Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
My Fiesta ST still has it's oem tires (Bridgestone Potenza RE050a) at 20.5k miles. They're down to about 4/32nds and I'm looking to replace them since it's the beginning of Florida's rainy season and I don't want to take any chances with hydroplaning. They're still decent in light to moderate rain, but big puddles are getting a little hairy. I want to stick with summer tires and the two I'm considering have pretty good reviews and they're similarly priced with rebates going on right now, so I'm having a hard time deciding. I'm looking at the Continental Extreme Contact Sport and Firestone Firehawk Indy 500.
I would like to get 25-30k out of them since I managed to get over 20k out of the 140 rated Potenzas. I want good grip since cornering is this car's strength and I don't want to diminish that. Quietness is also a huge plus since road noise penetrates the cabin. I'm currently leaning towards the Continentals.
Any input is appreciated.
Few things:
1. Of the two options you listed, the Conti wins, hands-down. But...
2. I'm not seeing the ExtremeContact Sport in the FiST's OE size. What size are you looking at?
3. If you like how the car handles on the OE tire, you're risking big disappointment by straying. That tire is customized for your car to some extent, and the RE050A generally has a really nice dynamic feel to it that is difficult if not impossible to match. My car also came with an RE050A from the factory, I swapped it for the best summer tires ever made, and I got better grip, better NVH, and longer life -- and I still miss the feel of the OE tire. That's what you'll get with the ExtremeContact Sport if you're lucky. And it's a safe bet that everything else will be worse.
True to a point, but there ARE donuts out there which WILL surpass the 'feel' of the OEM Potenzas (as far as turn-in response, transient response, grip, slip angles, etc. is concerned).
But yes, of course one will also give up overall wear mileage, get slightly worse fuel mileage, and a MUCH MUCH 'rougher' ride as far as noise, vibrations, overall ride comfort, and feeling every pebble on the road goes.
I am speaking to tires like the SCCA /Street class, 200 tread wear rated (and less albeit NOT Street class legal), autocross rubber; B-stone RE71R, BFG g Force Rival 1.5s, Dunlop Star Spec 3s, Toyo R888s/888Rs, Yokohama AD08s, etc., etc.
Nope, they were not 'engineered to' the given factory suspension setup, but it is not all too difficult to adapt/adjust a suspension to maximize these tires to their full advantage.
As far as these two tires above are concerned, YES, the Conti wins hands down, despite it's price penalty as compared to the Fire/Bridgestones, albeit I DO like the aesthetics of the Indy 500s much more than the Extremecontact Sports, even though their tread width does run very narrow in our OEM size, and even in general for most sizes.