'm very happy with the tires so far and consider the traction control a minor issue. I wouldn't be saying that if it was coming on during acceleration of course!

[hcsharp]

I put a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports on the rear last week based on the positive experience some other owners had expressed. I was looking for a bit better wear and better rain performance. Here's my experience so far:

1. ...
2. They are sticky enough to launch (full accelleration) on dry flat ground without any traction control.

With those tires I can launch full accel on virtually any WET pavement without TC coming on. Not so with the AD07s.

I never have TC come on during regen (unless I run over something). Reading the rest of your post makes me wonder if you have a version 1.5 or are unaware of the new tire learning feature. You have to select a menu option for new tires and then the car will instruct you to drive a specific pattern to "learn" the new tires. It doesn't do it automatically every time you drive 2 miles. I think this feature is only on 2.x models.

Not sure how many miles are on your new Super Sports. Maybe you already know this but most performance tires need a good 500 miles or more to get broken in. They will be quiet but otherwise not perform as well when they are new. Mine got better for the first 1,000 miles or so.

I'm waiting for someone to give these a real test, like on a track or carefully measured 0-60 times. And, of course, I'm waiting for them to make it in the front size!

That last item is an interesting one. At first I was concerned the tires were not sticky enough. However, the tires are proving capable of much larger Gs during acceleration than they are trying to inflict on the car during regenerative braking. That coupled with the fact the traction control during regen goes completely away after 1-2 miles makes me suspect this is possibly a minor issue related to the new tire diameter??? The new tires are 25", whereas the AD07s are 24.9". That doesn't seem like enough difference to be an issue, but I can't think of any other explanation. Here's my theory. The rear tires are larger and therefore spin slower than the "stock" tires. During regen, it appears to the car that the tires are slipping (ie. real slipping caused the rear tires to turn slower during regen). My guess is that the car monitors the speeds of the front vs rear tires during normal cruising (ie. not heavy accel or decel) and comes up with the proper ratio to base the traction control on. I'm guessing that when you start the car you are at a default ratio and the car is learns the real ratio after a mile or two? The only odd thing with this theory is the fact they wouldn't store the learned ratio for use on the next drive. However, doing so might cause some safety issues on the first mile or two after replacing tires. So perhaps they took the more conservative approach by always starting with a factory default which is over cautious (ie. more prone to throw on the traction control vs. less prone which would be less safe). I have NO idea whether this is really what is going on, so I'm all ears if anyone can come up with a better theory. Thankfully, the traction control during regen still allows probably about 50-60% of normal regen AND everything goes back to normal after a mile or two. I'm confident this will probably just go away once the tires have .1" of wear on them.

All in all, I'm very happy with the tires so far and consider the traction control a minor issue. I wouldn't be saying that if it was coming on during acceleration of course!