Hi,

I live in Seattle, Washington, USA, where it very rarely freezes or snows (during which my S will stay in the garage), but it rains/drizzles most days from September into July, leaving roads often wet. My MY04 has 3500 miles on it; I don't drive particularly hard, but I take corners and on/off ramps as aggressively as traffic and conditions will safely allow, and I occasionally cannot resist the siren call of twisty back roads at high speeds, especially near the mountains, on dry days. I drive quite a bit less aggressively on wet roads than on dry roads. I expect that I will sometimes go to the track, but I have not done so yet.

I am assuming that my original set of tires will need replacing at about 10,000 miles or so, which probably will be in October or November for me (so far, I have driven about 500 miles per week--I am really enjoying this wonderful car).

Should I replace the tires with more of the same, or are there better tires for my climate?

Also, if I were to buy from Tire Rack, do I then just go down to the local tire store and pay them to mount the tires and dispose of the old ones, for which I expect them to charge me an arm and a leg, or is there a better way?

Thanks.

--Mark

 

Bridgestone S03s from the TireRack.

 

Why S03s for a MY04, when my OEM tires are, I believe, RE050?

 

I also live in a rainy climate (Florida) and have been looking at this same thing. I understand the Michelin Pilot is excellent in the rain. Don't work for me because there is no suitable combination for 16" rims, but they have the proper sizes for your size wheel. And they are available at the Tire Rack. If not those, then one of the uni-directional tires like the Goodyear might be in order. This is the direction I will be going. I will be on the road, rain or shine, about 2-3 weekends per month so my tires are not the place for compromise.

Best of luck.

 

S03s are the best wet weather ultra high performance summer tire. I have heard this from more than 1 tire seller and on more than 1 forum. I drove the S03s in a thunderstorm in Ks and the grip was confidence inspiring.
Chris

 

That's interesting, because Tire Racks test data paint a very different picture of wet performance:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/gy_f1_..._d3_charts.html

Maybe their testing was flawed somehow though. Do you have any links that show the S-03 outperforms the Goodyear tire in the wet? I'd like to see some counterpoint before I order tires in a couple of weeks.

Thanks.

 

You might also want to reference Tire Racks most recent test which includes the S-03, the Michelin PS2, and the Goodyear GS-D3 and shows the Michelin handily besting the other two tires in every performance category wet or dry, and the Goodyear besting or tying the S-03 in every performance category wet or dry.

Pretty compelling.

 

Or maybe the PS2s just came out and they want to push them being that they're one of the biggest retail suppliers in the US?

I have a hard time believing anyone will notice the hundreth or tenths difference in the very subjective tire performance reviews sourced from a biased institution.

Food for thought (btw, I'm a long-time Tirerack customer).

 

I too have been a tirerack customer for over 10 years, however, I would tend to believe their testing data over someone who heard something on a internet forum. No disrespect meant at all.

I agree that one would likely be VERY hard pressed to tell the difference in wet performance of these tires at the mundane speeds I'd be traveling (75-80mph) so things tend to come more down to price, and comfort.

I think any of these tires would make nice choice on our vehicles for daily use.

 

Let me try to type with my foot in my mouth. When I purchased the S03s the GYs and Michelins were not out yet, so at the time (April 03) maybe... or ..But the glory of the internet is you never have to read anything you don't agree with.

From TireRack Test results page-
Note: Our evaluation used new, full tread depth tires, and we were not able to evaluate the wet performance during the second half of the tire's life where the possible wet traction advantage of Bridgestone's dual layer tread compound vs. other similarly worn tires might show itself.

I'll call my guy @ TR in the morning and find out why, oh why has he steered me wrong.