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[Black Gold]

Hey guys,

So I just got a new set of wheels to use for the street and a couple of track days a year (assuming I dont get terribly addicted to tracking after my first track day coming up in may).

I have advan TCIII wheels wrapped in 265/35 and 285/35 Bridgestone S04 tires. I chose these tires because I wanted to have a nice riding DD tire for the streets of Houston, but also have a tire that could somewhat perform on the track.

I decided to try these out over the Pilot SS tires which I have used before. So far, I like them better for a few reasons.

-they are a good bit cheaper than PSS
-they look better than PSS
-the sidewall feels stiffer, and isnt as prone to rolling over
-the ride is better than PSS
-steering is firmer and more precise, best steering feel of any tire ive used on this car, made a very noticeable difference

The negatives would be that they are heavy relative to PSS and maybe they dont have the ultimate grip that a PSS has, but neither of these things are apparent on the street at all to me.

Overall, a really good DD tire that is under-rated on this forum. I will update this thread with track thoughts, though since its my first day, im not sure what kind of valuable insight i will have other than how they wear.

[Moxie]

Wheels look good.

[dmppdx]

So is your comparision between the S04 and the PSS based on the same sizes? Most things you say seem consistent with what I have read other places, but I'm a little surprised you say they ride better than the PSS since I thought the S04 were supposed to ride a little firmer than the PSS.

[ben@tirerack]

S04 has definitely gotten lost in the shuffle a bit with all the (deserved) hype surrounding the PSS. I can vouch for their excellent stability and steering response from our testing. The grip level is excellent. Not quite equal to the PSS, but better than most other tires in the category.

[shuggy]

Hey Ben,

I'm currently running the RE-11, which I purchased from you guys.

How would you compare the S-04's to the RE-11's?

Would like your feedback for a tire replacement coming up soon!

[ben@tirerack]

RE-11 is a competitor with the AD08, focused on dry grip primarily, with decent wet grip. Ride comfort is sacrificed for handling. Road mileage is sacrificed for durability under more aggressive driving.

The S04 is more like the Michelin PSS: aiming to be a balance between wet and dry, ride and handling. They'll generally have a little better life in normal driving, but are less well suited for track conditions.

So the RE11 is aimed at occasional track/autocross use, or those drivers who put dry grip and steering response above all else.

The S04 is the highest performance category of a pure street tire, striking a balance of all the factors that one encounters in everyday driving.

[FMLYSDN]

Having recently purchase a set of S04's myself, are these a directional tire or asymmetrical? They are advertised as asymmetrical, so does this mean it does not matter that the apparent arrow on the sidewall is in opposite directions on each side of the car and that the tread pattern is also reversed? I am confused.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[LarThaL]

Can someone tell me why Bridgestones are so heavy? Doesn't the company care about all that extra weight relative to their competition?

[M3 Esq]

S04 is badass. I run them on my 328i and they perform as advertised. Good grip and they look good too.

[paradocs98]

Originally Posted by tim944s

Having recently purchase a set of S04's myself, are these a directional tire or asymmetrical? They are advertised as asymmetrical, so does this mean it does not matter that the apparent arrow on the sidewall is in opposite directions on each side of the car and that the tread pattern is also reversed? I am confused.

Thanks in advance for any help.

It looks like they are asymmetric and nondirectional, so there is an outside and an inside portion of the tread pattern, but it doesn't matter which direction the tires run. So when looking at the car from behind, the tread pattern on the left and right rear tires will look identical, instead of being mirror images of each other.

It does seem counterintuitive that a tire with diagonal tread block sections could run either direction, but apparently it works. This is the same situation with the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 and Super Sport, the Pirelli PZero, the Bridgestone RE11, and other performance tires.

[FMLYSDN]

Originally Posted by paradocs98

It looks like they are asymmetric and nondirectional, so there is an outside and an inside portion of the tread pattern, but it doesn't matter which direction the tires run. So when looking at the car from behind, the tread pattern on the left and right rear tires will look identical, instead of being mirror images of each other.

It does seem counterintuitive that a tire with diagonal tread block sections could run either direction, but apparently it works. This is the same situation with the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 and Super Sport, the Pirelli PZero, the Bridgestone RE11, and other performance tires.

Thank you good sir

[Black Gold]

Originally Posted by LarThaL

Can someone tell me why Bridgestones are so heavy? Doesn't the company care about all that extra weight relative to their competition?

look at any racing tire or extreme summer tire like ad08, re11, or rs3. they are all heavy. this is because the tire is stiffer and heavier to have better sidewall support under heavy cornering.

lightweight tires are fine and good, but there is a compromise and that is sidewall stiffness and stability under extreme loads and conditions, like on a track.

the extra weight isn't noticeable at all imo and the extra grip and steering feel is well worth it.

I ran re11 on my last M car for track and street and run re11 on my 997. both cars came with Michelin pilot and I tracked once on them in each car. the re11 is far superior. the pss is a very good street tire, but not made for the track at all.

For street tires, I prefer s04 over PSS since I think the steering feel is better and they are much less expensive.

[sensi09]

Originally Posted by KennyPowers

For street tires, I prefer s04 over PSS since I think the steering feel is better and they are much less expensive.

How did the treadlife compare between the two?

[Black Gold]

Originally Posted by sensi09

How did the treadlife compare between the two?

in my experience, very similar

I also think that the weight difference between the two is negligible.

both good tires, depends what you are looking for. on the street, in terms of performance I think steering feel and sidewall stability is the most important attribute. for that reason, I prefer the s04 and am not a big fan of the PSS.

that said, the re11 is on another level and that is what I run. this is also because I track my car often.

[dmppdx]

[QUOTE=KennyPowers;14251584]
I also think that the weight difference between the two is negligible.

QUOTE]

From what I have seen for actual acceleration tests of different tire weights, its pretty negligible so it seems like it would have to be a placebo effect since your butt dyno isn't sensitive to a few percentages for a difference of 4-5 pounds a corner.

Tires also have different feels with regard to feeback and responsiveness which could impact how "fast" a car feels doing things like winding through curves even though there is no real actual difference.

[spr]

Ben:

What tires would you recommend in the GTS sizes of 255/35/19 285/30/19??? I know corsas come to mind... I, like everyone else would love to run PSS. However, I've read bad things about tracking PSS seeing melted outside corners but that's likely from lack of enough camber. I'm currently running stock sizes on ZCP in MP cups and they're about wasted. I come from a professional racing background so I notice very very minute differences, e.g. when I drive in the mountains I check/set pressures with a pyrometer-

I was told to check re11's but they don't make them in those sizes. I had those before on a prior track prepped Porsche 911 (re01r) and loved them. I've also had yoko a08d's and they were great but didn't last long at all.

I've had prior iterations of the s0's before and absolutely hated them. They were heavy as rocks making the car incredibly lazy in response from unsprung weight and had BS traction despite prior reviews. Thoughts?

My prior research has led me to doing PSS 255/30/19 275/30/19 to keep the same diameter ratio and not increase the rear diameter by going 275/35 and losing acceleration and balance. Comment?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ben@tirerack

S04 has definitely gotten lost in the shuffle a bit with all the (deserved) hype surrounding the PSS. I can vouch for their excellent stability and steering response from our testing. The grip level is excellent. Not quite equal to the PSS, but better than most other tires in the category.

[cwg]

I am running the R E -11s on my 135i and 1990 911. They are awesome tires. Very streetable but stick like race tires. Wet traction is very good until they are worn out.

[ben@tirerack]

Originally Posted by spr

Ben:

What tires would you recommend in the GTS sizes of 255/35/19 285/30/19??? I know corsas come to mind... I, like everyone else would love to run PSS. However, I've read bad things about tracking PSS seeing melted outside corners but that's likely from lack of enough camber. I'm currently running stock sizes on ZCP in MP cups and they're about wasted. I come from a professional racing background so I notice very very minute differences, e.g. when I drive in the mountains I check/set pressures with a pyrometer-

I was told to check re11's but they don't make them in those sizes. I had those before on a prior track prepped Porsche 911 (re01r) and loved them. I've also had yoko a08d's and they were great but didn't last long at all.

I've had prior iterations of the s0's before and absolutely hated them. They were heavy as rocks making the car incredibly lazy in response from unsprung weight and had BS traction despite prior reviews. Thoughts?

My prior research has led me to doing PSS 255/30/19 275/30/19 to keep the same diameter ratio and not increase the rear diameter by going 275/35 and losing acceleration and balance. Comment?

Thanks!

Given that you're running the PSCup now, I'd probably go with the Corsa or the Dunlop Sport Max Race. Both are good, I think the Dunlop would probably turn the faster laps in most cases.

Regarding PSS: they're no worse than any other street tire on the track, and actually better than many.

Obviously the PSS are not available in the sizes you want but the following will apply to any street tires: If you take a street tire to the track, and your setup is not optimal and you don't take care of your tires, you will often find them ruined after 1 track day.

If you get the setup right, and if you drive to preserve the tires somewhat (slow-in/fast-out driving style, no drifting etc.) then they can do fine, but they'll never be as good on the track as a tire that was made for track use.

There's nothing in that size combo from the Extreme Performance category like the Re11 or AD08, so basically you're looking at either street tires or track tires. The track tires I mentioned are streetable, but will require caution if there is rain.

[m3anAPPLE]

PSS currently on sale at tire rack. Def worth jumping on IMO

[sensi09]

^Did you mean S04 are on sale? Wow $200 cheaper for a set compared to PSS

[CSanto]

Ben I've heard great things about the AD08, but being in the north east and driving in rain a lot I'm struggling with my decision vs the PSS.
So my question is. How bad are they really in the wet? Are the RE-11 a little better in the wet than the AD08?

[ben@tirerack]

Originally Posted by CSanto

Ben I've heard great things about the AD08, but being in the north east and driving in rain a lot I'm struggling with my decision vs the PSS.
So my question is. How bad are they really in the wet? Are the RE-11 a little better in the wet than the AD08?

The AD08 are perfectly driveable in the wet, but they do not specialize in wet performance. The PSS aims to have excellent wet performance, and accepts a tradeoff of less-than-ultimate (though still very good) dry traction.

RE-11 are a little better in the wet than the AD08, but they are more like the AD08 than they are like the PSS.

For someone who does a lot of rain driving, I'd generally go with the PSS.