LuckySon

So I've spent an inordinate amount of time going through all the threads on tire options for stock C5Z wheels sizes, and am still undecided. Based on what I've read it's between Nitto NT05 and Hankook RS3. I know all of you are probably tired of this same type of thread, and believe me I've held off on posting this thinking I could just make up my own damn mind. However, I'm still left wanting to solicit further input.

The car needing new shoes in an '03Z currently wearing Firestone Wide Ovals that are about 8 years old (NO GRIP). This is not a daily driver for me, and RARELY gets driven in rain or temps lower than 50 degrees. I have yet to track this car, although I still think I would like to give that a shot someday when time permits. That said, this is purely a weekend car that gets driven pretty aggressively when it's nice and warm outside (think Texas Hill Country about 9 months out of the year). While I'm not too concerned about "comfort" or noise, it would be nice to take weekend trips without tire drone ruining the mood. But I'll take grip/dry performance over comfort and wet traction any day.

So, there it is... NT05, RS3, or?

Thanks in advance.

zeevette

Michelin super sports. Continental Extreme DW for your type of driving.

janky

I'd vote NT05 or Conti, with the ExtremeContact DW getting the nod for better overall tire in all conditions. Neither come in the perfect sizing for the front wheels as 275/40 is all you can get, but then the R-S3 (v2) is only available 10mm narrow for both front and rear.

For the record the Michelin PSS isn't available for our stock front wheels.

4XLR8N

I have the NT-05's and no regrets. Great dry grip and had no issues driving in pouring rain last summer at the NCM 20th.

LuckySon

Thanks for the responses.

JLZ06TR

If you go on SCCA website and look up last years championship list for autox, the grand majority of guys running on street tires are running on the RS3. RS3 is a much better tire than the NT05. Only downside is you would have to run a 285 instead of 295, but even at the smaller size the RS3 would be better performance wise.

Kins13y

I just put on a set of Bridgestone re760 sports on my Head/Cam 461whp Z06. I do about zero track driving, as a matter of fact my car does nothing but 40-150 interstate pulls. So far they hook up pretty well. NT05's were what I was going to go with but because all the travelling I will be doing I wanted something that wouldn't wear as fast.

racebum

agree

the 285/255 combo actually looks pretty good on stock wheels and the rs3 compound is very fast for a street tire

if someone can get past the 285/255 part they are a better choice than the nt05

rjwz28

You can run the PSS if you do a 245/45-17 up front in conjunction with the 295/35-18 out back... I haven't seen anybody do it yet since both sizes are fairly recent, but it works for sure, and would likely have a noticeably longer life than the R-S3

For a car not driven in cool temps or wet weather and a goal of maximum street and autoX performance from a summer tire on factory wheels, the R-S3 is perfect... the only downside is their cost is nearly equal to the PSS and noticeably higher than the budget king NT05

One could also consider the R888 in 275/40-17F|305/35-18R if looking for all-out performance in that price range on stock wheels, but I'm pretty positive those would wear even faster than the R-S3

95rtturbo

That is what I chose, getting them installed on Monday. OP, how much power are you making?

LuckySon

Thanks again for the responses.

Regarding prices, I see the R-S3's on TireRack for $897 delivered, and the NT05's on DiscountTireDirect for $832 delivered - pretty negligible difference. The PSS is $1,032 delivered from TireRack. Hmmm. Kinda leaning toward R-S3 now based on responses.

To answer the question of power, the car is all stock so I suppose somewhere around 405 :-)

As for wear - I guess I should have mentioned that I only put about 2,000 miles a year on this car max.; it only has 18k on it. Mostly a function of time versus lack of desire to drive it! Whatever tires I put on will most likely get replaced for age and not tread depth.

04silverZ06

Please post pics when you get them on - i'm curious how these look and perform.

racebum

based on the utqg it should be about 2x as fast

r888 is an absolute madman though. last summer i was doing a ride along in a friends GTR that was wearing a set of these. 650 at the wheels and it hooked and took off on the street from a dead stop. this wasn't a sticky track, tires were not warmed up. it was a warm day but still. they work. in corners peaks of 1.4g were showing up and the car wasn't even sliding.

rjwz28

Damn, the RS-3 came down in price. Hell yeah, that's solid!

The only reason to pick the PSS at that price point is weather... if you don't ever plan to drive fast or far in the rain, get the R-S3

Yeah, R888s are beasts. The only street tires you're going to beat that with are the PSC2 and the Trofeo R, and those are $$$$.

SuperVetteC5

I just put a set of the R888s on my 04 Z06 that is making around 570hp to the rear wheels. Absolutely love them. 275/40/17 & 305/35/18.

rjwz28

Yeah, they offer a ton of performance for their price, as long as your driving situation permits their use. There aren't a whole lot of tires that will hook big power AND corner well, and the R888 is the most affordable of those that do.

ssbowtie1

Are people running the 245 45s in the front? Does the height/width work? If that works it opens up many more options for front tires!

rjwz28

None that I know of

Absolutely. The height is perfect and the width fits the wheels; the better compound of the PSS makes the 245 vs 255/265 irrelevant compared to most available tires.



If I had to have stock front and rear wheels, I'd do it, but personally I'd probably just swap a second pair of 18-inch factory rears on the front wrapped in 265/35 PSSs (paired with 295/35 PSSs out back) and call it good

JrRifleCoach

NT-05 Excellent grip, better when warm.

Daddie O

I'm gonna replace my stock Goodyears that are now 14 years old (still w/good tread) with some stock sized Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sports. $842 mounted, balanced w/old tires disposed of. I've had great luck with Bridgestones in the past, and the price is right. How much better performance would I get spending double for Michelins really?