Best 235/40 R18 tire

Bridgestone has discontinued my tire of choice (Potenza S-03) so now I am looking for a great high performance tire that has a good water rating as well. (WA resident) Also it has to come in a 235/40 R18

Looking for well informed opinions since tires can be an important purchase.

-Thx

oh hell no , the RE050, Proxes4, or General Exclaim don't even come close to the S-03, even the stock STI Bridgestone RE070 tire is a lesser competitor in grip than the S-03...

Get an R-compound or near that if you are looking for that kind of performance of an S-03..

Bridgestone RE-01R is the next BETTER thing than the S-03s

Falken Azenis is an equivalent to the S-03s

Yokohama Neova AD07s are also just as good, if not, better than the S-03s

And lastly if you want to pay the insane money for the BFGoodrich KDs (not the KDWS), they are a fast tire as well, just ridiculously expensive for a street tire.. for that money, you might as well buy an r-compound tire.

if you are looking for anything near or better than the S-03, you better start looking into R-compound types like Toyo RA-1s, or Yokohama A048s

And FYI, some 225/40/18s are built as wide as a 235/40/18.. such as the Falken Azenis

If you were looking at an 235/40/18 S-03, you might want to look into finding a 245/35/18 tire as well. S-03s are bult bigger than what they say they are..

Thx Keefe, I'm not super hard up on the performance side I can handle less performance but I as well as everyone else want it all, performance (wet/dry), noise, ride quality. Going from stock tires to anything you mentioned will be leaps and bounds better.

also btw I will be runnin on a 18x8 rim as well.

The reason for the size I picked is because I want the 235 width and I want to fill up my wheel wells a little more than my stock setup so a /40 seems about the right size.. Mostly the reason I picked the S03 in that size was because I saw em on a STI and they looked sick!!

-Thx for the suggestions so far keep em comin

If you're looking for decent dry/wet performance + comfort/wear, I'd look at the RE050A Pole Position or the Toyo T1-R.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE050A+Pole+Position

http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?tiremodel=Proxes+T1R&tirebrand=Toyo

-Mike-

Thx Keefe, I'm not super hard up on the performance side I can handle less performance but I as well as everyone else want it all, performance (wet/dry), noise, ride quality. Going from stock tires to anything you mentioned will be leaps and bounds better.

 

also btw I will be runnin on a 18x8 rim as well.

 

The reason for the size I picked is because I want the 235 width and I want to fill up my wheel wells a little more than my stock setup so a /40 seems about the right size.. Mostly the reason I picked the S03 in that size was because I saw em on a STI and they looked sick!!

 

-Thx for the suggestions so far keep em comin

well, since you want 'less' dry performance in favor for rain and noise, I'd suggest you get Toyo T1-R or Eagle F1 GSD3 tire. While they are just slightly off from the S-03 dry grip, these two tires do better in the wet and have less road noise, and also a softer ride than the stiff-sidewall S-03.

You can do a 255/35/18 as well if you like which has just as much sidewall as the 225/40/18, only you go wider. The T1-R and and Eagle F1 are similar enough in overall width as a 245/40/18 S-03.

If you dont have short enough of a suspension, i would keep away from the tallest tire diameter extreme of 25.7"... 25.0" is already a bigger size than stock's 24.7" overall tire diameter. Even though it may look nice by filling out the wheel well, you might want to think about the suspension travel. While I've done as much as a 245/40/18 for daily driving, but that was on short suspension travel setup using coilovers. I can't really imagine if someone was planning to run the car that hard on softer longer suspension travel where the tire may end up rubbing on the fender liner and maybe even more. It could happen, but if you dont mind that, a 235/40/18 is tall enough for any stock suspension setup.

Keefe, are you saying that Bridgestone RE-01R are better than Falken Azenis RT615 or FK452?

that's the hot thing right now through the autocrossing community across the country.. everyone is switching over to the RE-01Rs and shaving them. Of course for the normal driver who never autox, they wont be able to tell the difference of tenths of a second faster because not everyone is timing themselves to get to work in record time. In autocrossing, we are as precise as 0.001 seconds of a difference. This past weekend, my friend was out of 5th place by 0.001, see results here in STS class:

http://solo.wdcr-scca.org/results/20070812.php

But to clarify, the RE-01R and RT-615s are lightyears ahead of the FK-452 in overall grip. I thought the 452's compound and construction would be similar as the RT-615s, but they are not by a long shot (which explains the weight difference of the same size tire between the two).

Mich PS2 expensive but good

Michelin Pilot Sport Cups > Falken Azenis & S-03 > Michelin PS2s in grip..

So unless he wants some "OEM" R-compounds, the PS2s aren't much for the bang for the buck.

Keefe, RT-615 is still slightly wider at 225-40-18 than RE-01R. I don't get why RT-615 818 revs/mile and RE-01R are 830.

Which of the 2 is better for daily driving? rims are 18x8 pff7s

http://www.falkentire.com/rt615_sizes.html

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=Bridgestone&model=Potenza+RE-01R&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&partnum=24WR8RE01R&tirePageLocQty=%26partnum%3D24WR8RE01R

I know nothing about which I speak, but the Pirelli Pzero Nero M&S has been a great upgrade from stock for me. Night and day difference.

Which is correct since you're going from a medicore all-season tire to a better all-season tire.

To fill in the gap, the Bridgestone S-03 is a summer high performance tire, which really any summer high performance tire (with the exception of the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S version) will outperform any all-season tire in the dry and possibly even in the wet (such as the Eagle F1 GS-D3 and Toyo T1-R).

It's going to apples to oranges when comparing all-season tires to summer tires.

But if you ever get the chance to try out an extreme summer tire or DOT-legal racing tire for the street use (such as Toyo RA-1), you will be blown by the amount of grip you have. You can ask Preadet about using Hoosiers R6 race tires vs his summer tires

Keefe, RT-615 is still slightly wider at 225-40-18 than RE-01R. I don't get why RT-615 818 revs/mile and RE-01R are 830.

 

Which of the 2 is better for daily driving? rims are 18x8 pff7s

 

 

http://www.falkentire.com/rt615_sizes.html

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=Bridgestone&model=Potenza+RE-01R&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&partnum=24WR8RE01R&tirePageLocQty=%26partnum%3D24WR8RE01R

RT-615s are slightly taller (either by overall tire diameter or taller tread)? Im not sure how they measure it overall..

Either is fine actually, i havent driven a set of the RE-01Rs yet, but going my own experience in the rain with the Azenis on track and even snow, I'd vouch for them (hey, what can I say? I'm crazy).

As to the RE-01Rs from here-say, they work better in hotter climates where the outside temps don't fall below the 50F mark.. so as long as you have some heat in them, they'll work for ya. As for heatcycling, I dont know enough to make a comparison of which last longer before they overharden, namely us competitive autox guys throws tires out once they are not fast anymore, with or without tread and fully heat cycled or not.

You can do a 255/35/18 as well if you like which has just as much sidewall as the 225/40/18, only you go wider.

Is that with coilovers only? I have 18x8 wheels with a 51MM offset and I'm pretty sure a 255/35/18 would rub the strut spring perch severly in the front.

I can't even fit my finger between my 225/40/18 RT615's and the strut.

how do you like your RT615? are they noisy or harsh etc? what psi do you run them at?

Is that with coilovers only? I have 18x8 wheels with a 51MM offset and I'm pretty sure a 255/35/18 would rub the strut spring perch severly in the front.

 

I can't even fit my finger between my 225/40/18 RT615's and the strut.

Goodyear GS-D3 best STREET tire I've ever used. Excellent combo of grip, ride, comfort and quietness. If you are autoxing or doing track days then do the R compounds

Best rule of thumb is for novice track drivers should use street tires until they learn the limits of tire monitoring.. when the student gets better, then they can step to using r-compounds... some times it's not a good idea about a novice using r-compounds if they dont know when the tire is going to give out grip..

Is that with coilovers only? I have 18x8 wheels with a 51MM offset and I'm pretty sure a 255/35/18 would rub the strut spring perch severly in the front.

 

I can't even fit my finger between my 225/40/18 RT615's and the strut.

I would have to say yes with coilovers for the most part. I think the rim that was in focus that I was addressing was a 18x8.5 +48mm offset.. so that 3mm is enough to buy you enough room.

The closest setup I have up to date is enough to fit 5 business cards thick (maybe 2.5mm at best?) between the coilover spring perch and the tire sidewall.. so far there's not enough deflection from the sidewall to rub up on the spring perch on my coilover.

how do you like your RT615? are they noisy or harsh etc? what psi do you run them at?

For any 225/40/18 for our cars, it should be in the ball park of 38 to 42 psi up front and about 34 to 38 in the rear, measured cold.

how do you like your RT615? are they noisy or harsh etc? what psi do you run them at?

I use them for track days, autocrosses and to and from events plus a few days in between. They are much, much better than the Kuhmo MX's they replaced. They are over a 1/2 inch wider than the Kuhmos in the same size. Great traction, nice ride, and I have driven with them in heavy rain with no issues.

I use them at 34 psi cold/40 psi hot at my last event. on the street I use them at 36 front 34 rear.

I prefer the nice ride and decent grip of my OEM sized Continental Extreme Contacts for daily driving.