s2000Junky

Definitely go with an extreme summer then for handling reasons, and your grip prerequisite. Go with whats available in your stock size that is the best cost currently, cant go wrong. Playing around with max summer/alternative options is just muddying the waters.

s2000Junky

Just to be clear, the RE71 is not a max summer, its in the Extreme summer category. Important to distinguish. The PSS is a max summer and doesn't compare to the handling precision and grip of the RE71 or comparable extreme summers.

DanielB

Thanks for the clarification, I can never keep the three categories straight in head.

Chuck S

I'm not sure who determined or rates the classifications nor just where the line between (say) A- and B+ occurs, but the top to bottom ratings are:
Extreme
Max
Ultra
High Performance
Grand Touring

I apparently don't drive as aggressively as my wife accuses me and I've noticed no difference between my last set of Extreme tires (RE-11A) and current Max tires (S-04).

-- Chuck

DanielB

I've wondered too and suspect they are marketing terms created by TireRack to give their customers common vocabulary for comparing tires. Can anyone confirm?

rpg51

Its not like we are given objective testing data for all the performance parameters for each tire. Seems like there is a tremendous amount of subjectivity involved.

One thing to keep in mind when you read the Tire Rack ratings and reviews, is that the ratings are ratings within a particular category only. So, for example, a tire rated 92 for wet road performance in the Max Performance Summer category is not the same performance as a tire rated 92 for wet road performance in the Ultra High Performance All Season category. At least that is my understanding from tire rack.

s2000Junky

All extreme summer tires have a 2+ ply sidewall construction setting a baseline for handling. Not all max summer tires have a 2 ply sidewall. That's the first thing that should be considered when shopping. Grip isn't as crucial on the street, but handling is for safety and for enjoyment of the car. There is good firm sidewall/handling tires in lessor categories/max/ult etc, but that requires real researching.

Ap12000

After looking into the firehawk indy 500 and a few of you guys recommending them, I thought I would give them a try. So I went ahead and ordered them in the staggered OEM sizes. They should be here Monday and getting them put on and a alignment done this week hopefully. Thank you all that helped me out, offered suggestions, and advice. I'm very pleased and I look forward to talking more to you all in the future!!

Chuck S

These are re-branded highly regarded Bridgestone RE003 tires in the rest of the world and the tires Bridgestone furnishes the Mighty Car Mods guys for all their builds (if you can call free tires an endorsement ). Bridgestone owns Firestone.

-- Chuck

Car Analogy

Yes, these categories are somewhat arbitrary and made up for marketing purposes. Not so much the gimmicky marketing that tries to fool you, but more the rare helpful type of marketing that seeks to inform you.

Most find these categories useful, if imperfect.