Just ordered a set 👍, hopefully an upgrade in pace coming from Hankook RS4, but looks like they wear pretty fast. If they last even half as long as my RS4s did ill be happy though lol

 

Once any of you guys get the things mounted up and broken in a little (@Mad Dima) I'll be looking forward to hearing reviews, particularly about how they are to drive on the street. I ordered a set but don't plan on mounting them for a while.

 

Will do. I'm really considering ordering a set of the 18" and storing them until my PS4 are shot, but my wife would probably find a way to murder me with them if I put any more tires in the garage.

 

Treadwear is 200 - if you trust manufacturer numbers then these should burn out quicker than stock, right?

 

Yes, apples to apples comparison, road use with occasional track day they will probably wear at least twice as quickly as PS4. Wet performance will probably be a good bit worse.

 

Have them in and mounted, june 2023 production. Will probably put them on the car this weekend, along with ARP studs, camber bolts, fresh brake fluid, and the track pads. HPDE is 3 weeks out, so I'm sure I will drive them on the street a bit.

Just from the tread pattern, they definitely won't be as good as PS4 in the rain, but they should be "okay".

 

Mine came in, April 2023 production. They will probably be sitting a while

 

I rolled a 7/23 dot date. Here are the 225/45s on an 8.5" wheel -

Mild stretch, not too bad. Going from 245s steering felt lighter (expected), road noise wise these are about the same as RS4s when they had fuller tread, pretty bearable, no crazy howling and they're not louder than the drone of my exhaust on the highway 😂. RS4s got slightly louder as they wore down so we'll see about the Bridgestones.

In terms of streetability imo SX2 is better than any other 200tw I've driven, but those are 260s, have a softer sidewall, and are noticeably slower on track. Good tire though.

Will be on track next month on the Bridgestones so hopefully ill shave a little time off from my RS4 times. In the meantime I might scrub them in in the canyons

 

Have mine on, 7.5" wide wheels, look pretty pinched on them. Installed camber bolts at the same time. Car feels drastically different (in a good way) between the stiffer tires and camber bolts. Need to go get an alignment still.

Tires are actually reasonable on the street. Possibly quieter than PS4 at this point, I don't hear them over my exhaust. Fine on damp roads, haven't ran into standing water/heavy rain. Car is mostly parked until mid ohio next month.

They were really slick until scrubbed in a bit. Got quite slidey on the test drive.

 

Are they on the stock 18's? I'm keeping an eye out for a used set of RFP1s for these.

It's been a while since I've had to deal with tires covered in crap like this, likely why your drive was slippery. Apparently it's a big mystery what it is - tire manufacturers swear it's not mold release agent. Maybe something to extend shelf life? Whatever it is it's a pain to get off. Since they will be stored for a while I will leave it on for now, but I am planning to try alcohol to get it off.. in case anyone wants to give that a shot.

 

Just ordered a set for my 18" oem wheels. 225/40/18 size.

 

I was gonna mothball mine until next season but decided I’d try them on this year after all. New wheels coming next week.

The big news is that I rediscovered an awesome method for getting rid of the release compound/waxy scum! Long ago I had a set of contis like this. Scrubbed and scrubbed with no luck. I figured oh well, just slather them in tire wet to hide it. Well.. black magic tire wet seemed to do the trick and lifted the stuff off with minimal effort. I found out because I usually just spray a little into a rag and buff it onto the tire.

Remembering this today I dug out probably that same can (no idea why I haven’t pitched it) and was able to eek a few drops into a rag and voila - cleaned up like a charm!

I should add that I tried my chemical guys tire wet and even my go-to wheel and tire cleaners and neither did a damn thing to the scum.

 

4 15-20 min sessions at Streets of Willow in 70-80f weather -

-3.4 deg front camber, 0 toe
-2.8 deg rear camber, slight toe in


Streets is really harsh on left front tire and id never seen it illustrated so well until this track day. Really chewed up the edges of the tread. Had to rotate every session. The rest of the tread seems ok though.

Other than the outer wear the tires were solid. Soft sidewalls, needed 35psi or more to not roll on to the outside too much. Good grip, gets up to temp quickly, takes a beating lap after lap without getting too greasy, even in hot weather. Not very communicative though (noise wise), and if it does squeal at the limit it's very quiet.

They're also very quiet on the highway though, combined with the soft sidewalls makes for a nice comfy street tire.

Wear is its biggest flaw though, if id paid full price for these id be super disappointed...Will see how long they last. I think I might be able to get a couple more track days on them. Might have to dial in more front camber though.

edit 5/26 - perhaps I was being too harsh on the tires...Clearly they're pretty good if they're able to outgrip 245 RS4s in 225 width, and also are able to take a beating in the heat and stay consistent. I'll need to keep using them them and optimize my setup so that they don't wear too much on the outsides. For now they will be in storage until things cool down around here

 

Seems like the post-rebate price went up on these since they were first posted? Can any of the folks who ordered earlier in the month confirm?

Debating picking a set of these up, curious as to their longevity relative to V730s / ECFs / RS4s. At the current ~$140 per (don’t have a tire rack credit card) they’re cheap, but not THAT much cheaper than the competition and I wouldn’t really consider them if they have half the longevity.

 

I got 12 track days out of my RS4s before switching them out, and they still had more left in them. When people say they wear like iron they really mean it . Im sure the ECF would wear similarly and be a little faster too.

I have low confidence in the Potenza race lasting long based on my and others' experiences, but at least it is a grippier tire than the RS4s it replaced. If youre looking for a track tire that wears well all those you listed are great choices. RS4/ECF great for learning and if you want more grip but good wear move up to V730

 

I put my 225/40’s on 18x8.5 Rota Gravel. Long story but yeah those are the wheels I wanted!

They don’t look stretched and damn the fitment couldn’t have been more bang on. I was almost taken aback at how well the whole look worked for me.

I put 15 miles on the tires before cranking a few laps out around my uh, test area. Totally reasonable road tire, quieter than my PS4’s though road noise can change a lot once broken in. Initially a tad slippery then they really came around. Steering weight and response doesn’t feel any different, maybe even gummier, until really pushing. Like I was fine with them as a $500 set of tires and then at 7/10th or more it was like they were a different tire, very confident. I’ll really be itching to get them on track now 😣

 

These tires corded at 2.5 days for me. Pricing it higher then a set of re71rs per a day. Race at closeout, mounted was $600. Re71rs mounted was $900, 6 days.

 

Holy crap! What is your car setup, and what track(s) did you run?

 

-4.1 front, -2.3 rear, zero toe all around, 8k springs. 2 day Palmer, half day Club motorsports.

 

Gotcha. Was there anything abnormal about how they wore, or just rapid?

Also I'm just realizing you only got 6 days out of RE71. Silly question, but you weren't drifting were you? haha

 

It was just rapid...reminds me of pilotsport 4s....great for casual track days...no drifting...
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