need new tires

westwest888 · 05-08-2012, 08:11 PM

I've been agonizing over this decision. This is a 6000 mile a year car for me. I don't drive it to work, only for pleasure. Pleasure includes short day trips to Napa Valley or at most a 3 mile in town trip. Sometimes I don't drive for 5 weeks. I love taking the car to the track, and I make road trips out of that. I also go on annual trip to SoCal to hang out and driving is fun, but I can just as easily fly there.

I started by looking at the Pirelli Corsa system (treadwear 60), which is an obscene $515 a tire for the peelers. I saw some guys with R8 running them at the track. I don't get the impression they are very good. The main alternative is the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 (treadwear 180) at around $330 a tire.

Then you can go outside the stock size of 255/35R19, which is a 26.0" tire diameter, to get other tires. They're often 25.5", which means your speedo will be off by 3 mph at highway speed. An expensive option is the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup at $430 a tire. I know rich guys saying it was costing them something obscene like $0.50 a mile to drive on those tires, and it was too much for them. A reasonable option that many club racers run is the Toyo Proxes R888, a perennial favorite of all track enthusiasts. It's treadwear rating 100, so it seems to have more reasonable life. It's pretty inexpensive in small sizes especially, and is only $330 on my car.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....R888&tab=Specs

I'd like to be able to do track days in the rain, because that's where the Audi shines. I think this will work.

jran76 · 05-08-2012, 08:47 PM

I would go with the RE-11 or Yoko Advan AD08 for the 255/35.

zillmc · 05-08-2012, 08:59 PM

I have the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11s on mine and I am really impressed with these tires, especially in the wet. Doesn't rain much here in the Bay but as you know it can get pretty slick out there and CA drivers turn into pumpkins on the road when it rains and do dangerous stuff. Tires put down a surprising amount of grip and seem to have a noticeable steering response improvement over my last set of pilot sport ps2s. I can't speak to how they would hold up on the track, but since you have low miles with mainly road trips and some track days, these may meet your needs without spending $515/tire.

DrGP · 05-09-2012, 06:34 AM

Check your speedometer. My B8 S4 has been right on. But in the past, the speedos on German cars were purposely set to read lower than actual. A 3% increase on a older Audi might actually make the speedo read closer to accurate. Id did for me whwn I ran a larger diameter tire on my B6Ss4.

~~sakimano~~ · 05-09-2012, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrGP

Check your speedometer. My B8 S4 has been right on. But in the past, the speedos on German cars were purposely set to read lower than actual. A 3% increase on a older Audi might actually make the speedo read closer to accurate. Id did for me whwn I ran a larger diameter tire on my B6Ss4.

where'd you hear that from? It's the opposite.

They are set to read higher than actual speed. Including the B8 S4.

ilspazzaneve · 05-13-2012, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sakimano

where'd you hear that from? It's the opposite.

They are set to read higher than actual speed. Including the B8 S4.

That's right. If you go to the speed block in VCDS, you'll see the true speed, vs. the cluster reading a few km/h higher. The VCDS block jives with the GPS in two different phones, anyhow.

It is the same in my M5, in fact there are two speeds, V and Vanz. Funny in that car when you watch it, it pretty much goes to a false high reading from low speeds even, to the tune of 30/35 km/hr, and at higher speeds something like 140/147 km/hr. The S4 isn't quite as awful.

Akatsuki... · 05-13-2012, 08:25 PM

I had R888 for track before on the GTI, and they were awesome, but imo it would be a bit of a waste if you do ocassional drives cause they do wear a bit fast. They also didn't seem to have much grip wet, but i guess the quattro would make up for it. I suggest going to Re-11 if you want that class of tires. I actually will be trying RE760s for track and i've had a good experience with those before, although might not be as grippy.

westwest888 · 05-13-2012, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akatsuki...

I had R888 for track before on the GTI, and they were awesome, but imo it would be a bit of a waste if you do ocassional drives cause they do wear a bit fast. They also didn't seem to have much grip wet, but i guess the quattro would make up for it. I suggest going to Re-11 if you want that class of tires. I actually will be trying RE760s for track and i've had a good experience with those before, although might not be as grippy.

Right now, I'm leaning towards Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Everyone is going nuts over them.

Evlengr · 05-14-2012, 02:52 AM

ok so call me ignorant, but what the heck does "Peeler" mean? A replacement track tire?

Stereodude · 05-14-2012, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evlengr

ok so call me ignorant, but what the heck does "Peeler" mean? A replacement track tire?

It's the name for the 19" non Ti wheels that look like they have 5 vegetable peelers for spokes.

05-08-2012, 08:59 PM	#3
zillmc AudiWorld Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Los Gatos, CA Posts: 365	I have the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11s on mine and I am really impressed with these tires, especially in the wet. Doesn't rain much here in the Bay but as you know it can get pretty slick out there and CA drivers turn into pumpkins on the road when it rains and do dangerous stuff. Tires put down a surprising amount of grip and seem to have a noticeable steering response improvement over my last set of pilot sport ps2s. I can't speak to how they would hold up on the track, but since you have low miles with mainly road trips and some track days, these may meet your needs without spending $515/tire. __________________ Present: 2013 S4 Prestige 6MT \| Estoril Blue / Black Silk Nappa / SS Inlays \| Sports Diff \| Adaptive Suspension \| Stasis ECU Past: 2010 S4 Prestige 6MT \| Quartz Grey / Silver Black Silk Nappa Seats \| Sports Diff \| Drive Assist \| Stasis ECU \| Awe S-Flo Intake

05-13-2012, 08:25 PM	#7
Akatsuki... Audiworld Junior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 30	I had R888 for track before on the GTI, and they were awesome, but imo it would be a bit of a waste if you do ocassional drives cause they do wear a bit fast. They also didn't seem to have much grip wet, but i guess the quattro would make up for it. I suggest going to Re-11 if you want that class of tires. I actually will be trying RE760s for track and i've had a good experience with those before, although might not be as grippy. __________________ Audi B8 S4 Brilliant Red *6MT, Premium, B&O, Sport Diff.*

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05-08-2012, 08:47 PM	#2
jran76 Audiworld Junior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 45	I would go with the RE-11 or Yoko Advan AD08 for the 255/35.

05-09-2012, 06:34 AM	#4
DrGP AudiWorld Super User Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 11,481	Check your speedometer. My B8 S4 has been right on. But in the past, the speedos on German cars were purposely set to read lower than actual. A 3% increase on a older Audi might actually make the speedo read closer to accurate. Id did for me whwn I ran a larger diameter tire on my B6Ss4.

05-14-2012, 02:52 AM	#9
Evlengr AudiWorld Member 2013 Audi S4 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Balt-DC Area Posts: 591	ok so call me ignorant, but what the heck does "Peeler" mean? A replacement track tire?

05-14-2012, 03:23 AM
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