View Poll Results: What tires should Mike get?
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Tire choices... Mike needs tires
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 568
Likes: 11
From: East Bay Area, California
Originally Posted by Skaterbasist
The Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD-3 have a very soft sidewall.
I'd go with the PS2's. They are great in every type of environment, even though they might not be the stickiest ou there.
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I'd go with the PS2's. They are great in every type of environment, even though they might not be the stickiest ou there.
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.Bottom Line: The GSD-3's will get you around the track faster in the dry OR the wet, with less road noise - proven time and again in tire tests by highly capable, knowledgeable and unbiased people (like Car & Driver - which is remarkable, as they usually worship all things German, like BMW and Michelin) and companies (Like Tire Rack, which could care less which tire you buy, as long as it's from them!). The Goodyear GSD-3's ride nicely and are quiet in street driving, but poised to strike with devastating performance when called upon by capable drivers (like Road & Track, and Tire Rack did!).
I know there will always be those with preferences for other makes, and good for them! Without them, there would be no other tires to defeat! They'll continue their esoteric and inane arguments against the Goodyear's, but at the end of the day, the Goodyears scored highest in every category. That's it - no if's, and's, but's, maybe's, hypothetical situations, "but my mama say's", or anything else.
Again, with all due respect - If you want the best, as unpopular as it may be, the people who know, are running the GSD-3's.
P.S. - Just so you know, I have several vehicles running various different brands/types of tires, each chosen as the overall best for their particular application. So I'm not "married" to Goodyear, by any means, either.
DB
Last edited by dbarnes; Oct 6, 2008 at 02:11 AM.
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 13,068
Likes: 101
From: Southern Cali --> 818
dbarnes,
I didn't mean to imply that they didn't perform well. They do have a softer sidewall than most high performance tires out there. The softer sidewall is stated to take away a little confidence during spiritied driving. But again, it doesn't necessarily mean they don't perform well. From what I have heard, they are great in the dry & wet, with little road noise. And they are a cheaper alternative than the PS2's.
But, imo, the only thing they have over the PS2 is price. If both were equal in price, the PS2's would be a more popular choice.
The Eagle F1 GSD-3 are great tires for the price. I'm not trying to take anything away from it.
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I didn't mean to imply that they didn't perform well. They do have a softer sidewall than most high performance tires out there. The softer sidewall is stated to take away a little confidence during spiritied driving. But again, it doesn't necessarily mean they don't perform well. From what I have heard, they are great in the dry & wet, with little road noise. And they are a cheaper alternative than the PS2's.
But, imo, the only thing they have over the PS2 is price. If both were equal in price, the PS2's would be a more popular choice.
The Eagle F1 GSD-3 are great tires for the price. I'm not trying to take anything away from it.
.
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 568
Likes: 11
From: East Bay Area, California
Originally Posted by Skaterbasist
dbarnes,
I didn't mean to imply that they didn't perform well. They do have a softer sidewall than most high performance tires out there. The softer sidewall is stated to take away a little confidence during spiritied driving. But again, it doesn't necessarily mean they don't perform well. From what I have heard, they are great in the dry & wet, with little road noise. And they are a cheaper alternative than the PS2's.
But, imo, the only thing they have over the PS2 is price. If both were equal in price, the PS2's would be a more popular choice.
The Eagle F1 GSD-3 are great tires for the price. I'm not trying to take anything away from it.
.
I didn't mean to imply that they didn't perform well. They do have a softer sidewall than most high performance tires out there. The softer sidewall is stated to take away a little confidence during spiritied driving. But again, it doesn't necessarily mean they don't perform well. From what I have heard, they are great in the dry & wet, with little road noise. And they are a cheaper alternative than the PS2's.
But, imo, the only thing they have over the PS2 is price. If both were equal in price, the PS2's would be a more popular choice.
The Eagle F1 GSD-3 are great tires for the price. I'm not trying to take anything away from it.
.
I, personally, haven't seemed to notice any lack of confidence in the Goodyears due to the "soft" sidewalls (or anything else) in my spirited driving with them. Actually, quite the reverse - I find the fact that the Goodyears perform better than the PS2's (look at the independent tests with drivers more competent than you or I, I dare say) very confidence inspiring, to the point of foolishness, even.
But I'll certainly concede the point that different people derive their feelings of confidence from different things, and that perhaps the level of sidewall rigidity is a determining factor for some drivers. For example, just the name Michelin is confidence inspiring in and of itself, too - and rightly so, they are an old, established, superior company with a consistently superior product that has earned worldwide respect.
I also understand that Michelin's reputation is hard to overcome among the masses, but the tests are unbiased, and well-regulated in controlled environments - and the Goodyears are better in every regard. These are not opinions, these are quantified, documented facts. I personally am more practical and just don't see why anyone would prefer a lesser performing product, especially at a higher price point. And I'm extra puzzled by the reasoning that, if the inferior performer's price (Michelin) were to be lowered and became more in line with it's superior competitor (Goodyear), it would somehow become more attractive to people? Wouldn't it then just be an inferior alternative at a comparable price? And the fact that the Goodyears are cheaper is icing on that cake - I'd have still bought the superior performer (Goodyear) even if it were exactly the same price as the inferior performer (Michelin) - call me crazy !!
But remember, the whole point here was that the starter of this thread was considering a new tire purchase and wanted opinions as to the best performers, and I thought it would be a crime for him not to at least be made AWARE of, if not considering, the best performing tire for his particular application,(as determined by independent tests conducted by highly capable, knowledgeable, and unbiased performance professionals), regardless of it's cursed reasonable price. And so I think he's at least aware of the Goodyear option by now, if he's continued following this thread, so mission accomplished. And thanks for your input and opinion, Skaterbasist.
My crazy ramblings on a Sunday night ..Peace Out
DB
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,408
Likes: 7
From: Orange County, CA
The PS2's are the least grippy of the 4 performance tires on this list.
The RE070 has one of the stiffest sidewalls of any street tire in production. Stiffer sidewall gives you better response upon initial turn-in because the tire has less flex; this also has the side effect of reducing roll, giving your inner tire more opportunity to use its grip. Average tire life on the S2k seems to be around 3-5k miles on the rears, and double that on the fronts. I lasted 16k on both front and rear, but the tires are not safe to drive on. Also note that I've adjusted my driving style to accomodate longer tire life. I believe I would go through these in less than 5k miles if I drove these the same as I have the RE01-R.
The RE01-R is Bridgestone's top of the line street tire, and happens to be instroduced after the GSD-3's. It has an exceptionally wide contact patch, and performs well in the rain. The RE070's only advantage over the RE01-R is the stiffer sidewall and slightly more heat resistance. RE01-R's seem to last an average of 8-10k miles on the rears and about 15k on the fronts. I did about 10k miles per set on the rear and 15k on the fronts (went through 3 sets of rears and 2 fronts on my 05).
Both of those tires are NOT driveable in anything under freezing temperatures, but that is not a concern for me in California.
Can you give a comparison to another tire OTHER than the PS2? PS2's are generally not liked within the s2k community as they don't offer the level of raw dry grip that most street/track s2k's are looking for.
If budget allowed, I'd be daily driving on med/hard or hard compound Yokohama Advan A048's. I've had 2 sets of each unshaved, and I got roughly 2500 miles out of the med/hard and about 3500 out of the hard compound tires.
I was giving wet performance some consideration when I included the PS2's, but the primary concern was familiarity on this forum. RE050A's seem to generally be hated by the G35 community by all but the strictly performance oriented members, and that generalization carries over to the G37 community as well.
The 350z guys have stated that the PS2's outperform the oh-so-popular Vriedstein (sp?) tires they use.
T1R's... good value tire, but not a consideration at all for me.
Dbarnes: If my tires lasted more than 1 full weekend at the track with all-out driving, I'd be very shocked. I tend to hold back a bit in the interest of keeping within my budget restraints.
I've done quite a bit of research on other forums as well (mostly similar cars including solstice/sky, RX-7, BMW), and the RE050A PP and GS-D3 seem to beconsidered to be roughly equal in most regards with wet grip edge going to the GS-D3. The RE01-R is differentiated from those two as the clear winner in dry conditions, but the RE050A PP and GS-D3 are far superior in wet conditions.
The RE070 is considered superior to the RE01-R in specific applications ONLY; the RE01-R is considered superior in most other applications.
At the moment, I've ordered some 225/45/17 and 255/45/17 RE070 (the widest tires I can mount without getting bulge), but more information will always help for the future.
The RE070 has one of the stiffest sidewalls of any street tire in production. Stiffer sidewall gives you better response upon initial turn-in because the tire has less flex; this also has the side effect of reducing roll, giving your inner tire more opportunity to use its grip. Average tire life on the S2k seems to be around 3-5k miles on the rears, and double that on the fronts. I lasted 16k on both front and rear, but the tires are not safe to drive on. Also note that I've adjusted my driving style to accomodate longer tire life. I believe I would go through these in less than 5k miles if I drove these the same as I have the RE01-R.
The RE01-R is Bridgestone's top of the line street tire, and happens to be instroduced after the GSD-3's. It has an exceptionally wide contact patch, and performs well in the rain. The RE070's only advantage over the RE01-R is the stiffer sidewall and slightly more heat resistance. RE01-R's seem to last an average of 8-10k miles on the rears and about 15k on the fronts. I did about 10k miles per set on the rear and 15k on the fronts (went through 3 sets of rears and 2 fronts on my 05).
Both of those tires are NOT driveable in anything under freezing temperatures, but that is not a concern for me in California.
Can you give a comparison to another tire OTHER than the PS2? PS2's are generally not liked within the s2k community as they don't offer the level of raw dry grip that most street/track s2k's are looking for.
If budget allowed, I'd be daily driving on med/hard or hard compound Yokohama Advan A048's. I've had 2 sets of each unshaved, and I got roughly 2500 miles out of the med/hard and about 3500 out of the hard compound tires.
I was giving wet performance some consideration when I included the PS2's, but the primary concern was familiarity on this forum. RE050A's seem to generally be hated by the G35 community by all but the strictly performance oriented members, and that generalization carries over to the G37 community as well.
The 350z guys have stated that the PS2's outperform the oh-so-popular Vriedstein (sp?) tires they use.
T1R's... good value tire, but not a consideration at all for me.
Dbarnes: If my tires lasted more than 1 full weekend at the track with all-out driving, I'd be very shocked. I tend to hold back a bit in the interest of keeping within my budget restraints.
I've done quite a bit of research on other forums as well (mostly similar cars including solstice/sky, RX-7, BMW), and the RE050A PP and GS-D3 seem to beconsidered to be roughly equal in most regards with wet grip edge going to the GS-D3. The RE01-R is differentiated from those two as the clear winner in dry conditions, but the RE050A PP and GS-D3 are far superior in wet conditions.
The RE070 is considered superior to the RE01-R in specific applications ONLY; the RE01-R is considered superior in most other applications.
At the moment, I've ordered some 225/45/17 and 255/45/17 RE070 (the widest tires I can mount without getting bulge), but more information will always help for the future.
Last edited by mIKE; Oct 6, 2008 at 12:39 PM.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,408
Likes: 7
From: Orange County, CA
Originally Posted by dbarnes
Sorry, Mike - But look again, Pal .
The Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD-3 kicks ***, and the "test" from Tire Rack you were referring to was done in 2005, while their latest comparison done 10/26/2007 shows the GSD-3's clearly superior in every aspect to the PS2's, The PP's, etc. etc. - just like Road & Track found out, too.
Check it out ..
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=101
Been running the GSD-3's now for the past two sets, mostly around the suburbs and freeway driving, with as many hard runs down canyon and back country roads as I get the chance. I get just about 19K -20K miles per set on my '04 6MT Sedan, and the right rear is nearly bald now at 20K (new set ordered from Tire Rack today, 235/50/17). 66,000 miles on the car now, 3rd set of tires toast (the stock tires with '04 sport suspension were also Goodyear Eagles, but not GSD-3's, and they went about 26K).
These GSD-3's stick, especially, (even scary) well in the rain - I think better than on dry ground. And they don't fade during hard mountain runs up Hwy 88 to Lake Tahoe from the Bay Area (SF, California). Taking a hard corner, or even freeway ramp sweeper, in a driving rain at high speed is absolutely jaw dropping....
These tires mean business, and at a reasonable price for the performance, but like any sticky tread, don't count on more than 17K-18K miles till they're worn out, and much less if driven very hard very often. Don't pass them up without serious research - or they'll pass you up on Hwy 88...LOL...
'Nuff Said.
DB
.The Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD-3 kicks ***, and the "test" from Tire Rack you were referring to was done in 2005, while their latest comparison done 10/26/2007 shows the GSD-3's clearly superior in every aspect to the PS2's, The PP's, etc. etc. - just like Road & Track found out, too.
Check it out ..
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=101
Been running the GSD-3's now for the past two sets, mostly around the suburbs and freeway driving, with as many hard runs down canyon and back country roads as I get the chance. I get just about 19K -20K miles per set on my '04 6MT Sedan, and the right rear is nearly bald now at 20K (new set ordered from Tire Rack today, 235/50/17). 66,000 miles on the car now, 3rd set of tires toast (the stock tires with '04 sport suspension were also Goodyear Eagles, but not GSD-3's, and they went about 26K).
These GSD-3's stick, especially, (even scary) well in the rain - I think better than on dry ground. And they don't fade during hard mountain runs up Hwy 88 to Lake Tahoe from the Bay Area (SF, California). Taking a hard corner, or even freeway ramp sweeper, in a driving rain at high speed is absolutely jaw dropping....
These tires mean business, and at a reasonable price for the performance, but like any sticky tread, don't count on more than 17K-18K miles till they're worn out, and much less if driven very hard very often. Don't pass them up without serious research - or they'll pass you up on Hwy 88...LOL...
'Nuff Said.
DB
The review you linked to are not F1 GS-D3's.... theyre F1 Asymmetricals... totally different tire...
But, it is a model that I hadn't given SERIOUS consideration, since the reviews mostly said that it lacks response/feedback compared to some other makes.
I'll look into it further when I need my next set.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,408
Likes: 7
From: Orange County, CA
These are the RE070... same tire that goes on the GT-R and NSX Type-R.
When they wear to 7/32, the tread gets 'more solid' and at 4/32, they're pretty much road-legal slicks.
I'll have pictures of my old tires up once they're dismounted tomorrow.
When they wear to 7/32, the tread gets 'more solid' and at 4/32, they're pretty much road-legal slicks.
I'll have pictures of my old tires up once they're dismounted tomorrow.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,408
Likes: 7
From: Orange County, CA
OEM RE050 (not 050A)
Front: 215/45ZR17
Price: $177.00 (each)
Rear: 245/40ZR17
Price: $207.00 (each)
OEM RE070
Front: 215/45ZR17
Price: $181.00 (each)
Rear: 255/40ZR17
Price: $224.00 (each)
RE01-R
Front: 215/45ZR17
Price: $173.00 (each)
Rear: 255/40ZR17
Price: $220.00 (each)
Keep in mind that the 070 only comes in a few sizes that are vehicle specific... so I don't think they'll be an option for you unless you're willing to downsize to 18/17 or run 20's...
Front: 215/45ZR17
Price: $177.00 (each)
Rear: 245/40ZR17
Price: $207.00 (each)
OEM RE070
Front: 215/45ZR17
Price: $181.00 (each)
Rear: 255/40ZR17
Price: $224.00 (each)
RE01-R
Front: 215/45ZR17
Price: $173.00 (each)
Rear: 255/40ZR17
Price: $220.00 (each)
Keep in mind that the 070 only comes in a few sizes that are vehicle specific... so I don't think they'll be an option for you unless you're willing to downsize to 18/17 or run 20's...