Best Tyre For Handling Performance

[andyk134]

Hi, Sorry if this has been asked before,

looking to replace all tyres on my IS200. I don't do many miles so longevity isn't really an issue and would like to put the best tyres for on the road performance on the car with price no object.

I have been told that the new Continental Sport 5's would make a noticeable difference over my Dunlop Sport Maxx.

Does anyone have a really good tyre that sticks to the road and has anyone put 225's on instead of 215's and has that made a difference?

Thanks for you help

[noby76]

if in doubt of which tyres to go for stick with Bridgestone Potenza's . that's what the IS was designed to run on Including the Dunlop SP's. cant go wrong with Potenza's they are designed by the No1 Tyre company in the world so they have the budget and R&D to design a performance tyre. most high performance cars like IS-F's, GTR, LFA, BMW M's, Ferrari, Aston Martin come fitted with Potenza's from Factory.

most of the fastest laps set round the Nurburgring were set with either Dunlops or Potenza's. so they are quite sticky tyres. but saying that you also need good suspension setup to make all that happen your model is an SE so might be worth ditching standard springs for Eibachs or Bilstein sport springs to make it all happen..

[andyk134]

Hi john,

Thanks for the suggestions. I am currently running Eibach springs, roll bars and spacers which has turned it into a different car. I have Dunlop sport Maxx and would like to get some better tyres to go with it. I will look at the goodyears for sure.

Cheers

[ColinBarber]

Potenza on its own doesn't really mean anything, it is a sub-brand of which there are many different tyres for different purposes.

Ultra high performance tyres include:

Goodyear Eagle F1, Bridgestone Potenza S001, Toyo Proxes T1

[andyk134]

Thanks Colin, good to know

[noby76]

Yes am aware of that Colin.. maybe I should have been more specific.. I meant Potenza RE050A's or the newer S001's which am also running at the moment...

[andyk134]

Mine had the 50A's on when i bought it and I didn't find them particularly good hence the switch to Sport Maxx. I have heard that the Michelin Primacy's are pretty good in all conditions too?

[noby76]

Michelin's are up there aswell for performance if you decide them might aswell go for the Pilot Sport one's a bit pricey tho... I have noticed the gen 1 IS's have been setup to over steer (back end kicks out) easily.. so there is so much a grippy tyre could do..

[J Henderson]

RE050A is an ancient model dating back to the '90s, I wouldn't go near those. If it was my money, the choice would boil down to either of these;

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2

Michelin Pilot Sport 3

Continental Sport Contact 5

They're all reasonably new designs, and the ones that consistently score highly in all the tyre tests conducted every year.

Next time I need some rubber, I'll probably lean towards the SC5 as they're supposedly better in every department than the older Sport Contact 3, which is what I currently have on my car, and have been very impressed with. I previously had Hankook V12 Evo's on, which rode better and were quieter, but the Conti's are considerably more grippy in the wet or dry.

Regarding 215 vs 225. I've run both and the wider tyre obviously offers more grip, plus the ride is a little more compliant due to the taller sidewall. On the down side, the steering response isn't as sharp, plus acceleration off the line is also slightly worse. 225s are a better fit for my wheels (8" wide) though, so I'm happy to accept the slightly compromised performance.

[noby76]

Bridgestone still makes the RE050's in 2014 so i wouldnt call it an ancient tyre.. yes the model might be ancient but doesnt mean its the same compounnd design as it was years ago.

http://www.bridgestone.co.uk/auto/ranges/potenza/overview/

Pirelli P Zero, Michelin Pilot Sport, GoodYear F1, Dunlop SP, Continental Sport Contact are all good Performance tyres... but i see it this way regardless of how good these other brands are, your likes of Lexus LFA, IS-F, Nissan GTR, Ferrari , Aston Martin, Mercedez AMG ditch these brands and opt for a spec from the Potenza range to fit on their high performance models from factory.

below is a quote from tyrereviews.co.uk

The Ferrari Enzo, Lexus LFA, Porsche 997 Turbo, Ferrari 599 GTO. Thes eare seriously fast cars, which place extreme demands on their tyres, and just some of the range of premium hypercars which have chosen to be fitted with the Bridgestone S001.

so you wont go wrong with any performance tyre from Pirelli P Zero, Michelin Pilot Sport, GoodYear F1, Dunlop SP, Continental Sport Contact as i beleive each has its strengths and weaknesses..but if in doubt i will always stick to the tyres chosen by Lexus, Ferrari, Porsche and GTR engineers so forget what these paid tyre reviewers tell you in thier tests..engineers know better

[ColinBarber]

Toyota/Lexus nearly always use Bridgestone or Yokohama for their vehicles, mainly because they are in the same country, same with Nissan. With the exception of the LFA most of the stock tyres aren't good, they are made to a price point forced by the vehicle manufacturer.

RE050's shouldn't be mentioned with Goodyear F1s, Bridgestone S001 etc, they aren't in the same category.

With the exception S-02s I can't say I've ever been that happy with Bridgestone tyres, certainly not OEM ones fitted by Toyota/Lexus.

[noby76]

I disagree Colin, Yes both Bridgestone and Yokohama are Japanese companies and maybe your likes of Toyota, Lexus Nissan, Honda, Subaru will lean towards them in terms of choosing a tyre manufacturer for thier high performance vehicles which is understandable but your likes of Ferrari, Porsche and mainly BMW who put ultimate driving at the fore front of advertising have always been running one of the Potenza range run flat tyre on thier cars for years.

sure Ferrari could have easily opted for Pirelli cause it was Itlian brand , Porsche and BMW could easily opt for Continentals cause it was German...not sure why most of the stock tyres wont be good for day to day driving and the ocassional spirited driving? why would car manufactures maily Lexus and BMW spend billions developing models only to start cutting down on tyre spec due to cost? this wouldnt make sense.. sure thier enginners are bound to fit tyres they deem best in the market.. we all know after brakes the most important kit on a car is its tyres so manufactures wont be penny pinching when it comes to OEM Tyres.

of course one cannot compare one brand or spec of tyre with another brand and spec as they all have unique differences, strenghts and weaknesses as i mentioned in my last post. but that doesnt mean RE050's are not in the same category or are crappy tyres they are mostly rated at W and Y rating which is 150 to almost 190mph.. so to me thats more than enough an IS200, IS300 and most cars will need for day to day and ocassional spirited driving unless one will be using thier cars for tracking days then they need track tyres of course. as I confirmed earlier in my post gen 1 IS's are setup to oversteer easily so there is so much a grippy tyre could do before rears starts breaking traction if not careful.

but since owning my IS i have run Pirelli P Zero's, Falken FK453's and now the S001 Bridgestones so cant comment on other brands as i have no experience with those. the only difference i have noticed is my traction control light has never come on during spirited drivining since switching to S001's when compared to the other two brands i have run but apart from that cant tell any difference between the 3 brands in terms of noise levels and fuel consumption. I dont drive hard when its wet anyway so am not concerned about wet performance. rear wheel drive cars are vulnerable when the roads are icy or wet anyway.. am yet to see how many miles i get out of them before needing replacing.

When it comes to Tyres its all down to personal preference and there are other factors like brand loyalty, price, tread design, wear rate, grip level, which fuels ones desicion to run one brand of tyre over another but regargless of which tyre one choose's to go for it will have its strenghts and weakness against another as they all have slighlty unique differences..

[andyk134]

Thanks for all the comments. I have ordered some Continental Sport 5's for fitting at the weekend

cheers